
Nobody Needs to Know
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Pidgeon Pagonis
About this listen
From intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis comes a candid and life-affirming true story of identity, lies, family secrets, and the healing power of truth.
Pidgeon Pagonis always felt like their life was a constant attempt to fit in with other girls—a feeling that was only exacerbated when puberty failed to hit. They never understood why…until they uncovered the secret that had haunted their childhood.
Bouncing between their Chicago home and the city’s children’s hospital, Pidgeon weathered a series of traumatic surgeries, fabrications, and misdirections. It wasn’t until college that Pidgeon pieced together the puzzle of their identity: they’d been born intersex but raised as a girl, their life shaped by lies that left them physically and mentally scarred. But for Pidgeon, what began as a shameful and traumatic discovery transforms into a painful yet joyous journey of self-love, truth, and healing.
Pidgeon’s inspiring memoir is for everyone whose body and spirit defy expectations, a fierce challenge to a system hell-bent on enforcing binary definitions. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of the freedom and empowerment that come from learning the truth about who you are—and living it.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Pidgeon Pagonis (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Inverse Cowgirl
- A Memoir
- By: Alicia Roth Weigel
- Narrated by: Alicia Roth Weigel, Jonathan Van Ness
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alicia Weigel is fighting back against the hate and fearmongering to protect the rights and lives of everyone. As an activist and the Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Austin, Alicia has championed legislation to reduce sexual assault and human trafficking, mandate paid sick leave and abortion funding, decriminalize and alleviate homelessness, and target other social determinants of health. In this book, Alicia boldly speaks out about working as a change agent in a state that actively attempts to pass legislation that would erase her existence.
-
-
Important Memoir
- By Jeanine A Mason on 02-15-25
-
My Name Is Barbra
- By: Barbra Streisand
- Narrated by: Barbra Streisand
- Length: 48 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career.
-
-
BARBRA IS LIKE BUTTAH!
- By JoeGato57 on 11-08-23
By: Barbra Streisand
-
Leslie F*cking Jones
- By: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock - foreword
- Narrated by: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you. Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL.
-
-
she's the f*cking BEST
- By Audible Anon on 09-20-23
By: Leslie Jones, and others
-
The Woman in Me
- By: Britney Spears
- Narrated by: Michelle Williams, Britney Spears - introduction
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
-
-
Lack of transparency
- By Lori K on 10-31-23
By: Britney Spears
-
Pageboy
- A Memoir
- By: Elliot Page
- Narrated by: Elliot Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
-
-
Ah, I wish this were better. I'm disappointed.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 06-07-23
By: Elliot Page
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Inverse Cowgirl
- A Memoir
- By: Alicia Roth Weigel
- Narrated by: Alicia Roth Weigel, Jonathan Van Ness
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alicia Weigel is fighting back against the hate and fearmongering to protect the rights and lives of everyone. As an activist and the Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Austin, Alicia has championed legislation to reduce sexual assault and human trafficking, mandate paid sick leave and abortion funding, decriminalize and alleviate homelessness, and target other social determinants of health. In this book, Alicia boldly speaks out about working as a change agent in a state that actively attempts to pass legislation that would erase her existence.
-
-
Important Memoir
- By Jeanine A Mason on 02-15-25
-
My Name Is Barbra
- By: Barbra Streisand
- Narrated by: Barbra Streisand
- Length: 48 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career.
-
-
BARBRA IS LIKE BUTTAH!
- By JoeGato57 on 11-08-23
By: Barbra Streisand
-
Leslie F*cking Jones
- By: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock - foreword
- Narrated by: Leslie Jones, Chris Rock
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hey you guys, it’s Leslie. I’m excited to share my story with you. Now, I’m gonna be honest: Some of the details might be vague because a b*tch is fifty-five and she’s smoked a ton of weed. But while bits might be a touch hazy, I can promise you the underlying truth is REAL.
-
-
she's the f*cking BEST
- By Audible Anon on 09-20-23
By: Leslie Jones, and others
-
The Woman in Me
- By: Britney Spears
- Narrated by: Michelle Williams, Britney Spears - introduction
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
-
-
Lack of transparency
- By Lori K on 10-31-23
By: Britney Spears
-
Pageboy
- A Memoir
- By: Elliot Page
- Narrated by: Elliot Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
-
-
Ah, I wish this were better. I'm disappointed.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 06-07-23
By: Elliot Page
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Hijab Butch Blues
- A Memoir
- By: Lamya H
- Narrated by: Ashraf Shirazi
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher—her female teacher—she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, and it’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her.
-
-
Enlightening
- By Lauretta on 01-31-24
By: Lamya H
-
Counting the Cost
- By: Jill Duggar, Derick Dillard - contributor, Craig Borlase - contributor
- Narrated by: Jill Duggar
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines.
-
-
A Naive Account from a Reality TV Personality
- By Lora Kyle on 09-12-23
By: Jill Duggar, and others
-
Enough
- By: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since a childhood visit to Washington, DC, Cassidy Hutchinson aspired to serve her country in government. Raised in a working-class family with a military background, she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. Despite having no ties to Washington, Hutchinson landed a vital position at the center of the Trump White House.
-
-
Painful
- By Melissa C. on 09-28-23
-
In the Form of a Question
- The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life
- By: Amy Schneider
- Narrated by: Amy Schneider
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In eighth grade, Amy was voted “Most likely to appear on Jeopardy!” by her classmates. Decades later, this trailblazer finally got her chance. Not only did she walk away with $1.3 million while captivating the world with her impressive forty-game winning streak, but she made history and won an even greater prize—the joy of being herself on national television and blazing a trail for openly queer and transgender people around the world. Now, she shares her singular journey that led to becoming an unlikely icon and hero to millions. Her superpower: Boundless curiosity and fearless questioning.
-
-
Disappointed
- By Sandra on 01-13-24
By: Amy Schneider
-
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult
- A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere
- By: Maria Bamford
- Narrated by: Maria Bamford
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it. In Bamford’s “trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy” (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult brings us on a quest to participate in something.
-
-
Hilarious and sincere
- By B. Bazzell on 09-06-23
By: Maria Bamford
-
Women We Buried, Women We Burned
- A Memoir
- By: Rachel Louise Snyder
- Narrated by: Rachel Louise Snyder
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Snyder was eight years old when her mother died, and her distraught father thrust the family into an evangelical, cult-like existence halfway across the country. Furiously rebellious, she was expelled from school and home at age sixteen. Living out of her car and relying on strangers, Rachel found herself masquerading as an adult, talking her way into college, and eventually traveling the globe.
-
-
Excellent!
- By mindovermatter65 on 06-18-23
-
They Called Us Exceptional
- And Other Lies That Raised Us
- By: Prachi Gupta
- Narrated by: Prachi Gupta
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Family defined the cultural identity of Prachi and her brother, Yush, connecting them to a larger Indian American community amid white suburbia. But their belonging was predicated on a powerful myth: the idea that Asian Americans, and Indian Americans in particular, have perfected the alchemy of middle-class life, raising tight-knit, high-achieving families that are immune to hardship. Molding oneself to fit this image often comes at a steep, but hidden, cost.
-
-
Good good
- By Wild on 08-29-23
By: Prachi Gupta
-
Let This Radicalize You
- Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
- By: Kelly Hayes, Mariame Kaba
- Narrated by: Diana Blue
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What fuels and sustains activism and organizing when it feels like our worlds are collapsing? Let This Radicalize You is a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe. Longtime organizers and movement educators Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes examine some of the political lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and consider what this confluence of power can teach us about a future that will require mass acts of care, rescue, and defense, in the face of both state violence and environmental disaster.
-
-
together, we fight back
- By Anonymous User on 05-10-24
By: Kelly Hayes, and others
-
Necessary Trouble
- Growing Up at Midcentury
- By: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Narrated by: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. To be a privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was to be expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For young Drew Gilpin Faust, the acceptance of both female subordination and racial privilege proved intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to become “well adjusted" and to fill the role of a poised young lady that her upbringing imposed, she found resistance was the necessary price of survival.
-
-
My Life written by Her.
- By Jacqueline L Larner on 09-03-23
-
Just Action
- How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law
- By: Richard Rothstein, Leah Rothstein
- Narrated by: Richard Rothstein, Leah Rothstein
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the six years since its initial publication, The Color of Law, “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson), has become a landmark work that—through its nearly one million copies sold—has helped to define the fractious age in which we live. Aware that 21st-century segregation continues to promote entrenched inequality, Richard Rothstein has now teamed with housing policy expert Leah Rothstein to write Just Action, a blueprint for concerned citizens and community leaders.
-
-
Very insightful
- By Christopher Dunlock on 03-31-25
By: Richard Rothstein, and others
-
First Gen
- A Memoir
- By: Alejandra Campoverdi
- Narrated by: Alejandra Campoverdi
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alejandra Campoverdi has been a child on welfare, a White House aide to President Obama, a Harvard graduate, a gang member’s girlfriend, and a candidate for U.S. Congress. She’s ridden on Air Force One and in G-rides. She’s been featured in Maxim magazine and had a double mastectomy. Living a life of contradictory extremes often comes with the territory when you’re a “First and Only.” It also comes at a price. With candor and heart, Alejandra retraces her trajectory as a Mexican American woman raised by an immigrant single mother in Los Angeles.
-
-
Must READ for any Latina
- By M. Delatorre on 09-14-23
-
Juno Loves Legs
- By: Karl Geary
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the backdrop of Dublin in the 1980s, a place of political, social and religious change, the two friends yearn for an unbound life and, together, begin to fight to take up the space of who they truly are. As their defiance reverberates through their lives, they are further alienated from society through acts of bravery and cowardice. Finding themselves as outsiders, they are feared and watched but rarely truly seen.
-
-
thank you karl
- By beka on 05-10-23
By: Karl Geary
Critic reviews
“Pidgeon Pagonis's skillfully narrated memoir takes listeners on their coming-of-age journey as they struggled to fit in with other girls. Pidgeon's voice is calm and has a slight Latin accent.… Once the secret is revealed, Pagonis finds their voice and passion to protect other intersex people from having their body autonomy and choice taken from them.” —AudioFile Magazine
“Pagonis's writing style is accessible and engaging, creating a casual and inviting atmosphere. Their anecdotes about their friends, family, and school years are heartbreaking yet endearing and inspirational. Additionally, listeners who know Chicago will enjoy Pagonis's Chicago accent and their descriptions of familiar landmarks, schools, and neighborhoods. Pagonis's memoir is an intimate look into their life being intersex, offering readers a glimpse into their triumphs, struggles, and journey toward self-acceptance. A raw, can't-stop-listening experience.”—Library Journal
“[H]eart-wrenching…Pagonis’s campaign to speak up on behalf of intersex autonomy is galvanizing, and their journey toward found family is moving. This is an inspiring must-read.”—Publishers Weekly
What listeners say about Nobody Needs to Know
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judy F. Moore
- 08-21-24
The education about intersex individuals
Enjoyed learning more about this topic and struggles to get intersex surgeries stopped. I really liked the main character Pigeon!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Asmodion
- 11-15-23
Everyone Should Know
Pidgeon is fantastic. Everyone should know how intersex peoples' bodily autonomy was and is violated, how it feels to be an outsider and not know why for far too long, and how normative oversimplifications of the world lead to unnecessary brutalization. This is a magnificent and sometimes heartbreaking example.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Audrey G.
- 08-17-23
Great storytelling in addition to education
Pidgeon Pagonis has beautifully written and performed this memoir which is both a personal narrative of their experiences growing up as an intersex person as well as an account of the activist efforts they played a key role in to successfully stop medically unnecessary and harmful surgeries on intersex infants and children at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Entertaining and educational, I listened to the audiobook in only two days. Check it out!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 🦊
- 05-23-24
Pidgeon you rock, super nova style!
I really appreciated this story. it's inspired me . I'm in healthcare, I currently work in pediatrics, I am queer and this story touched my heart. I work in this world, I live in this world, what I heard in this story was important and needs to be internalized by all of us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Georgia Reviewer
- 01-18-25
Fantastic Read!
This is book is a beautifully written memoir in which Pidgeon Pagonis openly shares their lifelong experiences as an intersex person. In addition to the personal perspective, they also present some very eye-opening information about the treatment of intersex individuals, particularly by the medical community. I am confident that surgeries on intersex babies/children originally stemmed from good intentions. But they are, at their very core, genital mutilation. When Americans hear of these types of surgeries in other countries, we are horrified, we call it a crime. The federal courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals classified female genital mutilation as a form of persecution that could be used to seek asylum in the US. Yet these surgeries were being performed in the United States and hailed as a medical marvel. Pidgeon Pagonis is an amazing advocate who has achieved much. I am grateful they chose to share their story and help to open the eyes of those who have the luxury of never have to worry about the issues that intersex individuals have to face, with others try to determine their bodies and identifies from both. Books like this will help us as a society to progress.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William Bradshaw
- 09-28-23
Low hanging fruit
In our efforts to make this world, more humane and equal for all people, the work Pigeon has done should be replicated throughout the world.
Well written performed and wow what a story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mchammer
- 09-18-23
Couldn’t stop listening
Pidgeon Pagonis is an amazing soul. I couldn’t stop listening to this book. Pidgeon’s narration is captivating and their story is inspiring. I will be looking out for their activism in the future!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Jenson
- 08-24-23
A True Super Hero
This is a compelling and thoughtful memoir detailing the journey from adolescence to a stunning realization and from victimhood to advocate. Additionally, the book is well written and the naration inhances the poignancy of the story; it gives me hope for a better future with more inclusion and bodily autonomy for all persons. I stayed up late to finish this story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cheri Bishop
- 09-05-23
AMAZING
Very thought provoking. Such a powerful story of an undeniable strong person. Thank you for sharing your journey. MAD RESPECT
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Catherine Y.
- 08-05-24
Well-written, wonderful voice, informative, and entertaining
This is a heart-wrenching, heart-warming, beautiful mémoire. It has helped me shift my perspective on gender identity and it has challenged some of my prejudices that I didn’t realize I still had. It’s an easy listen and if you are like me you will cry at a few points.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!