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Family Secrets

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.

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  • 21 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 53 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • October 1 · 1 min

    Coming Soon: New Episodes, New Secrets!

    Family Secrets is back! And with more secrets and stories than ever before. Make sure to download, resubscribe, and tune in next week, October 8th, for an extraordinary conversation to kick things off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E10
    July 9 · 57 min

    A Skirt Caught on Fire

    In our extraordinary season finale, Mary Afsari shows us how our unknowable pasts—the tragedies, traumas, and truths—can shape a future and change a life. Many lives, in fact. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E9
    July 2 · 1 hr 7 min

    I Think You Should Stop Talking

    When Emily returns from a family trip, she tells people she has a “crazy story” but it’s more than that. It’s always more than that. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E8
    June 25 · 56 min

    Have You Seen Her?

    Casey’s biological mother doesn’t want to be found. But still, Casey seeks to find her. Needs to. And when she does, a deluge of truth pours forth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E7
    June 18 · 1 hr 13 min

    Have You Ever Seen a Body Like This?

    Tom’s father takes up all the oxygen in the room with a presence that's larger than life. Larger, in fact, than the many lives he keeps hidden from his wife and children. Tom must reckon with this legacy as he sets out to forge his own. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E6
    June 11 · 57 min

    Making Yourself Up

    For most of her life, Darcy’s identity is a mystery. Who’s her mother? Who’s her father? And who, in the end, is she? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E5
    June 4 · 1 hr 11 min

    We Heard Everything

    A childhood rife with political upheavel, violence and loss. An adulthood overtaken by distrust and manipulation. And then, finally, the truest friend and companion -- a Jack Russell terrier named Coco--helps Fatima break free and discover the joy that awaits her. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E4
    May 28 · 48 min

    Nobody Liked Their Nickname

    When tragedy befalls Laurie’s crowded family, she and her eight remaining siblings—and their deeply detached and peculiar parents—must navigate the unthinkable. And too, the unsayable—because in this haunted home, nothing is said at all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E3
    May 21 · 57 min

    Hijacked

    First: a hidden sibling. Then: an unbelievably harrowing hostage situation. As Mimi moves through life, she must confront the scarring secrets stacked against her. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E2
    May 14 · 1 hr 3 min

    Mrs. America

    Growing up, Jackie is a self-described “girl’s girl” in family full of women - surrounded by her sister, mother, and several loving aunts. But a generational secret has been kept, and Jackie will slowly learn that she is deeply impacted by this secret and the silence surrounding it — one that shapes her life from the inside out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S14 · E1
    May 7 · 1 hr 21 min

    Strangers

    A seemingly perfect marriage—a whole life—shatters overnight when Belle discovers her husband’s betrayal and uncovers the silences and stories that have come to define her. As everything collapses, she must decide whether to protect the narrative she’s been handed or finally confront the truth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • April 30 · 2 min

    Coming Soon: Family Secrets Season 14

    Join us for a new season of Family Secrets. We're back with 10 new stories starting May 7th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • January 29 · 1 min

    A Thank You From Dani for Season 13

    A message from Dani, with an update on the next season of Family Secrets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E11
    January 22 · 1 hr 20 min

    Homeschooled

    After being coerced into homeschool by a mother whose love threatens to consume him, Stefan must confront how an isolated childhood shrouded in secrecy will shape his life. Stefan Merrill Block's memoir is titled Homeschooled. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E10
    January 15 · 41 min

    Should We Do This?

    Marion and Tony are madly, deeply in love. But there are obstacles to their relationship, namely Tony’s sexual preference. When Tony loses his life to AIDS, Marion discovers just how many obstacles there really were. This year is the 30th Anniversary of Marion Winik's memoir, First Comes Love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E9
    January 8 · 1 hr 4 min

    The Mixed Marriage Project

    In his locked study, Dorothy’s father works on his book. For years. And years. And years. But it’s not until after his death that Dorothy uncovers the secrets in between its unfinished pages. Dorothy Roberts is the author of The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E8
    January 1 · 1 hr 6 min

    90 Miles

    Karen vanishes with her children to escape a violent marriage, erasing a life in order to save it. But eventually, when it’s safe—if it’s safe—she must come out of hiding. Karen Palmer's book, She's Under Here, is out now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E7
    Dec 25, 2025 · 38 min

    All Without Telling Me

    In 1998, long before Dani discovered the truth of her biological paternity, she published a story called “The Secret Wife” about the discovery of her father’s second wife, a secret marriage that had been hidden for decades. Today, she reads and reflects on this story—the uncovering of the silent grief and buried histories that shaped her. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E6
    Dec 18, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min

    The Guy Who Knew a Guy

    When Francesca sets out to understand her father’s past, she is faced with a world of crime, silence, and denial. But it’s not just his past she must reckon with; it’s her present, her inheritance of a story no one wanted to tell. Francesca Fontana is the author of The Family Snitch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S13 · E5
    Dec 11, 2025 · 56 min

    Tangled Up in Blue

    Sam grows up without knowing his biological father. As he enters adolescence, he begins to resemble Bob Dylan. A lot. So when Sam learns his mother had a brief relationship with Dylan in the 70s, the cascade of questions begins to flow. Sam Sussman's book, Boy from the North Country, is out now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes