Brooke Nevils with Katie Curran O’Malley: UNSPEAKABLE THINGS

Brooke Nevils and Katie Curran O’Malley visit the Ivy Bookshop to discuss Nevils’ new memoir, Unspeakable Things, in an event benefitting the Women’s Law Center of Maryland.

Through groundbreaking interviews with leading clinicians, forensic professionals, attorneys, and frontline researchers, Unspeakable Things challenges our understanding of consent, power, and the lingering, often misunderstood effects of trauma and shame. Originating with Nevils’ own story, which helped to catalyze the MeToo movement, the book guides us through a nuanced re-examination of everything we think we know about sexual harassment and assault, starts a new conversation, and–for anyone who has ever felt ashamed, hopeless, alone, and afraid– provides a light in the dark.

The mission of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland is to ensure the physical safety, economic security and autonomy of women throughout Maryland by providing direct legal representation, information and referral services, as well as legislative advocacy. Legal representation changes everything—WLC makes it possible for survivors to be safe, secure and independent.

Order UNSPEAKABLE THINGS here!

Brooke Nevils is an author, advocate and mother. Her book, Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame and the Stories We Choose to Believe (Viking, 2026), is a vital examination of our most persistent and dangerous misunderstandings, myths and stereotypes about sexual harassment and assault. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, Unspeakable Things weaves Brooke’s personal experience at the center of one of MeToo’s defining stories with groundbreaking interviews of leading clinicians, forensic professionals, attorneys and frontline researchers to challenge our understanding of consent, power and the lingering, often misunderstood effects of trauma and shame.

Brooke began her career in print journalism before joining the NBCUniversal Page Program in 2008. First a talent assistant and later producer to NBC News anchor Meredith Vieira, her work at the network included morning, evening and breaking news, primetime specials, news magazines, daytime talk, entertainment and longform news documentaries. In 2017, she made a confidential complaint to NBC News HR about one of the most powerful and familiar faces in media. Twenty-four hours later, the highest paid morning news anchor in history was fired, stunning millions of Americans. After her identity was revealed by a tabloid, Brooke left NBC in 2018 and began a yearslong effort to confront both her own experience as well as the critical questions that MeToo asked but ultimately left unanswered. She learned that nearly everything she’d believed about sexual harassment and assault—and how victims react to it—was wrong.

Unspeakable Things is “a painstaking unravelling of the difficulty of defining consent [and] the inherent dangers in power imbalances” (The Guardian), “employs Nevils’ journalistic background to take a scalpel to toxic newsroom dynamics and who they protect” (USA Today), and asks readers not “to play judge and jury, but to re-examine everything they think they know about sexual assault” (The Atlantic). Despite its rarefied setting at the height of fame, power and American media, her story serves as a textbook example of an all-too-common scenario that continues to devastate lives and enable abusers.

A graduate of the John Hopkins University, she lives with her husband and children in Maryland.

Katie Curran O’Malley was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended Towson University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. Katie began her legal career over thirty years ago as a prosecutor in the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s office. In her role as a prosecutor, she presented hundreds of criminal cases before judges and juries in the District and Circuit Courts of Baltimore County. In 2001, Katie was appointed to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, where she presided over thousands of criminal and civil cases, including domestic violence cases.

Over the course of her career, Katie has become an expert in handling cases involving domestic violence. Having worked with victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), she discovered the challenges faced by many victims who attempt to seek help through the judicial system. Too often, the brave individuals who do come forward are often left disappointed by the judicial outcome and are sometimes placed in further danger. Katie saw firsthand how important it is for victims of IPV to have economic security, autonomy, and physical safety so they can leave a physically abusive relationship. As a result of her many years of experience working with IPV victims, the District Court of Maryland tasked her with training newly appointed judges on how to effectively handle IPV cases. She was also an instructor with the National Council of Juvenile and family Court Judges.

In January 2024, the Women’s Law Center of Maryland (WLC) named Katie as their new Executive Director. In this role, she continues to advocate for those experiencing domestic violence, family law, employment law, and sexual assault. The WLC provides legal services for these individuals and actively advocates for laws to better protect Marylanders in the areas of criminal law, civil rights, employment, and family law.

Katie serves on the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention and Baltimore County Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee and the Governor’s Family Violence Council. Katie and her husband, Martin have four adult children, Grace, Tara, William, and Jack. She and Martin live in the Homeland neighborhood of Baltimore City, with their chihuahua rescue, Max.

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