Unladylike

What does “midlife crisis” mean for women, and why is the existential freakout so male-coded in the first place? Cristen unpacks why our 40s can feel so strange with Lindsey Goldwert and Gabrielle Moss, authors of The Midlife Plot Twist: How to Reboot Your Life Without Burning It Down (Even If You Really, Really Want To). From reconciling career crashouts and life choices to the perimenopause panacea, Lindsey and Gabrielle argue that midlife questioning isn’t always hormones, but opportunities to realign with our values. Angela Bassett setting the car on fire in “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” optional.

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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Period pain is a monthly puzzle that’s yet to be solved. Though extremely common and often debilitating, menstrual pain (aka dysmenorrhea) remains under-researched and under-treated. But why?? Cristen and Kate Downey of CRAMPED podcast investigate, from the Middle Ages to midcentury amphetamines to Big Pharma today.

Join the Unladies' Room Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/unladylikemedia

Listen to CRAMPED: https://www.katehelendowney.com/cramped

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What happens when women stop smiling through pain? Hillary Frank (The Longest Shortest Time) explores the answer in her new audiobook thriller WEDLOCKED that follows a fitness influencer married to her boss and facing mounting pressure to project a perfect, on-brand relationship while secretly desperate for a baby her husband keeps mysteriously postponing. Cristen talks to Hillary about the pressure on women to perform, biological clock anxiety, social media mind games and the physical costs of emotional suppression.

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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Why is the EPA testing drinking water for nonexistent medication abortion contamination? Cristen breaks down how anti-abortion groups, led by Students for Life, are weaponizing environmentalism to build support for more bans, surveillance and restrictions like the GOP’s Clean Water for All Life Act, which would effectively end telehealth medication abortion through in-person mandates and “catch kit” disposal requirements, with criminal penalties for providers. She also traces the disinformation campaign’s funding and coordination through dark money networks, the Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defending Freedom.

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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Sharing a new podcast Cristen is loving. Is She Game? is a hub for the world of women’s sports – building community by serving fans and creating new ones. Each week, Coach Jackie J breaks down the week’s news in sports and culture, plays a fun game with a special guest, and sets you up with moments to look forward to in the week to come. She’ll talk to the legendary Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn, WTA tennis pro Daria Kasatkina, and so many more.

Jackie is the People’s Coach: teaching you all about women’s sports, so you can have the time of your life as a fan of whatever sport catches your eye. From the WNBA, to the rec rugby league your mom just joined, Jackie has her finger on the pulse of sports worldwide. She can’t wait to turn you into a women’s sports fan.

In this episode, Coach Jackie is joined by the one and only Billie Jean King--tennis pioneer, women's sports advocate, and famed lesbian. The two show some love to BJK's most recent book, See It to Be It: Eleven Champions Leading Women's Sports Today, and Billie Jean demonstrates her surprising knowledge of queer and sports terminology.

Listen to more episodes of Is She Game at https://lnk.to/isshegameUN

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What does white women’s hair mean beyond beauty? Cristen talks with culture critic Sarah Mesle about her book TANGLED and how white women’s hair in America signals power that often goes unrecognized. From Utah curls emanating Nordic whiteness to MAGA hair extensions signifying loyalty and hierarchy, Sarah contextualizes our hair cares in the shifting political landscape and structural betrayals they respond to. Plus, “expensive-looking” hair, Gwyneth Paltrow’s blonde luxury branding, Bama Rush aesthetics as a display of time and resources and Cristen’s curling ironed childhood bangs.

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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To Cabot Cove we go! Cristen teams up with Mary Mahoney of Landline to investigate why "Murder, She Wrote" feels like instant friendship and Jessica Fletcher is our TV icon. From queerness to feminism to fashion, they dissect what makes the series so timeless and why fans aren't interested in Jamie Lee Curtis' upcoming remake.

Get more pop culture with context and subscribe to the Landline Patreon!

Find @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected]. Special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! This wouldn't exist without you.

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When Cristen took a financial hit a few years ago, it didn’t take long for her credit card debt to start spiraling. And the more it grew, the more the shame and self-loathing attached to it compounded. But in this hellish economy, where does our personal responsibility end and financial predation begin? Debt Heads hosts Jamie Alyson Feldman and Rachel Webster break down the rigged systems and career myths that got us here, who actually profits from our dirty little (or big) debt secrets and how to detach our worth from how much we owe. Plus, Cristen does the scary thing and airs the debt number that’s been keeping her up at night.

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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Sharing a new series from Future Hindsight, Occupy! An Unfinished Uprising.

Occupy Wall Street is the story of the improbable becoming possible. In 2008, millions of people were devastated by an economic crash caused by Wall Street greed, but it wasn’t until 2011 that there was a mass response from the Left. A call to protest went out, and thousands of people responded. They raged against a system that was rigged against them and tried to create their own anti-capitalist village in a small Manhattan park. The movement quickly spread across the country, inspiring hundreds of occupations and a new generation of activists.

The series is told through the voices of activists who camped out in Zuccotti Park for almost two months, getting inside the drama of a movement that grew rapidly, felt both transcendent and chaotic, and then violently flamed out. In this episode, we hear about life inside the encampment, and why the movement had a “dude” problem. In the height of the movement, questions of safety and accountability were becoming increasingly urgent, but occupiers had wildly different ways of responding to the problems. It turns out that the movement's greatest strength—its openness—may also have been its greatest vulnerability.

Binge the entire series at http://swap.fm/l/Occupy!

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Yes, there are women in chatbot relationships, and yes, they know their AI boyfriends aren’t real. But …why? Friend of the pod Bridget Todd (There Are No Girls on the Internet) is the only tech reporter I trust to answer that and the bigger question of whether AI is coming not only for our jobs, but our relationships, too (and just sexual ones). We talk about how AI platforms are designed to hook us emotionally, prompting us to outsource our inner lives, desires and if Bumble’s founder has her way, dating. Bridget's new audiobook is Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy, and spoiler alert, she's betting on HUMANS. 

~ get in touch @unladylikemedia on Instagram or email [email protected] ~ special thank you to Unladies' Room Patreon supporters! this wouldn't exist without you ~

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