Archive - Open Secrets Magazine

Object-ives #59: My Japanese American Family Pictures That Survived the War

On sepia images, self-preservation, and resistance

Nov 6 • Tamiko Nimura

Woodworking Connects Me with the Dad I Wanted

I’m making peace with the father I got

Nov 4 • Colleen Wright

I Was 16. He Was 23. I Defended “Us” for Years. Then My Daughter Turned 16

Our relationship was always inappropriate, even though we never had sex, but I couldn’t acknowledge that for years

Nov 2 • Jamie Beth Cohen

October 2026

Object-ives #58: What R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps Series Taught Me About My Queerness

How the colors on the covers of these popular children’s books helped me unlock about my childhood longing

Oct 30 • Brenden O'Donnell

How Disaster Becomes Mundane

When an ordinary evening taking my daughter to dress rehearsal went south, I felt the strangeness of parenting as the climate shifts

Oct 26 • Shawna Williams

Object-ives #57: My Lost Wedding Ring

What I learned from my missing wedding band

Oct 23 • Morgan Baker

Watch All Our Book Club and Author Interviews

Catch up on our video interviews with memoir authors and essayists

Oct 22 • Open Secrets Magazine

Why I’m Still As Obsessed with Whales as I Was as a Kid

When your life resonates with the plot of “Free Willy”

Oct 19 • CJ Darnieder

Object-ives #56: My Guardian Angel’s Guitar Pick

How music facilitated a connection with the beyond

Oct 16 • Natasha

The Time I Fell in Love with My Stalker

How I severed myself to save myself

Oct 13 • August McLaughlin

What It Feels Like to Face Food Insecurity and SNAP Benefits Cuts

Two writers on their experiences with being food insecure, navigating reductions in SNAP benefits, and writing about class and finances

Oct 12 • Open Secrets Magazine, dear diary, and Elizabeth Austin

36:41

Dana DuBois on How She Writes Honest Essays about Complicated Family Relationships and Dating in Midlife

The co-host of The Daily Whatever Show on her prolific writing practice, the power of community in sharing personal stories, and writing about the…

Oct 12 • Open Secrets Magazine and Dana DuBois

1:09:24

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