Why Writer Athena Dixon Collects Black Memorabilia

Divorce, Remarriage, and Collecting Lego Sets with Rob Hart

Moving is a process most people dread because it forces us to closely examine what we own and decide what really needs to be packed up, lugged around, then unpacked in a new home. Items we’d been content to let stockpile in a closet become another matter entirely when faced with storing them in boxes upon boxes. In this episode, thriller author Rob Hart discusses how he went about downsizing twice within a few years after his divorce, and then upon remarriage, each time having to get real about what he took with him. As he says, he had to ask himself, “What do I care about carrying with me into this next phase of my life?” Hart discusses the nuances of being a published author faced with a multiplying array of copies of his own books, including foreign editions. How do authors store the work that they’ve invested countless hours into? What do they do with all the extra copies they amass? Hart is also an avid Lego enthusiast, dedicating days at a time to building items like a Lego typewriter, which he likes to display when he’s done, and shares this hobby with his daughter. What’s the draw of building Lego sets, and what’s Hart’s dream Lego purchase? We also discuss Hart’s research process for his Assassins Anonymous series, whose latest title, Three Hitmen and a Baby, was released this week. Click on “Transcript” on the top right to read an auto-generated transcript of this episode. About our guest: Rob Hart is the author of Three Hitmen and a Baby, The Medusa Protocol, Assassins Anonymous, The Paradox Hotel, The Warehouse, the Ash McKenna crime series, and is the co-author of Scott Free with James Patterson. He’s worked as a book publisher, a reporter, a political communications director, and a commissioner for the city of New York. Hart lives in Jersey City. robwhart.com [https://robwhart.com/] Rob Hart [https://substack.com/profile/211028-rob-hart] on Substack Instagram: @robwhart1 [https://www.instagram.com/robwhart1] Three Hitmen and a Baby [https://bookshop.org/a/116429/9798217177134] Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/object-ives] and Stuff-ed [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/stuff-ed] sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com/], where you can also submit your own essays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Why Writer Athena Dixon Collects Black Memorabilia

Writer Athena Dixon owns hundreds of items of Black memorabilia, ranging from household goods with racist Jim Crow-era artifacts dating back to the early 20th century, such as a 1931 “Colored Entrance Only” sign from Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, to civil rights movement-era mementos. From segregated water fountain signage to household items such as napkins and tchotchkes, her vast collection spans public and private belongings. How and why did Athena amass such a large collection? Which ones does she display in her home? Why is it so important to her to hold onto these items, and what does she hope people will learn from them? Where are these items still being sold, and what do they say about the history of the United States? Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/p/athena-dixon-black-history-artifacts-preserve] to read a transcript. About our guest: Athena Dixon is the author of essay collections The Incredible Shrinking Woman and The Loneliness Files and her work appears in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Shenandoah, Grub Street, Narratively, and Lit Hub among others. She is a Consulting Editor for Fourth Genre and the Nonfiction/Hybrid Editor for Split/Lip Press. athenadixon.com [http://athenadixon.com/] Instagram: @the_muse_paper [https://www.instagram.com/the_muse_paper] The Loneliness Files [https://bookshop.org/a/116429/9781959030126] Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/object-ives] and Stuff-ed [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/stuff-ed] sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com/], where you can also submit your own essays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Why We’re Nostalgic for the Toys Our Children Have Outgrown with Aymann Ismail

As they get older, our children naturally outgrow formerly beloved toys and move on to more age-appropriate ones. But what about their parents? For father of two Aymann Ismail, saying goodbye to those toys is a more emotionally fraught process. Having witnessed his kids spending hours with their toys, when he looks at them, he sees their past selves, not just objects that once sat on a toy store shelf. So even though his kids are no longer playing with them, he’s struggled to part with them, a dilemma likely familiar to many parents. How do parents balance the need to make room for new toys with their attachments to memories of their kids’ earliest playtime activities that are entwined with the old toys? Host Rachel Kramer Bussel also talks to Aymann about his collection of street art from his bachelor days, most of which is now tucked away, not fit to hang on the walls of the home he shares with his wife and family. But that art, made by friends and still special to him, isn’t something he’s ready to part with. What do we do with objects that remind us of our past lives but that don’t quite gel with our current ones? How do we honor the meaning of those items when we can’t put them front and center? We explore these questions and more in this nostalgic episode. Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/p/parents-nostalgic-for-childrens-old-toys] to read a transcript. About our guest: Aymann Ismail is a senior writer at Slate, the author of Becoming Baba, and the president of AMEJA. He was formerly the staff video and photo editor at ANIMALNewYork. He grew up in Newark, NJ, received an art degree from Rutgers University, and was arrested by the NYPD for trespassing on the Williamsburg Bridge in 2016. In 2018, he received an ASME Next award. In 2021, his essay The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd was nominated for a National Magazine Award in Reporting and won a Writers Guild Award. His work has been featured by CNN, The New York Times, NPR, GQ, among others. He still lives in Newark. aymann.com [http://aymann.com/] Instagram: @aymanndotcom [https://www.instagram.com/aymanndotcom] Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/object-ives] and Stuff-ed [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/stuff-ed] sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com/], where you can also submit your own essays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Exploring Gender and Being Non-Binary via Fashion with Alligator Tears author Edgar Gomez

Choosing which clothes we want to wear on any given day is about so much more than fashion. How we dress is often deeply connected to our self-expression, creativity, and gender identity, which we dive into with our guest Edgar Gomez, author of memoirs Alligator Tears and High-Risk Homosexual. Edgar discusses curating a queer life, how being non-binary relates to their fashion choices, selecting the right clothes for productive writing sessions, the power of wearing fun outfits and accessories in public, why they treasure their grandmother’s costume jewelry collection, and their most beloved outfits and clothing items, including two Walter Mercado capes. “I’m drawn to clothes that exude joy and happiness and gratitude and that don’t feel like I’m limiting myself because of some arbitrary rules that somebody decided about what boys can and can’t do,” says Gomez in this episode. Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/p/gender-non-binary-fashion-clothes-edgar-gomez] to read a transcript. About our guest: Edgar Gomez is a queer NicaRican writer born and raised in Florida. He is the author of the memoir High-Risk Homosexual, winner of the American Book Award. Their latest book, Alligator Tears, was called “triumphant, dazzling, and unfailingly stylish” by Publishers Weekly, won a Florida Book Award, and is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir. Gomez lives between New York and Puerto Rico. edgargomez.net [http://edgargomez.net/] Instagram: @otroedgargomez [https://www.instagram.com/otroedgargomez] Substack [https://edgargomez.substack.com/] Alligator Tears [https://bookshop.org/a/116429/9780593728543] Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. Please rate and review wherever you listen to podcasts to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com], where you can also submit your own essays. Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/object-ives] and Stuff-ed [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/stuff-ed] sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com/], where you can also submit your own essays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How to Decorate a Jail Cell and What Items Are and Aren’t Allowed While Serving Time with Kari Ferrell

In the late 2000s, Kari Ferrell become infamous online when she was dubbed the “Hipster Grifter” in the media for scamming men out of money in Brooklyn. While the sensationalized version of her life grabbed headlines, behind the scenes, a lot more was going on. Ferrell’s memoir, You’ll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Things I Should Only Tell My Therapist, explores what led up to her illegal exploits, from her upbringing as a Korean adoptee in a Mormon family in Utah, with few Asian American peers, to mental health struggles, embracing her queerness, and exploring her multi-faceted identity. Eventually, Ferrell’s exploits caught up with her, and she wound up on Utah’s most wanted list. Ferrell documents what her jail stint was really like, from prison riots and relationships to how she and her fellow inmates used what was available to them to decorate their jail cells, and themselves, turning towels into swans, using candy wrappers to make bouquets, and improvising makeshift makeup. She writes honestly and humorously about this time: “We made do with what we had to in order to make things feel a little more like home. I was like a law-breaking Martha Stewart. Oh, wait.” In this episode of Finder and Keepers, Ferrell goes in-depth about having to part with her suitcase of possessions, how she adapted to the strict rules about which items (and how many of them) were allowed and which were restricted, the creativity fostered by that mandated minimalist environment, and how her relationship with her belongings changed once she was done serving her sentence. Ferrell also discusses the reasons behind the often draconian rules about belongings behind bars, where even books are closely monitored, the dehumanizing intent of these restrictions, her prison reform activism, and the items she is now most grateful to have access to. Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/p/decorate-jail-cell-allowed-items-kari-ferrell] to read a transcript. About our guest: Kari Ferrell is a producer, writer, speaker, activist, and creator. Her work is centered around incarceration and the justice system, mental health, human rights, adoption, and other issues. Kari’s memoir, You’ll Never Believe Me, received a rave review from the New York Times, a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and was named a Goodreads Readers’ Most Anticipated Book of 2025. She is developing a scripted television program with Warner Brothers Discovery and Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International, and is the co-host of the Asian culture podcast Disoriental alongside Youngmi Mayer and Henry Bae. Kari Ferrell’s website [https://www.madewithoutwax.com/] Instagram: @hotdoghandjobs [https://www.instagram.com/hotdoghandjobs] Memoir You’ll Never Believe Me [https://bookshop.org/a/116429/9781250288226] Disoriental podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disoriental/id1896186599] Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com [findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com] or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers [http://speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers] For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/object-ives] and Stuff-ed [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/s/stuff-ed] sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com [http://opensecretsmagazine.com/], where you can also submit your own essays. Open Secrets Magazine is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe [https://opensecretsmagazine.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]