Midlife Vices

Halloween is basically an excuse to dress like a slut, flirt with a serial killer, and discover some deeply concerning things about your sexual preferences.

This week, Cher and Breezy get into the strange, sexy intersection of horror and desire, and why some of the things that should scare the hell out of us have a funny way of turning us on.

Because sometimes the line between a nightmare and a fantasy is thinner than you'd think.

Who the fuck was in charge of children's entertainment in the '80s?

Between Return to Oz, The Dark Crystal, The NeverEnding Story, and Watership Down, Gen X spent a good portion of childhood being emotionally traumatized by movies that were supposedly made FOR US.

This week on Midlife Vices, we're revisiting the movies, shows, and general psychological warfare that passed for children's entertainment when we were growing up. Who thought this shit was appropriate? Why was everything so dark? And how did we all just collectively accept that childhood was supposed to be terrifying?

Seriously. Artax is still too soon.

Would you survive a horror movie? More importantly, would you even make it past the opening credits?

This week, Cher and Breezy put their survival instincts (and questionable judgment) to the test with a series of increasingly unhinged horror movie scenarios. Creepy motels, suspicious noises, possessed children, hot vampires, and the kind of decisions that get people killed before the title card.

Who makes it to the sequel? Who dies doing something incredibly stupid? And who gets distracted by a sexy supernatural red flag?

Grab your popcorn. We're probably all gonna die.

Why does Gen Z keep stealing our shit? From wired headphones and digital cameras to baggy jeans, indie sleaze, malls and everything Y2K, the things we actually lived through have somehow become someone else’s aesthetic.

This week, we get into “borrowed nostalgia,” why Gen Z is so obsessed with the pre-algorithm world, what they get right (and very, very wrong) about it—and play a round of Who Owns It: Gen X or Gen Z?

Turns out every generation steals from the one before it. We’re just not emotionally prepared to be the vintage one.

Channing Tatum's alleged IG has the internet talking, so we're talking too. That raises a bigger question: if the celebrities we grew up with had social media back then, how many of them would have survived it? Honestly, not many. And neither would the movies. We go through how wildly inappropriate the entertainment we were raised on was, and how we watched it without a second thought.

Then Cher launches into a full, deeply committed recap of Just One of the Guys, the 1985 cult classic where a teen journalist goes undercover as a boy to prove her writing isn't being taken seriously because she's a girl. Was it ahead of its time or a total mess? Probably both. Come for the gossip, stay for the plot summary nobody asked for.

New episodes every Tuesday. Watch on YouTube and follow Midlife Vices on IG and TikTok.

Sydney Sweeney is back in the discourse, this time for an ad that asks the important question: what if sports… but sexy?

This week, Cher and Breezy unpack Sydney’s latest messy campaign, the increasingly horny marketing of women’s sports, and why we apparently can’t just let women play a goddamn game without turning it into content.

And then? Who knows. We certainly don’t.

Welcome to Tits, Sports, and Tangents—an episode that starts with a topic and makes absolutely no promises about where it ends.

Just when we thought we were out, we pulled ourselves back in.

Breezy and Cher are back after life once again fucked up their flow, and apparently they have some catching up to do. Breezy recaps MidSummer Scream, where she somehow managed to meet Cher’s long-forgotten TikTok crush from last year—which is really all it takes for the entire conversation to go completely off the rails.

We’re back, baby. For real this time. Probably.

Follow the pod on IG: @midelifevicespod and Tiktok : @midlofevicespodcast

What happens to intimacy as we get older—and why does no one really explain it?

Natassia Miller, founder and CEO of Wonderlust, joins Midlife Vices for a conversation about how intimacy actually works in midlife—beyond just sex, and beyond the version we were sold.

We talk about how desire evolves (and sometimes disappears), but also how emotional connection, identity, stress, and life transitions all reshape the way we experience closeness. From long-term relationships to dating in a completely different landscape, Natassia shares what she’s seeing in her work—and why so many people feel out of sync with themselves and their partners.

This isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about understanding what’s changing—and learning how to meet yourself there.

Hosted by author and culture writer Cher Martinetti (SYFY FANGRRLS, Cracked, Death & Taxes).

Follow Midlife Vices on IG: @midlifevicespod

Cher : @thecherness

And out guest Natssia Miller: @natassiamiller

We’ve optimized our routines, romanticized our habits, and vision-boarded our way into oblivion—but somehow, we’re still not actually… enjoying ourselves.

This week, we’re talking about pleasure—not as a reward, but as the point. The thing we keep skipping, outsourcing, or saving for later.

Because what if it’s not that you’re not doing enough… it’s that you’re not feeling enough?

We get into manifestation vs. embodiment, the disconnect between productivity and pleasure, and why reconnecting to your body might be the most radical (and effective) move you can make.

Yes, we talk about the Big O—but also everything it represents: presence, desire, agency, and actually being in your life while you’re living it.

About Venus O’Hara:

Venus O’Hara is an author, speaker, and orgasmic manifestation expert exploring the intersection of pleasure, power, and self-awareness. Through her work, she encourages women to reconnect with their bodies and redefine their relationship to desire, intimacy, and fulfillment.

Follow: @venusohara

About Cher Martinetti:

Cher Martinetti is a writer, editor, and creative strategist working at the intersection of pop culture, reinvention, and women’s stories. A former founding editor of SYFY’s FANGRRLS, she now builds content and community across media—telling women’s stories the way they actually feel. She hosts Midlife Vices, where nothing is off-limits and everything’s up for reconsideration.

Follow: @thecherness

About SHAG:

SHAG is a Brooklyn-based sex shop and erotic art space offering a curated mix of pleasure products, lingerie, self-care, and thoughtfully designed gifts. Beyond retail, SHAG also produces editorial content, workshops, and community programming centered on sexual wellness and exploration.

Follow: @weloveshag

Follow the show:

@midlifevicespod

Whether you’re a parent, a non-parent, wanted kids, didn’t want kids, or are still figuring it out — midlife hits everyone with a wild identity check.

In this episode, Breezy (the mom) and Cher (the non-mom) break down the judgment, the freedom, the grief, the hormonal chaos, and the midlife transformation that happens to ALL women, no matter their path.

From postpartum rolling straight into perimenopause, to navigating social pressure, to redefining legacy and womanhood, this is the conversation we’re finally having out loud.

Parent or not-parent — you’re still valid, still whole, and still a bad bitch.