The Hall Closet Podcast

THE BLURB: Growing up the way I did in a lower tier crime family, it made maintaining long term healthy relationships challenging. Not only am I drawn to men who can't be there for me emotionally, but I developed various attachment issues to boot. Sometimes this ripple effect can feel like a tsunami as it washes over my life. In this episode, I sit down with my producer, Alan Katz, to talk about r...

THE BLURB: Please enjoy (if you haven't already) this unintentional drop of S2E19 where I celebrated hitting 50! No one ever said learning curves were easy. That goes for life and for podcasting. SHOW NOTES The Hall Closet is written by Donna Hall. Costard & Touchstone Productions produced it. Donna Hall and A L Katz are the executive producers. CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS: The Hall Closet is&nbs...

THE BLURB: As someone who's lived a pretty wild life, I appreciate the wild life Nick Mechanic has lived. As a high powered Hollywood talent agent, he made huge movie deals. But, Nick also made huge drug deals, too. Those were the ones that caught up with him, destroying his Hollywood career. Though Nick landed hard and nearly succumbed to his addictions, he overcame them. Sober now for four years...

THE BLURB: While Donna has told the story of learning - at age 40 - that she was donor conceived and had a whole family of donor conceived siblings - before, and while her half sister Heather has visited before - never has Donna gone into so much detail about the experience of 1) learning that she was donor conceived, 2) meeting some of her donor conceived siblings, and 3) describing the remarkabl...

THE BLURB: Part of the problem of growing up in strange, hostile or abusive environments is that they imprint upon you in a variety of ways that ripple throughout your life. One of the ripples causes you to seek out the abusive environment. In this episode, my friend Carly and I discuss how to avoid those ripples - or swim away from them. SHOW NOTES To reach Carly - The Hall Closet is written by D...

The Blurb: In this episode, meet Kara Rubinstein-Deyerin founder of Right To Know, an organization dedicated to helping people who, like her, encounter a life-altering encounter with the Truth about who they are - versus who they thought they were. Kara grew up believing she was half white, half Black. A DNA test - taken to investigate her African roots - informed her she wasn't half Black, she wa...

THE BLURB: In a few days, as of this writing, I, Donna, will turn 50 - halfway to 100. In this episode, my producer Alan sits in and we talk about how we got here - how our paths crossed and resulted in this podcast. We'll also talk about how doing this podcast has changed both our lives - entirely for the better - and what to expect from this podcast going forward. It's a heartfelt look in the ba...

THE BLURB: On this podcast, we adore people who care deeply about other people. That's the kind of person Morris Derry is. While a convict in 1996, Morris had an epiphany about himself and the inmates around him. That led to Morris creating No More Pain, an organization that mentors individuals who suffer from substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, cancer, ex-cons and youth development....

THE BLURB: My friend Victoria - Tori - survived a childhood as harrowing in its way as mine was in mine. Lots of our mutual friends compare Tori's childhood to the TV show "Shameless". It was that kind of family. Tori's mom was a caregiver on the one hand (a nurse) but an addict on the other. The addict always won. But Tori's story is oe of survival, complexity and the long but necessary road to u...

THE BLURB: Though Donna has known her friend Katie O'Donnell for twenty years, it wasn't until Katie sat for this conversation that Donna learned the whole truth about Katie's childhood. Katie's independent spirit clashed with her parents' more middle class values. She was a runaway from 14, doing what she had to to survive on the streets. Plenty of drugs and bad men. Then her parents committed Ka...

THE BLURB: As Donna herself admits, when it comes to terrible, challeging childhoods, hers can't hold a candle to episode guest Eric Ruth's childhood. Eric, as you'll hear, grew up with a mother who couldn't overcome her own addictions and circumstances. Despite that, Eric found his way out of that cycle and into law school where he truly excelled. Eric believes down to his mitochondria that good...

THE BLURB: Sit in on a sisterly conversation between Donna and her half-sister Beth. Beth is one of Donna’s other donor-conceived siblings. Like Donna, Beth is a massage therapist and bartender. That's where the similarities justbegin. Theirs is an unusual – and unusually deep relationship and, in this episode, you’ll get to eavesdrop on a truly heartfelt family chat. Only true sisters can talk to...

THE BLURB: A big part of Donna's story was her discovery - at age 40 - that she was donor conceived. As unsettling a revelation as that was, it explained a lot. Like why she always felt "other than" or "different from" the siblings and family in which she grew up. In this episode, you'll meet Donna's half sister Diana - and hear the story of how learning this secret about her opened an amazing doo...

THE BLURB: Domestic violence can take unexpected forms. A former boyfriend of Donna's - Christopher George - took to abusing Donna's dog Rocky when they all lived together. It took Donna a while to catch on, but when she did - she wanted justice for Rocky. Jonathan Long, then a prosecutor in Pennsylvania, took up Donna's case when few others in authority would. How Donna - and Jonathan - got justi...

THE BLURB: A little while ago, while cleaning out a drawer, Donna found an old diary she'd kept during her childhood - a diary she feared was lost. But, the new-found diary verified still more of Donna's story. In this deeply emotional episode, Donna reads from her diary and discusses it with The Hall Closet Podcast producer Alan Katz. SHOW NOTES The Hall Closet is written by Donna Hall and A L Ka...

THE BLURB: Sandeep "Sonny" Bharadia literally laughed when Georgia police served him an arrest warrant. He was a good person leading a good life. But Georgia convicted Sonny for robbery and sexual assault, sentencing him to life without parole, despite the fact that he had a solid alibi and had never even been to the town where the crime was committed. SHOW NOTES You can read more about Sonny and...

THE BLURB: Calvin Duncan epitomizes grace. In this episode, Donna and Noah Pines talk with Calvin and hear how he became "The Most Incredible Jailhouse Lawyer". While serving a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit, Calvin helped hundreds of other inmates get the fair hearings they'd been denied. Then he got himself not just freed, but exonerated, and began a whole, satisfying life on the ou...

THE BLURB: From the moment Donna's daughter introduced her friend to Heather to Donna, Donna and Heather Bonded. Donna sensed another person with a life journey as harrowing as her own. Breaking the silence is what this podcast is all about. Wait till you hear what that sounds like coming from the mouth of Heather - a remarkable, resilient young woman with a jaw dropping story. SHOW NOTES The Hall...

THE BLURB: From the moment Donna's daughter introduced her friend Heather to Donna, Donna and Heather bonded. Donna sensed another person with a life journey as harrowing as her own. Breaking silence is what this podcast is all about. Wait till you hear what that sounds like coming from the mouth of Heather - a remarkable, resilient young woman with a jaw-dropping story. SHOW NOTES The Hall Closet...

THE BLURB: In this episode, we continue The Joey Watkins Story. Joey Watkins spent 22 years in prison on a life sentence for murder. Problem: Joey was demonstrably innocent! How Joey found justice, got out and - with a remarkable mental attitude - set about reclaiming his life. How Joey remained unbreakable and emerged from his ordeal unbroken. SHOW NOTES For more information about Joey Watkins pl...

THE BLURB: Joey Watkins spent 22 years in prison on a life sentence for murder. Problem: Joey was demonstrably innocent! How legal stories co-host Noah Pines along with the Georgia Innocence Project helped right a terrible wrong. In this episode, what made Joey unbreakable? SHOW NOTES For more information about Joey Watkins please visit The Georgia Innocence Project . For more information about No...

THE BLURB: Growing up inside my lower tier crime family was a constant challenge. Though our neighbors in Levittown never felt the full effects of my family's incredible criminality (they remained oblivious of the worst), they experienced it nonetheless. In this episode, meet Susan, one of our neighbors from back in the day. What did our criminality we look like from close proximity? SHOW NOTES Th...

In This Episode: Donna introduces one of season two's occasional cohosts, her good friend, defense attorney Noah Pines who works with the Georgia Innocence Project. In season one, we met Walter Ogrod and Herb Haak (Donna's brother), two people who served serious time (Walter especially) for murders they didn't commit. Those are the kind of people Noah defends. Noah discusses several of the people...

IN THIS EPISODE: I told the story in season one about how, when I was six, my best friend Stacie told me she wasn't allowed to play with me anymore - or even be my friend. That's because of how bonkers my family was. For the first time in 45 years, Stacie and I catch up and we talk about the impact living next door to us had on the whole neighborhood. SHOW NOTES I cannot recommend highly enough th...

IN THIS EPISODE: Season 2 begins with a testament to the healing power of storytelling and a therapeutic (therefore "the couch") conversation between Donna and The Hall Closet's other executive producer, Alan Katz. Both know from life experience how the Truth absolutely will set you free. How telling our truths - via podcast or merely via a friendly chat - sets us all free. SHOW NOTES I cannot rec...