Every family has secrets. Some struggle to keep them hidden for years or even generations. In Run, Hide, Repeat, Pauline Dakin exposes her family's years-long mystery. She unburdens herself in this five-part podcast, much like she did in her 2017 memoir.

Pauline, her younger brother Ted, and their mom Ruth were on the run for almost two decades. Their odyssey began four years after Ruth divorced her alcoholic husband, who had violent tendencies. Podcast listeners discover he actually had nothing to do with their run-and-hide lifestyle. Instead, their years-long torture came from an unexpected source.

Pauline hosts and narrates this series, based on her book Run, Hide, Repeat: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood. In 2018, the memoir won the prestigious Edna Staebler Award for creative nonfiction. In the book, Pauline writes about moving multiple times across Canada from age nine. While her memoir is fascinating, the podcast presents a much more intimate view.

Podcast listeners hear how Pauline and her family had to live double lives. Life on the run is only a tiny part of this family's ordeal. She tells their story through her own narration. She also interviews her brother and mother. As each episode progresses and the story unfolds, listeners get invested. The podcast's storytelling and production are partly responsible for its immersive nature. Well-crafted narration intermingles audio excerpts of home videos and interviews.

Run, Hide, Repeat is one of those stories that feel like life imitating art. The occurrences Pauline details on the podcast are so surreal it's hard to wrap one's head around them. The feelings the short-form podcast evokes range from empathy to anger and dismay.