Secret Stuff by Laura Tremaine

Laura Tremaine
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Personal Journals

Conversations and podcast episodes from the Secret Stuff Substack by Laura Tremaine ⚡️ Replays of the Secret Book Club meetings and community Symposiums. Join in the conversation on Substack! secretstuff.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Aug 17

    🎥 Best Books of the Year (So Far)! 🎉

    Well, it may be August, but it’s never too late to talk about the best books we’ve read so far this year! My real life book club friends Yasmin Dunn and Stephanie Newman-Smith join me for our annual tradition of sharing a few of our favorites mid-year(ish) before we put together our final lists in December. It has been a STELLAR publishing year and we still have months to go until the end, but already the three of us have some favorites. WATCH THIS EPISODE ON SUBSTACK A special bonus to this conversation is that you can WATCH us have it. For the first time ever, I’m sharing the video version of our BBoTY(sf) conversation on Substack. This conversation is free for everyone! Secret Stuff members get to hear us discuss our LEAST favorite books of the year + get all the Secret Stuff premium content. JOIN SECRET STUFF HERE -------- MENTIONED: Secret Stuff main Substack page Stephen King Summer ends with CUJO SLOW READ: Outlander starts soon! Laura’s Best Books of the Year (So Far): Angel Down by Daniel Kraus Famesick by Lena Dunham (I will put out a full list soon!) Yasmin’s Best Books of the Year (So Far): The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout A Short Stay in Hell by Stephen Peck A Hymn to Life by Gisele Pelicot Stephanie’s Best Books of the Year (So Far): Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young by Zayd Ayers Dohrn London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson Also mentioned in this episode: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Laura is currently reading) The Autobiography of Mark Twain (Yasmin is currently reading) You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (divorce memoir that Yasmin brought to the show a few years ago) Books Yasmin is reading with her teenage daughter: Pride and Prejudice, The Other Bennet Sister, and Death Comes to Pemberley Transcription by Ben Lerner (on a lot of lists already) The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (might be an October pick for Secret Stuff) Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges Office Hours podcast with Tim Heidecker So much discussed in this packed episode! And still so much we didn’t get to. I’ll be sharing my full list of favorites from 2026 (so far) soon. Would love to hear from YOU about your favorite books at the mid-year mark. Comment or jump in the members-only chat. Go to the SECRET STUFF SUBSTACK This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jun 11

    🎥 REPLAY: June Symposium with jackass creator Jeff Tremaine

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit secretstuff.substack.com This month, my husband Jeff Tremaine is releasing his fifth and final movie in the jackass franchise he created over 25 years ago. In our June Symposium, we talked about his body of work, how it has always been the background of our family life, and so much more. WATCH the video version on Substack THANK YOU my friends for indulging in this real detour from the usual Secret Stuff vibe. It was a blast to share this part of my life with you. Links to Jeff’s work mentioned outside of jackass: wildboyz tv show Nothing But A Good Time documentary Up For Whatever Bud Light Super Bowl Commercial (FULL LENGTH) and the tv version American Airlines safety video and the Behind the Scenes video (so good!) 30 for 30 docs: The Birth of Big Air and Angry Sky The Dirt (Netflix)

    🎥 REPLAY: June Symposium with jackass creator Jeff Tremaine

  3. Mar 6

    ⚡️SECRET SUMMIT is HAPPENING!⚡️

    The next SECRET SUMMIT event is happening April 16 - 18 and I want you to be there! We’re gathering in Nashville, Tennessee for three days of connection, presence, and incredible conversations. I can’t wait to be in the same room with you! TICKETS HERE The first time I hosted a weekend for Secret Stuff members was so magical. I will never forget coming out from behind our screens, being in the same room together, having a community Symposium, Journal Party, and with activities meant to strengthen our spirits and build a bond. I am so ready to do it again. JOIN ME for 3 days in Nashville: ⚡️A kickoff party at Trisha Yearwood’s private space in the Friends In Low Places bar on Broadway (love those Oklahoma roots!) ⚡️A full day “SUMMIT” of Secret Stuffers doing what we do best: talking, journaling, laughing. We’ll have an in-person community Symposium, I’ll lead a Journal Party, we’ll have lunch together in a downtown rooftop lounge, and more activities meant to foster connection ⚡️On Saturday we’re taking a party bus to the bookstore! 🤣 Is there anything more appropriate for our community?? Find out the full schedule, get details about the Secret Summit hotel room block, and buy your tickets on the dedicated website: SECRET SUMMIT NASHVILLE Spots are limited so don't delay! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 12/23/2025

    🎧 Best Books of the Year!

    We couldn’t close out 2025 without a Best Books of the Year episode with my “real life book club” members Yasmin and Steph. Since I closed the 10 Things To Tell You podcast this summer, I’ve decided to post this annual year-end conversation on Secret Stuff, free and public for all to enjoy just like you did on 10TTTY, but now in a different spot. JOIN SECRET STUFF on SUBSTACK It was a weird reading year for everyone, as you’ll hear us discuss, which led to an uncommon mutual favorite novel, and also some differences of opinion on some of the picks. This conversation felt like the best parts of book club, gushing over a shared love and dissecting our differences of opinions on a different title. Of course, we also couldn’t help but talk about the books we didn’t like in 2025 in a bonus conversation for Secret Stuff members only. If you're a bookworm, make sure you check out: 2026 Secret Stuff Book Selections SLOW READ: The Stand (which starts January 1!) ______ Favorite Books of 2025: Mutual Favorite: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans Yasmin’s Favorites:  Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte  How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast The House of My Mother by Shari Franke Steph’s Favorites:Heart the Lover by Lily King Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe Laura’s Favorites: What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown  Annie Bot by Sierra Greer Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik The Names by Florence Knapp Also Discussed: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan An American Marriage by Tayari Jones The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah  A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Writers and Lovers by Lily King Colored Television by Danzy Senna A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe Fear of Flying by Erica Jong The Measure by Nikki Erlick The Husbands by Holly Gramazio This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

  5. 12/20/2025

    🎧 REPLAY: Secret Stuff Members' Favorite Books of the Year

    As is our tradition, we ended our year in Secret Stuff with our annual No Book Book Club meeting. Instead of all reading the same book, we came with our recommendations for the best things we read this year. These were the books we can’t stop talking about or buying for our loved ones… these were the books that went the distance in 2025. ICYMI, we also announced the 2026 Secret Stuff Book Club selections. For your convenience, we time-stamped this meeting so you can easily find what you may be looking for: Announcements: 3:21 Laura’s Favorite Book Club Moments: 11:17 Fiction Recs: 16:06 Non-Fiction Recs: 58:28 BEST BOOKS OF 2025 Fiction: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino Still Life by Sarah Winman The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling All Fours by Miranda July We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid Miss Austen by Gill Hornby The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill The Lexington Letter (from the TV Show “Severance,” available for free on Apple Books) The You You Are (from the TV Show “Severance,” also available for free on Apple Books) The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman The Overstory by Richard Powers How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Non-Fiction: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl The Deepest Well by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Everything is Tuberculosi s by John Green Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America by Sara B. Franklin The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis by Maria Smilios Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton Challenger by Adam Higginbotham It’s Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People by Dr. Ramani Durvasula Also Mentioned: There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Orlando by Virginia Woolf Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The Stacks Podcast Currently Reading Podcast This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

    🎧 REPLAY: Secret Stuff Members' Favorite Books of the Year

  6. 07/31/2025

    African Safari Recap!

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit secretstuff.substack.com Our family of four just returned home from a long-awaited and life-changing trip to Africa. I had so much fun documenting the two-week adventure on Instagram (check out the SAFARI highlight in my bio) that I wanted to share more details about the safaris including our travel coordinator, the three camps where we stayed, what surprised me the most, and the pros and cons of doing this as a vacation with teenagers. For all the links to everything I share in this episode (and some bonus stuff like links to what I packed), check out the full post on Substack.

    African Safari Recap!

  7. 05/27/2025

    Stephen King Summer 2025!

    The 5th annual Stephen King Summer starts June 1 and I am so excited to embark on another summer celebrating the world’s greatest living storyteller. See THIS POST with full details about SKS 2025 **Join SECRET STUFF as a monthly or annual member to get all the Stephen King Summer conversations** By the end of August 2025, you will have a better understanding of Stephen King and his place in the literary landscape. For Stephen King Summer 2025, we're reading: THE SHINING (1977) Under the Dome (2009) And we're watching: Christine (1983) Episode 1 of The Outsider (2020) Doctor Sleep (2019) Stephen King Summer is a part of my Secret Stuff book club & membership community. Browse Stephen King Summer MERCH Not sure where to start with Stephen King? Jump right into Stephen King Summer OR listen to this episodes for book recommendations: Ep 121: Stephen King Starter Kit Ep 222: Stephen King Starter Kit Part II (What To Read And What To Skip) Hope to see you over on Secret Stuff for the 5th annual STEPHEN KING SUMMER! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 05/13/2025

    How have you changed in the last 10 years?

    How have you changed in the last 10 years? Who were you in 2015 and the years following? What is different about your life and ambitions and spirit now? We focused on the areas of family & home life, career paths, and the state of our spiritual/emotional selves. This conversation aired as Ep 265 of the 10 Things To Tell You podcast, but I wanted to put it here for you as part of Secret Stuff AD FREE. My longtime friend, podcasting pioneer, and fellow Substacker Meg Tietz and I get really vulnerable in this conversation. We both say things we’ve never said on microphone before. I hope that listening to it sparks something in you about your past decade. It’s just a really good journal prompt that might lead to an AHA moment, some pattern recognition, and a NOTICING of things you’re ready to release. My conversation partner of 30+ years (!!!) is Meg Tietz. Follow Meg Tietz on Substack or on IG Hire Meg for voice over work (she’s amazing!) Mentioned in this episode: Meg's Deconversion Series on Substack (Part 1) and Part 2 and Part 3 Ep 235: 4 Lessons After Publishing 2 Books Ep 34: The Robbery Ep 194: On Endings and Intuition This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit secretstuff.substack.com/subscribe

  • 8 Episodes

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Conversations and podcast episodes from the Secret Stuff Substack by Laura Tremaine ⚡️ Replays of the Secret Book Club meetings and community Symposiums. Join in the conversation on Substack! secretstuff.substack.com

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