Pidgeon Pagonis’ memoir ’Nobody Needs to Know’ reclaims intersex identity

Pidgeon Pagonis grew up thinking they’d survived cancer as a child, and the disease was the reason their body didn’t develop quite like the other girls at school. It wasn’t until college that they realized they were actually born intersex, and all the surgeries, secrets and confusion came into focus. In their new memoir, Nobody Needs to Know, Pagonis reckons with how they came to understand and accept the truth about their body. They tell NPR’s Leila Fadel about that journey and about how they’re thinking about community and activism now that their story is out in the world.