Open Secrets Magazine | Substack

Why I’m Raising My Daughter in a Sex-Positive Way

On surviving childhood silence around sexual assault and the radical power of giving the next generation the language of autonomy

Jul 9 • Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Object-ives #42: Why I Want to Make Lamps of My Prosthetic Limbs

I’ve been traveling with a box of my body parts for two decades, and now I want to make art from them

Jul 10 • Emily Rapp Black

33:26

Why a 1980s MC Hammer Doll Is a Good Luck Charm with Alrinthea Carter

Finders and Keepers Episode 15 - How childhood play led to a future career as an Emmy-nominated comedy writer, the power of our early pop culture…

Jul 8 • Open Secrets Magazine and Rachel Kramer Bussel

Why I’ve Come to Hate the Fireworks I Used to Love

I dread the Fourth of July for the sake of my dog and the veterans its noises terrify

Jul 2 • Jason Prokowiew

50:46

How to Declutter Books, Clothes, and Everything Else with Decluttering Expert Avery Cundill

Finders and Keepers Episode 14 - How to get started with decluttering, what to do with sentimental items, the ADHD and clutter connection, and more…

Jul 1 • Open Secrets Magazine and Rachel Kramer Bussel

Relationships

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

Why I Love the Scandalous Women Who Changed My Life

I hid the power of these relationships from others (and myself) for decades

Apr 13 • Michele Peters

What I Talk About When I Talk About My Neurodivergent Husband

How his ADHD permanently impacted our marriage

Mar 31 • Lori Tucker-Sullivan

March 2026 Open Secrets Book Club Pick: ‘sorry i keep crying during sex’ by Jesse James Rose

Join us March 24 at 7 p.m. ET for a live interview with author, actor, and content creator Jesse James Rose

Mar 16 • Open Secrets Magazine

I Traveled the World Looking for Love. I’m Still Looking.

Since writing about being single at 33, the search hasn’t changed—even as the scenery has.

Feb 14 • Sonya Matejko

Object-ives #22: My Heavy Metal Companion

An intimate prized possession that will never be an heirloom

Feb 13 • Open Secrets Magazine

Substack

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel's Substack

Social Media

Recommendations

The Quiet Life with Susan Cain

Susan Cain

Dispatch from Bewilderness

Judith Hannah Weiss

Post-Mortem by Emi Nietfeld

Emi Nietfeld

[B]OLD AGE with Debbie Weil

Debbie Weil

the make light journal

Karen Walrond

Keep the personal essay alive:

Parenting and Family

Why I’m Raising My Daughter in a Sex-Positive Way

On surviving childhood silence around sexual assault and the radical power of giving the next generation the language of autonomy

Jul 9 • Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Maybe It’s All Fairy Dust

Watching a toddler and her mom made me question how I parented my son before his death

Jun 29 • Casey Mulligan Walsh

Object-ives #41: The Little Green Dress

An object, a moment, and the long arc that followed

Jun 26 • Dhana Musil

Who, Exactly, Are You, Dad?

An excerpt from memoir ‘War Boys’ by Jason Prokowiew

Jun 21 • Jason Prokowiew

Object-ives #40: The Linotype Cases I Couldn’t Leave Behind

How a printer’s kid grew up to become a writer because books are in my blood

Jun 19 • Patti M Hall

What Do I Owe a Father Who Betrayed My Trust?

He stole millions from investors. What he took from me is harder to replace

Jun 18 • Dana DuBois

My Dad, The Haunted Hotel Ghost

How my ghost dad made me TikTok famous

Jun 15 • Rachel Meghan

Object-ives #39: The Jacket That Did Not Belong to My Father

Thoughts on what doesn’t matter after the loss of a parent

Jun 12 • Ain Khan

Keep the personal essay alive:

Identity

The Music I Threw Away

I gave up secular music twice as a church girl, but it found its way back to me

Jun 16 • Amena Brown

Pinch More Than an Inch

The fat-phobic lessons I took away from a Kellogg’s Special K ad when I was twelve taught me to hate my body

Jun 9 • Lu Chekowsky

Taylor Swift Is My Personal Trainer

Working out while attending The Church of No One Understands Me

Jun 4 • John DeVore

What It’s Actually Been Like as a Trans Person Working in Gender Affirming Care at a Major Pediatric Hospital in Trump’s America

My five-and-a-half year journey to get...here

Jun 1 • Friendly Neighborhood Tranpa

How a DNA test, not mine, changed my life

Apr 23 • Tracey Edelist, PhD

I Couldn’t Sing, But I Joined a Chorus Anyway

From lip-synching to not faking it

Apr 21 • Gabe Montesanti

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

My Tattoos Are More Than Art

They’re a roadmap of my life

Apr 15 • Athena Dixon

Keep the personal essay alive:

Mental Health

Why I’ve Come to Hate the Fireworks I Used to Love

I dread the Fourth of July for the sake of my dog and the veterans its noises terrify

Jul 2 • Jason Prokowiew

Object-ives #36: TV Guide Ruled My Childhood

The magazine was a comfort and a liferaft for my autistic mind

May 22 • Jessica Gentile

May 2026 Open Secrets Book Club Pick: ‘Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die’ by Arianna Rebolini

Join us May 28 at 8 p.m. ET for a live interview about the reality of mental health struggles and writing with author Arianna Rebolini

May 11 • Open Secrets Magazine

Changing My Hair Color Used to Be an Act of Rebellion. Now I Know It Means So Much More

When I decided to dye my blonde locks brown in the midst of a painful divorce, I realized the act of changing my hair was less about defiance and more…

Apr 20 • Heather Sweeney

Object-ives #30: J’Adore My Anorak of Armor

In 1990, I blew some grant money on a J.Crew anorak; 36 years later it’s still protecting me from all the elements

Apr 10 • A Long Story

What I Talk About When I Talk About My Neurodivergent Husband

How his ADHD permanently impacted our marriage

Mar 31 • Lori Tucker-Sullivan

The Year I Spoke with Chris Evans

How the beginning stages of schizoaffective disorder impacted my life

Mar 30 • Melanie Cole

Molly Was My Gateway Drug to Meditation

How taking the illicit 1990s psychedelic pill paved the way for me to get Zen

Mar 3 • Blair Glaser

Keep the personal essay alive:

Work

I Tried AI for “Writing” and the Results Were Disastrous

It stole much more than my ideas

Jun 8 • Sammi LaBue

Working in a Grocery Store Wasn’t Demeaning, But Being Pitied Was

Ann Larson, author of memoir ‘Cleanup on Aisle Five,’ on what she learned from working retail

Jun 2 • Ann Larson

Podcasting for a Job Title

When I couldn’t find a full-time job, teaching about my hobby boosted my professional dignity

May 18 • Deborah Copperud-Read MN Books

Why I Went to Ice Cream School

How I turned a sweet interest into a side hustle and learned that I’m good at more than just the idea phase

May 11 • Ally Kirkpatrick

Why I Love the Scandalous Women Who Changed My Life

I hid the power of these relationships from others (and myself) for decades

Apr 13 • Michele Peters

Please Hurry Up and Slow Down

An impatient person comes to terms with inefficiency

Mar 26 • Amy L Bernstein

Why I’ll Never Leave a Bag Unattended Again

Some things will always remain unknown

Mar 9 • Jocelyn Jane Cox

The Economics of Being a Working Actor (Barely)

Just because I’ve starred on TV and on stage doesn’t mean I have it made financially

Mar 2 • Rachel Crowl

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts