It started out small.

When Jack Brunson’s dad died, it was easy to tell his friends that he didn’t get much of an inheritance. They’d met when they were all young and broke and had each other’s backs.

A lot of those friends were still scraping by, keeping the anti-capitalist flame alive in Tennessee’s punk scene. Coming into a six-figure inheritance would have changed the way those friends saw him, Brunson reasoned: better to just keep it to himself.

Most of us tell little white lies at some point or another to make things less weird about money. But what happens when disaster strikes, and your money situation becomes impossible to hide?

That’s what we’re exploring on this week’s show. We’re also looking for your stories about those little white lies you’ve told to cover up your money, or lack of money. We promise not to judge. Drop us a line at uncomfortable@marketplace.org.

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