Our guest this week is the sensational Daisy Buchanan; novelist, journalist. podcaster and an authority on both books and sex. She writes brilliantly sexy books and her latest is called Careering about magazines, millennials and masturbation. Sometimes at once. But today she’s Doctor Daisy – giving us her book prescriptions for all our emotional ailments. Because, wow, do we need them… A book for when you need to be soothed, unravelled and made sense of - These Precious Days by Ann Patchett Book...
Feb 17, 2022•43 min
If you’ve ever been heartbroken you will remember the agony. It can be enough to stop you from embarking on new relationships. ‘Can I survive that again?’ you wonder. We very much hope that no one listening to the podcast is going through this right now, but if you are, there is a resource. Our guests this week are psychologist Alice Haddon and writer Ruth Field who founded The Heartbreak Hotel, a retreat where you can go and put yourself back together. We talk about power, possibility and a few...
Feb 10, 2022•36 min
We’re not being dramatic but… we're under threat from… The Panic Variant. This week we talk about how we are navigating the panicdemic; essential conversations we have with our friends (burial or cremation? Big knickers or bigger knickers?) and whether we are meant to feel bad because Downing Street has hosted more parties in the last two years than we have been to in our entire lives… plus the Midult Eighties Kitchen Disco Playlist, designed to take you from empty, to euphoric. PS: This podcast...
Feb 03, 2022•32 min
If anyone can shake us out of our January torpor it’s our guest this week. Is there anything that Helena Morrissey can’t do? She runs banks, advocates for women in business, writes books, and has nine children. She’s also a Dame and only 55. Maybe you need a lie down now? Anyway, Helena talks movingly about how the menopause ambushed her and rocked her confidence; how to ask for a pay-rise and why fitting-in doesn’t matter but finding allies does… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
Jan 27, 2022•39 min
Not sure we know a Midult who isn’t currently experiencing that heady mix of exhaustion and panic - what will this year look like? Can I be bothered to care? Am I up to it? Do I look good in high-waisted jeans? Have I turned the gas off? Have I? So this podcast is about all the myriad Januarys we are having and why adulthood is currently not recommended. Yes we’re capable grown-ups (*coughs*) but sometimes even putting your phone down so you can focus on the telly feels like a major win. Getting...
Jan 20, 2022•30 min
What happens if you are on the floor, dreaming of a padded cell, a noise-cancelled life and as little interaction with the world as possible? Well, you can consult an expert on how to feel human again. This magical creature does actually have a human form, her name is Lucy Goff and she is the founder of super supplement LYMA. She came on the podcast to tell us where to spend and where to scrimp, what works and what doesn’t….Also we are hosting an Insta live with Lucy next Monday (the 17th) at 6p...
Jan 13, 2022•33 min
We can’t think of a better way to start the year than with a dose of sunshine in the form of telly’s Cherry Healey. She presents Inside the Factory, makes everyone cry on 10 Years Younger and is on a mission to help us all get our heart’s desire with her straight-talking manifesting course: Manifest That Shit, created with Instagram sensation @StyleMeSunday aka Natalie Lee. We talk about finding out what we really want, quietening all the interference and how manifesting changed Cherry’s life......
Jan 06, 2022•43 min
Maybe you feel like the human equivalent of tangled fairy lights? If only we paused for thought as much as we pause for cheese. This week we talk about acts of selfishness transforming into acts of service: if I eat all the biscuits I am saying to everyone else in the house: "I love you. I alone am taking the sugar hit." Plus how raging in the car is our civic duty, to keep sleepy drivers safe and alert. Then there are all the different flavours of headache plus a few Midult mantras to chew on. ...
Dec 26, 2021•24 min
Sure, we’re supposed to be happy, shiny, excited, horny at this time of year. But what if we’re actually tired, angry, lonely, psychotic? Christmas is like a box of chocolates - you never know which feeling you are going to get. We talk about aggressive carols (Deck The Halls? Too bossy - stop telling us what to do); why we may never forgive Alan Rickman for breaking Emma Thompson’s heart in Love Actually AND why, when it comes to Christmas invitations, everyone needs a ‘soft no’ in their arsena...
Dec 09, 2021•22 min
Maybe you’re super well-informed, when it comes to all the political action. Or maybe you’ve been too tired holding the world up and haven’t got a clue any more. So, we called an old friend with a brilliant brain to come and tell his favourite news stories of the year. Hugo Rifkind is the hugely popular Times columnist and he takes us through his 2021 highlights including Dylan Johnson’s balls and Rishi Sunak’s tendresse for Mexican Coke. It’s Mock The Year 2021... PS: Here’s Rishi’s Mexican mom...
Dec 02, 2021•43 min
We should probably apologise in advance because this podcast might make you a bit angry. But maybe that’s a good thing. Last week was Equal Pay Day - which marks the day in the year where women stop earning relative to men - because of the gender pay gap. Yes, we are all mostly working for free until the end of the year, on top of every other thing. So we asked Gill Whitty Collins, career coach and author of ‘Why Men Win At Work’ to come and coach the hell out of us all. We talk about confidence...
Nov 25, 2021•41 min
Life is a journey, right? Trust the process, ok? Resilience is everything, apparently. This week we talk about why the current self-help buzzwords make us feel like we’re failing. So we decide to add injury to insult and set a series of challenges for grown-ups - introducing Squidult Games. We also discuss why we are constantly vacillating between frenzied hyperworkmode and a near-catatonic state of existential dread and avoidance. Oh, and we interview the delightful Simon Gaisford, Professor of...
Nov 18, 2021•41 min
OUR FACES. WTAF!?! So we had an emergency meeting with the incomparable Nadine Baggott. Now Nadine has been a titan among beauty editors for many years, but in 2016 she launched a YouTube channel with the specific intention of talking to grown-up women about beauty…. beauty with no bull, no facetune and no filters. Five years in she’s got hundreds of thousands of devoted followers who have entrusted her with all their beauty decisions. Because what Nadine doesn’t know about skin and make-up isn’...
Nov 11, 2021•45 min
So. The hormones. The horror. The havoc. The what the hell is going on? Well this week we are thrilled to welcome broadcaster and general sensation Lisa Snowdon on the podcast to walk us through the fuckery of our forties - from peri-menopausal symptoms to imposter syndrome and everything in between…We talk about how Lisa found love second time around, why Emilie is having night panics and why you should always head to the doctor armed with a list of symptoms and a bucketload of research. Ok lad...
Nov 04, 2021•40 min
Obviously we’re all absolutely fine…but…isn’t everything a bit nuts right now? This week we imagine a Midult House of Horrors where we are assaulted by voice notes and chin hairs. Apps that we actually need – like ones that warn us we are about to be the arsehole or let us know when an ex-boyfriend is going to appear. And we wonder if it’s nearly time to switch from our regular anxiety to our shiny Christmas anxiety…. Oh God. P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewell...
Oct 27, 2021•29 min
We don’t normally talk about babies or children on the podcast. But what happens when things get interesting? When you get to 37 and you're single, and being a mother is the only thing you’ve ever really wanted to be? Our guest this week is Liv Thorne who made the increasingly popular and brave decision to go it alone. She bought some Danish sperm and off she went. Simple? Not really. Liv has charted her journey to motherhood in her brilliant book, Liv’s Alone. We talk everything you’ve always w...
Oct 20, 2021•47 min
We’ve shamelessly stolen the title of this week's podcast from our guest, writer and columnist Lucy Mangan whose book Are We Having Fun Yet? is out today. You will have read her TV column in The Guardian, you will have nodded in vehement recognition at her columns in Weekend and Stylist, and now here’s her first novel, a frank and fizzy look at family life – it’s funny, heartfelt writing with sharp corners that you bump into and go ouch, yes! That’s me! We talk about the female load, feminism, a...
Oct 14, 2021•50 min
Since we started recording this podcast we have always zoned in on the little worries. No tiny worry stone has gone unturned. But, just as there is a difference between being Big Tired and Little Tired, there is a difference, isn't there, between Big Worried and Little Worried? And isn’t there a fuck-load to worry about? So, this week, in our 99th episode, we worry about peeing. And women. And life. We talk about Halloween costumes for 2021, which turned out to be a rich seam to plunder. Because...
Oct 06, 2021•23 min
Are you getting enough sex? What even is enough sex? Are you having good sex? How good is good enough? Are you intimidated by sex? Do you want more sex? Less sex? Any sex? Sex, sex, sex. This week we get down to business with Suzi Godson, one of the country’s best-loved sex columnists and talk about how to spice up your sex life or even just raise it from the dead….Plus some bonus wisdom from pelvic floor expert Dr Ruth Maher. PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by pelvic floor trainer I...
Sep 29, 2021•54 min
In this episode, we're 90% panicking, About energy: mental energy, emotional energy, physical energy. Will we ever have any again? About temperature. About everything breaking. About the new rhythm of life and we're meant to be dancing to the beat of what drum exactly? *cue Darth Vader theme tune* P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewellery sensation @AnaLuisa. Go to https://shop.analuisa.com/absolutelyfine and use the code ABSOLUTELYFINE for a 10% discount. It does...
Sep 22, 2021•30 min
This week it’s all about stuff to make life feel a little…easier. How about that? Annabel rifles around in her beauty drawers to talk about what might give you that bit of up, up and away as we step (stagger?) into Autumn...featuring: Hairstory Living Proof Advanced Clean Batiste Dry Shampoo and Volume Klorane Dry Shampoo Kristen Ess Working Texture and Loose Styling Powder Saltee Daily Protection Formula SPF 50 La Roche Posay Anthelios Age Correct Amanda Harrington The Face Set Oskia Adaptive T...
Sep 15, 2021•31 min
Welcome back to your life. Oh God. This week we talk about what we need in our Back to Life pencil cases (a rubber to erase all the times you were a dick?), the weird ways we receive compliments (This old thing? I found it in the skip) and the little domestic fantasies that keep us going. We take our thrills where we can find them... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 08, 2021•29 min
We are going on holiday. We think. But as we prepare to leave the building/consciousness we wonder if we are grown-ups? Or teenagers? About the little lies we tell every day and our own, personal pingdemic. This episode is so mad that our delightful producer @chesleyxmoore emailed us to asked if we were OK. Who knows? See you in September you lovely lot… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 28, 2021•41 min
Everyone we talk to is exhausted - desperate for a holiday/a break/a month lying down in a darkened room. And we are all sick of looking at our faces: newly etched and grey from all the WFH: Worrying from Home. So we are delighted that the renowned make-up artist Hannah Martin came on the podcast with a ton of tips and tricks for make-up to make us look like we’re having a break. Not a break down. PS: She’s developed the perfect lip oil for My Beauty Brand - and there’s 30% all her products on M...
Jul 22, 2021•42 min
Dating apps. Minefield or smorgasbord? Necessary evil or delicious distraction? Our guest today is writer Phoebe Luckhurst, a seasoned dater with her fingers on the swipe button. We tell tales from the dating frontline, ask whether punctuation is a deal breaker and why digital connection can end up meaning personal disconnection. Phoebe’s first novel The Lock In is out next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 15, 2021•41 min
Some resets you plan, some ambush you. What happens when you are 47, you get divorced, you lose your house, you lose your dog and you get an unexpected diagnosis? Maybe you spend the next few years in a darkened room. Or if are our guest this week, fashion editor and columnist Stacey Duguid, you look life right in the eye and decide you want to embrace the second half with, as she puts it, "the kind of high-level enthusiasm you might find on centre court during the finals.” And that includes dat...
Jul 07, 2021•42 min
Is anyone else finding that doing the things we used to do feels 1000 times more exhausting than before the pandemic? How is that possible? This week, on the podcast, we wonder if we are doing anything right and why sometimes it feels as if our lives are at the mercy of some evil writers who keep shouting PLOT TWIST…. Plus all the ways we feel 90 years-old: Annabel’s head torch makes a comeback and Emilie embraces the sturdy (orthopaedic) shoe. #rockstars This podcast is bravely brought to you b...
Jun 23, 2021•29 min
Everyone in the world had a bit of a shocker in March 2020. But few more so than our guest, Helen Thorn whose marriage suddenly ended 3 weeks before lockdown. So, what happens when you find that you’ve fallen out of marriage and fallen in love with being single via dating, drinking, lawyers, video sexting, single parenting, wanking and female friendship? Not all at the same time. She’s one half of the brilliant Scummy Mummies comedy duo and her book Get Divorced, Be Happy is out next month - a t...
Jun 16, 2021•40 min
Are you out in the world, attacking the day or do you just want to lie in bed staring at the wall? Well, the brilliant Esther Coren is here this week, armed with a book list to get through this languishing low. She’s a writer, podcaster and voracious reader who has an arsenal of brilliant books for our every wild and crazy thought… of which there are MANY... This podcast is bravely brought to you by @readly. Heard about Readly? It’s a digital subscription service for magazines and newspapers, a ...
Jun 10, 2021•37 min
Don’t know about you, but we are trying to find some even footing in a year where we’ve alternated between stagnation and panic - sometimes both at the same time. And now we are expected to deal with more change - to rise to meet the re-opening of the world. But we are still…stuck. So this week we asked our old friend Julia Samuel to come and talk to us because she wrote the book on change - literally. She’s a bereavement psychotherapist whose book, This Too Shall Pass, is out in paperback. She ...
May 26, 2021•40 min
