What Tom Junod has said about Family secrets

2 quotes · 1 episode · Jun 21, 2026

Tom Junod, American magazine writer known for profiles in GQ and Esquire, author of the memoir "In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man", has been quoted on Family secrets 2 times in 1 episode of The Daily, most recently on June 21, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.

In their words

  • Junod explains he did not tell his mother about his father's secrets because he believed it would have destroyed his parents' marriage.

    “But then I knew that it was the nuclear codes to my family. I mean, I don't think my parents' marriage would have survived”

    The Daily: Can a Bad Man Be a Good Father? (Jun 21, 2026) · Listen from 20:42

  • Junod describes his ethical hesitation about contacting the Monahan family, whose lives his father had disrupted decades earlier.

    “40 years ago invaded this family's life. And it had a tragic ending. Do I presume to do that again?”

    The Daily: Can a Bad Man Be a Good Father? (Jun 21, 2026) · Listen from 33:24

Episodes

  • Can a Bad Man Be a Good Father?

    The Daily · Jun 21, 2026 · 47 min

    Michael Barbaro talks with writer Tom Junod about his charismatic, philandering father Lou and the secret half-sister Junod uncovered after his father's death.

Tom Junod on other topics