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Rachel Kramer Bussel Launches Finders and Keepers Podcast at Open Secrets Magazine
by Writing Workshops Staff
2 hours ago
When Rachel Kramer Bussel enrolled in Courtney Kocak’s podcasting class for writers in fall 2024, she was a brand-new mom with a clear vision and not much else: an idea for a podcast about the objects we hold onto, and the determination to figure out the rest. Eighteen months later, that vision has a name—Finders and Keepers—and as of today, four debut episodes live at Open Secrets Magazine.
We couldn’t be prouder to celebrate alongside her.
Rachel is a New Jersey-based author, essayist, journalist, anthology editor, writing teacher, and now podcaster, with bylines in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Elle, Fast Company, and Time, among many others. She has edited more than 70 anthologies and runs personal-essay magazine Open Secrets, which has published over 200 writers and built a community of more than 7,000 subscribers since launching in 2023. The new podcast extends a thread already running through her work; she’s also at work on a nonfiction anthology about our attachments to our belongings, represented by literary agent Iris Blasi.
Courtney Kocak, meanwhile, is a writer, comedian, and veteran podcaster whose three shows—Private Parts Unknown, The Bleeders, and Podcast Bestie—have racked up more than two million downloads. Her classes are built for writers who want to translate voice and vision into audio without losing the writerly part of themselves in the process.
In her launch-day announcement on Substack, Rachel was generous in pointing back to that workshop. “I wouldn’t have had the courage or knowledge to launch this podcast,” she wrote, naming the class as a turning point as she set out to build something new while parenting an infant.
She was also refreshingly candid about everything that came after: tech issues on her end, impostor syndrome, and the search for the right team. The road from idea to release was a long one. Rachel said she’s thrilled with how Season 1 turned out—and listening to it, it’s easy to hear why.
🎤 Listen to Season 1 of Finders and Keepers
The full season is live now at Open Secrets Magazine and on every major podcast platform.
The launch lineup includes:
- Twanna A. Hines and her friends, April and Kristyana, on Nathaniel Behr, the teddy bear they’ve jointly owned for more than 25 years, who has traveled with them to China, Egypt, and beyond
- Emily Mester on the strange allure of Costco, bulk shopping, and why we love to browse but loathe online returns
- Deesha Philyaw on her book collection and the agony of deciding what to keep
- Ahead of Mother’s Day, Emily Hessney Lynch on inheritances from her mother and grandmother, and on holding onto her toddler son’s belongings from his earliest days in the hospital
A future episode features an interview with Jane Pratt on her use of storage spaces, her Sassy magazine years, and more. New episodes will run weekly throughout each season.
The podcast joins a larger ecosystem Rachel has built around personal essay and memoir. Open Secrets Magazine publishes 4–5 essays a week on the subjects we’re taught to keep secret—relationships, grief, identity, mental and physical health, family, money, parenting, hobbies, and the objects that anchor us. The publication nominates for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and The Best American Essays, and hosts the annual Open Secrets Live personal storytelling summit in NYC.
We’re honored that one of our classes was a brief stop on Rachel’s path here. The vision, the persistence through self-doubt and tech headaches, and the show now arriving in everyone’s feeds: those belong entirely to her.
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Begin your own success story. Whether you’re sitting on a podcast idea, an essay, a book, or a vision you haven’t yet named, our community of writers and expert instructors is here to help you take the next step. Year after year, our alumni go on to publish, podcast, and put their work into the world—and we’d love for you to be next.
Now go listen to Finders and Keepers. Rachel earned that subscribe button.
