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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 5d

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sonali Kolhatkar @ruwithsonali.bsky.social wrote about getting a preventive double mastectomy because she carries the BRCA1 gene mutation and has a family history of breast and other cancers, including the complex aftermath:
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/breast-can...

Photo of Sonali Kolhatkar
Confessions of a Breast Cancer Previvor
The complications of my preventative mastectomy were far deeper than I expected
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 11d

Famished author @annajrollins.bsky.social didn’t casually start doing Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo workouts in 2000 at age 12. The videos became an obsession. Read her essay “Billy Blanks, I Love You: Help Me Get the Body of My Dreams: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/billy-blan...
cc @eerdmansbooks.bsky.social

Photo of VHs Billy Blanks Tae Bo workout videos
Billy Blanks, I Love You: Help Me Get the Body of My Dreams
My love affair with Tae Bo workout videos
opensecretsmagazine.com

Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 11d

Thanks for making Open Secrets a Substack bestseller! Your paid subscriptions go directly to pay our essay writers and have helped us expand to publishing 3 times a week. A new column, sections, and book club picks are coming soon!
And check out our latest personal essays:

opensecretsmagazine.com

Substack bestseller image
September 2025
Open Secrets
Text:
Open Secrets Magazine by Open Secrets is a Substack Bestseller with hundreds of paid subscribers

Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 11d

“I met a stranger on a train from Virginia to Texas about twenty-five years ago. We talked for hours.”

Read John DeVore’s essay “Secrets of the New York City Subway” in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social! #HispanicHeritageMonth opensecretsmagazine.com/p/secrets-of...

Secrets of the New York City Subway

It's a little-known fact that all the trains are haunted.

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 25d

For our Climate section, Ashley Peterson revisits the impact of Hurricane Katrina 20 years later, including how it upended her family at the time and how it impacted the rest of her life. Read her essay at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/hurricane-...

Photo of Hurricane Katrina damage in Long Beach, Mississippi
How Hurricane Katrina Upended My Family’s Life
I’ve had to learn how to talk to my son about the next potential hurricane
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Michael A. Gonzales @magonzales.bsky.social · Nov 13

Ethan Hawke Was Here: On Hotel Chelsea & Romance in the ’90s
--Michael A. Gonzales reminisces about creativity, charm and a cinema star in 1990s Chelsea. opensecretsmag.substack.com/p/ethan-hawk...

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 29d

Why does @joshfrmusic.bsky.social treasure this portrait of him by his friend Robert, who has Tourette’s syndrome? Find out in our latest Object-ives flash personal essay, about possessions that have made an impact on us, and learn how you can submit an essay:
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/art-friend...

Photo of Josh Friedberg with marker portrait of him Object-ives #2: Art That Toasts to a Friendship Beyond MostArt is not my forte, but one drawing means the world to meopensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 29d

What’s the difference between being alone and loneliness? Discuss it in Open Secrets Book Club on memoir in essays The Loneliness Files by @athenadixon.bsky.social published by @tinhouse.bsky.social. You can ask Athena questions on September 30 at 8:30 pm ET: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

Open secrets magazine book club
Opensecretsmagazine.com
“I think alone is sexy. Mysterious in its heaviness. Alone seems like a choice. Loneliness doesn’t. This seems like I’ve been forgotten, passed over, discarded.”
Photo of Athena Dixon and the loneliness files cover

Open secrets magazine book club
September 30, 8:30 pm EST
Substack live
Opensecretsmagazine.com
Photo of Athena Dixon and the loneliness files cover

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Sep 12

What’s the difference between being alone and loneliness? Discuss it in the new Open Secrets Book Club on memoir in essays The Loneliness Files by @athenadixon.bsky.social (from @tinhouse.bsky.social). Join us for a Q&A on September 30 at 8:30 pm ET! Details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Sep 11

How did @surviveyourstory.bsky.social lose control of her finances during her marriage and regain financial freedom after her divorce? Find out in her essay “In the Patriarchy, No One Can Hear You Scream,” the latest in our Finances section at
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/divorce-fi...

In the Patriarchy, No One Can Hear You Scream

My ex claimed he was freeing me from oppression, but it took years for me to begin my financial escape

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Shawna Ayoub @surviveyourstory.bsky.social · Sep 10

The Center for Creative Writing x Survive Your Story cohost two monthly 90-minute silent write-ins on Zoom. Register to drop in (or out!) at any point & write or work in quiet community.
Sat, 9/13, 11A-12:30P EST
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Sat, 9/27, 3P-4:30P EST
us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Shawna Ayoub @surviveyourstory.bsky.social · Sep 10

"The sun was shining through the picture windows on us. He told me he wanted better for me. We were smiling. He swept his arm around like a wizard. 'I free you from the patriarchy,' he said, and it meant something to me to hear that."

opensecretsmagazine.com/p/divorce-fi...

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Sep 11

Glad you can join us!

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Sep 2

Judith Lam Tang writes in her essay “I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist” about how she went from thinking “How can we make them refer to a single person? It’s too confusing!” to teaching her students about gender respectfully without relying on stereotypes.
opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bigoted-sp...

I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist
As my views on gender evolved, so did how I taught kids about pronouns
opensecretsmagazine.com

"I taught children to look at a person and make assumptions about their gender based on their physical appearance: the length and style of their hair, the clothing they wore, whether they were wearing makeup, and what they were doing."
Judith Lam Tang
I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist
opensecretsmagazine.com

"I understood racism very well, but hadn’t considered other marginalized identities, especially queer and trans identities. I realized that I couldn’t actually be antiracist without being anti-oppression for everyone."
Judith Lam Tang
I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist
opensecretsmagazine.com

"Ultimately, I want to demonstrate—to my students and myself—that I’m a human who is capable of change, who is capable of learning. I grew up thinking in a certain way because that’s what I was taught. I didn’t know any different, and I didn’t know any better."
Judith Lam Tang
I Was a Bigoted Speech Therapist
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Rachel Kramer Bussel @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social · Sep 2

Anyone else feel guilty for not working when you’re on vacation, or just me? My latest The ADHD Diaries column @opensecretsmag.bsky.social is all about that: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/is-adhd-wh...

Is ADHD Why I Have Trouble Taking Real Vacations?
I loved being away from my laptop, but not the guilt that accompanied it
opensecretsmagazine.com

Is ADHD Why I Have Trouble Taking Real Vacations?
“I resent having the kind of brain that insists that any vacation time should be tempered with work in order to “deserve” it. I always think that the next vacation will be the one where I’m somehow magically caught up on every single task so that I can be truly off the clock.”
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 29

Become an annual subscriber for just $16 through August 31!

opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?co...

Take part in paid subscriber chats, where we’ll be offering writing prompts and advice from our editors, get full access to our essay writing tips column & help us pay our writers!

open secrets magazine $16 yearly subscriptions through August 31, open secretsmagazine.com

Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 29

Watch our Q&A with Open Secrets EIC @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social and writer Brenden O'Donnell on his experience dating a gay Catholic celibate man he met on Grindr, and what he learned from the relationship: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/interview-...

Watch: Q&A with Brenden O’Donnell on Dating a Gay Catholic Celibate Man, Relationships, and Spirituality

Our first Substack Live Q&A

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 28

What would you do if you met a man on Grindr who seemed like a great match...but he was a gay Catholic celibate? We'll be talking to Brendan O'Donnell about this in our first Substack Live Q&A in the app TONIGHT, 8/28, at 7:30 ET! Read his essay beforehand: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/celibate-c...

An Extremely Close Encounter with a Gay Catholic Celibate

Was he trying to rescue me from sex while I was trying to rescue him from the church?

opensecretsmagazine.com

Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 28

Hi @longreads.com you might like this essay by Brendan O'Donnell we published last week, "An Extremely Close Encounter with a Gay Catholic Celibate:" opensecretsmagazine.com/p/celibate-c...

An Extremely Close Encounter with a Gay Catholic Celibate

Was he trying to rescue me from sex while I was trying to rescue him from the church?

opensecretsmagazine.com

Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 12

Have a personal essay about your hard truths and deepest secrets, or about a pivotal moment in your life? Or flash nonfiction about one of your possessions? Check out our latest writing guidelines and submit by September 30! Please share widely. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/lit-mag-pe...

Paid Call for Submissions for Personal Essays by Humans About the Human Experience (No AI Writing Allowed)

Send us your essays sharing the story only you can tell (and why generative AI submissions will not be considered)

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 12

What's the secret to finding love? For @liuswrites.bsky.social, it was going out to @tacobell.bsky.social with her best friend. Read all about it in our latest personal essay, "Not Sure If He’s the One? Take Him to Taco Bell:" opensecretsmagazine.com/p/not-sure-i...

Not Sure If He’s the One? Take Him to Taco Bell

My least favorite fast food joint helped me find my forever

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · Aug 12

We've been away from Bluesky for a little while so are late in reposting this but wanted to share it. Thank you to @clmporg.bsky.social for highlighting disability-related essays.

Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · Jul 17

“I once confronted a woman who had parked in a disabled parking spot at a store.”

Read Elizabeth Kleinfeld’s essay “You May Not Notice My Disability” in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social this #DisabilityPrideMonth: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/low-vision...

You May Not Notice My Disability

But my low vision is not invisible

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Iris Blasi @irisblasi.bsky.social · Jun 25

"Successful authors are the ones who keep showing up through failure."

Three cheers to @robwhart.bsky.social for his transparency in this great @opensecretsmag.bsky.social essay about the many failures that come before success. JUST KEEP GOING.

I'm a Thriller Author Who Figured Out the Secret to Actually Selling Books

And it’s not ideal—because it’s all about the things you can’t control

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · May 20

What’s it like to be a liberal Tesla owner in Brooklyn who opposes Elon Musk’s political positions and is now despised for her vehicle choice despite making the purchase in 2020 for environmental reasons? Find out in @sammithewriter.bsky.social's bold essay. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/brooklyn-t...

I'm a Tesla-Driving Liberal

Cue the tiniest violin in the world

opensecretsmagazine.com

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Reposted by Open Secrets Magazine

Elizabeth Devine @eadevi.bsky.social · May 18

Open Secrets Magazine published my short essay, "I Botched Mother's Day Again," a story about the parentification of the eldest daughter. Check it out here: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mothers-da...

@opensecretsmag.bsky.social

I Botched Mother’s Day Again

A yearly tradition of mental torture, guilt, and grief for the parentified daughter

opensecretsmagazine.com

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