Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power

MJ Maeyers
  • 5.0 (1)
  • PERSONAL JOURNALS

When I was five years old, I watched my father threaten to drive off a bridge. Years later, I began to understand the truth: my father — a respected school headmaster and teacher, trusted by families and admired by students — was not who he appeared to be. Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power is a serial narrative podcast and true story about how one man’s lies and abuse of power tore his family apart — and my attempt to understand why so many people chose to believe him instead of the truth. Told through the actual letters exchanged during my parents’ bitter divorce, alongside memories I can’t forget, this podcast examines power, control, loyalty, manipulation, and deception — and what happens when truth is managed, softened, or replaced to protect the person who controls the board. Season 1: The Prologue sets the stage. The pieces are arranged, the players take their positions, and a family prepares for a conflict that will change everything. Season 2: The Departure unfolds day by day through letters written during a family crisis. As the situation escalates, the story told to the outside world is carefully shaped — not through quiet, but through narrative substitution, strategic omission, and reputation management. What emerges is my study of how truth is redirected, how authority is protected, and how reality itself becomes negotiable. Companion Book & Exclusive Content This podcast is the companion to my upcoming book. To be the first to know when it’s released, join my mailing list at https://www.mjmaeyers.com. Bonus Letters & Behind-the-Scenes Insights To hear the full, unedited letters featured in these episodes — plus behind-the-scenes context — visit patreon.com/mjmaeyers. In a world where power protects lies… speaking the truth is how you change the game. Disclaimer: All names, locations, and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.

  1. 4D AGO

    April 7

    April 7 begins with uncertainty. After my father’s disappearance the day before, my family is left trying to piece together what has happened — where he is, what he intends to do next, and how seriously to take the letter he posted on the school door the day before. This brief episode continues Season 2 of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power with the next set of letters, presented exactly as we received them. There is no commentary or analysis — only the documents themselves, read in full and in chronological order. As concern spreads beyond the immediate family, communication widens and the narrative begins to shift. What started as a private dispute is now pulling in others, adding urgency and confusion to the situation. Season 2 unfolds over nine days and seven days of letters. April 7 marks the moment when panic sets in — and when it becomes clear this may not be just another empty threat. ⚠️ Content Note: This series 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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    4 min

  2. JAN 27

    April 6

    Season 2 of Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power begins on April 6 — the day the written record takes over. Following a proposal my father titled Operation: Divide and Move On, the conflict inside my family moves from spoken arguments to letters, emails, and formal threats. On this day, the tension that had been building quietly reaches a turning point, not through a dramatic confrontation, but through what is put in writing — and what is left unsaid. This episode contains only the letters, read in full and in chronological order, exactly as they were received. There is no commentary or analysis — just the documents themselves.  However, additional background and context related to these letters is available separately on Patreon.  Season 2 unfolds over nine days and seven days of letters. April 6 marks the moment when private family conflict becomes something else entirely, setting in motion a chain of events that will shape everything that follows. ⚠️ Content Note: This series 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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    25 min

  3. SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    Season 2 Trailer: The Departure

    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 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    3 min

  4. 12/30/2025

    Goodbye, I Love You

    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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    24 min

  5. 12/23/2025

    Not That Important

    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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    30 min

  6. 12/16/2025

    Getting What You Deserve

    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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    28 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    Time To Be Selfish

    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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    33 min

  8. 11/18/2025

    In Writing

    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. 🔒 Link to Patreon episode 🎵 Music Credit: Opening and closing music features Moonlight Sonata performed with permission by Paul Pitman.  This piece is used intentionally. My father often played Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven on our piano at home, and I remember sitting in the hallway listening as a young child. Its presence in this podcast reflects the emotional atmosphere of these events — restrained, familiar, and unresolved. 🌐 mjmaeyers.com

    28 min
See All (16)

Trailers

About

When I was five years old, I watched my father threaten to drive off a bridge. Years later, I began to understand the truth: my father — a respected school headmaster and teacher, trusted by families and admired by students — was not who he appeared to be. Vassalage: Truth, Lies, and Power is a serial narrative podcast and true story about how one man’s lies and abuse of power tore his family apart — and my attempt to understand why so many people chose to believe him instead of the truth. Told through the actual letters exchanged during my parents’ bitter divorce, alongside memories I can’t forget, this podcast examines power, control, loyalty, manipulation, and deception — and what happens when truth is managed, softened, or replaced to protect the person who controls the board. Season 1: The Prologue sets the stage. The pieces are arranged, the players take their positions, and a family prepares for a conflict that will change everything. Season 2: The Departure unfolds day by day through letters written during a family crisis. As the situation escalates, the story told to the outside world is carefully shaped — not through quiet, but through narrative substitution, strategic omission, and reputation management. What emerges is my study of how truth is redirected, how authority is protected, and how reality itself becomes negotiable. Companion Book & Exclusive Content This podcast is the companion to my upcoming book. To be the first to know when it’s released, join my mailing list at https://www.mjmaeyers.com. Bonus Letters & Behind-the-Scenes Insights To hear the full, unedited letters featured in these episodes — plus behind-the-scenes context — visit patreon.com/mjmaeyers. In a world where power protects lies… speaking the truth is how you change the game. Disclaimer: All names, locations, and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.

Information