What happens when the life you thought you knew turns out to be built on secrets?

This week on Strong Enough, Claudia King sits down with author Venus Morris Griffin to talk about her new memoir, The Other Side of Perfect: A True Story of Love, Lies, and Learning to Forgive.

Venus shares what inspired her to finally tell the full story of her marriage, the devastating discovery that her husband had been living a double life, and what it was like to watch the future she thought she had disappear as he ultimately went to prison.

But this conversation is about much more than betrayal.

Venus and Claudia talk about what happens after the crisis, when the headlines fade and you are left to figure out who you are, how you rebuild, and whether forgiveness is possible without excusing what happened. Venus opens up about moving forward, creating a new life for herself and her family, and learning that healing does not require pretending the past never happened.

This is an honest conversation about betrayal, survival, forgiveness, identity, and finding the courage to build a life that looks very different from the one you originally imagined.

Learn more about Venus and The Other Side of Perfect at VenusMorrisGriffin.com.

Topics include: betrayal trauma, infidelity, marriage, forgiveness, resilience, healing after betrayal, starting over, family trauma, surviving adversity, rebuilding your life, women’s stories, memoirs, and personal growth.

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What does it take to break cycles of domestic violence, generational trauma, and silence?

On this episode of Strong Enough, Claudia King is joined by author Rae Cline to discuss her powerful debut novel, Precious Ugly, available August 18, 2026. Set in 1985 Appalachia, the novel follows Clementine, a resourceful thirteen-year-old girl living in a van with her abusive, alcoholic father, a charismatic preacher who promises a miracle. As Clementine fights to protect herself and her mother, she must determine whether that promised miracle will save her or destroy her.

Rae shares the inspiration behind Clementine and explains how fiction can illuminate the complicated realities of domestic violence, poverty, addiction, coercive control, and generational trauma. Claudia and Rae also discuss the many ways abuse affects victims and survivors, including the lasting damage caused when children are forced to carry the consequences of adults’ choices.

Rae also introduces the Warm Words Project, her grassroots, community-based outreach initiative supporting people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. Through practical resources, personal connection, and judgment-free kindness, the project demonstrates how small acts of compassion can help someone feel seen during one of the most difficult moments of their life.

This is a conversation about survival, storytelling, empathy, and the courage it takes to imagine a life beyond abuse.

Connect with Rae Cline:

Website and Precious Ugly ordering information: RaeCline.com
Learn about the Warm Words Project
Instagram: @raeclineauthor
Order through Books Are Magic
Order on Amazon

Precious Ugly, published by 7.13 Books, will be available August 18, 2026.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or visit TheHotline.org.

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In this episode of Strong Enough, Claudia King is joined by Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee, the creators and hosts of The Murder Sheet podcast, to examine the shocking murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe.

Spencer and Monique were devoted parents building a life together when they were found murdered inside their Columbus, Ohio, home. Their two young children were discovered unharmed inside the residence. As investigators began piecing together surveillance footage, vehicle data, ballistic evidence, and the couple’s history, the case led them to Monique’s former husband, Michael David McKee.

McKee, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary. Monique and McKee had been briefly married more than a decade before the killings and reportedly separated after approximately eight months.

Claudia, Áine, and Kevin discuss who Spencer and Monique were, what is currently known about the night they were killed, and how investigators identified McKee as the accused suspect. They also examine reports that he may have visited the area near the Tepe home weeks before the murders, raising disturbing questions about possible stalking, surveillance, and whether that earlier visit could have been a “dry run.”

How did the killer enter a home with no obvious signs of forced entry? Was the family being watched? And why can an abusive former partner remain dangerous years, or even decades, after a relationship ends?

This conversation goes beyond the evidence in one developing criminal case to explore coercive control, fixation, stalking, separation violence, and the lasting danger some survivors face long after they believe they have escaped.

Michael David McKee is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Keywords: Spencer Tepe, Monique Tepe, Tepe murders, Michael McKee, The Murder Sheet, Áine Cain, Kevin Greenlee, Claudia King, Strong Enough Podcast, Columbus Ohio murders, Ohio true crime, domestic violence, stalking, coercive control, separation violence, ex-husband accused of murder, aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, true crime podcast, criminal investigation, surveillance footage, ballistic evidence, intimate partner violence

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