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LA Calling: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Don Anderson
LA Calling, formerly Missing Pieces, is a show about people and the stories they carry. Family secrets, strange turns, complicated relationships, and things we've lived with for years. Things we've only just discovered. The show emanates from Los Angeles, but the stories can come from anywhere. Hosted and produced by Don Anderson.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 weeks ago45 min
Fathers and Sons
Two stories about fathers, sons, and the complicated things passed between them. Bob Thiele Jr. tells the story behind “What a Wonderful World,” followed by a father who gains a son but, in the process, loses a daughter.
- Sep 4, 202657 min
Joanna Go Forth
Joanna grew up believing she was the miracle baby. Her two older siblings were adopted, but Joanna was the biological child her parents had waited years for. Then, when she was 15, her sister told her a secret that changed everything. Also in this episode: a pretty big announcement. Missing Pieces is becoming LA Calling. Same feed. Same storyteller. A much bigger world of stories. 🧩 Joanna: TikTok — @Joannamommma 📸 Instagram: @npe_life_podcast 📧 donNPE@icloud.com ⭐️ If you like the show...
- Aug 18, 202658 min
Uncle Clarence
🎙️ Uncle Clarence Ed Hill grew up with a complicated family story. His mom married his uncle — technically, his dad’s sister’s ex-husband — and Clarence became the man who helped raise him. Years later, an Ancestry DNA test made that already complicated family tree even more complicated. This is a story about family secrets, identity, DNA, and one very unexpected ending. ❤️ Choosing Hope https://choosinghopeproject.org 💜 Free Naloxone & Overdose Reversal Training https://www.zeffy.com/en-...
- Aug 2, 20261h 12m
Alison From Ashes
🧩 In this episode of Missing Pieces, Don sits down with Alison, a sober solo traveler who has explored some of the most remote places in the world. A DNA test she took out of curiosity revealed that the man who raised her was not her biological father—and that the sister she grew up with was actually her half-sister. Alison shares how the discovery shook her identity, led her to two more half-siblings, and forced her to reconsider everything she believed about her family, her heritage and eve...
- Jul 8, 20261h 1m
Lisa Joyner
🧩 In this episode of Missing Pieces, Don sits down with television host, journalist, adoptee, and adoptive mother Lisa Joyner. Lisa shares the story of searching for and meeting both of her biological parents, the emotional impact of finally seeing herself reflected in another person, and how her own adoption experience shaped the way she approached motherhood. They also look back at Long Lost Family, the care that went into those powerful reunions, and Lisa’s new podcast, Plus One with Lisa ...
- Jun 27, 202644 min
Relative Strangers
🧩 Relative Strangers This week on Missing Pieces — NPE Life, Don talks with writer Laura Jenkins, whose essay appears in the new anthology Relative Strangers: Inheritance, Identity, and the Meaning of Kinship, edited by B.K. Jackson. Laura shares her story of discovering she is an NPE and the emotional journey that followed — the shock, the questions, the search for truth, and the complicated process of making sense of identity when the story you were given turns out not to be the whole story...
- Jun 15, 202658 min
Analog Rick
🧩 Analog Rick In 1992, Rick set out to find his birth mother’s family without DNA tests, without Ancestry, without 23andMe, without Facebook, and without the internet as we know it. All he had were a few pieces of information, some determination, and the willingness to follow a trail the old-fashioned way. In this episode of Missing Pieces — NPE Life, Rick tells the story of how he found the missing pieces of who he was. And make sure you listen to the end, when Don shares what happened after...
- May 31, 202656 min
Veronica From The Other Side
Veronica From The Other Side In this episode of Missing Pieces — NPE Life, Don talks with Veronica, who discovered in middle age that her father had two children outside of his marriage. For NPEs — Not Parent Expected — adoptees, donor-conceived people, and others who uncover family secrets through DNA, the focus is often on the person making the discovery. But what about the family on the other side? What is it like to get the call that a stranger shares your father’s DNA? What happens when ...
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About LA Calling
LA Calling, formerly Missing Pieces, is a show about people and the stories they carry. Family secrets, strange turns, complicated relationships, and things we've lived with for years. Things we've only just discovered. The show emanates from Los Angeles, but the stories can come from anywhere. Hosted and produced by Don Anderson.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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How often does LA Calling release new episodes?
LA Calling publishes biweekly. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
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LA Calling covers topics including History, Music, Fiction, Documentary, Relationships, Culture, Journals, Society & Culture, Personal Journals. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
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