Hidden Chapters: Seeing the Story Beyond What You Can See

Genevieve Kruger- Host of Hidden Chapters Podcast
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Behind every person is a story you may not know. Hidden Chapters is a storytelling podcast exploring the experiences, seasons, and moments that shape who we become. Through honest, heartfelt conversations, guests share the chapters of their lives that often remain unseen, the challenges they've faced, the changes they've navigated, and the lessons they are still discovering along the way. These are not perfectly packaged stories with every detail tied up in a bow. They are real conversations with real people who are willing to reflect on the moments that changed them, challenged them, and shaped their perspective. From identity and faith to military life, relationships, loss, resilience, and unexpected turns, every story offers a reminder that we are more connected than we realize. When we listen to someone else's journey, we often discover pieces of our own. Hosted by Genevieve Kruger, Hidden Chapters creates space to look beyond what is visible and understand the person, experiences, and chapters that shaped them. Because every person has a hidden chapter. Hidden Chapters exists to honor the stories we don't always see.

  1. Sep 4

    "I really like who I am": Becoming Yourself While Losing Everything

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! "Despite everything that happened, despite everything I've been through, I really like who I am." In 2018, Niki Boger left Germany and moved to the United States to pursue a career in acting. But while she was building something new, she was losing everything familiar. Over the next seven and a half years, she lost nearly every parent figure in her life, along with the relationship she thought was heading toward marriage, all while navigating a new country, a pandemic, and an industry that kept shifting beneath her feet. From the outside, people saw the actress, the writer, the playwright. They didn't see what it cost her to keep going. This is not a story about grief alone. It's about what happens when you're becoming someone new while losing so many of the people who knew who you were. 📖  About Niki Boger Niki Boger is an actress, writer, and playwright whose work is shaped by deep personal experience, reflection, and transformation. Her creative projects include the play In Between, which explores the space between life and death, drawing from the emotional truths of grief, identity, and growth. She is currently in pre-production on a new TV show. 💛  Connect with Niki Boger If Niki's story stayed with you, share this episode with someone who might need to hear it too. You'll find links to her work below, including her play In Between and everything she's created from this chapter of her life. 🌐 Website: https://nikijborger.com/  🎭 Her Play, In Between, and other works: https://nikijborger.com/plays/ 📩 Reach out to Niki: niki@firewolfent.com  📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NikiJBorger  📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikijborger/  ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO8kBxwCdcLCjttdZi3X12A Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

  2. Aug 21

    Season 4 Special Feature: Genevieve Kruger on the Tactical Treasures Podcast

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! Season 4 begins a little differently. Before we officially begin Season 4 of Hidden Chapters, I wanted to share a little more of my own story. If you've been listening for a while, you're used to hearing me ask the questions. This time, the roles were reversed. I recently had the privilege of joining Tracy "Mrs. JDog" Flanagan on the Tactical Treasures Podcast, where she turned the questions toward me. We talked about my military journey, the experiences that shaped me, the transition into a new chapter of life, and the story behind creating Hidden Chapters. When I listened back to our conversation, I knew it belonged here. Before I ask my Season 4 guests to open the hidden chapters of their stories, I wanted to invite you into one of mine. A heartfelt thank you to Tracy and the entire Tactical Treasures team for inviting me onto their show and graciously allowing me to share this conversation with the Hidden Chapters community. 🇺🇸 About Tactical Treasures🇺🇸 Tactical Treasures uncovers the powerful stories of the military community, highlighting service, the transition to civilian life, and the invaluable "tactical treasures" that guide people along the way. If you enjoyed hearing my story through Tracy's questions, I hope you'll take a moment to explore Tactical Treasures and the stories they're sharing with veterans, military families, and the broader military community. Listen & Connect with Tactical Treasures 🌐 Website: https://tacticaltreasurespodcast.com/ 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tacticaltreasures 👩🏻‍💻 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacticaltreasurespodcast 🎙️ Watch the original conversation: https://youtu.be/JjBQSgdencQ?si=j781smE9dxjVFW4M Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    Season 4 Special Feature: Genevieve Kruger on the Tactical Treasures Podcast

  3. Aug 7

    A New Chapter Begins | Hidden Chapters Season 4 Preview, New Cover Art & What's Ahead

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! Welcome to Season 4 of Hidden Chapters!  🎉 This is more than a new season. It's the beginning of a new chapter for the podcast. In this short episode, I'm sharing the story behind Hidden Chapters' new cover art, why I've made the decision to move to a biweekly release schedule, and what you can expect from the conversations ahead. "Hidden Chapters exists to honor the stories we don't always see," has become the heartbeat of everything I'm creating. Thank you for being part of this community. Whether you've listened from the very beginning or you're just joining us, I'm grateful you're here. 🎧  🎙️Season 4 officially begins on August 21, and I can't wait to introduce you to the incredible guests and meaningful conversations ahead. If you haven't already, be sure to follow the podcast so new episodes automatically appear in your library every other Friday. Because every person carries a hidden chapter...and every story deserves to be honored. Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    A New Chapter Begins | Hidden Chapters Season 4 Preview, New Cover Art & What's Ahead

  4. Jul 31

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Mended with Gold

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! ☀️  As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast,  stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer.  ☀️ Original Shownotes: What if the cracks in your life could become your most beautiful part? Inspired by Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, I share how heartbreak, disappointment, and loss can be transformed into strength, light, and beauty. In this solo episode, I reflect on my own hidden chapters, stories from past guests, and what it truly means to be “mended with gold.” If you’ve ever felt broken or unfinished, this episode is for you, a reminder that healing is possible and beauty can emerge from the cracks. Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Mended with Gold

  5. Jul 24

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Mick Wienholt

    Send me a message via text or voicemail!  ☀️ As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast,  stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer.  ☀️ Original Shownotes: 🎙️  Episode Summary In this deeply moving episode, Mick shares his journey of navigating unimaginable grief after the loss of his son, the raw and authentic prayers that sustained him, and how his faith in God has transformed over 14 years. Mick also opens up about building his podcast from the ground up without financial compensation, trusting God every step of the way. From heartbreak to hope, and from uncertainty to purpose, this episode is a testament to how faith, family, and persistence can turn pain into blessing 🎧 What we talk about in this episode: Learning to pray authentically and be fully raw with GodMick’s faith journey: from early struggles to deep trust and spiritual growthExperiencing God’s provision, guidance, and blessings through life’s challengesStarting and growing a podcast without pay while trusting God for provisionLessons on faith, perseverance, and trusting God even when circumstances make no logical sense📖  Mick's Hidden Chapter Moment  Mick's hidden chapter is the long stretch between January 4, 2012 and March 2025 :the years most people never saw. The grief of losing his son. A miscarriage. The quiet rebuilding of a faith that started on his knees in a hospital hallway. It's the savings account meant for a mortgage that became a year of provision, and the job offer that fell through in a way that could only be described as God. The three words, sit, wait, and trust that asked him to trust completely before he had any reason on paper to do so. The hidden chapter is where God was building something Mick couldn't see yet. And everything visible now grew from what happened in that invisible season. 🔗  Resources & Mentions:  "The Awe of God" by John BevereEphesians 2:10, Luke 6:46, Matthew 6:26"When You Look Podcast", Episode 33 - Mick's full testimony🔗 🎙️🎧 Mick and I connected with Podmatch.com https://www.joinpodmatch.com/genevievekruger📩 Connect with Mick: Mick is the host of the When You Look podcast. Website: whenyoulook.com 🎙️  Podmatch.com Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Mick Wienholt

  6. Jul 17

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Laura Part 2

    Send me a message via text or voicemail!  ☀️ As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast,  stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer. ☀️ Original Shownotes: If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, start there, it’s the foundation for everything in this episode. 🎙️  Episode Summary PART 2 In Part 1, Laura Engel shared what happened in 1967: the pregnancy, the unwed mothers’ home in New Orleans, the forced goodbye, and the fifty years of silence that followed.  In Part 2, everything changes.  In 2016, Laura submitted her DNA to Ancestry.com. A few months later, her firstborn son,  the one she’d been told to forget, actually found her. What followed was five years of reunion: of learning who he had become, of introducing him to family, of filling in the gaps on both sides. And then, in 2021, she lost him again in a way she never saw coming.  She almost didn’t publish the book. In this episode, Laura talks about what changed her mind, what her story has meant to the thousands of adoptees and birth mothers who found themselves in its pages, and why she’s still speaking for all the women who can’t yet. 🎧  What We Talk About in This Episode The DNA test that changed everything and the moment Laura realized her son had found herWhat the reunion with Richard was like after 49 years apartThe grief of losing Richard in 2021 and what she calls “the most complicated grief I’ve ever lived through”Why she almost pulled the book from publication after he died and what made her say yes📖  Laura's Hidden Chapter Moment After Richard died, Laura’s husband Gene said something to her that she couldn’t shake. She told him she wished Richard had never found her. And he said: "don’t ever say that again. Because look what you learned. Look what you got. You loved him. He loved you. And we have three grandchildren we never would have known existed." That’s the hidden chapter in all of this. Not just the shame, not just the grief, but the love that was there the whole time, even in the parts that hurt the most.   🔗 Resources Mentioned: Laura’s memoir: You’ll Forget This Ever Happened by Laura L. Engel: available on Amazon and through She Writes PressLaura’s website and the Family Secrets podcast episode where she first shared her story: lauralengel.comAdoption Knowledge Affiliates: adoptionknowledge.org — education and support across the adoption triadCUB – Concerned United Birthparents: cubirthparents.org — support for birth parentsAdoptee Rights Law Center: adopteerightslaw.com — check your state’s current law on original birth certificate accessISRR – International Soundex Reunion Registry: isrr.org — mutual consent reunion registryDNA Detectives on Facebook — volunteer search angels to help adoptees and birth parents connectAlliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: allianceofhope.org988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Laura Part 2

  7. Jul 10

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Laura Engel Part 1

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! ☀️ As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast,  stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer. ☀️ 🎙️  Episode Summary PART 1:  Laura Engel was seventeen when she got pregnant, unmarried, in Mississippi in 1967.  Her family sent her to an unwed mothers' home in New Orleans for five months.  She signed papers she didn't want to sign. She then came back home to her parents house and was expected to just keep going on with her life.    She did that...for fifty years. 🎧  In Part 1 of our conversation,  Laura shares what her experience of being pregnant, the months living at the home, and what the next fifty years looked like carrying a child she never forgot.  We end on a cliffhanger: the son she had to give away, Jamie, now named Richard, finally found her!   📖 Laura's Hidden Chapter Moment:  The pregnancy, the unwed mother home, and giving up her baby, are all parts people can only imagine.  The hidden chapter is what came after.  Laura walked back into her life and nobody every spoke of it again. Not because she'd healed, but because that was how it was supposed to be.  🔗 Resources & Links Include these in your episode show notes so listeners who connect with Laura’s story can find support and community: Laura’s Links • Website: lauralengel.com (includes a Starter Guide for finding a lost loved one) • Book: You’ll Forget This Ever Happened available on Amazon and through She Writes Press • First podcast appearance: Dani Shapiro’s Family Secrets — available on Laura’s website Adoption & Birth Parent Resources • CUB (Concerned United Birthparents): cubirthparents.org — support for birth parents • Adoption Knowledge Affiliates: adoptionknowledge.org — education and advocacy across the adoption triad • ISRR (International Soundex Reunion Registry): isrr.org — mutual consent reunion registry • DNA Detectives (Facebook group) — volunteer search angels to help adoptees and birth parents connect • Adoptee Rights Law Center: adopteerightslaw.com — advocacy for open original birth certificates For Adoptees Seeking Records • Many states are gradually opening access — check your state’s current law at adopteerightslaw.com/map • Ancestry.com and 23andMe DNA testing remain powerful tools for connection Grief & Suicide Loss Resources • Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: allianceofhope.org • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org  |  Crisis line: 988 Podmatch.com Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Laura Engel Part 1

  8. Jul 3

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Melissa Thicklin

    Send me a message via text or voicemail! ☀️ As part of the Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series, we’re revisiting conversations that shaped the heart of this podcast,  stories that continue to reflect the themes introduced in the Season 3 bridge trailer. ☀️ This week's episode is a tender conversation.  It explores grief and joy existing side by side and what it looks like to carry both at the same time.  It's a reminder that healing is not linear.  Melissa's joy resonates through her interview! Original Shownotes: In this heartfelt episode of Hidden Chapters, Melissa shares her journey through grief after losing her twin brother, Grant, and the unexpected way his loss transformed her life. Grant was the bubbly one, the encourager, the light in every room. Melissa often called herself “the mean one,” the twin who got them into trouble. But when Grant passed, something shifted. His joy became her legacy. Melissa opens up about their unbreakable twin bond, the devastation of sudden loss, and how faith, grief, and love have shaped the way she now lives with intention, joy, and an open heart to serve others. This isn’t just a story about loss. It’s a story about choosing joy alongside grief, honoring the people we love, and learning how to carry their light forward in our own lives. Contact Melissa:  📧 Email:  thicklinm@yahoo.com  Support the show 🌐  Visit my website: https://hiddenchapterspodcast.com/ and stay connected!  🎙️  Want to be a guest on Hidden Chapters. Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/genevievekruger or visit the website to apply to be a guest.   🎵 Background Music: "In Time" by Folk_acoustic from Pixabay

    ☀️ Hidden Chapters Summer Replay Series | Melissa Thicklin
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About

Behind every person is a story you may not know. Hidden Chapters is a storytelling podcast exploring the experiences, seasons, and moments that shape who we become. Through honest, heartfelt conversations, guests share the chapters of their lives that often remain unseen, the challenges they've faced, the changes they've navigated, and the lessons they are still discovering along the way. These are not perfectly packaged stories with every detail tied up in a bow. They are real conversations with real people who are willing to reflect on the moments that changed them, challenged them, and shaped their perspective. From identity and faith to military life, relationships, loss, resilience, and unexpected turns, every story offers a reminder that we are more connected than we realize. When we listen to someone else's journey, we often discover pieces of our own. Hosted by Genevieve Kruger, Hidden Chapters creates space to look beyond what is visible and understand the person, experiences, and chapters that shaped them. Because every person has a hidden chapter. Hidden Chapters exists to honor the stories we don't always see.

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