Former Hellraisers (Should We Share Our Past With Our Children?)

Every child has wondered of their parent: What were you like when you were my age? Who were you before I was here? And every parent has to decide how honestly to answer those questions.

In this episode, the Sugars respond to a letter from a woman whose teenage son has just discovered her high-school yearbook — filled with stories from her past life that she is ashamed for her son to know about. In answering the letter, the Sugars are joined by the poet and author Mary Karr, who has written three memoirs about her reckless youth and raised a son who was intimately familiar with those years.

Show notes

[0:16] “I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl,” Nina Simone, 1967.

[2:41] “Wild,” Cheryl Strayed, 2012.

[2:46] "Tiny Beautiful Things," Cheryl Strayed, 2012.

[8:08] "The Liar's Club: A Memoir," Mary Karr, 1995.

[8:09] "Cherry," Mary Karr, 2000.

[8:10] "Lit: A Memoir," Mary Karr, 2009.

[13:37] Koren Zailckas, "Smashed: Story Of A Drunken Childhood," 2005.

[15:58] "The poet Paul Celan said, you know, about drinking, it's like a sunflower opens in your chest," Paul Celan, Wikipedia page.

[19:35] "Wild," the movie, official trailer.

[28:57] "When I Was A Young Girl," Feist, "Let It Die," 2004.

Full episodes of Dear Sugar Radio are released biweekly, with shorter episodes appearing on off-weeks.