Are you a bit miserable? Do you feel as though you’re failing? As though you’ve missed the life you could have had. Because most grown-up women are finding themselves living in a total shit show. But – as we always say – if we’re not in it together, we’re not in it at all. So, it’s very exciting that just before we fully surrender to our nervous breakdowns, we have a real authority on the line. Ada Calhoun has written the definitive analysis about why Generation X women feel so close to the abyss: In Why We Can’t Sleep – Women’s New Midlife Crisis she looked at housing costs, employment trends, debt, divorce, perimenopause and at every turn she saw a pattern – Gen X women were in crisis. See? It’s never just you…
P.S. The podcast is taking a break, see you in September. Love, A&E x
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Episode 53: Ada Calhoun

Do you feel like a fully-functional human person? Annabel Rivkin and Emilie McMeekan of The Midult look at all the glamour and indignity of being a grown-up, while rummaging through the handbags, emotional knicker drawers and lives of some extraordinary people.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Who doesn’t love a solution story? The tale of a grown-up woman who had a problem and thought, ‘You know what? I am not going to wait for some fucker to fix this – I am just going to do it myself’? This week we have two such stories from the podvault – first up is Sahar Hashemi who smashed through many a ceiling and is still busy opening lots of doors for women: she founded Coffee Republic - three years before Starbucks landed on our shores; for the past couple of years, she’s been putting her considerable energy into spotlighting women-owned businesses with her Buy Women Built movement; asking the question: why do we only hear about the men? Did you know that 81% of 11-18-year olds are unable to name one single female entrepreneur? She’s out to change all that. 
Then we have some highlights from our interview with Joanna Jensen, who suffered from eczema as a child and, when her own children were born with the same condition, she decided ‘enough is enough.’ In 2010 she created Child’s Farm from her kitchen table and, by the end of the decade, it was the UK’s number one baby and child brand. She sold it to Cussons for £40 million in 2022. *does a little dance*. Anyway, it might sound like an enviably smooth ride but, like all of these stories, it is full of bumps, lumps, divorce and other crises. Why have one brilliant female entrepreneur when you can have two?
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Episode 193: The Entrepreneurial Issue

You will have heard of Hadley Freeman, The Sunday Times columnist who writes about feminism, the arts, politics and, she says, anything else that takes her fancy. She is also the author of several acclaimed books – including Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, just out in paperback. It’s a searing record of her own illness, illuminating the dark corners of this most brutal of mental health disorders, with her deft blend of forensic detail and humour. Please note we talk frankly about this devastating illness. It sounds “oof” (take this as your trigger warning) but Hadley is so generous both in the book and on the podcast that it feels like a ray of light rather than a trauma wallow...
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Episode 192: Hadley Freeman

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk about all the terrible things that happen to our faces and bodies in pictures: one huge eye bulging next to a normal-sized one; extra leg/hand/foot (who does that belong to?!?), limbs that look like hams - is it because we’re terrible people? Also we’re announcing a change. Sorry. We hate change. But we have to change. Here’s the thing: For the past six years, we’ve been sending out our free newsletter. But if internet years were like dog years that would be (Jesus, MATHS now?) 42 years. It’s so nice to get things for free, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s no longer possible for us to do it for free, so we are going to have to change. And, by change, we mean charge. We’d love you to continue to sail with us on HMS Midulthood for this bumpy, occasionally nausea-inducing, disappointingly-hot-pirate-free voyage on Substack - you know we believe that, if we’re not in it together, we’re not in it at all. Link in bio… 
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PODCAST FROM THE EDGE 19:

Are you near burn out? Do you find yourself having the same arguments over and over again? Have you had therapy and still find yourself stuck down the same emotional cul-de-sac? In other words, what are you missing? Well, this week we are thrilled to welcome psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell back to the podcast. She’s written another banger of a book, What Am I Missing?, about our blind spots and how they hold us back. We talk about whether we are Rocks, Gladiators, Hustlers or Bridges; about attachment styles and assumptions. Yikes…
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Episode 191: What Are You Missing? with Emma Reed Turrell

Happy Good Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This podshot is all about the anti-bucket list: things we plan never to do again. Are we all moving from our “Yes please!” era to our “Are you f***ing joking?” era? Hell, yes. Ouzo (just hearing the word makes us gag a little), organised fun, bikini waxes, segways and more…
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Episode 53: Ada Calhoun

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