The Memory Hole Podcast Listen now: my July 2025 conversation with Dan Savage
Dec 9, 2025
Jenna Martin, the creator and host of The Memory Hole podcast, dives deep into the controversial recovered memory movement. She unpacks the timeline of its rise and how it became embedded in therapy and culture, discussing key texts like *The Courage to Heal*. Jenna emphasizes the distinction between real trauma and unverified recovered memories, cautioning against the pseudoscience still present among professionals. The conversation also explores the cultural narratives in literature and film that perpetuate these ideas, setting the stage for her upcoming season.
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Recovered Memory Movement As A Cultural Trend
- The recovered memory movement of the late 1980s–90s encouraged excavating supposed forgotten sexual trauma.
- Jenna Martin explains this became a cultural trend through therapy, self-help books, and peer reinforcement.
Personal Memory-War Household Example
- Jenna Martin recounts living with roommates who practiced recovered-memory techniques like journaling with the non-dominant hand.
- She remembers therapists advising clients to "act as if" they'd been abused when no memories existed.
From Activism To Therapeutic Trend
- Early feminist efforts to expose incest were valid but therapy overcorrection medicalized the issue.
- That shift turned activism into a trend that encouraged searching for hidden abuse.
