Family Secrets

In this bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets. Mark your calendars for the launch of season 8 on May 4th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets. Mark your calendars for the launch of season 8 on May 4th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dani shares a message this Thanksgiving with the Family Secrets community. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Judy receives a thick envelope from her father—presumably including answers to long kept secrets about his identity and past—he instructs her to burn it before opening. Despite her plaguing curiosity, she follows her father’s wishes. But later in her life, she seeks answers. What was in that envelope? And who was her father, really ? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Tad reckons with the choices he’s made in his relationships—most prominently, in his marriage—he must confront the choices made by his father, too. And his grandmother. In uncovering staggering truths, he finds his own struggles with intimacy are part of a long string of inherited secrecy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meyli Chapin shares her story and discusses PTSD with host Kimi Culp. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fraidy is raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community where she is forced to follow many conventions including an arranged marriage in her teens. After enduring emotional and physical abuse, Fraidy is determined to figure out a way to save herself, her children, and many, many others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know—or think we know—the wonderful journalist, news anchor, and bestselling author, Katie Couric. But behind and beyond her camera-ready exterior is the interior world of a very real individual— a daughter, sister, wife, and mother navigating the complexities of a public life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Mark’s divorce, he cannot eat or sleep or function. Hesitant to pathologize these feelings, he finally acknowledges the clinical magnitude of his condition. But even after accepting that he’s suffering from depression, he keeps it under wraps; he runs a residential treatment center for homeless teens where he feels he must keep up appearances. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

The opening chapter of SIGNAL FIRES is shared here, in Dani's voice, for the very first time.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ashley’s father is imprisoned when she’s eight months old. She has no real context for him until she visits him for the first time, when she’s seven. They forge as best a relationship they can, writing letters, and talking on the phone. It’s not until she’s fourteen when she discovers why he’s in jail. What she learns is shattering and confirms to her that the world is not always a safe place. See...

From a harrowing, unstable childhood, Venus perseveres and creates an ideal life for herself—with an exuberant husband and a gaggle of amazing kids. But harrowing returns for her when she learns the dark truths—and lies—about her husband. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up, Rich doesn’t know much about his family, save for the singular fact that his mother came to the US from Haiti when she was thirteen. But in 2010, when the worst recorded earthquake in the Western hemisphere’s history hits Haiti, Rich is met with a series of life-altering discoveries about his family’s past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chloe is an only child, but she’s not entirely alone. She has dogs. Meaningful, magical, ever-supportive dogs. With reserved parents and a habit of hiding her feelings, Chloe retreats deeply into her canine world, and the search to find herself, and free herself, takes years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Putsata was an infant when she and her family fled from war-torn Cambodia on an escape boat. When the captain saw that baby Putsata was ill, he suggested that her mother—Ma—throw her overboard. Ma couldn’t do this; she believed her baby would get better, and sure enough she did. Putsata grows up feeling indebted to Ma for saving her life. The weight of this debt gets heavier and heavier over time,...

Welcome to the new season of Family Secrets, premiering September 1st. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with professor and author Michael Slepian about the psychology of secret keeping and his new book T he Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with psychoanalyst and author Dr. Galit Atlas about her new book Emotional Inheritance  and the role of secrecy in families— all families. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this replay bonus episode, Dani speaks with writer Jennifer Senior about her cover story ‘What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind’ for the September 2021 issue of The Atlantic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tell us what stories you'd like to hear at 1-888-SECRET-0. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dani sits down with her friend and fellow podcaster Nora McInerney for a deep dive into her own family secrets. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dani recalls some of her favorite Family Secrets moments in this special bonus episode put together by Hark. Watch for more bonus content as we continue work on the next season. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Zoe Shaw becomes pregnant at fifteen years old, her life is thrown into orbit. Not only must she conceal her pregnancy from her family and community, but too, her future will be forever informed by the secret at the core of her adolescence. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz Scheier’s mother is eccentric at best, and violent at worst. In the grips of mental illness, she keeps secrets and tells lies. It isn’t until Liz turns eighteen, when her mother finally divulges hidden truths about her past. Decades later, Liz is still trying to piece together the myriad levels of deception. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudi...

In 1988, Margaret Kimball is four years old and her mother attempts suicide; this is just one of several family secrets. As Margaret searches for answers nearly thirty years later, she mines through old diary entries, hospital records, home videos, and other archives to piece together a narrative map of her childhood in an attempt to understand the unspoken familial fractures. Learn more about you...