The Sunday Read: ‘The Vanishing Family: Life in the Shadow of a Cruel Genetic Mutation’
The Daily6 Aug 2023

The Sunday Read: ‘The Vanishing Family: Life in the Shadow of a Cruel Genetic Mutation’

When Barb’s father all but left, her mother turned inward, sitting quietly in front of the television, always smoking, often with a cocktail. Something had overtaken her, though it wasn’t clear what.

Six years later, Barb was 20 and in college when someone else in the family needed help. Her sister Christy was the second-born, 24 years older than Barb and the star of the family in many ways. But where once Christy was capable and professionally ambitious and socially conscious, now, at 44, she was alone, her clothes unkempt and ripped, her hair unwashed, her marriage over.

Depression was the first suspected diagnosis, then schizophrenia, though neither seemed quite right. Christy wasn’t sad or delusional; she wasn’t even upset. It was more as if she were reverting to a childlike state, losing her knack for self-regulation. Her personality was diluting — on its way out, with seemingly nothing to replace it.

What was left of Christy was chaotic and unpredictable. She refused to bathe and stopped bothering to make meals. She crashed a neighbor’s party and made odd conversation with strangers. She clogged a toilet with tampons and flooded the house. She was gleefully impulsive, spending thousands of dollars a year on magazine subscriptions. That strange, reckless profligacy made Barb think of their mother, who in her final years sat at home, saying yes to every sales phone call. How heartbreaking but also interesting, Barb thought, that Christy shared the same peculiar tendencies — a family trait of sorts.

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Episoder(2692)

Friday, Feb. 3, 2017

Friday, Feb. 3, 2017

The biggest story in sports meets the biggest story in politics. And a bloody mission in Yemen reminds us that a new administration doesn’t always mean a new start. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017

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Who is influencing our new president’s views of Islam and radical Islamic terrorism? Are we seeing the beginning of a Tea Party for the Left? And why are its leaders looking to Republicans for inspiration? More on that — plus Beyoncé — on today’s show. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

2 Feb 201722min

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017

In a ceremony made for prime-time television, President Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee: Neil M. Gorsuch, a conservative judge with a sterling résumé. We spent the night at The New York Times talking with some of our most insightful colleagues about what the nomination means. We also get on the phone with the chief executive of Hobby Lobby, a company at the center of one of Judge Gorsuch’s most important cases. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Coming Soon: “The Daily”

Coming Soon: “The Daily”

This is how the news should sound. Fifteen minutes a day. Five days a week. Hosted by Michael Barbaro. Powered by New York Times journalism. Starting Feb. 1. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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