March is Women’s History Month, and while it’s a time to celebrate the progress women have made, it’s also a time to step back and realize something surprising:

Many of the rights women have today didn’t happen centuries ago.

They happened in our parents’ lifetime.

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen talks about why so many women reach midlife and suddenly feel angry, frustrated, or ready to question everything they were taught growing up.

Because for decades, many women were raised with a cultural rulebook that said:

Be agreeable.
Trust authority.
Don’t rock the boat.
Don’t question doctors.
Don’t speak up too loudly.

But midlife has a way of changing that.

Jen reflects on several moments in women’s history that reveal how recent many fundamental rights actually are — from financial independence to healthcare research — and shares her own personal experience navigating years of medical gaslighting before finally being diagnosed with endometriosis and receiving a hysterectomy that changed her life.

Because sometimes midlife isn’t a crisis.

It’s the moment women start rewriting the rules.

In This Episode

• Why women couldn’t open credit cards or mortgages in their own name until 1974
 • Why women were excluded from medical research until the 1990s
 • The long history of healthcare gaslighting toward women
 • Jen’s personal experience with undiagnosed endometriosis and hysterectomy
 • The cultural “rulebook” many women were raised with
 • Why midlife often becomes the moment women find their voice

If This Episode Resonated

If you enjoyed this conversation:

⭐ Follow and subscribe to The Midlife Edit Podcast
⭐ Share this episode with a friend
⭐ Leave a review to help more women find the show

Connect With Jen

Website:
 https://themidlifeeditco.com

Instagram:
@thejenweinstein

TikTok:
@thejenweinstein

Thirty years ago, Mother Mother became an anthem - raw, emotional, unapologetic.

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, I sit down with Tracy Bonham to talk about what it really meant to be labeled “the angry woman” in the 90s - and what it looks like to reclaim that voice in midlife.

This conversation goes far beyond nostalgia.

We talk about:

• Taking up space as a woman in the music industry
• Being misunderstood, minimized, or told to tone it down
• The evolution from 90s rage to midlife clarity
• Motherhood, divorce, and creative reinvention
• Her breast cancer journey and advocating for herself
• Using your platform in a time when artists are told to “stay in their lane”
• The 30th anniversary of The Burdens of Being Upright and her “Where It All Began” residency shows

Tracy reflects on who she was when she wrote Mother Mother, who she is now, and why using your voice — creatively and personally — still matters.

If you’ve ever been told you’re too much, too loud, or too angry… this one is for you.

Connect with Tracy Bonham

Website: https://www.tracybonham.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracybonham/

 🔗 Read the full blog recap here.

If you love this episode, share it with a friend and leave a review - it helps The Midlife Edit grow and reach more women who need these conversations.

One year ago I hit record on a podcast I thought would be about fitness, weight loss, and midlife health.

It turned into something completely different.

In this one-year anniversary episode, I’m reflecting on why I started The Midlife Edit, what midlife actually feels like, and how this space helped me find clarity, confidence, and my voice in my 40s.

We talk about the narratives women are given once we reach midlife — that we should shrink, stay quiet, or stop reinventing ourselves — and why I don’t believe any of that.

I share what changed this year, what didn’t, and how strength, style, career shifts, and honest conversations reshaped how I see aging.

And I also share a full-circle moment: interviewing one of my favorite artists growing up — Tracy Bonham — whose episode drops next week.

If you’ve ever felt the shift, questioned your identity, or realized you might actually be becoming more yourself — not less — this episode is for you.

Midlife isn’t the ending.
 It’s authorship.

• Confidence comes after action — not before
• Midlife isn’t a crisis, it’s clarity
• Strength > thinness
• You don’t lose yourself in midlife — you stop performing
• Reinvention is allowed at any age
• Women don’t need fixing — they need permission
• Aging can be something to look forward to

“Midlife isn’t a crisis — it’s the first time we know ourselves well enough to live on purpose.” 

And if you’ve been listening for a while, leaving a review helps more women find this space.

A conversation with Grammy-nominated artist Tracy Bonham — on creativity, identity, and evolving through every stage of life.

Midlife changes everything - our bodies, our relationships, our identity, and sometimes even our sense of connection to ourselves.

In this episode, I sit down with pleasure coach and author Elana Auerbach to talk about intimacy, shame, ritual, and what it really means to reconnect with your body and your desires in this season of life.

Elana shares how spending more than a decade struggling with intimacy in her own relationship led her to create The Sure Thing - a weekly ritual designed to remove pressure, build emotional safety, and bring playfulness back into long-term relationships.

But this conversation goes far beyond intimacy.

We talk about:

• Why so many women feel disconnected from their bodies in midlife
 • How shame and conditioning impact our relationship with pleasure
 • Why desire changes in long-term relationships - and why that’s normal
 • The power of ritual in creating safety and anticipation
 • What it actually means to take responsibility for your own pleasure
 • How reconnecting with your body can rebuild confidence and identity

If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable in your changing body… unsure of what you want… or hesitant to prioritize yourself without guilt - this episode is your permission slip.

Midlife isn’t about losing yourself. It’s about rediscovering who you are now.

✨ Intimacy fades without intention - and that’s normal
 ✨ Shame is one of the biggest barriers to pleasure and connection
 ✨ Ritual creates emotional safety in relationships
 ✨ Playfulness can revive desire more than pressure ever will
 ✨ You are allowed to prioritize connection, joy, and pleasure without apology

• The Sure Thing by Elana Auerbach Buy it here
• Learn more about Elana and her work: The Sure Thing Experiment 

Have you ever made plans when you were feeling confident, motivated, and emotionally stable… only for the day of those plans to arrive and you immediately think, “Wow… that was bold of me.”

In this solo episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen dives into the very relatable experience of living out expectations, roles, and commitments that earlier versions of ourselves agreed to - and why midlife often becomes the moment we start questioning whether those plans still fit.

With humor, honesty, and a little rebellion, this episode explores why midlife isn’t about starting over… it’s about renegotiating the life you once said yes to.

In This Episode, Jen Talks About:

✨ Why the version of you who signs up for things is often VERY different from the version who has to show up
 ✨ How midlife triggers identity shifts - not just physical or hormonal changes
 ✨ The pressure to constantly “fix” ourselves and why that finish line keeps moving
 ✨ How curiosity can be more powerful than confidence
 ✨ A simple mindset shift to help you start editing your life instead of overhauling it

Coming Next Week…

Jen interviews author Elana Auerbach about pleasure, connection, and rediscovering parts of yourself that many women quietly lose somewhere between responsibility and routine.

(Fair warning… it’s a little spicy 🌶️)

Connect with Jen:

Website: The Midlife Edit Co.
Instagram: @thejenweinstein
Pinterest: The Midlife Edit Co.

If this episode resonated with you, don’t forget to follow, rate, and share The Midlife Edit with a friend who might need to hear it.

After years of giving, caretaking, and pushing through, many women reach midlife and quietly ask: What do I want?

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen sits down with Karen Novy and Tara Alexandra, co-founders of Your Odyssey, for an honest, grounding conversation about reclaiming yourself - not through dramatic reinvention, but through small, intentional shifts in everyday life.

Together, they explore how women lose (and reclaim) their voice, why rest often comes with guilt, how nervous system regulation supports self-trust, and why midlife is less about becoming someone new and more about remembering who you’ve always been.

This episode is practical, reflective, funny, and deeply validating for women navigating midlife transitions.

✨ In This Episode, We Talk About:

• Why dreaming can feel risky after hard seasons
• How women slowly lose their voice — and how to reclaim it
• The power of inner self-talk and self-permission
• Why rest isn’t laziness — it’s regulation
• Simple nervous system tools you can use in minutes
• How five minutes of intentional care can shift your entire day
• The role music plays in healing, identity, and self-expression

🎶 Song of the Episode

F**ckin’ Perfect by Pink

🔗 Connect with Our Guests

• Instagram: @yourodyssey.life
• Podcast: Your Odyssey
• Explore their free Take Five to Thrive practice and other offerings via the links in their bio

What happens when something you once loved starts to feel heavy?

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, we’re talking about movement - not the loud, dramatic, “burn it all down” kind, but the kind that’s intentional, sustainable, and honest. This conversation is rooted in fitness, perimenopause, and the very real fear of slipping backward after working hard to change your health.

If you’ve ever lost weight, rebuilt trust with your body, or become known as “the fitness person,” you might recognize the pressure that comes with it - the fear of old habits returning, the guilt around rest, and the panic that one missed workout could undo everything.

We talk about:

• Why perimenopause can change how fitness feels, not just how it looks
• The difference between discipline and panic
• Why gentleness does not mean laziness or giving up
• How fear can quietly start driving your fitness decisions
• What it actually takes to find joy in movement again
• Why adjusting your approach doesn’t erase your progress

This episode is about learning how to listen to your body without letting fear run the show - and how to stay committed to your health without burning yourself out in the process.

🎶 Song of the episode: Learning to Fly by Tom Petty
Because this season isn’t about stopping - it’s about learning how to move forward without crashing.

As we head into February, you’ll hear more guest conversations on the podcast alongside practical, how-to episodes focused on navigating midlife health, mindset, and change in a way that’s sustainable and real.

If fitness feels complicated right now, you’re not broken - and you’re not alone.
 You’re learning to fly.

What happens after you finally get clarity about what you want?

In this episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen talks about the often-unspoken pause that comes after clarity - the fear, second-guessing, and “okay… now what?” spiral that so many women experience in midlife.

Drawing from personal realizations, a leadership summit in Nashville, and real-life conversations, this episode explores:

• why living in the past can quietly keep us stuck
• what actually happens when you get what you want — and when you don’t
• how to stop using outcomes as proof of your worth
• what it looks like to stay present and show up intentionally

This isn’t about having all the answers.
 It’s about learning how to move forward without letting the past drive.

🎶 Song of the episode: Rearviewmirror

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode

• Last week’s episode on clarity
• The clarity quiz - if you haven’t taken it yet, go take it now. Click here for yours.

⭐ Support the Podcast

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who might need it.

Midlife has a way of asking a question we’re not always ready for:

What do you actually want?

Not what you should want.
Not what makes sense.
Not what keeps everyone else comfortable.

In this episode, Jen explores why this question shows up so powerfully in midlife, why women are often taught to adapt instead of ask, and how hustle culture trains us to stay silent about our needs.

You’ll hear:

• Why desire doesn’t cancel gratitude, it’s information
• The difference between what you want and what you’re done tolerating
• Why asking for what you want feels risky
• How to start asking without over-explaining or apologizing

Jen pairs this conversation with Fast Car, a song that captures the quiet moment when you realize something has to change, even if you don’t have the full plan yet

She also shares why she created a companion quiz for this episode, because sometimes the hardest part isn’t asking for what you want, it’s knowing what to ask for in the first place.

📝 Click Below To Take the Quiz:
👉 What Do You Actually Want Right Now?
 

Midlife isn’t about becoming someone new.
It’s about listening to who you are now.

Next week: We asked for what we want—now what? What happens when you go after it… or don’t get it?

What if you’re not unhappy - just muted?

In the Season 2 opener of The Midlife Edit, Jen kicks off a brand-new chapter with a powerful question: how loud are you actually living your life right now?

This episode is the foundation for the entire season....a real, honest, and practical conversation about how women slowly turn the volume down on themselves… and how midlife is often the moment we finally notice it.

Jen breaks down what “living on low” actually looks like in real life: being the peacekeeper, the performer, or the one who disappears to keep everyone else comfortable, and why this isn’t weakness, but competence taken too far.

More importantly, this episode isn’t just about awareness. It’s about how to start changing it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why midlife isn’t a crisis, it’s clarity
• How hormones, energy shifts, and changing roles reveal what’s been muted
• The Volume Map: a simple tool to identify where your life is running on low
• The three most common “muting patterns” women fall into
• How to choose one realistic Volume Up Move (without chaos or guilt)
• Why guilt shows up when you start choosing yourself — and how to handle it
• Why taking care of yourself is not selfish (even when others benefit from you staying small)

Jen also introduces the Season 2 soundtrack concept and explains why Dog Days Are Over is the anchor song for this episode...a reminder that when your body and brain finally agree, it’s time to stop living on low.

This season of The Midlife Edit is a how-to guide for midlife - not just inspiration, but real tools to help you advocate for yourself, focus on health instead of skinny, find happiness from within, and start asking for what you actually want.

🎧 Next episode: What Do You Actually Want? - and why this question changes everything.

If this episode resonated with you:

• Join the Backstage Pass (Jen’s email list) for behind-the-scenes notes, playlists, and extras
• Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast - it helps more women find the show
• Follow along on Instagram @thejenweinstein for continued conversation and visuals from this episode

Until next time - turn the volume up...and make it a damn good chapter.