Family Secrets
Family Secrets. We all have them. And while the discovery of family secrets can initially be terrifying or traumatic, often these discoveries have the power to liberate, heal, and even uplift us. Join Dani Shapiro, bestselling author of the memoir Inheritance, and her guests as they explore astonishing family secrets and uncover the extraordinary lessons the truth can teach us.
1
Bonus: Dani and Nora
Dani sits down with her friend and fellow podcaster Nora McInerney for a deep dive into her own family secrets.
61 min
2
Family Secrets Mixtape: A Treat from Hark Audio
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.
31 min
3
Can We Just Go Get Her?
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.
58 min
4
Mermaid Manor
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.
56 min
5
Circle Yes or No
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.
41 min
6
Yellow Legal Notepad
Beneath Justine’s mother’s polished façade lay a fearsome rage that drives Justine to flee from home. After her mother dies, Justine uncovers an envelope revealing the mystery of her mother’s character, and a telling history that stretches back to the early years of World War II and beyond.
40 min
7
Escape Velocity
Just as Adam approaches an exciting apex in his career, he receives life-shattering news which stems from a deep and painful family secret.
58 min
8
Tarof
Michelle grapples with the memory of her sexual assault and home invasion that occurred during her college years. Twenty years later, after a career of working with victims like herself, Michelle endeavors to find out what happened to her case and why she never heard from the police again.
42 min
9
The 5:00 AM Call
Actress Maddie Corman is driving at 5:00 am to a TV soundstage to film a television show when she gets a panicked call from her children; police are at their home, seizing their father’s computer. Maddie’s husband Jace Alexander has a dark secret, now coming to light.
46 min
10
Taxidermied Duck
After years of estrangement and hiding his true self, Trent loses his father. His inheritance is a puzzling combination of his father’s beat-up wooden toolbox and a taxidermy duck. In his grief, Trent decides to use his father’s tools to build a wooden canoe and in doing so, he confronts and uncovers his father’s secret history, and reconciles his own.
50 min
11
Nom du Père
Sherry Turkle grows up surrounded by mysteries—her own identity included. Her mother is full of unknowns, especially when it comes to her relationship with Sherry’s elusive and absent scientist father…whose science experiments were nothing short of unsettling.
45 min
12
Wind Beneath My Wings
Qian Julie Wang is just seven years old when her family arrives in America in 1994, and her whole world changes. Impoverished, isolated, and considered “illegal”, the Wangs must keep their immigration status — among other family truths — concealed.
56 min
13
Family Secrets: Season 6 Trailer
Inside every secret is a truth. And you know what they say: the truth will set us free. Season 6 of Family Secrets launches Thursday, December 9th.
3 min
14
Bonus: A Thanksgiving Message from Dani
Dani gives her thanks to the Family Secrets community this holiday. Be sure to tune in to season 6 on December 9th.
2 min
15
Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 6
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
6 min
16
Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 5
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
6 min
17
Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 4
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
2 min
18
Bonus: In Conversation with Jennifer Senior
In this 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.
42 min
19
Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 3
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
4 min
20
Bonus: Dani’s Listening, Episode 2
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
4 min
21
Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 1
In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.
4 min
22
Bonus: What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You?
In this bonus episode, Dani sits down for a conversation with Kelly Corrigan for her podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders.
40 min
23
Update: Dani's Listening
An exciting update from Dani on upcoming Family Secrets bonus content.
1 min
24
The Local Intelligentsia
Graphic memoirist Alison Bechdel had a complicated relationship with her father, who hid his sexuality from just about everyone in their small Pennsylvania town. When she came out in college, it finally seemed like they’d get the opportunity to bond over the truth of their identities—until a tragic event cut that connection short.
34 min
25
The Blue Chair
Nadia Owusu always worshipped her father, and his death when she was just 13 turned her world upside down. Fifteen years later, a bitter argument with her stepmother creates a brand new fault line in her life, leaving Nadia wondering if she ever really knew her father at all.
54 min