AGECRAFT After Dark

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We chose this episode with Dr. Rachel Rubin as our final encore of the year because she is the person who has given us the most practical, valuable, and easily shareable information to help women with their genitourinary functions as they age. Dr. Rubin is a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine specialist who dropped so much knowledge and helpful information into one conversation that our puny little brain-sponges got super-soaked. Listen to learn about the two little-known FDA-approved drugs that actually help women's libidos with no negative side effects, why you should be using local vaginal estrogen twice a week for the rest of your life, and how even a doctor can agree with us that the field of medicine is a disgusting dumpster fire of brokenness. As if that weren't enough, we also talk about the Grow Your Clit Movement, Covid Hemorrhoids, and what the hosts never thought they'd do in their 20's that they have done now. Admit it: you're intrigued.

DR. RUBIN'S LINKS
Dr. Rubin's Website
Dr. Rubin's twitter
Dr. Rubin's facebook
Dr. Rubin's Insta
Dr. Rubin's LinkedIn

ARTICLES AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
The Magic of Hormones
International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health - ISSWSH
Addyi
Vyleesi
The Grow Your Clit Movement

LINKS TO DREAMY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Purely Elizabeth Affiliate Link
Julia's Wellness Coaching Website

Circling the Drain Podcast Website

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For our first encore episode, we chose the inspiring pair of Michelle and Joan MacDonald. Not only are they glorious examples of what a healthy body can achieve after midlife, they seem to have an enviable mother-daughter bond that is beautiful to witness. These women broke the internet after Michelle, a body builder and transformation coach, guided her then 70-year-old mother through a process that resulted in life-changing weight loss and the subsequent elimination of a slew of health problems. Joan's before and after photos can be found at Train with Joan, and you should take a peek before listening to understand the full impact of what these women achieved together. This was our only chat with a mother-daughter duo, and we couldn't have found more mind-blowing specimens.

Michelle MacDonald - Your Healthy Hedonista
Michelle's Insta
Michelle's Facebook
Michelle's e-Book The Best of the Basics
Joan MacDonald - Train with Joan
Joan's Insta
Joan's Facebook
The Wonder Women
My Macros
Science, Bitch!

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Meghann Koppele Duffy is a cofounder of the Neuro Studio, a premier education and movement company helping people living with neurological conditions move better, and teaching movement professionals the best cutting edge techniques to work with people living with Neurological Conditions. Meghann is a fast-talking, zero BS practitioner who has been called the Larry David of Pilates because she is skilled at "observing weird things". She claims to not be everyone's cup of tea, but who is? It's clear to us that Meghann is passionate about her work and is making an epic difference in the lives of people who want access to movement and freedom from pain. We talk about changes in proprioception throughout our life cycle, adapting to movement as we age, and using humor and honesty in work that can be emotionally difficult. We also teach you what a "cloner" is. Bonus points if you email us your best guess BEFORE listening to the episode!

Topics and timestamps
15:40 Meghann's origin story and how she co-founded The Neuro Studio
23:40 Using humor and honesty to diffuse heaviness with clients
30:20 How women's bodies change proprioceptively throughout their life cycle
39:40 How to keep it together when physical work gets emotional
45:35 Meghann's Idea of the Zone of Genius
49:33 Adapting to movement as we age

Handles and sites
The Neuro Studio Website
The Nuero Studio Insta
Meghann's Insta
Sessions or movement classes with Meghann

List of Resources Mentioned
What is MS (Multiple Sclerosis)?

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Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Germany-based comedian Abigail Paul says that co-host Ellie is her oldest friend. Not her most elderly friend, but the friend she has known the longest. She met co-host Julia a few years later, making all three of them VERY ELDERLY/OLD FRIENDS. That should entice you to listen to this episode, because richness of history makes for juicy conversation. Abigail moved to Germany as a young adult because she was "on the lam", trying to escape her abusive and narcissist mother, whose life and death inspired Abigail's award-winning solo show Involuntary Momslaughter. There are many wonderful stories in this episode, including the one about Abigail ignoring her fibroid tumors until she collapsed in a pharmacy and ended up in emergency surgery, the one where her gynecologist proclaimed her vagina her weakest organ, and the one where 18-year-old Abigail and Ellie sat together to take a pregnancy test after a condom broke. Also, all three people in this episode had birthdays in the last week, so listen and laugh and feel seen and celebrate with us!

Topics and timestamps
11:45 The story of 18-year-old Abigail and Ellie and a pregnancy test
13:30 The story of Abigail's gynecological adventures in Germany
22:20 The story of Dr. Dr. Mueller
31:05 The story of how health insurance is better in Europe
36:00 The story of Abigail's horrible relationship with her mother
39:30 The story of how a mother with Narcissistic Personality Disorder is great fodder for a solo show

Handles and sites
Abigail's website
Abigail's Insta
Abigail's facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Rosacea and Menopause
Exposed Podcast
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
Dr. Ramani Durvasula

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Blaire Postman is a comedian who was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and then embraced it as a super-power. She created a solo show called Lady ADHD: Hilariously Mind Blowing Observations from a Hyper-Insightful Brain. Due to a current medication shortage, we got to interview Blaire ten days into "going commando", and we talked about emotional dysregulation, song-stimming, and how a performance piece about a topic like ADHD can make audiences feel seen and not alone. We can relate to that for sure. We hope that you will relate to Ellie cursing at her son in a fit of perimenopausal aggression, and Julia's incredulousness at the fact that they only just invented a crash test dummy that mimics the female form.

Topics and timestamps
12:50 Being diagnosed with ADHD as a 30-year-old female
16:30 The ADHD medicine shortage
18:23 Emotional dysregulation related to Adult ADHD
22:35 A job interview and mismatched shoes
29:00 Audience members' reactions to Lady ADHD

Handles and sites
Blaire's website
Blaire's Insta
Blaire's YouTube

List of Resources Mentioned
This is the first crash test dummy modelled on the female body. Will it make cars safer for women?
Adult ADHD
Clip of Blaire and a guest "song-stimming"

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Dr. Kimberly Mangla is a reproductive psychiatrist who works collaboratively with the obstetrics department at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. She is involved in the teaching and supervision of psychotherapy and medication management during pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause. She also happens treat Julia's Adult ADHD, and in honor of ADHD Awareness Month, we asked her ALL of the questions. What is ADHD, and why do many women not discover this diagnosis until adulthood? How can someone have ADHD and be high-functioning and laser-focused all at once? What is the intersection between ADHD and perimenopause? When is it time to take medication to help treat it? Does Ellie have ADHD or is she merely addicted to the apps on her phone? We also talk about crunchy knees, forgetting to shower and brush teeth, and pharmacies that carry an expensive array of vibrators.

Topics and timestamps
14:00 Combining an OB/GYN education with psychiatry
17:25 Explaining the need for and lack of reproductive endocrinologists
20:40 Defining ADHD and what it looks like in children vs. adults
25:35 How can you have ADHD and be laser-focused at the same time?
32:04 What is "executive function"?
41:00 When to explore pharmaceutical intervention for ADHD
43:49 How perimenopause intersects with adult ADHD

Handles and sites
Dr. Mangla's Practice
Dr. Mangla's Insta
Dr. Mangla's Handbag Insta

List of Resources Mentioned
Knee Noise: Crepitus and Popping Explained
Adult ADHD

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Dr. Maria Uloko is fired up, and we are right there with her. As the first ever Black female Urology student at her university, she has been trailblazing for the entirety of her career. Dr. Uloko specializes in comprehensive sexual health which includes the medical and surgical management of ALL genders. She is considered a world leader in chronic pelvic pain and vulvar conditions, she believes in empowering her patients to take ownership of their sexual health by providing a shame-free space to ask questions and share their stories, and she seeks to close gaps in disparities of care and implement systems that promote diversity and inclusivity. She is also an international award winning researcher with a focus in vulvar health, most notably her research in defining how many nerves are in the human clitoris. (Can you believe that this number was not known until recently, when she and her colleagues embarked on a study?) She told us that the anatomy of the vulva is not taught in medical school, even to gynecologists, and that this lack of knowledge and adequate care is equivalent to malpractice against those with female anatomy. She wants to start a revolution to correct all of this nonsense, and we have pledged to be her soldiers. We will march to the beat of Beyonce, and we will eat a cake in the shape of Queen Bey while we do so.

Topics and timestamps
13:25 - Becoming a female urologist after being told she couldn't do it
18:35 - Providing gender-affirming care to people with every type of genitalia
20:58 - Taking charge of your own sexual health
26:17 - Pain is not acceptable. Women do not have to live with pain.
36:45 - Libido and orgasm: the two most complex portions of the sexual response cycle
42:54 - Discovering the number of nerves in the clitoris

Handles and sites
Dr. Uloko's Website
Dr. Uloko's Insta
Meet the Trailblazing Urologists on a Mission to Help Women Have Better Sex


List of Resources Mentioned
Is Menopause Changing My Hair?
Prevalence of female pattern hair loss in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study
How many nerve fibers innervate the human glans clitoris: a histomorphometric evaluation of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris

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

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Rachel E. Gross is an award-winning science journalist who wrote an incredible book called Vagina Obscura which was a finalist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Go ahead and be impressed, but do not be intimidated. Rachel will enthrall you with stories of outlandish treatments for ailments that plague people with female reproductive systems, including a personal tale involving rat poison and her own vagina. She takes us back through history to when the fallopian tubes were named after an Italian Catholic priest and when Freud decided that all "women's issues" were psychological. She discusses how medical terminology can be harmful, placing blame on the woman or the body part itself. If that's not enough to draw you in, listen as we realize that both Ellie and Julia know a ton about bacterial vaginosis, and in a delightful epiphany, Ellie gives the perfect name to the wall of vagina-inspired art in Rachel's home. Bonus points if you count the number of times "vagina" is said in this episode.

Topics and timestamps
10:40 - How Rachel got into writing about science, specifically the science of vaginas
18:02 - The Vagina Poison Story
24:37 - The microbiome of the vagina
30:57 - How medical language puts the blame on the body part (#incompetentcervix)
38:50 - Ancient ideas that have been carried through to modern medicine
43:46 - Thoughts on implanting bits of ovarian tissue to stave off menopause

Handles and sites
Rachel's website
Rachel's writing
Rachel's Insta
Buy Vagina Obscura

List of Resources Mentioned
Pooping only every 3 or more days linked with cognitive decline, research finds
Rachel telling her vagina rat poison story on Story Collider
Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness
Leave us a review!

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Leoh Blooms is a queer, fluid, and nonbinary-trans trauma-informed mentor and Pro Dom. Everything they do in their practice focuses on intimacy, mental health, gender, sex, and practical self-care. They help clients aged 21 and up to create lives they don't need to hide from by offering various levels of support in a power dynamic format, using kink for fun and as a healing modality. Listen to Leoh talk about coming out at the age of 45, jumping through medical hoops when a gender fluid person needs medical care, and explain what a Pro Dom actually IS and DOES. In response, Ellie talks about working in an office located upstairs from an old-school dominatrix, and Julia explores the idea of using a rope-tying technique for self-soothing. This was not our usual rodeo, and we liked it. We think you will, too.

Topics and timestamps
11:30 - Instant menopause after a radical hysterectomy
13:57 - Justifying the medical need for Testosterone as a non-transitioning person
19:25 - Coming out at the age of 45 to a family that includes a husband and five children
27:47 - What it means to work as a Pro-Dom
40:27 - Steps the medical community should take to help gender fluid people
43:33 - Celebrating a non-monogamous marriage commitment

Handles and sites
Leoh's website
Leoh's Insta

List of Resources Mentioned
FDA Approves First Nonprescription Daily Oral Contraceptive - Opill
Adenomyosis
Discovering Gender Fluidity: A Late Bloomer’s Journey to Self-Acceptance
Chrononormativity by Leoh Blooms

Other Links
For 10% off Erin's Faces in the month of August, enter CTD at checkout
Schedule a FREE Zoom with Julia at Julia G Wellness

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Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of Neural Science and Psychology and author of two incredible books, Good Anxiety and Healthy Brain, Happy Life. Her TED talk, The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise, has more than 60 million views, making it the 2nd most viewed TED talk of 2018. In spite of our awe, we managed to pick her fancy brain about many things, like how hormonal changes can lead to increased anxiety, tips for building resilience and staying motivated to exercise, and what to do about "choking" (AKA brain farts or derping). She told us all about her concept of "micro flow", causing us to envision a tiny Flo from the Progressive commercials sitting on our shoulders. This is why she is the Dean of the College of Arts and Science at NYU and we are not! We also talk about Ellie going braless for the summer and Julia rubbing emu oil on her skin. If you think the latter is problematic, remember Julia's words: "The emu is already dead at this point."

Topics and timestamps
14:00 - The transformative effects that exercise has on the brain
21:56 - How hormonal changes can lead to increased anxiety
27:46 - Building resilience
34:26 - Tips for staying motivated to exercise
40:10 - What to do about "choking" AKA brain farts
49:09 - Flow vs. Microflow

Handles and sites
Dr. Suzuki's Website
Good Anxiety by Dr. Suzuki
Healthy Brain, Happy Life by Dr. Suzuki
Dr. Suzuki's Insta
Dr. Suzuki's facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Three Vaccines for Fall: What You Need to Know
Dr. Suzuki's TED Talk: The brain-changing benefits of exercise
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED Talk: Flow, the secret to happiness
The Other 50% Podcast
For 10% off Erin's Faces in the month of August, enter CTD at checkout

Other Links
Julia G Wellness - book a free Zoom with Julia today!
https://circlingthedrainpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

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