The Secrets We Keep
NEPM PodcastsThe Secrets We Keep is a five-part podcast from NEPM about the stories we don’t tell, what they say about our world, and what they do to our minds. NEPM reporter Karen Brown follows a number of western Massachusetts characters to explore secrets people keep on sexual orientation, abortion history, genetic origins, family scandals, and money.
What's your secret, and why do you keep it? Reach out at 413-258-8633 or secrets@nepm.org.
If you'd like a written transcript of any of the episodes for accessibility, please email us at secrets@nepm.org and we’ll send you one. For more information, visit nepm.org/secrets.
The Secrets We Keep is a five-part podcast from NEPM about the stories we don’t tell, what they say about our world, and what they do to our minds. NEPM reporter Karen Brown follows a number of western Massachusetts characters to explore secrets people keep on sexual orientation, abortion history, genetic origins, family scandals, and money.
What's your secret, and why do you keep it? Reach out at 413-258-8633 or secrets@nepm.org.
If you'd like a written transcript of any of the episodes for accessibility, please email us at secrets@nepm.org and we’ll send you one. For more information, visit nepm.org/secrets.
Anatomy of a Secret
In this pilot episode, host Karen Brown explores a personal family secret: a sister she didn’t know was her father’s daughter until they were all in their 20s.
By talking to her family members — including her mother, her three sisters (including her half sister), and her late father (before he died in 2017), she tries to understand the shame and stigma involved in keeping a family scandal under wraps, and how that can affect your world view and relationships. She also comes clean about her own long-held feelings about the secret and its implications.
We meet Michael Slepian, a professor at Columbia University, who studies the psychology of secret keeping.
And, Karen explains her original interest in the potential harms of secrecy, and why, as a journalist, she has always been a fan of radical openness.
But, what's the difference between privacy and secrecy?
The Secrets We Keep is written/produced/hosted by Karen Brown, edited by Sam Hudzik, with music by Katie Semro. Find out more at nepm.org/secrets.