iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

TONIGHT at 8 p.m. ET! Join us for our May Open Secrets Book Club for Mental Health Awareness Month for a Q&A with @ariannarebolini.bsky.social on Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die. Free and open to all. It will also be recorded and posted soon. Details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/better-mem...

Open Secrets Magazine Book Club, May 28, 8 pm est, Substack Live, Arianna Rebolini, photo of Arianna Rebolini and cover of Better: A Memoir About Wanting to Die

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

LOVE THIS!! Congratulations @liuswrites.bsky.social! It's the Taco Bell wedding of any fan's dreams.

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

As an independent media site that sometimes covers food, we love to see new media companies putting work out there. Welcome to the world, @feedravenous.bsky.social!

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Happy 3rd anniversary to us! Thank you to our contributors, readers, commenters, event attendees, subscribers, and supporters! We're 200+ essays in and look forward to many more! Check out our archives: opensecretsmagazine.com/archive And writing guidelines: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/how-to-get...

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Rachel Kramer Bussel @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

My @newsweek.com essay about a very expensive birthday gift, Bruce Springsteen fandom, love, and emotional recovery from miscarriage is up. It’s been 5 years in the making. www.newsweek.com/expensive-bi...

Photo of a gift and photo of Rachel Kramer Bussel and boyfriend, I Spent $2,000 on a Birthday Gift for My Boyfriend—His Face Fell When He Opened It

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Rachel Kramer Bussel @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Join me and writer and writing coach @pauletteperhach.bsky.social April 2 at 2 p.m. ET on Instagram Live (paulettejperhach and rachelkramerbussel on Instagram) for a Q&A about what I’m looking for as editor-in-chief of @opensecretsmag.bsky.social and my tips on writing and selling personal essays!

Photos of Paulette Perhach and Rachel Kramer Bussel
Why strong writers stay stuck, and what actually gets a piece published
April 2, 2 pm ET
Instagram Live

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

@lorit-s.bsky.social writes about what it was like to be married to a neurodivergent husband: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/husband-ad... “I would ask him on Monday to do something on Thursday and, by Thursday, not only was the plan ignored, he often had no recollection of our conversation.”

What I Talk About When I Talk About My Neurodivergent Husband
Opensecretsmagazine.com
Open Secrets Magazie
Black and white photo of child holding both parents’ hands

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Thank you to @giuliarozzi.bsky.social for this very real look at having breast cancer, missing her boobs, and what not to say to someone facing a cancer diagnosis. Follow her for more about her ongoing health journey. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/breast-can...

Please Don’t Tell Me How to Feel About My Breast Cancer
Opensecretsmagazine.com
Open Secrets Magazine
Photo of Giulia Rozzi in fuck off eye mask and doing peace sign in hospital bed

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Writers are literary rock stars to us! May 2 in NYC is Open Secrets Live at @symphonyspace.bsky.social's Leonard Nimoy Thalia! 43 speakers! Writing tips galore! Books! Keynotes @boomboomhiller.bsky.social @hillmurray.bsky.social & @youngmimayer.bsky.social. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

Open Secrets Magazine Live personal storytelling summit
May 2, 2026
250 W. 95th St. NYC
Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia
Jeff Hiller, Murray Hill, Youngmi Mayer
Full list of speakers
produced and organized by Rachel Kramer Bussel
opensecretsmagazine.com

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alexisbuncich.bsky.social @alexisbuncich.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Being a bit vulnerable these days by learning about sports and then talking loudly about it… many thanks to @opensecretsmag.bsky.social for working on this with me! substack.com/profile/1040...

substack.com

alexis (@anbotus)

Being a bit vulnerable these days by learning about sports and then talking loudly about it… many thanks to @Open Secrets Magazine for working on this with me!

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Here's 2 opportunities to hear Jesse James Rose @jamesissmiling.bsky.social! Join our free Open Secrets Book Club and read Jesse's memoir sorry i keep crying during sex. Online Q&A March 24 at 7 pm ET. And join us in person May 2 in NYC at Open Secrets Live! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/jesse-jame...

Open Secrets Magazine Book Club
opensecretsmagazine.com
March 24, 7 pm EST
Substack Live
Jesse James Rose
photo of Jesse James Rose and cover of memoir sorry i keep crying during sex

Open Secrets Magazine Live, May 2, 2026, 250 W. 95th St., Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia, speaker Jesse James Rose and photo of Jesse James Rose

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Thank you to everyone we connected with at @awpwriter.org! Please submit your work, check out our essays, and enjoy your zines. opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

We can't wait to have Frighten the Horses author @oliverradclyffe.bsky.social on this panel! We had to make a change due to speaker availability and instead of Chloe Caldwell @jackiedwrites.bsky.social, author of memoir in essays No Offense, will be on this panel with everyone else listed.

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Open Secrets Live is on May 2 in NYC! 30+ memoir authors, editors from Abrams, @catapultbooks.bsky.social, One Signal, Tiny Reparations Books, @nytimes.com, & @slate.com, & keynotes by @boomboomhiller.bsky.social, Murray Hill, & @youngmimayer.bsky.social! Tix: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre...

Photos of Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill and Youngmi Mayer
Open Secrets Magazine Live
May 2, 2026
Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill and Youngmi Mayer
Keynote speaker
Symphony Space
Leonard Nimoy Thalia
250 West 95 St., NYC

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

*NEWS* Actors, comedians, and memoirists @hillmurray.bsky.social are closing keynote speakers at personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live on May 2 @symphonyspace.bsky.social's Leonard Nimoy Thalia in NYC. Visit opensecretsmagazine.com/p/open-secre... for schedule, lineup, and ticket details.

Photos of Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill
Open Secrets Magazine Live
May 2, 2026
Jeff Hiller and Murray Hill
Keynote speaker
Symphony Space
Leonard Nimoy Thalia
250 West 95 St., NYC

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

For Gun Appreciation Day, we put our own spin on things with this essay, “The Gun That Exploded My Marriage,” by Rebecca Agiewich, which we encourage all spouses of gun owners to check out. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/marriage-g...

The Gun That Exploded My Marriage
opensecretsmagazine.com
Open Secrets Magazine
Photo of rifle

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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

A few months ago, ICE hired me I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!" My latest for Slate

slate.com

You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof.

What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.

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Mary Stachyra Lopez @marystachyra.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

A few months ago, my daughter won a goldfish at the fair. That was the start of my s̶p̶i̶r̶a̶l̶ uh, new hobby. I wrote about it for @opensecretsmag.bsky.social:

opensecretsmagazine.com

Never Buy a Goldfish

How I acquired an anxious new hobby

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Your Trans Cousin @yourtranscousin.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Book rec: Make Good Trouble by @jamiaawilson.bsky.social. Great for inspiring young adult readers (and olds like me) in these awful times. The varied fonts, speech bubbles, and drawings keep things fresh and AHDH friendly. I was lucky to meet Jamia at @opensecretsmag.bsky.social ‘s 2025 conference

A white person’s hand holds up a book in front of a dark teal background. The book is Make Good Trouble: Discovering Movements that Sparked Change by Jamia Wilson. On the cover is a stylized cartoon drawing of a young Black woman on one knee and calling out to make her voice heard.

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Our final personal essay of 2025 is part of our food insecurity series and Moriah Richard’s title, “I Make Too Much for Government Assistance, So Community Feeds My Family,” says it all. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/post-divor...

Food pantry image
I Make Too Much for Government Assistance, So Community Feeds My Family
Open Secrets Magazine
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Rachel Kramer Bussel @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Closing out 2025 with an essay about motherhood and identity at Another Jane Pratt Thing in their Unpopular Opinion section. It’s free to read and Jane Pratt is a thoughtful and smart editor and has cultivated such a lovely community online where she joins in too. open.substack.com/pub/janeprat...

Photo of Rachel Kramer Bussel holding baby while sitting down and text overlay: “I’ve wanted to be a mom for 20 years and I’m more proud to be one than any professional achievement.”

I Am My Kid's Mom And I Like When You Call Me That
Some outspoken moms are offended that their names are erased from public interactions as parents and replaced with "Mom." I cannot relate.

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Karen G Berry @karentheberry.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Merry Christmas. Here's something of mine published today in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social about a bad manager and a very happy day. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/bad-boss-m...

opensecretsmagazine.com

Just Like Christmas

How my impossible manager’s comeuppance was the best workplace gift I could have received

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Exciting news: Open Secrets will have a table at @awpwriter.org in Baltimore March 4-7 selling swag and essay zines (yes, zines!) and will be hosting book signings! We're working out all the details now but if you're a contributor to or reader of Open Secrets, we hope to connect with you there.

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Amy Slays Doubt Monsters @amylbernstein.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Take note! #AWP26 goers: The Fine Art of Literary Submission and Rejection: Secrets of the Editors ...a walkable off-site you won't want to miss if you want to break into the lit mags. Watch for our listing!

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The Queer Love Project @queerloveproject.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

We want your personal essays that reveal heartbreaks, happiness, secrets, sexual encounters and the realities of dating. Anything that answers the question: “What do you know about love?” Here's how to submit: queerloveproject.substack.com/p/coming-soon

queerloveproject.substack.com

How to Submit to The Queer Love Project

The Queer Love Project is open for submissions from all interested writers. We publish essays that are original and not previously published on any other platforms.

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Amy Slays Doubt Monsters @amylbernstein.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Object-ives # 11: The Hardest Working Dress on the Planet An essay 50 years in the making. #cnf opensecretsmagazine.com/p/prom-dress...

opensecretsmagazine.com

Object-ives # 11: The Hardest Working Dress on the Planet

Memories of cloth and armor for a rebellious promgoer

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Lara McKusky @laram.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

I’m a guest writer on Open Secrets Magazine! I’m on SNAP for the second time as a single mother. Only this time, I’m also ill with medically required diets for two of my diagnoses. The Exhausting Mathematics of Hunger While Receiving SNAP opensecretsmagazine.com/p/the-exhaus...

opensecretsmagazine.com

The Exhausting Mathematics of Hunger While Receiving SNAP

How ill health and being poor impact my eating

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Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

“It was August 13, 2022. Early that Saturday morning, after an evening of drinking wine and watching movies, I awoke to use the bathroom.” Read Christina Berry’s essay, “The Stroke of a Pen,” in @opensecretsmag.bsky.social! #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth opensecretsmagazine.com/p/the-stroke...

opensecretsmagazine.com

The Stroke of a Pen

What happened to a romance novelist in her mid-forties when she couldn't read or write after a stroke

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Colleen Wright @colleenswright.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

The middle school years are tough on parents too, and we both had a rocky couple of years. Unexpected help arrived in the form of anime tees. Thanks to @opensecretsmag.bsky.social for sharing our story. opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mother-dau...

opensecretsmagazine.com

Object-ives #10: The Shirt That Slayed Demons

I collect the outgrown versions of my daughter

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

PLEASE SHARE: Personal essays on current food insecurity, including loss of SNAP benefits, wanted. Pays $200/essay. Authors retain all rights. Rolling deadline until all 5 essays are commissioned. See our writing guidelines for details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/food-insec...

Open Secrets Magazine
Call for submissions
Pays $200
Essays on food insecurity
Deadline: ASAP
opensecetsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

What would you do if your close friend wound up in a whirlwind romance that quickly became an abusive marriage? For Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we published Sumitra Mattai's “Why My Friend’s Surprise Marriage Raised So Many Red Flags." Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/helping-fr...

Why My Friend’s Surprise Marriage Raised So Many Red Flags
And how I tried to help her escape
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Ahead of World Vegan Day on November 1, @gia_mora explores why she took “vegan” off her bio for a while, why it’s back, and how her approach to talking to non-vegetarians has changed. Read it at opensecretsmagazine.com/p/why-stoppe...

Photo of vegan food including beans and vegetables
There’s a Vegan at Your Dinner Table (P.S. It’s Me)
Why I dropped the conversion act—and started inviting people in
ooensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

If you’re single or have ever been single, read @dirtylola.bsky.social's hilarious essay about what she did after a one-night stand left her with his keys and never returned for them. This ghosting story involves a mini coffin and key funeral, with photos! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/dirty-lola...

Photo of Dirty Lola in yellow dress lying on couch
The Keys to Ghosting
He gave me his keys after one night. I gave them a proper funeral
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

If you’re single or have ever been single, read Dirty Lola’s hilarious essay about what she did after a one-night stand left her with his keys & never returned for them, despite multiple efforts. This ghosting story involves a coffin key funeral, with photos! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/dirty-lola...

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

The Heartbreak Years author Minda Honey gives advice on how to find your voice as a writer. It’s for our paid subscribers (who also get access to all our draft essays), but there’s a sneak peek for everyone. There’s even a quiz to test your literary knowledge! opensecretsmagazine.com/p/writing-vo...

How to Find Your Voice as a Writer
The talking heads on your TV all sound alike — but writers shouldn’t
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Below watch @ruwithsonali.bsky.social on advice she gives friends facing breast cancer. Our full Q&A is on being a breast cancer previvor, her preventive double mastectomy, BRCA, the aftermath of her surgery, reconstruction, body image, mental health & more: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/interview-...

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

We’re excited about our Nov. and Jan. Open Secrets Book Club picks, @crownpublishing.bsky.social memoir in essays Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez and @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social memoir The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi. Can you guess what our March pick will be? Hint: It’s out today!

memoirs Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez and The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Molly Cameron reminisces about 90s fashion and the dELiA*s catalogs she pored over as a teenager and still owns and looks at in her forties: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/delias-cat... This flash essay is the latest in our Object-ives section on possessions. See the end for our writing guidelines!

4 Delia’s catalogs
Why I Still Want a Delia’s Bucket Hat
I find comfort in my 90s catalog collection
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

In our latest personal essay, Akemi Ueda writes about bonding with her mom over being tennis fans, and why she was worried after her mom’s brain surgery that their 2023 outing to the US Open would be their last. Read her essay: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/mother-dau...

After Her Brain Surgery, I Was Terrified My Mom Would Never Be My Mom Again
Attending the US Open with her showed me she’s still the same woman I love
opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Our November Open Secrets Book Club pick is @crownpublishing.bsky.social memoir in essays Alligator Tears by @otroedgargomez.bsky.social. Our EIC @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social will interview Edgar Nov. 17 at 8:30 pm ET. Audience questions welcome! Details: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/memoir-boo...

Open Secrets Magazine book club, opensecretsmagazine.com, November 17, 8:30 pm est, substack live, edgar gomez, photos of Edgar Gomez and cover of Alligator Tears

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Our latest Object-ives flash essay on “possessions we can't stop thinking about” is special. Michelle Geiss not only wrote a witty ode to her 1970s-era IBM Selectric typewriter, she also wrote another essay on the Selectric titled “Machines.” Read: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/vintage-ib...

Objectives #6: An Ode to My IBM Selectric Typewriter
On the joys of an analog machine in a digital world
Opensecretsmagazine.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Journalist @ruwithsonali.bsky.social wrote powerful personal essay, “Confessions of a Breast Cancer Previvor,” about her preventive double mastectomy: opensecretsmagazine.com/p/breast-can... Join us Tuesday, Oct 14 at 7:30 pm ET for a Substack Live Q&A with our EIC @rachelkramerbussel.bsky.social.

Photo of Sonali Kolhatkar
Open Secrets Magazine
opensecretsmagazine.com

August 14
7:30 pm est
Substack Live
Confessions of a Breast Cancer Previvor

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Shooting our shot as we look for the best venue for personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live 2026! Tentative dates are May 2 or May 3. For leads on a 200-300 seat theater or event space in Manhattan (NYC) for a 1-day weekend event, let us know details or contact info: opensecretsmag at gmail

Seeking 200-300 seat Manhattan theater or event space for rent for under $5K for Open Secrets Live storytelling event
opensecretsmag@gmail.com

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Open Secrets Magazine @opensecretsmag.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

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 · 06/10/2025

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