Glastonbury is on a fallow year, so we take a trip down memory lane through the festivals and venues that shaped our musical lives. We also visit the V&A's new exhibition on lost music venues, which turns out to be more bittersweet than expected.

Key Takeaways

• 25% of late night venues in the UK closed between 2020 and 2025, largely in the wake of COVID
• The V&A's Lost Music Venues exhibition (on until summer 2027, second floor) celebrates 50 significant UK venues that are gone forever
• Several iconic London venues including the Astoria, LA2 and the Borderline were lost to the Elizabeth line development
• Festival lineups from the late 90s and early 2000s were genuinely extraordinary compared to today
• The Somerset area around Frome, Bruton and Pilton is seeing a revival of smaller, intimate gig venues
• The best way to do a festival? Five-star hotel or a rock star motorhome. Camping is optional.

Timestamps

• 00:00 - Introduction: Glastonbury's fallow year explained
• 02:32 - The V&A Lost Music Venues exhibition
• 03:30 - The Astoria, Borderline and venues lost to the Elizabeth line
• 04:00 - Brixton Academy, Simon Parkes and being filmed in a Frankie Goes to Hollywood video
• 08:00 - Sydney in the 80s: intimate venues and celebrity encounters
• 10:30 - Hammersmith Palais and Knebworth 1986 (Queen, Big Country, Status Quo)
• 13:00 - Glastonbury 1987: sneaking in through farmers' fields, a police roadblock and a friend who later became a vicar
• 19:00 - V Festival 1997: an insane two-day lineup and a snoring tent companion
• 21:00 - Rock en Seine, Paris: the bougie festival experience done right
• 25:30 - V Festival 2002 stag do: Fatboy Slim and Zoe Ball's Glastonbury motorhome
• 29:30 - Reading Festival 2002: one song into the Foo Fighters and a tactical retreat
• 33:00 - The Somerset venue revival and upcoming Jo Whiley gig in Frome

What are we watching this summer? We break down four upcoming and current series worth getting excited about, all featuring actors squarely in our generation, and all landing on streaming platforms between now and autumn.

Key Takeaways

• Rivals (Disney+) is the nostalgic 80s romp we didn't know we needed, with a killer soundtrack and a Waitrose food collab to match
• Alice and Steve (Disney+) tackles age gap relationships with award-winning credentials before it even lands
• Ted Lasso Season 4 (Apple TV+) is back with a feel-good twist, this time centred around a women's squad
• Ride or Die (Amazon Prime, 15 July) sees Hannah Waddingham go full action hero, and it sparked a streaming platform bidding war

Timestamps

00:09 - Introduction and what inspired today's episode

01:00 - Rivals (Disney+): overview, cast and 80s nostalgia

05:00 - The Rivals soundtrack, brand partnerships and Waitrose collab

07:30 - Characters we love in Rivals, fashions we did (and didn't) wear

11:30 - Alice and Steve (Disney+): plot, cast and why we're excited

14:00 - Who is Jermaine Clement? Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows

16:30 - Age gap relationships and why this show goes there

17:30 - Please like, follow and subscribe! And tell us what you're watching

18:10 - Ted Lasso Season 4 (Apple TV+): the women's squad twist, cast and big unanswered questions

22:30 - Ride or Die (Amazon Prime): Hannah Waddingham as an international spy, Bill Nighy guest stars, out 15 July

If there is a series you think we have missed, drop us a message and tell us what you are watching and why you love it. Find us on Spotify, Apple, Deezer, Audible and YouTube.

Jo finally gets answers about her chronic sleep issues and it's not what she (or most women) would expect. Hormone and nutrition specialist Kate Thompson joins to unpack why so many midlife women are misdiagnosed, overtreated for oestrogen, and completely missing the real culprit: cortisol burnout. From the Dutch test to dopamine depletion, this episode connects dots that most GPs simply don't have time to.

Key Takeaways:

• Sleep problems in midlife aren't always hormonal. Chronic high cortisol can suppress melatonin and tank your neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) long before your HRT needs adjusting
• The Dutch test (dried urine comprehensive hormone panel) reveals cortisol patterns, neurotransmitter impact and sex hormones together, giving a far clearer picture than standard blood work
• High-intensity evening exercise spikes cortisol right when your body needs to wind down. Swap it for strength training or yoga
• Your first hour after waking matters: skip immediate coffee, get natural light and eat before you exercise
• Progesterone is chronically underprescribed in the UK. Low progesterone means low GABA, which means an overactive brain at 3am
• Fatty liver disease affects an estimated 70% of midlife people and largely goes undiagnosed. Ask for markers at your next blood test or request a look during any abdominal ultrasound
• Women spend roughly 25% of their lives in poor health. Decisions made in your 40s and 50s directly shape your health span

Timestamps:

• 00:09 Introducing Kate Thompson, the Hormone Geek
• 01:10 Kate's backstory: city career, fertility, perimenopause, and retraining
• 02:24 What a first consultation looks like; why women present with weight gain but leave with a fuller picture
• 03:30 The Dutch test explained: cortisol, sex hormones, and neurotransmitters in one panel
• 04:45 Jo's case: blood sugar monitor ruled out, Dutch test ordered
• 05:45 What Jo's results actually showed (spoiler: it wasn't the HRT)
• 07:20 Progesterone, GABA and the 3am wide-awake brain
• 09:16 Four weeks in: real-world results amid a genuinely stressful period
• 13:00 Why midlife changes everything: oestrogen drop, visceral fat, cortisol receptors, muscle mass
• 14:10 A male CEO case study: what late-stage burnout actually looks like
• 16:00 The exercise problem: why HIIT addicts are often the most cortisol-depleted
• 17:30 Strength training for women and men: testosterone, decision-making, and longevity
• 18:32 Success stories and the 12-week programme philosophy
• 19:45 Simple morning habits: light, smoothie, then coffee; no phone as your first screen
• 21:30 Evening routine: dimmed lights, early eating, no late cardio
• 23:09 8,000 steps and why walking without your phone is stress medicine
• 25:00 The Diet Coke trap: why artificial sweetness makes you crave the real thing
• 26:00 New research on food texture and post-lunch sugar cravings
• 28:00 Longevity vs health span: women live longer but spend more years unwell
• 29:30 Fatty liver disease: the silent midlife epidemic and how to check for it

https://www.instagram.com/thehormonegeek/

https://www.thehormonegeek.co.uk/

We sit down with personal stylist Emma Davison to tackle one of midlife's most overlooked confidence boosters: knowing how to dress for the body and skin tone you have now, not the one you had 20 years ago. Emma brings refreshingly honest advice on colour, capsule wardrobes, wardrobe edits and why getting dressed in the morning doesn't have to feel like a crisis.

Key Takeaways

Black isn't always your friend. As skin softens with age, black absorbs light and creates shadows around the face, accelerating the appearance of aging. Navy blue is the universal alternative that works for virtually everyone.

Know your undertone. The key question is whether your skin tone is warm or cool, which determines whether you reach for ivory or pure white, olive green or teal, warm reds or cool blues.

A capsule wardrobe is simpler than you think. Aim for 25 to 40 core pieces built around 4 to 5 investment colours that all work together, then layer in statement pieces on top.

About 70% of most people's wardrobes go unworn. A wardrobe edit cuts the noise, reveals what you actually have, and often generates more outfits from fewer pieces.

Smart casual is where people struggle most. Most people can do formal and casual, but the middle ground is where a stylist adds the most value.

Fit and fabric matter more than trends. As men age cut and quality of fabric become the priority. A well-tailored classic piece will outlast any trend.

Clothes are a confidence tool, not a vanity project. Particularly through menopause and major life transitions, what you wear directly affects how you carry yourself and how others respond to you.

Start with the basics, literally. Underwear, bra fit and t-shirt weight are the foundation everything else is built on.

Timestamps

00:11 Introduction and why we all love black

02:32 The ageing effect of black and why navy wins

04:47 How knowing your colours shortcuts the shopping experience

07:09 Starting a wardrobe edit: body shape, underwear, and investment pieces

09:29 Kevin's colours, warm vs cool skin tones, and the role of hair colour

11:54 Jo's colour palette and why navy is the most versatile neutral

13:30 How clothes transform confidence, especially post-menopause

16:35 Dressing your age vs dressing for your body now

18:29 Common mistakes men make and where style tends to slip

20:49 Smart casual as the trickiest category and how to nail it

23:10 How a wardrobe edit actually works, start to finish

27:47 The emotional weight of clothes and how Emma handles it

32:19 The ripple effect of a style transformation on those around you

33:30 How many pieces make a capsule wardrobe

34:45 Go-to high street brands for men and women

37:09 Why shopping in person still matters and where to find Emma

 https://emma-davison.co.uk/

We sit down with personal stylist Emma Davison to tackle one of midlife's most overlooked confidence boosters: knowing how to dress for the body and skin tone you have now, not the one you had 20 years ago. Emma brings refreshingly honest advice on colour, capsule wardrobes, wardrobe edits and why getting dressed in the morning doesn't have to feel like a crisis.

Key Takeaways

Black isn't always your friend. As skin softens with age, black absorbs light and creates shadows around the face, accelerating the appearance of aging. Navy blue is the universal alternative that works for virtually everyone.

Know your undertone. The key question is whether your skin tone is warm or cool, which determines whether you reach for ivory or pure white, olive green or teal, warm reds or cool blues.

A capsule wardrobe is simpler than you think. Aim for 25 to 40 core pieces built around 4 to 5 investment colours that all work together, then layer in statement pieces on top.

About 70% of most people's wardrobes go unworn. A wardrobe edit cuts the noise, reveals what you actually have, and often generates more outfits from fewer pieces.

Smart casual is where people struggle most. Most people can do formal and casual, but the middle ground is where a stylist adds the most value.

Fit and fabric matter more than trends. As men age cut and quality of fabric become the priority. A well-tailored classic piece will outlast any trend.

Clothes are a confidence tool, not a vanity project. Particularly through menopause and major life transitions, what you wear directly affects how you carry yourself and how others respond to you.

Start with the basics, literally. Underwear, bra fit and t-shirt weight are the foundation everything else is built on.

Timestamps

00:11 Introduction and why we all love black

02:32 The ageing effect of black and why navy wins

04:47 How knowing your colours shortcuts the shopping experience

07:09 Starting a wardrobe edit: body shape, underwear, and investment pieces

09:29 Kevin's colours, warm vs cool skin tones, and the role of hair colour

11:54 Jo's colour palette and why navy is the most versatile neutral

13:30 How clothes transform confidence, especially post-menopause

16:35 Dressing your age vs dressing for your body now

18:29 Common mistakes men make and where style tends to slip

20:49 Smart casual as the trickiest category and how to nail it

23:10 How a wardrobe edit actually works, start to finish

27:47 The emotional weight of clothes and how Emma handles it

32:19 The ripple effect of a style transformation on those around you

33:30 How many pieces make a capsule wardrobe

34:45 Go-to high street brands for men and women

37:09 Why shopping in person still matters and where to find Emma

 https://emma-davison.co.uk/

We mark Mental Health Awareness Week (11–17 May, UK) by sharing our own very on-brand actions: a black-tie charity ball in London, donations to two youth mental health charities, and a group ride with near-strangers for the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Guildford. Along the way we get honest about male friendship, vulnerability, and why it's weirdly hard to make mates in your 50s and 60s. We close out with the Mental Health Foundation's Top 10 practical tips and score ourselves on how many we're actually doing.

Key Takeaways

• Activity creates connection; men in particular open up when united around something physical
• Making friends as an older adult is awkward, and that's normal; push through it anyway
• The Top 10 aren't a checklist; pick what works for you, and use them to support others too
• Shared experience > proximity; it's not having friends, it's actually spending time with them

Timestamps

00:09 — Welcome & intro: Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 theme is Action

00:45 — The charity ball: Stop Breathe Think; free, instant counselling for under-21s who can't afford it

02:10 — Snow Camp: using skiing & snowboarding to build life skills and support young people's mental health

02:36 — What is the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride? Retro bikes, vintage threads, raising funds for prostate cancer research and men's mental health (Movember)

04:53 — The Guildford ride by numbers: 1,392 riders, ~£100k raised, second biggest ride in the world this year

06:00 — The friendship backstory: why socialising with people your own age gets complicated over the decades

09:40 — Making new friends in your 60s: the vulnerability of putting yourself out there and why it's worth it

13:00 — What the ride unlocked: deep conversations, a WhatsApp group, and plans for future rides together

14:30 — Top 10 Mental Health Foundation tips begin

• 14:30 1. Plan something to look forward to
• 16:45 2. Eat well, avoiding sugar spikes and cortisol crashes
• 18:00 3. Get closer to nature, daily walks, woods vs pavements
• 19:13 4. Get good sleep, told straight
• 20:00 5. Get creative, a guitar deadline and a hired drummer at the ball
• 21:36 6. Move regularly, steps, yoga, Pilates, high-intensity cycling
• 22:30 7. Try mindfulness, hot yoga, barefoot on grass, being present
• 24:01 8. Make time for friends, shared experiences vs an unused contact list
• 25:00 9. Be kind, gratitude and appreciating small moments
• 25:45 10. Talk things over;  courage, survival mode, and the friends who've sat through it all

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week

https://gentlemansride.com/

https://www.stopbreathethink.org.uk/

This week we get candid about one of the most overlooked relationship dynamics, what it's actually like when a woman is going through menopause and her partner is trying to keep up. Having been through it with two partners, Kev is something of an accidental expert and this episode is an honest, warm and sometimes hilarious look at what that journey really involves for both sides.

Key Takeaways

·       Menopause is technically one single day, 12 months after your last period. Everything else is peri or post, and post-menopause can last decades.

·       HRT can be life-changing but getting the balance right takes time. Oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone all play a role and the combination matters enormously.

·       Symptoms are not always obvious as menopausal. UTIs, anxiety, heart palpitations, poor sleep and mood swings can easily be mistaken for stress or personality.

·       Men who educate themselves make a tangible difference. Kev's prior experience meant he recognised the signs, suggested HRT and coached Jo through the worst of it without shame or blame.

·       Feeling chosen and emotionally safe allowed Jo to open up about what she was going through. Security matters as much as knowledge.

·       Only 26% of men in a recent survey attributed their partner's symptoms to menopause rather than ageing. 11% did nothing at all.

·       The responsibility should not fall entirely on women to explain what is happening to them.

Timestamps

00:09 Introduction and what menopause actually is

01:30 What we learned from a previous relationship going through menopause and HRT 03:30 Weight gain, libido, mood swings and separating stress from symptoms

05:00 Was she able to voice what was happening?

06:00 How Jo felt entering the relationship post-menopausal and low in confidence

07:45 The emotional chaos of menopause and not knowing who you are 09:00 The catfishing incident and the rocky early months

10:30 The blind date in Covent Garden and the moment a choice was made

12:30 How that moment changed what Jo felt able to share

14:00 Jo's symptoms: UTIs, palpitations, anxiety and sleep disruption

15:30 Suggesting HRT and why prior experience made that possible

17:00 The driveway tantrum, the forgotten laptop and two weeks off the patch

19:00 A previous relationship stops being a threat and becomes a gift

21:00 What changed after HRT: confidence, mood, sleep and playfulness

23:00 Louise Newson's 10 tips for partners and how we had already lived them

27:00 What men get wrong about menopause

28:30 The MATE survey and some sobering stats on men's attitudes and inaction

30:00 Why post-menopause is a long road and can actually be great

Louise Newson https://www.newsonhealth.co.uk/

MATE Mens attitude to menopause https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31188286/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Quality over quantity. Research suggests 4–5 deep friendships is all you need
• Loneliness isn't about being alone — it's the gap between the connection you want and what you have
• Midlife is the hardest time to make friends, but also when they matter most
• Intentionality is everything — good friendships don't happen by accident anymore
• Don't interpret silence as rejection — everyone is busy and overwhelmed
• Audit your circle: use the Friendship MOT to decide where to invest your time
• Start now. There's no better moment to reach out

Every generation thinks it had it hardest. Jo and Kev dig into a Sunday Times article taking a multidimensional look at how Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z have fared across five key areas: housing, wages, consumer goods, relationships, and retirement. As parents of four Gen Z kids, this one is personal. Spoiler: the Boomers did have it better — but the picture is more nuanced than the kids would have you believe.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Housing: By 30, 50% of Boomers owned a home. First-time buyers today pay £73,800 in their first five mortgage years vs £41,500 for Boomers. The price-to-salary ratio has gone from 4.2x in 1975 to 7.6x today. Boomers had high rates but MIRAS tax relief softened the blow. Jo's 1988 Silvertown flat cost £85k — it's now £400k.

Wages: Under-20s are up 20% in real terms thanks to minimum wage rises. Ages 20–27 are flat. Above 27, wages are down. 45% of unemployed 24-year-old Gen Z have never held a job, and graduate oversupply is squeezing entry-level roles.

Consumer goods: Milk took 8 working minutes to earn in 1975, now 2. LCD TVs dropped from £4,500 to £279. But lifestyle creep absorbs the gains — one daily Starbucks is £225/month, and subscription stacking adds hundreds more.

Relationships: UK marriages fell from 400,000 in 1973 to 224,400 in 2023. Average marriage age has risen a full decade in two generations. Birth rates dropped from 2.93 in 1964 to 1.41 in 2024. Silver divorce is also on the rise.

Retirement: Boomers with final salary pensions had it best. Gen X were first to face defined contribution schemes — only 54% have adequate savings. Gen Z need £1,600/month to reach a £3m retirement pot. Their lifeline: the biggest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, if it survives inheritance tax changes.

Verdict: Boomers won. Gen X feel the pension pinch. Gen Z face delayed milestones but may inherit on an unprecedented scale. The generation game is not over.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:09 Welcome and intro to the generation debate
• 01:30 Defining the four generations: Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z
• 02:28 Housing: mortgage costs compared across generations
• 05:30 MIRAS, stamp duty wars and the race to complete in the 80s
• 07:14 Wages vs house prices: the salary multiple then and now
• 08:00 Jo's real-world test: his first flat in 1988 vs today
• 10:30 Low-skilled workers and homeownership rates by generation
• 11:30 Gen Z, university degrees and the graduate jobs squeeze
• 14:00 Wages by age group: who's up, flat and down in real terms
• 15:30 Consumer goods: the milk test (8 minutes vs 2 minutes)
• 17:10 Tech prices: LCD TVs from £4,500 to £279
• 19:00 Eating out: genuinely cheaper than 35 years ago
• 20:30 Coffee culture and the £225-a-month Starbucks habit
• 22:30 Subscriptions: the hidden drain no generation faced before
• 24:30 Marriage stats: volume halved, age risen a decade in two generations
• 26:00 Falling birth rates and the drift toward a one-child family
• 28:00 Silver divorce, no-fault legislation and changing social norms
• 30:31 Retirement: final salary pensions vs the defined contribution cliff edge
• 32:30 Auto-enrolment from 2012 and the savings gap it exposed
• 33:50 Gen Z's retirement challenge: the £3 million pot
• 35:20 Inheritance as Gen Z's potential lifeline and the IHT threat
• 37:13 Final verdict: who wins the generation game?

Timed to coincide with National Stop Snoring Week (27 April to 3 May). 

Jo sits down with sleep psychologist Dr Maja Schaedel to unpack everything nobody tells you about snoring, sleep apnoea and ageing. From why women approaching menopause are increasingly at risk, to whether sleeping in separate bedrooms might actually save your relationship, this conversation covers the practical, the awkward and the surprisingly funny.

•        Snoring disrupts partners more than snorers themselves. Sleeping apart is not the beginning of the end. •        Women approaching menopause are increasingly likely to snore and develop sleep apnoea due to hormonal and physical changes in the throat.

•        Sleep apnoea in women often looks different to men. Watch for fatigue, lethargy, dry mouth and broken sleep rather than obvious snoring.

•        Alcohol worsens snoring. Move your drinks earlier in the evening so your body has time to process it before bed.

•        There are multiple types of snoring. The BSSAA free interactive sleep test can help identify which type you have before you see a GP.

•        A CPAP is still the gold standard for sleep apnoea. Less severe cases may be treated with a mandibular advancement device.

•        Magnesium might improve sleep by about 15 minutes. CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) is far more evidence-based. Apps like Sleepio and Sleepful are a good starting point.

•        Power naps work best at 15 to 20 minutes. Beyond 30 minutes, you risk sleep inertia and feeling worse than before.

•        Sleep quality naturally declines after 55 for both men and women.

•        Poor sleep costs the average person around £5,000 a year. 

00:00  Welcome and introducing Dr. Maja Schaedel and the problem of snoring

01:15  Why partners suffer more than snorers

03:07  Why people snore, menopause, hormones and the snoring link

04:06  Sleeping apart: stigma, reality and relationship benefits

07:04  Sleep apnoea symptoms in women versus men

07:50  How insomnia and sleep apnoea feed each other

10:02  National Stop Snoring Week and the BSSAA

11:05  Sleep position, alcohol and easy lifestyle tweaks

12:35  Types of snoring and the BSSAA sleep test

14:56  What to do if you suspect sleep apnoea

16:30  CPAP, mouth guards and treatment options

18:30  Perimenopause, hormones and disrupted sleep

20:58  Why sleep declines after 55 for everyone

22:16  The perfect power nap (and when it backfires)

24:02  The hidden £5,000 a year cost of bad sleep

25:29 Magnesium, melatonin and what the research actually says

26:10  CBT-I, sleep apps and where to get real help

British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association: britishsnoring.co.uk

The Good Sleep Clinic: goodsleep.clinic/

sleepio.com

sleepful.me