Greetings from Showcase, a podcast from PRX’s Radiotopia featuring original series of all stripes.

Coming up first in the new year on Showcase: Secrets, by Swedish producers Mohamed El Abed, Martin Johnson and Åsa Secher, explores the secrets we keep in our lives, and the overwhelming complexities of being human. Stay tuned for six weekly episodes starting January 12.

Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase.

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us.

What happens when a secret becomes larger than life? When Mohamed’s mother was a young teenager in Morocco, she entered an arranged marriage with his father, Ben Assai. When Mohamed’s father eventually travelled to Sweden to start a new life for his family, he met another woman and with her conceived a secret daughter, Maria.

In episode two, we also travel deep into the forest to meet the Norwegian nature photographer Terje Hellesö, who took photos of a world in the forest that didn’t exist.

Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.

Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase.

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. What happens when you’re too ashamed to face the truth?

Mohamed’s parents both worked as cleaners, trying to earn enough money to feed six children. When Mohamed was just a year old, his father left his mother in Sweden and travelled back to Morocco, leaving her alone to raise their children. She continued to work day and night to make ends meet.

Since Mohamed’s childhood, thousands more immigrants have arrived in Sweden with dreams of a different life. In episode three we meet Zakaria Hersi, who was too ashamed to tell his father, who was living with him, that he was unemployed. Instead he spent months in the public library, pretending every morning to commute to a job that didn’t exist.

Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.

Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase.

Secrets is a show about the secrets we all carry inside of us. What happens when you face those secrets?

In the final episode of our series, Mohamed’s secret sister Maria finally agrees to meet. Mohamed brings his daughter Samira with him to the meeting at Maria’s house a few hours drive outside Stockholm. They finally meet and talk, and try to understand together why Maria became a secret for the rest of the world.

Also in episode six: We meet the former MI-5 agent Annie Machon, who was forced to hide from the British intelligence after blowing the whistle on classified agency activities.

Secrets is produced and hosted by Mohamed El Abed and Martin Johnson, with additional reporting by Åsa Secher, from the Swedish production company, Soundtelling. Executive producer is Julie Shapiro. Artwork is by Sepidar Hosseini, and music is by Min stora sorg.

Secrets is a production of Showcase, from PRX’s Radiotopia. Find out more and listen to the previous series, Ways of Hearing and The Polybius Conspiracy, at radiotopia.fm/showcase.