Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me This?

Dr Jen Gunter: From the vagina bible to the menopause manifesto Jen works as an OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician. Her approach is based on evidence-based medicine with a focus on empathy and the patient experience. She writes a lot about sex, science, and social media. She’s been called Twitter’s resident gynaecologist, the Internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. Jen has a TED podcast called the body stuff and has written three books: The Preemie Primer, The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto. In this episode, we discuss Jen’s three books and her podcast. Jen shares her personal story of her triplet pregnancy, losing one of her babies at 22 weeks and delivering twins at 26 weeks. Jen has a huge following on social media and is described as the world's most famous – and outspoken – gynaecologist. Jen discusses the highs and the lows of social media. We discuss the many myths that we hear about women’s health, from menopause being a disorder, to the controversies around companies such as Goop. There is something for everyone in this exciting episode. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-04-19
Duration: 01.13.33
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Jen Gunter
Producer: Joyce Harper

Siobhan Daniels is an Author, Pro-age Campaigner and Retirement Rebel. At 60 she retired from the BBC after 30 years working as a presenter, reporter and producer. She then took a brave step and got rid of her home and her possessions and bought a motorhome. For nearly four years she has been travelling Great Britain and Ireland in her van, having lots of adventures and challenging ageism. She has written a book called Retirement Rebel to inspire women to have their adventures and age positively. 

In this episode, Siobhan will explain why she wanted to become a pro-age campaigner and the retirement rebel. In her mid 50s she felt broken. She was overwhelmed and unhappy with life: two of her siblings had died from lung cancer, she had a hysterectomy because of precancerous cells and she was feeling marginalized and bullied at work. So she headed off in her motorhome to have adventures. Now at 64, she has found the women she was meant to be. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-22
Duration: 35.57
Language of episode: English
Guests: Siobhan Daniels
Producer: Joyce Harper
 

Marieke Bigg writes about bodies and culture. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, where she studied the technological transformation of human reproduction. She now writes both non-fiction and fiction about the cultural dimensions of biology and bodies. In addition to her books, Marieke writes freelance, hosts podcasts and panels, and collaborates with scientists and biologists to discuss and produce art that conjures new social worlds.

Here latest non-fiction book called This Won’t Hurt (Hodder, Feb 2023). This book is about all the ways medicine is not gender-neutral, from research to treatment to diagnosis. Throughout history, flawed mindsets have paved the way for sub-par treatment, and the prevailing attitudes that still exist today have had terrible repercussions for women and their bodies.

Her current fiction is called Waiting for Ted (Dead Ink Books, October 2022) “After all these years, I was surprised to find that we were still in the process of trying to assemble two fully self-sustaining parts into one.”

In this episode, Marieke will explain how research into women’s bodies has failed women so far.  The conversation opens with a discussion of female ejaculation and how Masters and Johnson ignored this, even though 40% of women experience it. We discuss how Marieke feels about medicalising women’s health, such as the narrative that all menopausal women need HRT. And how so many diseases are misunderstood in women as we are not the same as men, such as heart disease, cancer and pain. And we talk about the future of sexy science, such as Femtech and artificial wombs.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-22
Duration: 35.57
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Marieke Bigg
Producer: Joyce Harper 

Heather is a senior lecturer within the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science. She has been a member of the Extreme Environments Laboratory since 2007 where she completed a PhD in the area of Environmental Cross-adaptation in Humans. Prior to that she worked at the Institute of Naval Medicine within the Environmental Medicine Unit for six years. 

Heather’s research interests are in the area of human exposure to heat, cold and altitude and how we can prepare and mitigate the effects of these environments. More recently, she has become interested in establishing if these extreme environments have any benefits to health and wellbeing. She has published 50 research papers and co-authored two book chapters. She is a trustee of Swim the Wright and sits on the medical board of the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society. 

As well as her teaching and research, Heather provides advice and support to a range of companies, charities and the media on questions associated with her research. In her spare time Heather is a keen open water swimmer having successfully completed a solo crossing of the English Channel, numerous other open water swims including relay swims round Jersey, Jersey to France, round the Isle of Wight as well as representing GB in the World Ice Swimming Championships 1k event in 2017. 

In this episode, Heather tells us about how she started cold water swimming. She gives important advice for anyone who is thinking of taking up cold water swimming, and for those of us already doing it. She discusses what research has been done into cold water swimming and general health, pregnancy, menstrual and menopause symptoms. She will tell us her views about cold showers and sitting in an ice bath in our garden. Heather will share her experience of swimming the channel which ended successfully but with only seals to celebrate her arrival in France. We also discuss team sports and how we might want to revisit these. 

Follow Heather: Twitter: @H_Massey1979 / Instagram: @drheathermassey 

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-30
Duration: 43.43
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Heather Massey
Producer: Joyce Harper 

Professor Mats Brännström is an internationally renowned specialist in reproductive medicine and fertility. He has extensive expertise in women’s health, particularly infertility and IVF treatments, as well as medical research. Professor Brännström is currently the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and Medical Director at Karolinska University Hospital. His passion for improving women’s health outcomes has led him to become one of the leading experts in his field. Through his research, teaching, and activism he hopes to improve care for women around the world. 

In this episode Mats tells us what the hurdles for women’s health have been and where we still need to improve it.  We discuss his work on gynaecological oncology, infertility, and egg freezing. Mats debunks some of the myths and talks about where the future might lead. Mats is the world pioneer of womb transplants and he tells us how this started, how many cases his team have done and how many women have had babies and are currently pregnant. Mats discusses what the procedure involves and where he feels this could go in the future.  We have a growing number of celebrities who use assisted conception treatments, including surrogacy. Mats gives us his view on this. Are we entering a Brave New World?

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-27
Duration: 40.06
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Mats Brännström
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode, Karen talks about the importance of getting nutrition right at all stages of our lives, from the menstrual cycle to the menopause. She gives advice on how to navigate through the menopause when we can be feeling very overwhelmed and stressed. She explains the four shifts: reset, cleanse, rest and eat. And how we need to consider our relationship to caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. Her book is ideal for everyone to access and dip into to get great advice about our nutrition, whether we take HRT or not. 

Karen is a registered nutritional therapist who specialises in women's hormone health, especially at menopause, with over 10 years clinical experience. She holds a BSc in Nutritional Medicine and is registered with BANT and CNHC. She runs a specialist menopause clinic, and hosts regular retreats, corporate talks and workshops on the subject. She's very much a complementary practitioner, often working with GP menopause specialists and women on HRT. Her approach is highly practical, realistic and achievable as we deal with very low bandwidth in amongst our turbo charged, modern day world. 
Twitter: @karennewby / Instagram: karen.newby.nutritionist 

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-13
Duration: 41.45
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Karen Newby
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode Jo talks about how she became the first woman to paddleboard from Liverpool to Goole, picking up litter and fundraising and how that film was made into a critically acclaimed film called Brave Enough - A Journey Home to Joy. She also tells us about writing her book about beautiful places to paddleboard in the UK - the first guide devoted to SUP (stand up paddleboarding) and the SUP community. Jo’s perimenopause was a difficult time, which left her with a lack of sleep and feeling broken, whilst her Mum and Dad were both undergoing chemotherapy. In December 2013 her Mum then died. A friend had suggested she should do some exercise, and she decided to start indoor rowing, which led to paddleboarding. With her recent inclusion in a list of the 10 most influential women in the SUP, in this motivational podcast, Jo gives fantastic advice to help women and explains how she now feels like a warrior. She reveals that she is one of many postmenopausal women who are shouting from the rooftops that we can feel fantastic and lead the best lives ever.

For more information and to access the transcript: www.joyceharper.com/podcasts  

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-05
Duration: 48.21
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Jo Moseley
Producer: Joyce Harper

Journalist, broadcaster & global moderator Hannah Vaughan Jones is an Emmy-nominated British journalist. She has hosted prime time shows for CNN and Sky News, and interviewed the last three British Prime Ministers. Hannah moderates global events across the public and private sectors - specialising in global health. She is a communications consultant, runs her own media production company, and is an inaugural member of the McCain Institute’s Global Advisory Council. Her most important role is as Mum to her little boy - born after 15 rounds of IVF treatment.

In this episode Hannah will talk about her fertility journey and how it took 15 rounds of fertility treatment to conceive her son, who is now 3 years old. Joyce and Hannah discuss IVF add-ons and how Hannah was offered numerous tests and treatments on her quest to get pregnant. And how, since becoming a mother, she has thought about her identity and what this means to her. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would you say?

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/
To find out more about Hannah: @HVaughanJones / www.hannahvaughanjones.com 

Date of episode recording: 2023-02-10
Duration: 42 mins
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Hannah Vaughan Jones
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode Annice will tell us about her career as an endocrinologist, who is someone who specializes in diagnosing and treating health conditions relating to the body's hormones. Annice will talk about her breast cancer diagnosis at age 41. Joyce and Annice will discuss Annice’s book, The complete guide to the menopause. Annice will talk about the importance of looking after our health, including nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress and provide lots of tips. Annice will also discuss the use of HRT and when it’s appropriate. Listen in to find out what motivates Annice, what makes her happy and her advice to her younger self. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

 Date of episode recording: 2023-01-23
 Duration: 37 mins
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter:Joyce harper
 Guests: Annice Mukherjee
 Producer: Joyce Harper
 

Jessica Hepburn is an award-winning author, arts producer and adventure activist. In 2022 she became the first woman in the world to complete the 'Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ - that is: swim the English Channel, run the London Marathon and climb Mount Everest - all of which were inspired by her own journey through infertility and IVF. She is the author of two books - The Pursuit of Motherhood and 21 Miles: swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood; the former CEO of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and Fertility Fest; and has been officially recognised as a ‘Woman of Suffragette Spirit’ by Amnesty International. 

In this episode, Jessica talks about her first book - The Pursuit of Motherhood - which is a raw and honest description of her journey through 11 rounds of unsuccessful fertility treatment. This led to Jessica setting up Fertility Fest, which brought together artists and fertility specialists to explore infertility. She also discusses her second book - 21 Miles - which chronicles her inspiring journey to successfully swim the channel and how along the way, she ate with 21 women and asked them “does motherhood make you happy or can you have a fulfilling life without children”. Jessica also talks about running the London Marathon and how she finally conquered Everest to become the first woman in the world to complete the sea, street, summit challenge. Listen in to find out what motivates Jessica, what makes her happy and her advice to her younger self. 

www.jessicahepburn.com 
Twitter: @JessicaPursuit 
Instagram @ jessica_hepburn_ 

Date of episode recording: 2023-01-30
Duration: 47.36 mins
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Jessica Hepburn
Producer: Joyce Harper