Season Two of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power begins with a disappearance.

In April 2004, my father abruptly walks away from his family, his marriage, and the private school he helped build — leaving behind confusion, fear, and a trail of letters that tell a very different story than the one he presents to the world.

Season Two, The Departure, unfolds over just seven days.
Twenty letters.
More than 8,500 words.
All written in real time as my family scrambles to keep a school alive, protect one another, and make sense of a man who insists he is not abandoning anyone — even as he disappears.

This season is told largely through the letters themselves, allowing you to experience events as we did: without hindsight, without resolution, and without knowing what comes next.

If you’ve ever watched power shift the moment someone stops playing along…
If you’ve ever seen love used as leverage…
If you’ve ever wondered how control survives even after someone leaves…

Season Two begins January 27

On the season finale of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power, my father’s next move shocks everyone.

Yes, it is the long-awaited progress toward separation — but not the kind of progress we were expecting. Instead of negotiation or resolution, my father suddenly disappears. He walks away from his family, his business, and everything he has built, leaving everything — and everyone — hanging in the balance.

It feels like the ultimate temper tantrum. One so extreme that his family begins questioning his mental health. But was it really a breakdown? Or was it just another power play — another attempt to control the game by leaving it entirely?

In Goodbye, I Love You, I read the letters that mark this moment: a calm, detailed response from my mother, followed by silence, panic, and finally a goodbye letter framed as love and sacrifice.

This episode sets the stage for Season 2, where the story unfolds over just seven days, across twenty letters and more than 8,500 words, as my father’s family desperately tries to get him to come home before it’s too late — only to discover that when the dust settles, he emerges more powerful than when he left.

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes and adult content, including suicide, abuse and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman 

In this episode of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power, I confront my father's self-importance. For years, my father positioned himself as the most important person in our family — the provider, the authority, and the one who set the rules. And for a long time, I believed it. In this episode, I unpack how that belief took root, how culture reinforces it, and how power is maintained by making everyone else feel small. My sister and I stop trying to stay neutral and take a clear stand together. We challenge the idea that authority automatically equals importance — and for the first time, we speak as equals instead of pawns.

Along the way, I reflect on the stories that shaped our hope at the time — from Dead Poets Society and its message about solidarity challenging rigid authority, to real-world examples like the Jackson family and the Britney Spears conservatorship, where unity and collective voices disrupted long-standing control. As Season 1 nears its end, Not That Important lays the groundwork for what comes next. Because when everything is in writing, truth has nowhere to hide.

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes and adult content, including suicide, abuse and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman 

After more than a year of silence, my father finally makes his next move — not by compromise, but by decree. In his latest letter, he lays out exactly how the divorce should go, what each person will receive, and why his plan is the only “fair” option. But it is control disguised as generosity.  In this episode, I break down how he positioned himself as judge, jury, and king of the castle… and why he believed he deserved to decide everyone else’s fate. And to illuminate these dynamics, I look at familiar archetypes — the Wizard hiding behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz, the Beast whose “gifts” keep Belle trapped in Beauty and the Beast, and even in characters like The Joker, where control is maintained through chaos, threat, and sudden shifts in the rules of the game. Because in families ruled by power, truth doesn’t rise to the surface — it has to be dragged into the light.

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes and adult content, including abuse and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman 

After months of silence and emotional stalemate, my father finally writes a letter that sounds less like a plan and more like a performance. In this episode, we examine how “being selfish” becomes a weapon in the hands of someone who uses emotional collapse as control — shifting from aggression to pathetic fragility in a way that would make Gollum himself proud.

But this episode isn’t only about manipulation. It’s also about clarity. When my teenage brother — the most neutral, easygoing person in our family — finally steps in with a letter of his own, he becomes the truth-teller. His words cut through the chaos like a lifeline, urging our mother to choose herself after a year of living in a home that felt like a Monty Python sketch gone dark: denial, exaggeration, theatrics, and endless circular arguments..

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes, including suicide, abuse, and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman 

For thirty years, my father controlled every version of the story — what was said, what wasn't, and what was changed to suit the story he wanted to tell.
 But in this episode, something shifts. My mother finally demands that everything be put in writing. It is the first moment she begins taking back her power — by keeping a record he can no longer rewrite at will.

In this episode, I read an excerpt from the letter that changed everything — and marked the beginning of the brief silence that leads up to an explosion none of us saw coming. I explore how one simple demand — put it in writing — set the stage for what would eventually expose him, in his own words.

I also look at how written proof exposed the truth in several highly publicized cases — from Erin Brockovich and Taylor Swift to Monica Lewinsky, Theranos, and Britney Spears.

Because in the end, stories can be spun. Memories can be doubted. But writing… writing is evidence. And evidence changes everything.

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes, including suicide, abuse, and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman 

In this episode, I revisit one of the most damaging rules my father ever imposed: Don’t tell your mother. Through letters, reflection, and childhood stories, I unpack how silence became the foundation of control — and how triangulation destroyed trust between my mother, my sister, and me.  I also look deeper into how and why telling a child not to tell their mother works so well, by examining two films  — The Tale (2018) and American Beauty (1999). Both reveal how grooming and justification are often disguised as art, freedom, or love.  It makes me question how we can ever protect children when society keeps rewarding the people who blur the lines between love and control, between admiration and objectification, and between art and abuse. 

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes, including grooming, abuse, and coercive control, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman (used with permission under Creative Commons license).

In this episode of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power, I continue reading my mother’s letters — one to my father, and one to my sister and me — as she reflects on the choices that shaped her marriage and the lessons she wanted us to learn from it. Through her words, I see how painful examples become powerful teachers, and how role models don’t just show us daughters what to do — they show us what to survive. I also explore the concept of triangulation, a manipulation tactic at the heart of so many family dynamics, and compare it to what unfolds in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley —  where charm, deception, and emotional control become a means of power.  In working on this episode, I realize that my father’s manipulation didn’t begin years into their marriage — it started right at the beginning. 

⚠️ Content Note:
This episode discusses sensitive themes, including suicide, manipulation, emotional abuse, and family conflict, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit:
Moonlight Sonata by Paul Pitman (used with permission under Creative Commons license).

In this episode of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power, the words “I say it with love” take on a darker meaning. My father’s letter to my mother shows how abusers disguise control as concern — twisting affection into manipulation and calling it love. My mother’s response reveals exhaustion, self-awareness, and the first signs of emotional freedom. Together, their letters show how love can be used to confuse, silence, and bind. I also explore the story of Mel B, whose public battle with gaslighting and coercive control echoes the same pattern behind closed doors. This episode asks one haunting question: when love becomes a weapon, how do you recognize it? 

⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses sensitive themes, including abuse, suicide, and family conflict, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit: Moonlight Sonata, performed by Paul Pitman

In this episode of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power, control doesn’t always look like control. Through two revealing letters — I start to uncover the many layers of abuse my father used against my mother.  Gaslighting, coercive control, contemp, manipulation - all forms of verbal abuse that, on the surface, didn't necessarily look like abuse at all. My father’s words show the subtleties of coercive control: how power hides behind reason, and how “calmness” becomes a tool to silence. My sister’s letter, in contrast, exposes the cracks — a quiet rebellion against the narrative he’s tried to write for all of us.  I also reflect on the story of Elizabeth Smart, whose survival reveals how manipulation and psychological control can completely alter a person’s sense of reality.  This episode asks: when someone controls the story, how do you reclaim your voice?

⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses sensitive themes, including abuse, suicide, and family conflict, and may not be suitable for all listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the U.S. for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

🎵 Music Credit: Moonlight Sonata, performed by Paul Pitman