AGECRAFT After Dark

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Surprise! The menopause industrial complex would like to pretend queer people don't go through menopause. So author, witch, activist, and certified gap-closer Lasara Firefox Allen did what any reasonable neurodivergent genderqueer person would do — if you can't find it, make it. They wrote the book, built the course, started the cohort, and showed up on this podcast to talk about all of it. In this episode, Lasara and I get into why your gyno's eyes glaze over the second you say "they/them," what perimenopause anxiety actually is (spoiler: it might be your future self screaming at you to get your life together), why loneliness in old age is somehow deadlier than a pack-a-day habit, and how jasmine flowers are apparently the universe's answer to everything. Grief rituals! Jailbroken goddesses! Intergenerational co-mentorship in the Netherlands! It's a lot. In the best way.

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What do haunted linen, Victorian hair art, and the courage to blow up your entire life have in common? This episode, that's what.

Julia is joined by Genevieve Manion — amateur Victorian historian, actual witch, host of My Victorian Nightmare, and we have extremely strong opinions about where dead people's hair does and does not belong. Spoiler: not in your sweater. Not in your cardigan. A locket is fine. A wreath on the wall is pushing it. We move on.

What starts as a deep dive into all things Victorian gets gloriously derailed into one of the most honest conversations we've had on this show about midlife reinvention, losing your voice in a bad marriage, and what it actually looks like to crawl out the other side and build something beautiful from scratch.

Also covered: perimenopause at 3am, the mascara incident that still haunts us, why your ancestry is the only witchcraft tradition you actually need, Keanu Reeves' truly unfortunate British accent, and a pregnancy superpower that cannot be explained by science.

Plus bibliomancy, a firm position on not being dug up after death, and the single most important thing you can do for yourself in midlife that has nothing to do with skincare.

Get some bad b*tches. The Victorians would have wanted it that way.

Check out My Victorian Nightmare here.  

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Mark Price is back, and we’re talking about everything from nervous system regulation to identity unraveling to why doing less might actually be the most radical thing you can do right now. We cover somatic work, Vedic meditation, the art of not spiraling during a stressful email exchange, and how to reclaim your time, attention, and sanity from systems that profit off your dysregulation. Plus: spontaneous joy, witchy-adjacent bird encounters, and a bibliomancy moment that delivers exactly the level of existential clarity you didn’t know you needed.

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In this episode, I’m joined by my dear friend and esthetician Jason Moyer for a conversation about midlife reinvention, non-binary identity, and what happens when your creative self kicks the door back open and says, “hi, remember me?” We get into turning 50 and somehow feeling more like yourself, the magical world of smut, good sleep, and nice d*cks, and why liberation makes some people deeply uncomfortable. And of course, we spiral (joyfully) into a deep dive on Heated Rivalry.  

To join my Spring Reset workshop, click here.  

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Today’s guest is Zoë Bean, tattooer, artist, and general curator of beautiful oddities in South Orange, New Jersey. She co-owns Keepsake Studios and Keepsake Collectables with her partner, Sweetie, blending tattoos, antiques, and pressed botanicals into something entirely her own. She’s also the artist behind my alligator-and-bird back piece. We talk about our Baba Yaga vibes, the pros and cons of overalls, the liminal space of pain, and ask the question, what exactly is girl cold.

Leave a message through the Speaker Box. Share an observation about getting older, identity shifts, health, or whatever strange realization has been keeping you up at night — or ask me a question you’d like answered on the show. Keep it short, and your message may be played on the AGECRAFT After Dark Podcast!

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To learn more about Zoe, you can find her here.

For more AGECRAFT content, join the Substack here. 

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It's the very first episode of our brand new podcast, Open Up and Say HA!: Stories from Underneath the Paper Gown.

Have you ever had a bizarre encounter with a medical practitioner? An ER visit gone awry? A weird thing you found on your foot that turned out to be a rare species of parasitic insect? Welcome to Open Up and Say Ha! - Stories from Underneath the Paper Gown. Medical mishaps, misunderstandings, weird bodily functions... our guests are sharing it all. So get ready to laugh so hard you snort your coffee out of your nose, and if you happen to singe your nostrils, head to the doctor and tell us what went down. If laughter is your medicine, open up and say HA!

In this episode, co-hosts Ellie and Julia decide to save the guests' experiences for future episodes and instead, share their own bizarre medical encounters with each other. Even though they have been friends for 30 years, they each manage to tell a story that the other has never heard! If you've ever had inexplicable back pain or eaten mysteriously spicy tuna, this one is for you.

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Monique Cupid and Dixie Lincoln-Nichols are menopausal women who met up during the pandemic to talk about work for a project. Without fail, at every weekly meeting, the conversation drifted to menopause, the symptoms each of them was experiencing, and the frustrations they felt about the lack of support, resources, equity, and community. Together, they formed Life in the Pause, with the mission of transforming the menopause journey into an empowered and celebrated experience through accessible education, resources, and community support. We talk about everything from toxicants in beauty products to doctors leaving 30-something women in the dark to the importance of dance breaks. You know how it is when we get together with two brilliant and fascinating humans... nothing is off limits. We won't apologize for talking about our farts and our pubes. We simply won't.

Topics and timestamps
10:50 - How Life in the Pause was born
16:45 - What is a Self-Care Sabbatical?
21:48 - Increasing 30-somethings' awareness of perimenopause
28:15 - The importance of clean ingredients in beauty products
40:40 - Menopause. Needs. More. Attention.

Handles and sites
Life in the Pause   
Life in the Pause Insta
Brown Skin Green Beauty Insta   
Dixie Lincoln-Nichols  
Dixie Lincoln Nichols Insta
The Pause Pod
The Midlife Glowchaser
Dance Break Song: Ready Fi Di Road

OUR NEW PODCAST: OPEN UP AND SAY HA!
Follow us on Insta @openupandsayha
or Facebook
and YouTube Channel
Podcast site

Other Podcasts on the Topic of Peri/Menopause
The Pause Pod
Hello Menopause
A Certain Age Pod
Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Lately, as we have gotten older and our preferences have changed, we have been wondering, "What is fun?" Robin Gelfenbien, the self-proclaimed Ambassador of Fun, is the perfect person to answer that question. Right out of college, Robin was chosen out of thousands of people to drive the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, and her experience provided excellent fodder for her acclaimed solo show "My Salvation Has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey”. She has had several other fun jobs from creator and producer of the storytelling series and podcast "Yum's the Word" to co-hosting the podcast "Hello Menopause" to producing Isaac Mizrahi's podcast "Hello Isaac". Robin inspires us with her stories of involving strangers in all kinds of fun, but we also talk about things like thinning hair and anxiety, two very common and un-fun symptoms of perimenopause. If you are like us and are re-defining your definition of fun (there is nothing wrong with skipping that party!), this episode is for you.

Topics and timestamps
12:35 - Thinning hair is not fun
23:18 - Anxiety is also not fun
31:12 - Driving the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile is the most fun
40:44 - Hosting and producing podcasts is also fun
42:52 - In midlife, what is the definition of fun?


Handles and sites
Robin's website
Robin's Insta
Yum's the Word Youtube
Yum's the Word Podcast
Robin's Facebook
Robin's Tik Tok

List of Resources Mentioned
Midlife Doesn't Have to Be a Crisis by Jancee Dunn
Robin telling her airplane story on YouTube
No, YOU Tell It! "Fly By" featuring Ellie as host and Robin as a writer/storyteller
An Old Medicine Grows New Hair for Pennies a Day, Doctors Say
Oscar Meyer Wienermobile and Hot Dogger Community
Hello Menopause Podcast
Hello Isaac Podcast

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness
https://circlingthedrainpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

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Katie Fogarty will make you feel like turning 50 is the best thing that could ever happen to you. She is the host of A Certain Age, an age-positive podcast that helps you live your best evolving midlife—loud and proud. She is also the creator of the Age Out Loud movement, a platform which aims to spotlight as many stories of midlife awesomeness as possible. On top of all that, she is the founder and CEO of The Reboot Group, helping professionals build great careers, which includes encouraging reinvention in midlife. We talked about the stupidity of lying about your age, the importance of finding doctors who get it, and Julia's definition of "trash panda rage". We also talk about how Ellie may not be able to hit the high notes anymore, but she can still do the high jumps in ballet class. If you need a boost of inspiration, look no further than this episode.

Topics and timestamps
9:40 - Not realizing you are in perimenopause until you are on the other side
13:00 - Launching A Certain Age podcast right before turning 51
21:10 - The art of career reinvention
26:11 Working as a board member of Let's Talk Menopause
29:45 - Children's awareness of menopause
33:35 - The Age Out Loud movement

Handles and sites
A Certain Age Podcast
A Certain Age Insta
A Certain Age facebook
Age Out Loud Insta
The Reboot Group

List of Resources Mentioned
School Spirits
Why Ballet Might be the Best Exercise for Midlife
Let's Talk Menopause
Support the Menopause Research and Equity Act of 2023
Dr. Helen Fisher

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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How does a child of deaf adults who grew up in a tin shed with no running water or electricity witness her father commit a violent crime and then grow up to be the joyful owner of a comedy venue? Kambri Crews will tell you how! Author of the acclaimed New York Times best selling book Burn Down the Ground and sole owner and operator of Q.E.D. which was voted #1 comedy club in NYC by Time Out NY, Kambri is a damn delight. Her message, "Life's Tough. Laugh More." is evident as she chuckles about light things such as restaurant staff seeing her use sign language and then ignorantly handing her a menu in Braille, and heavy things such as her father attempting murder not once but twice. As Julia says, "If at first you don't succeed...". We also discuss gross habits like picking at your skin and chewing the inside of your own mouth, having to read the instructions for how to boil rice at least fifteen times, and how ice skating in midlife can result in the ass of your dreams. Thanks to all our listeners for your generous donations - we're thrilled to be back and we can't wait to tell you what's next.

Topics and timestamps
12:29 - Menopause and then breast cancer
14:35 - Kambri's autobiographical book, Burn Down the Ground, in which a child of impoverished deaf parents witnesses her father trying to kill her mother
23:48 - Processing trauma without traditional therapy
26:00 - How to laugh yourself back from rock bottom
30:20 - How an imaginitive child grows up to run her own events space
36:15 - Ice skating in midlife to optimize joy (and a tight butt)


Handles and sites
Q.E.D. Astoria
Buy books through Q.E.D. instead of other places
Kambri's website
Kambri's Insta
QED Insta
QED Facebook
Kambri facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Cheek biting: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment
Something Was Wrong podcast
Flaco the Owl’s Year of Freedom From the Central Park Zoo

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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