Dani Shapiro on family secrets and coming into your full potential at 60

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.8 • 525 Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest today is the bestselling writer Dani Shapiro. Dani is best known for the memoirs that made her name. Startlingly honest works of self-investigation like Slow Motion, in which she examines the questionable decisions her younger self made (let’s face it, whose younger self didn’t?). And the book that catapulted her to the top of the bestseller lists, Inheritance. In Inheritance, Dani explored the impact of taking a DNA test - just for fun! - in her mid 50s only to discover that her beloved dad was not actually her biological father. That book led to the top 10 podcast, Family Secrets featuring guests who have uncovered life altering secrets. It was unlocking those family secrets that enabled Dani to write her first novel in 15 years, Signal Fires, a bestseller since the day it was published in the states last year and praised by, my fave Jamie Lee Curtis, amongst others. It looks at what happens when one tragic mistake changes a whole family’s lives. Dani joined me from the East coast of America to discuss how it feels to discover that you are your family’s secret, her allergy to Empty Nest Syndrome and why there should be a handbook for middle age. We talked about coming into your full potential at 60, "losing your looks" when you’ve been told they’re your currency and learning to count ordinary blessings. Listen to Family Secrets here. * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me. * If you enjoyed this episode and you fancy buying me a coffee, pop over to my page on buymeacoffee.com. • And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including exclusive transcripts of the podcast, why not join The Shift community, come and have a look around at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com • The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Jamie Lang and Sophie Haboo have arrived on Disney Plus.
0:04.5	We're having a baby.
0:05.5	We're having a baby.
0:07.2	I've always wanted to be mom.
0:09.4	And we're bringing you on our journey through everything.
0:12.4	I have no idea what we're doing.
0:13.6	Thank you. I have more of an idea.
0:15.6	I think of it like a Tamagocchi.
0:17.8	At the end of all of this...
0:20.0	We're going to have a little baby. Raising Chelsea, a Hulu
0:23.7	original series streaming exclusively on Disney Plus. 18 plus subscription required T's and T supply.
0:34.9	Hello and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no-holds-barred truth about being a woman post-40, created and hosted by me, writer and broadcaster, Sam Baker.
0:44.4	My guest today is the best-selling writer Danny Shapiro.
0:47.7	Danny is best known for the memoirs that made her name, startlingly honest works of self-investigation, like slow motion, in which
0:55.5	she examines the questionable decisions her younger self made, and let's face it, whose younger
0:59.9	self didn't. And the book that catapulted her to the top of the bestseller list, Inheritance.
1:04.7	In Inheritance, Danny explores the impact of taking a DNA test, just for fun. in her mid-50s, only to discover that her beloved
1:12.7	dad was not actually her biological father. That book led to the top 10 podcast, Family Secrets,
1:18.7	which features guests who have uncovered life-altering secrets themselves.
1:22.1	It led me into this massive sort of trove of memory, recollected conversations, and then this detective-like search
1:34.6	to find out who my biological father was and what had happened. It was unlocking those family
1:41.3	secrets that enabled Danny to write her first novel in 15 years.
	...

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