Either your family is messy and complicated at times or you’re lying. Author Laurie Frankel talks us through her wonderfully complex novel exploring adoption and the very concept of family. Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Dr. Sandra Rackley gives us her perspective on the nuanced realities of family relationships.

This episode was made possible by the generous support of Ken Stevens. 

We talked with:

Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of five novels. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Poets & Writers, Publisher’s Weekly, People Magazine, Lit Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald, and other publications. She is the recipient of the Washington State Book Award and the Endeavor Award. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and been optioned for film and TV. A former college professor, she now writes full-time in Seattle, Washington where she lives with her family and makes good soup.

Sandy Rackley, M.D., is a psychiatrist within the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Her clinical practice focuses on care of children and teens presenting to the Emergency Department in a psychiatric crisis, and of youth who need psychiatric care while undergoing inpatient treatment for medical or surgical conditions. Dr. Rackley is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and the Assistant Dean for Trainee Well-Being for the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education.

This episode references another RTG episode, listen here: 1. It's complicated: Making decisions about your reproductive health

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