Life changing conversations can happen at any time in our lives—but what if you are 14 and your mother reveals a secret that upends your adolescence and sends you on a decades long journey to untangle from the world she brought you in, the world you were happy to be a part of? Adrienne Brodeur's best selling book, Wild Game, examines the price she paid to be her mother's confidant and helper in an epic affair with her husband's closest friend. The story doesn't end there. Connect with A...

Immersing ourselves in a culture is exhilarating and can change our view of the world. What happens when you are an American marrying into a Chinese family? What could go wrong? Good Chinese Wife is a memoir that explores Susan Blumberg-Kason's life integrating into a Chinese family and her thrilling search for agency. Connect with Susan susanbkason.com Good Chinese Wife Learn more about the podcast at byjennifergriffith.com/podcasts

I’m honored to have a hometown hero from Jackson, Wyoming, on this episode of the About Your Mother podcast. Lindsay Linton Buk is a photographer and storyteller originally from Powell, Wyoming. Her dream took her to New York and back, where she learned photography from the best in the industry before being called back home. Lindsay and I sat down in person for this conversation about art, her roots, and how she forged a space for her creative career in The Cowboy State. Lindsay’s...

How do you turn your trauma into growth? I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Dave Sanderson, a leadership expert, motivational speaker, and one of the passengers on the flight that became the infamous Miracle on the Hudson event. Listen in as Dave shares about his experience on the harrowing day, how his mother’s voice guided him, and how he turned a traumatic event into one of the best things to ever happen to him. If you’re struggling with processing your own traumatic experiences, D...

Is the foster care system in the US broken, or is it even worse than that? According to Rob Schreer, my guest in this episode of About Your Mother, the system is shattered and must be rebuilt. A child enters foster care every two minutes, totaling around 700 children a day. Eighty percent of death row inmates were foster children, and only 54% of foster children graduate high school. As a foster kid himself, Rob knows the system and its faults all too well. Listen in to learn about Rob’s stor...

Ann Fessler's critically accompanied book, "The Girl Who Went Away," gives voice to the millions of women forced to surrender their babies in the decades before Roe v Wade. As an artist and a teacher, listening to Ann tell her story feels like you are walking into a lecture hall about to learn something new, and you are. This episode originally aired in December of 2022. Connect with Ann Website The Girls Who Went Away A Girl Like Her Learn more about the podcast at byjennifergriffith.com/c...

This is the story of a mother who made the ultimate sacrifice for her and her daughter’s freedom. In this episode, I’m joined by Namratha Stanley, author of Vineyard Melody, and wine entrepreneur. Namratha shares about her own mother’s sacrifices and the example of unconditional love she set throughout her upbringing. At age 24, Namratha married into an abusive family and lost her sense of self. Twelve years later, after a near-death situation, Namratha escaped with her daughter and started h...

What happens when the places that are supposed to feel safest become the places that wound us most deeply? In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Maley to talk about her memoir, No Longer That Girl, and the extraordinary path she’s taken from childhood trauma to a life rooted in faith, resilience, love, and purpose. Stephanie shares her journey through grooming, sexual abuse, illness, shame, abandonment, and family instability—and how she rebuilt her life with intention, honesty, an...

How do you discover your sense of belonging when your culture and background have been erased? In this episode of About Your Mother, I’m joined by Brittany Penner, author of Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking Herself Home. She shares her story of being adopted as an infant, the history of indigenous children being taken from their families in the Sixties Scoop, and her struggle with finding where she belongs. Brittany also shares about her writing process...

We've pulled a special episode from the vault for you to take a listen to! One of my favorite stories I've had the honor of sharing on About Your Mother, is that of Peter Mutabazi — a remarkable human being who survived a traumatic childhood, only to use that experience to transform lives. This episode originally aired in May of 2021. He ran away from an abusive father at the age of ten and was homeless on the streets for four years until a stranger asked him his name. That gesture chan...