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Family Ghosts

WALT FM

Every house is haunted. In each episode of Family Ghosts, we investigate the true story behind a mysterious figure whose legend has followed a family for generations. Grandmothers who were secretly jewel smugglers, uncles who led double lives, siblings who vanished without a trace, and other ghostly characters who cast shadows over our lives in ways that might not be immediately obvious. We are all formed in part by our familial collections of secrets, intrigues, and myths. By engaging with each others’ legends, perhaps we can see each others’ realities more clearly. Hosted by Moth Grand Slam winner Sam Dingman, whose stories have been featured on Risk!, TBTL, Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything, and The Moth Radio Hour.

Copyright 2017-2021 WALT FM

Every house is haunted. In each episode of Family Ghosts, we investigate the true story behind a mysterious figure whose legend has followed a family for generations. Grandmothers who were secretly jewel smugglers, uncles who led double lives, siblings who vanished without a trace, and other ghostly characters who cast shadows over our lives in ways that might not be immediately obvious. We are all formed in part by our familial collections of secrets, intrigues, and myths. By engaging with each others’ legends, perhaps we can see each others’ realities more clearly. Hosted by Moth Grand Slam winner Sam Dingman, whose stories have been featured on Risk!, TBTL, Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything, and The Moth Radio Hour.

Copyright 2017-2021 WALT FM
51hr 58min
Thumbnail for "Season 1 Trailer: Every House Is Haunted".
Every house is haunted.
March 21, 20171min 6sec
Thumbnail for "1: The Family Jewels".
One afternoon in 1961, a mysterious woman in sunglasses wandered into my grandfather's jewelry shop and stole his heart. Two years later, she vanished without a trace.
March 23, 201746min 53sec
Thumbnail for "2: No Brown Spots".
Everything changed for Caila on June 22, 2010. On today's episode, she finally confronts the truth about what happened that night.
November 15, 201754min 15sec
Thumbnail for "3: Sue's Clues".
When Nick's grandfather died in 1994, something bizarre happened: his aunt Susan stole the body and hid it.
November 22, 201753min 10sec
Thumbnail for "4: A Spirit of Vengeance".
Jill grew up hearing the terrifying legend of "the crazy man from Mississippi." But as an adult, she starts to question her mom's version of the story.
November 29, 201743min 25sec
Thumbnail for "5: Lookin' Good, Charlie".
Mark's only memories of his father are tender, stubbly hugs and an old leather shaving kit.
December 6, 201755min 20sec
Thumbnail for "6: That You Should Be Happy".
Micaela is haunted by a recurring dream - a vision from her family's harrowing past.
December 13, 201747min 27sec
Thumbnail for "7: None Of Your Business".
Sam discovers he has an uncle he never knew about.
December 20, 201746min 42sec
Thumbnail for "Season 2 Trailer: We Never Really Talked About Our Past".
The official trailer for Season 2 of "Family Ghosts"
May 1, 20192min 42sec
Thumbnail for "8: The Love Family, Part 1 - Love & Logic".
After a fateful acid trip in 1967, a man named Paul tries to build his ideal family.
May 15, 201950min 53sec
Thumbnail for "9: The Love Family, Part 2 - Vision & Completion".
Love is real.
May 15, 201937min 21sec
Thumbnail for "10: The Love Family, Part 3 - Constance & Composure".
Posey tries to uncover the connection between the loss of her mother and her parents' time in the Love Family.
May 22, 201956min 36sec
Thumbnail for "11: His Minor Years".
A souvenir from from Meara's great-uncle turns out to be a clue about a scandal that almost tore her family apart.
May 29, 201952min 19sec
Thumbnail for "12: The Chinese Food Incident".
A mysterious burglary has haunted the Falco family for 25 years.
June 5, 201944min 54sec
Thumbnail for "13: June & George".
Kimberly's grandparents find themselves imprisoned without cause. When they're released, they refuse to talk about it.
June 12, 201941min 43sec
Thumbnail for "14: The Sasquatch of Spring Valley".
After Asher's uncle dies, the family goes to clean out his apartment, and discovers a box of love letters from a woman they've never met.
June 19, 201947min 39sec
Thumbnail for "15: A Settling in the Bones".
Kirya's childhood home is haunted by two elusive ghosts.
June 26, 201946min 26sec
Thumbnail for "16a: Bone Hill - Act 1".
Martha's family has their land stolen, and then their identity.
July 3, 201941min 46sec
Thumbnail for "16b: Bone Hill - Act 2".
Martha's family makes a home on Black Mountain, and reckons with the past.
July 3, 201953min 19sec
Thumbnail for "Season 3 Trailer: A Circle of Ghosts".
The official trailer for Season 3 of our show.
November 20, 20192min 12sec
Thumbnail for "17: The Clotilda Legacy, Part 1: The Descendants".
A community in Mobile, Alabama is haunted by a shameful secret.
December 4, 201931min 58sec
Thumbnail for "18: The Clotilda Legacy, Part 2: The Stronghold".
Joycelyn and Darron try to escape the shadow of the Meaher family's pervasive influence in Africatown.
December 11, 201935min 33sec
Thumbnail for "19: The Clotilda Legacy, Part 3: The Reckoning".
Ring the bell so the world will know.
December 18, 201938min 59sec
Thumbnail for "20: A Boy In A Story".
David tells the story of three unlikely family members who shaped his life.
January 8, 202051min 19sec
Thumbnail for "21: Collateral For Ten Million".
Kierran tries to figure out if any of her grandfather's stories were true.
January 15, 202050min 7sec
Thumbnail for "22: The Trove".
Mariah travels to a country she's never been to in hopes that she can find a man she's never met: her father.
January 22, 202050min 49sec
Thumbnail for "23: Your Ghost".
Three stories about the moment when the static dissolves, and a transmission from the past comes through loud and clear.
January 29, 202057min 50sec
Thumbnail for "24: Little Stonehenges".
Following her father's death, a ghost appears in Natalie's childhood home, leaving a trail of troubling clues.
February 5, 202047min 7sec
Thumbnail for "25: The Ambassador".
Mac and his mom have a lot to talk about: her relationship with her psychic, his brother's murder, and a life-altering betrayal that happened decades ago.
February 12, 202042min 18sec
Thumbnail for "26: Spirit World".
Is it you? Are you there? I miss you.
February 19, 202050min 33sec
Thumbnail for "27: The Mission".
Decades after her brother's mysterious disappearance, Toni finally learns the truth about what happened to him.
March 4, 202047min 27sec
Thumbnail for "28: The Faith Exam".
Julian joins a church in Poughkeepsie, and discovers a decades-old secret about her uncle.
March 11, 202050min 56sec
Thumbnail for "29: A Crane in the Bay - Part 1".
When an unnatural disaster befalls her family, Kate demands answers. But no one's willing to talk.
January 14, 202131min 7sec
Thumbnail for "30: A Crane in the Bay - Part 2".
Kate flees the haunting silence of Baltimore - but no matter where she goes, Eddy's ghost isn't far behind.
January 28, 202137min 52sec
Thumbnail for "31: A Crane in the Bay - Part 3".
After more than thirty years of following roads to nowhere, Kate carves her own path.
February 11, 202129min 44sec
Thumbnail for "32: Unwell - A Midwestern Gothic Mystery".
Sam takes you on a trip to a mysterious boarding house in Mt. Absalom, Ohio - a community riddled with secrets and lost memories.
February 25, 202151min 15sec
Thumbnail for "33: Rack & Cue".
Bradford and Paul come to terms with the people they wish their parents could be - and the people they actually are.
March 11, 202125min 59sec
Thumbnail for "34: Foxes".
Kimberly King Parsons tells the story of a mother telling a story about her daughter telling a story.
March 25, 202138min 33sec
Thumbnail for "35: Guests".
Mary Terrier tells the story of a woman who seems to hold all the keys.
April 8, 202129min 26sec
Thumbnail for "38: The Reality Map (or The Faith Exam, Part 2)".
Andrew tells the family ghost story behind a "Family Ghosts" story.
May 20, 202147min 47sec
Thumbnail for "42: The Namesake - Part 1".
Jessie's name is the continuation of her aunt's story. But no one's ever told Jessie the real story of her aunt.
July 16, 202138min 52sec
Thumbnail for "44: Forever Is A Long Time".
Everyone in Ian's family gets divorced. Now that he's been married for a few years, he wants to know if his relationship is doomed.
August 26, 202152min 57sec
Thumbnail for "48: Superheroes".
Stories about unexpected impulses with deep generational roots.
October 21, 202138min 22sec
Thumbnail for "49: City Folk".
Sam gets a ghostly answer to a decade-old question.
November 5, 202133min 45sec
Thumbnail for "50: They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore".
Stories about coming to terms with the truth about our mothers.
November 19, 202130min 31sec
Thumbnail for "51: You Know It's Wrong".
Stories about rediscovering home in unexpected ways.
December 3, 202133min 4sec
Thumbnail for "52: Untitled Dad Project".
Janielle Kastner tries to get to know a man she never got to meet.
December 17, 202143min 18sec
Thumbnail for "53: Something in the Wind".
Sam has a memory he can't explain.
December 31, 202131min 39sec
Thumbnail for "BONUS: The Rumor".
A mysterious story has haunted the city of Baltimore for 25 years. Can Sam unravel the truth...before the truth unravels him?
October 25, 202115min 27sec
Thumbnail for "36: Still Close".
Sam receives an unexpected message from the past, delivered by a Spiritualist medium in a mysterious town called Lily Dale.
April 23, 202143min 39sec
Thumbnail for "39: The Old Block".
Jim grabs the baton, and Gastor sees the face behind the mask.
June 4, 202136min 7sec
Thumbnail for "40: Motherland - Part 1".
The two of us became the embodiment of the Chinese phrase xiang yi wei ming - mutual reliance - for life.
June 18, 202134min 43sec
Thumbnail for "41: Motherland - Part 2".
Part 2 of Jiayang Fan's story about her and her mother's intertwined quests for survival.
July 1, 202142min 16sec
Thumbnail for "42: The Namesake - Part 2".
"You can open up a book and choose a sentence at random, and derive meaning from it."
July 30, 202128min 56sec
Thumbnail for "43: The Namesake - Part 3".
"I feel really lucky that Danny is Danny."
August 13, 202125min 1sec
Thumbnail for "45: A Hollywood Ending".
After his brother's tragic murder, Mac's family finds disparate ways of re-assembling their shattered lives.
September 10, 20211hr 1min
Thumbnail for "46: A Dime for Mr. Fetterman".
Family stories that seem simple on the surface, but are actually the keys to understanding our entire personalities.
September 24, 202137min 36sec
Thumbnail for "47: The Soft War".
Thi Bui tells producer Jennifer Lai about the delicate process of asking her parents about their worst experiences.
October 7, 202131min 7sec
Thumbnail for "BONUS: Snatching Sinatra".
For the last few months, Sam's been hard at work with John Stamos (yes, that John Stamos) on a top-secret project...
July 27, 202112min 3sec
Thumbnail for "37: The Walls of Jericho".
When Erin moves to England, her mother presents her with a life-altering choice.
May 7, 202128min 49sec
Thumbnail for "Sam's Breadcrumbs".
Sam's guest interview on the Breadcrumbs podcast, hosted by his oldest friend Allen.
April 19, 20231hr 1min
Thumbnail for "54: The Fatal Nickel".
The wayward son of a manufacturing dynasty tries to sow fresh roots in his family tree.
January 14, 202237min 21sec
Thumbnail for "55: Don't Look Directly At It".
Malcolm Gladwell shares a parable from the past, and Nick Markovich searches for the meaning of life.
January 27, 202239min 40sec
Thumbnail for "56: Pioneer Stock - Part 1".
Craig grows up in hiding from his uncles' secret lives, fearful that his family will one day discover his own secret.
February 12, 202238min 50sec
Thumbnail for "57: Pioneer Stock, Part 2: A Life Deferred".
Craig unlocks the mysteries of his Uncle Brent's life - literally.
February 25, 202237min 12sec
Thumbnail for "58: Pioneer Stock, Part 3: Sacred Secrets".
Craig learns the truth about the end of his Uncle Larry's life - and finds a new beginning for his own.
March 11, 202257min 39sec
Thumbnail for "59: How Will You Spend Your Time? (A Family Ghosts Mixtape)".
Seven songs from in (and around) our series that just might make you come unstuck in time.
March 25, 202238min 52sec
Thumbnail for "60: Telling Our Stories To Ourselves".
Producer Veralyn Williams explores the power of subjective storytelling in the aftermath of her experience working on a particularly harrowing episode.
April 8, 202252min 24sec
Thumbnail for "61: The Pretender & The Godfather".
As he passes a significant milestone, Sam reflects on two of his wayward early role models.
April 22, 202229min 14sec
Thumbnail for "62: Manual Transition".
Mark embarks on a rollicking quest to find a Cool Dad.
May 6, 202227min 9sec
Thumbnail for "63: Hard Eights and Husky Boys".
Stories about inscrutable older men with vital wisdom to share - if only we could figure out how to talk to them.
May 21, 202228min 20sec
Thumbnail for "64: A Mississippi Story".
Guy Story finds out his father had a secret.
June 3, 202232min 6sec
Thumbnail for "65: An Electric Dissatisfaction".
Josh Ritter tells Jayson De Leon about charting a course through the unknown.
June 17, 202237min 34sec
Thumbnail for "66: Bone Hill Reprise".
An important update about Family Ghosts, and a reprise of a timely tale.
July 1, 20221hr 38min
Thumbnail for "67. The Midnight Disease".
A special message about the past and the future, with gratitude from your Ghost Host.
April 5, 20231hr 4min
Thumbnail for "Good Company".
Sam's quest to uncover a family ghost that lives in his radio.
August 31, 20238min 19sec
Thumbnail for "FG Presents: The Burden".
Introducing "The Burden," from legendary investigative reporter (and longtime friend of the Ghost Family) Steve Fishman.
March 19, 202422min 5sec
Thumbnail for "Pack One Bag".
A new series from Stanley Tucci, David Modigliani, Lemonada, and Gilded Audio - featuring Sam as story editor!
June 5, 202435min 50sec

Sam's Breadcrumbs

Thumbnail for "Sam's Breadcrumbs".
April 19, 20231hr 1min

Sam was recently featured on an episode of Breadcrumbs, hosted by his best and oldest friend Allen Brooks. In the course of their conversation, they ended up talking about things they’d never discussed - deepening their connection even further. If you like what you hear, find more episodes of Breadcrumbs here.