Explore every episode of the podcast I'm Absolutely Fine! by The Midult

We’re absolutely fine but…we might have a bit of September dread. Not that shiny new term feeling, with a fat pencil case and a fresh notebook, but more of a 'holy fuck it is only four months until 2025 and what have we achieved!?!’ kinda thing. Anyway to lessen the load we put together the best bits from two wise souls we talked to this year. Psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell, whose book What Am I Missing? is about why, after years of therapy, we sometimes still find ourselves stuck. She unpicks some of the knottiness that holds us back through four blind spot profiles: Are you a rock, a hustler, a gladiator or a bridge? We warn you: they are horribly resonant. And next we have the lovely Cariad Lloyd. Sadly, her father died suddenly when she was 15 and, after years of floundering, she took her grief and turned it into a beautiful living thing: her award-winning podcast Griefcast and her wonderful book You Are Not Alone, which is out in paperback. We talk grief myths, why the process doesn’t happen in a straight line, how to support people who have lost someone and why all that really matters is showing up…Anyway, this is not a self-help podcast but we hope it helps. Let us know how you are doing. And we’ll see you in September…PS: It’s our 200th episode…thank you so much for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok we’re back, August is in full flow and we have stitched together our favourite bits from Podcast from the Edge: remember the time we gave up complaining? Or all the alternative facts for Midults that serve us well? In this Frankenstein’s monster of an episode there are random acts of kindness, some unserious wisdom and rookie errors. We also talk about underwear and our beards, and why this year we fully embraced our CRONE ERA. Brat girl summer? Hot girl summer? Come on old girls, it’s a Midult summer special…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katherine Ormerod is a writer, journalist, content creator and influencer. If you’ve encountered her sharp bob and soigné style, it won’t surprise you that her home is also super slick. But it might surprise you to know that Katherine is a renter, and she has been decorating her rental homes with more zeal than we have come to expect even from owners. We’re talking DIY, upholstery, shelving, all with such elan that she’s written a book on it, Your Not Forever Home, out now. But it’s not just a book about the power of a scalloped shelf, it’s also a bit of a rental revolution (essential given the current financial climate), as well as a bit of a feminist manifesto. We talk about the power of vinyl, high/low purchases and why fuckups are the price you pay to learn skill that you’ll have forever… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the word for when you’re very clever but can’t remember anything and know literally nothing…? Because that’s where we live now. This week on the podcast we talk about why we need entire essay prompts to remember anything; all the stuff we shall never understand (like why does watching documentaries about serial killers help us to relax); and why we are low-level suspicious of anyone who looks forward to a long weekend. Plus there’s a chat with Doctor Seaweed himself… PS: This episode is bravely brought to you by Doctor Seaweed. Discover the wonder of seaweed with 20% off using the code midult20 at checkout as well as an additional 15% off if you subscribe and save. Cancel and pause anytime free of charge! Doctor Seaweed is so confident you’ll notice a difference that there is also a 30-day money back guarantee. www.doctorseaweed.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes it’s hard to even feel like ourselves. Pressure. Confusion. Exhaustion. And then we wonder about menopause and how we are going to handle the storms ahead… so this week we asked Karen Arthur to join us, to talk to us about those choppy waters. Karen was a teacher until menopause floored her, robbed her of her sense of self and led her down a path of anxiety and depression. She left her job, her relationship and, after a ton of therapy, found her new life - as a speaker, podcaster, model and fashion designer as well as an advocate for women and menopause. We talk about what happens when you tumble down the hole - and why there can be so much joy once you climb out….  PS: This episode is bravely brought to you by Doctor Seaweed. Discover the wonder of seaweed with 20% off using the code midult20 at checkout as well as an additional 15% off if you subscribe and save. Cancel and pause anytime free of charge! Doctor Seaweed is so confident you’ll notice a difference that there is also a 30-day money back guarantee. www.doctorseaweed.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All this 'going out’ business…well, we are sorely out of practice and in danger of falling at the first hurdle: what to wear. Half of the exhaustion of 'going out' is the bit before. The getting ready. *shudders* So we are delighted that our old friend Kat Farmer has written Get Changed, a book about how to leave the house without leaving your sanity. We talk about bags, belts, budgets and if you are feeling lost, where to begin. Spoiler alert - never start with going shopping…. PS: This episode is bravely brought to you by Doctor Seaweed. Discover the wonder of seaweed with 20% off using the code midult20 at checkout as well as an additional 15% off if you subscribe and save. Cancel and pause anytime free of charge! Doctor Seaweed is so confident you’ll notice a difference that there is also a 30-day money back guarantee. www.doctorseaweed.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If someone asked you what you did for fun, would you have a full body panic? Are you living at the intersection where overwhelm meets boredom? Well, LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST with writer and revolutionary, Eve Rodsky. With her latest book, Find Your Unicorn Space, Eve is helping us reclaim time, reclaim energy and reconnect with our creativity. No small task. But this is a woman undaunted by such things. We talk about daily flourishing, martyr syndrome, why chasing happiness all the time is a trap and why the concept of multi-tasking is a conspiracy by the patriarchy to keep us doing it all. Enough? Let’s all go find our unicorn spaces... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s podcast is all about how and why money makes us crazy. Rising costs are crunching us and we know that financial planning is sensible, so why are we resistant? Can’t afford to do the roof and yet still addicted to athleisurewear that will never witness any athleticism. We talk about money regret: waxing, the futile hunt for the perfect capsule wardrobe, highlights. And, at the end, there is a 10 minute chat with Pension Bee’s Clare Reilly about how to…get started. PS: This podcast is bravely sponsored by PensionBee – pension planning without the panic. Head to Pensionbee.com for more information. Capital is at risk.  PPS: Thanks to recording this financial mini-series, Emilie has finally got herself a pension. With PensionBee.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We don’t think anyone was prepared for the idea that 2022 might be worse than all the rest put together. So, seeing as so many of us are feeling terrible and guilty and frightened, we are thrilled (and a little relieved ) to welcome Julia Samuel back to the podcast. Julia is a psychotherapist specialising in bereavement and a bestselling author. Her warmth and wisdom has helped thousands. Her latest book, Every Family Has a Story, is an examination - built around case studies - into how families work, or don’t.  PS: This podcast is bravely sponsored by PensionBee – pension planning without the panic. Head to Pensionbee.com for more information. Capital is at risk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the areas where we feel we could be more grown-up is... money. Some people are unemotional, practical and organised when it comes to money. Not us. So we are delighted that our guest this week is a money grown-up. Georgie Frost is an award-winning financial journalist and she’s here to tell us how to initiate a financial MOT…and maybe help us calm the money madness in our minds. We talk about pensions, savings and how the best thing to do is just get started. Gulp. PS: This podcast is bravely sponsored by PensionBee – pension planning without the pain. Head to Pensionbee.com for more information. Capital is at risk. Instagram - @pensionbee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen, all things considered, we weren’t sure whether to record a podcast this week. But we did…so APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE for all the weirdness. We talk about Spider Ma’am and other reluctant superheroes who might not actually be prepared to pull on the spandex. We talk about all the flare-ups - from emotional incontinence to accessorising. And we wonder what the fuck Meatloaf wouldn’t do for love... Who knows? Who knows anything anymore? It’s all very frightening, so go easy… xxx  Click Here for a list of charities to donate to, and other ways you can aid Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are delighted to welcome a true voyager to the podcast – Clover Stroud travels to the very sharpest edges of human emotion in her writing, taking us with her through the dark woods of grief, loss and what it means to love. You are going to be hearing so much about her book, The Red of My Blood (which is about the death of her sister - out on March 10th) because it is brilliant, truthful, unflinching and devastating – the sort of writing that is sparklingly easy to read and very hard to think about. Today’s podcast is a tearful conversation about some of the things that make us human.  PS: This episode is bravely sponsored by Leapfrog Immune. If you don’t have time to get ill, get Leapfrog…and there’s 15% off for listeners with the code MIDULT15 at leapfrogremedies.com. Stay tuned after our conversation with Clover for a chat with Leapfrog’s founder Stephanie Drax… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is the sensational Daisy Buchanan; novelist, journalist. podcaster and an authority on both books and sex. She writes brilliantly sexy books and her latest is called Careering about magazines, millennials and masturbation. Sometimes at once. But today she’s Doctor Daisy – giving us her book prescriptions for all our emotional ailments. Because, wow, do we need them… A book for when you need to be soothed, unravelled and made sense of - These Precious Days by Ann Patchett Books for when you’d love to spend time with friends but don’t have the energy for your actual friends - Asking For A Friend by Andi Osho and Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton A book for when you need love in your life - Here Again Now by Okechukwu Nzelu A book for when you’re suffering from career envy - The Other Side Of The Story by Marian Keyes A book for when you have no time to read - 4000 Hours by Oliver Burkeman A book for when the world is going to hell in a handcart – The Movement by Ayisha Malik A book to break a reading drought - Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink Pre-order Daisy’s book Careering https://www.waterstones.com/book/careering/daisy-buchanan/9781408725931 PS: This podcast was calmly brought to you by OTO CBD Sleep Drops. Give yourself the best chance of a good night – and there’s 20% off for listeners with the code Midult20 https://bit.ly/3r25v50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we talk all the tiny, micro-traumas we experience that leave us feeling all wonky. You know, like when someone points a phone at you mid-Facetime. Or a ball lands at your feet in the park and you are clearly expected to kick it, or throw it or…sorry just passed out there for a second…or the doorbell ringing: is it a murderer? Is it the police telling you everyone is dead? Is it that book you ordered on positive thinking? And if that’s not enough tiny trauma, we’ve launched a Substack. Sorry. We’d love you to continue to sail with us on HMS Midulthood for this bumpy, occasionally nausea-inducing, disappointingly-hot-pirate-free voyage on Substack - you know that we believe: if we’re not in it together, we’re not in it at all…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve ever been heartbroken you will remember the agony. It can be enough to stop you from embarking on new relationships. ‘Can I survive that again?’ you wonder. We very much hope that no one listening to the podcast is going through this right now, but if you are, there is a resource. Our guests this week are psychologist Alice Haddon and writer Ruth Field who founded The Heartbreak Hotel, a retreat where you can go and put yourself back together. We talk about power, possibility and a few little tricks to get the heartbroken on the road to recovery.  PS: This podcast was calmly brought to you by OTO CBD Sleep Drops. Give yourself the best chance of a good night – and there’s 20% off for listeners with the code Midult20 OTO CBD Sleep Drops: https://bit.ly/3r25v50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re not being dramatic but… we're under threat from… The Panic Variant. This week we talk about how we are navigating the panicdemic; essential conversations we have with our friends (burial or cremation? Big knickers or bigger knickers?) and whether we are meant to feel bad because Downing Street has hosted more parties in the last two years than we have been to in our entire lives… plus the Midult Eighties Kitchen Disco Playlist, designed to take you from empty, to euphoric.  PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by OTO CBD Power Drops. They are offering listeners a 20% discount with the code MIDULT20 – https://bit.ly/3o0hBtn. Discover the power of your inner calm with OTO PPS: THE MIDULT EIGHTIES KITCHEN DISCO PLAYLIST Let’s Dance by David Bowie I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston Faith by George Michael (I’ve had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes Push It by Salt-N-Pepa Theme from S’Express by S’Express Footloose by Kenny Loggins Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If anyone can shake us out of our January torpor it’s our guest this week. Is there anything that Helena Morrissey can’t do? She runs banks, advocates for women in business, writes books, and has nine children. She’s also a Dame and only 55. Maybe you need a lie down now? Anyway, Helena talks movingly about how the menopause ambushed her and rocked her confidence; how to ask for a pay-rise and why fitting-in doesn’t matter but finding allies does… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not sure we know a Midult who isn’t currently experiencing that heady mix of exhaustion and panic - what will this year look like? Can I be bothered to care? Am I up to it? Do I look good in high-waisted jeans? Have I turned the gas off? Have I? So this podcast is about all the myriad Januarys we are having and why adulthood is currently not recommended. Yes we’re capable grown-ups (*coughs*) but sometimes even putting your phone down so you can focus on the telly feels like a major win. Getting anything done when you feel the way everyone feels at the moment should be a source of great pride. So we’re giving you all a medal xxx PS: This podcast was bravely sponsored by LYMA, but Annabel has been taking it for two years and asked them to come on board because she’s a genuine fan… PPS: Is your face falling off? We hate to cast aspersions but, if you are looking less than peachy, why not enter our lovely LYMA competition to win a facial with world-renowned facialist Nichola Joss? Click Here. T&Cs apply. LYMA's Website LYMA's Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens if you are on the floor, dreaming of a padded cell, a noise-cancelled life and as little interaction with the world as possible? Well, you can consult an expert on how to feel human again. This magical creature does actually have a human form, her name is Lucy Goff and she is the founder of super supplement LYMA. She came on the podcast to tell us where to spend and where to scrimp, what works and what doesn’t….Also we are hosting an Insta live with Lucy next Monday (the 17th) at 6pm so she can deal with all your confusions and questions about which supplements work, which don't, the ingredients to look out for and how not to get ripped off. So please DM us with your questions…. PS: This podcast was bravely sponsored by LYMA, but Annabel has been taking it for two years and asked them to come on board because she’s a genuine fan…. PPS: Why not enter our lovely competition in association with LYMA? Win a facial with world-renowned facialist Nichola Joss? Click Here To Enter T&Cs apply LYMA's Instagram LYMA's Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We can’t think of a better way to start the year than with a dose of sunshine in the form of telly’s Cherry Healey. She presents Inside the Factory, makes everyone cry on 10 Years Younger and is on a mission to help us all get our heart’s desire with her straight-talking manifesting course: Manifest That Shit, created with Instagram sensation @StyleMeSunday aka Natalie Lee. We talk about finding out what we really want, quietening all the interference and how manifesting changed Cherry’s life... PS: Why not enter our lovely competition in association with LYMA? Win a facial with world-renowned facialist Nichola Joss? Click Here To Enter T&Cs apply LYMA's Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe you feel like the human equivalent of tangled fairy lights? If only we paused for thought as much as we pause for cheese. This week we talk about acts of selfishness transforming into acts of service: if I eat all the biscuits I am saying to everyone else in the house: "I love you. I alone am taking the sugar hit." Plus how raging in the car is our civic duty, to keep sleepy drivers safe and alert. Then there are all the different flavours of headache plus a few Midult mantras to chew on. In case you’re bored of cheese. #never This podcast was bravely brought to you by To Better Days - because life doesn’t have to be such a pain. To Better Days are offering I’m Absolutely Fine listeners a 10% discount and free shipping until the end of January with the code BOXING DAY at tobetterdays.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sure, we’re supposed to be happy, shiny, excited, horny at this time of year. But what if we’re actually tired, angry, lonely, psychotic? Christmas is like a box of chocolates - you never know which feeling you are going to get. We talk about aggressive carols (Deck The Halls? Too bossy - stop telling us what to do); why we may never forgive Alan Rickman for breaking Emma Thompson’s heart in Love Actually AND why, when it comes to Christmas invitations, everyone needs a ‘soft no’ in their arsenal. PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by Hairstory – go to hairstory.com if you want a better life for your hair…   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe you’re super well-informed, when it comes to all the political action. Or maybe you’ve been too tired holding the world up and haven’t got a clue any more. So, we called an old friend with a brilliant brain to come and tell his favourite news stories of the year. Hugo Rifkind is the hugely popular Times columnist and he takes us through his 2021 highlights including Dylan Johnson’s balls and Rishi Sunak’s tendresse for Mexican Coke. It’s Mock The Year 2021... PS: Here’s Rishi’s Mexican moment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_fXajyzek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We should probably apologise in advance because this podcast might make you a bit angry. But maybe that’s a good thing. Last week was Equal Pay Day - which marks the day in the year where women stop earning relative to men - because of the gender pay gap. Yes, we are all mostly working for free until the end of the year, on top of every other thing. So we asked Gill Whitty Collins, career coach and author of ‘Why Men Win At Work’ to come and coach the hell out of us all. We talk about confidence, culture and why women should sometimes just walk away….PS: another apology for the quality of the audio in places…not blaming the patriarchy but... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OK Annabel is still OOO, so Emilie has roped in a friend of the pod, the marvellous Esther Coren to help. Esther has her own podcast, Giles Coren Has No Idea and a Substack called The Spike and she also gives excellent book recommendations. Given we’re all feeling mad, bad and dangerous to know (not in a swashbuckling-Byronic-way but in a teetering on The-Brink-kind-of-way) perhaps books can soothe us tiny bit: little umbrellas for the mind. We talk about The Paleo Life by Clare Foges (out June 6), Quint by Robert Lautner, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (May 14), One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Egg & I by Betty MacDonald (out of print, but will be on World of Books, which, incidentally, is the preloved Amazon), Hugo Rifkind’s Rabbits (also June 6), and In Memoriam by Alice Winn. Plus there’s a cameo from Esther’s cat Iris.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life is a journey, right? Trust the process, ok? Resilience is everything, apparently. This week we talk about why the current self-help buzzwords make us feel like we’re failing. So we decide to add injury to insult and set a series of challenges for grown-ups - introducing Squidult Games. We also discuss why we are constantly vacillating between frenzied hyperworkmode and a near-catatonic state of existential dread and avoidance. Oh, and we interview the delightful Simon Gaisford, Professor of Pharmaceutics at UCL about bacteria and why we need to look after our gut - so that it will look after us.  This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove - the water-based supplement that carries live and active bacteria to your gut in order to start to multiply and produce food for the bugs we already have. Be gut to yourself…You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for 15% discount: MIDULT15 at symprove.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OUR FACES. WTAF!?! So we had an emergency meeting with the incomparable Nadine Baggott. Now Nadine has been a titan among beauty editors for many years, but in 2016 she launched a YouTube channel with the specific intention of talking to grown-up women about beauty…. beauty with no bull, no facetune and no filters. Five years in she’s got hundreds of thousands of devoted followers who have entrusted her with all their beauty decisions. Because what Nadine doesn’t know about skin and make-up isn’t worth knowing. We talk about the creep of the crepe, decode the ingredients to look out for and look at our beauty budgets.  This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove - the water-based supplement that carries live and active bacteria to your gut in order to start to multiply and produce food for the bugs we already have. Be gut to yourself…You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for 15% discount: MIDULT15 at symprove.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So. The hormones. The horror. The havoc. The what the hell is going on? Well this week we are thrilled to welcome broadcaster and general sensation Lisa Snowdon on the podcast to walk us through the fuckery of our forties - from peri-menopausal symptoms to imposter syndrome and everything in between…We talk about how Lisa found love second time around, why Emilie is having night panics and why you should always head to the doctor armed with a list of symptoms and a bucketload of research. Ok ladies, let’s get busy… This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove - the water-based supplement that carries live and active bacteria to your gut in order to start to multiply and produce food for the bugs we already have. Be gut to yourself…You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for 15% discount: MIDULT15 at symprove.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Obviously we’re all absolutely fine…but…isn’t everything a bit nuts right now? This week we imagine a Midult House of Horrors where we are assaulted by voice notes and chin hairs. Apps that we actually need – like ones that warn us we are about to be the arsehole or let us know when an ex-boyfriend is going to appear. And we wonder if it’s nearly time to switch from our regular anxiety to our shiny Christmas anxiety…. Oh God. P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewellery sensation @AnaLuisa. Go to https://shop.analuisa.com/absolutelyfine and use the code ABSOLUTELYFINE for a 10% discount. It doesn’t cost the earth… or the planet. #analuisany Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We don’t normally talk about babies or children on the podcast. But what happens when things get interesting? When you get to 37 and you're single, and being a mother is the only thing you’ve ever really wanted to be? Our guest this week is Liv Thorne who made the increasingly popular and brave decision to go it alone. She bought some Danish sperm and off she went. Simple? Not really. Liv has charted her journey to motherhood in her brilliant book, Liv’s Alone. We talk everything you’ve always wanted to know about solo parenting but were afraid to ask… P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewellery sensation @AnaLuisa. Go to https://shop.analuisa.com/absolutelyfine and use the code ABSOLUTELYFINE for a 10% discount. It doesn’t cost the earth… or the planet. #analuisany Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve shamelessly stolen the title of this week's podcast from our guest, writer and columnist Lucy Mangan whose book Are We Having Fun Yet? is out today. You will have read her TV column in The Guardian, you will have nodded in vehement recognition at her columns in Weekend and Stylist, and now here’s her first novel, a frank and fizzy look at family life – it’s funny, heartfelt writing with sharp corners that you bump into and go ouch, yes! That’s me! We talk about the female load, feminism, all the FFSs…we had fun and got furious…just the way we like it. PLUS There’s some bonus pelvic floor wisdom from psychologist Dr Meg Aroll PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by pelvic floor trainer Innovo. They are offering listeners £55 off the full kit using the code MIDULT55. Time to give ‘Inner Strength’ a whole new meaning.... https://www.myinnovo.com/uk/the-midults/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since we started recording this podcast we have always zoned in on the little worries. No tiny worry stone has gone unturned. But, just as there is a difference between being Big Tired and Little Tired, there is a difference, isn't there, between Big Worried and Little Worried? And isn’t there a fuck-load to worry about? So, this week, in our 99th episode, we worry about peeing. And women. And life. We talk about Halloween costumes for 2021, which turned out to be a rich seam to plunder. Because almost everything is HORRIFYING…  PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by pelvic floor trainer Innovo. They are offering listeners £55 off the full kit using the code MIDULT55. Time to give ‘Inner Strength’ a whole new meaning.... https://www.myinnovo.com/uk/the-midults/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you getting enough sex? What even is enough sex? Are you having good sex? How good is good enough? Are you intimidated by sex? Do you want more sex? Less sex? Any sex? Sex, sex, sex. This week we get down to business with Suzi Godson, one of the country’s best-loved sex columnists and talk about how to spice up your sex life or even just raise it from the dead….Plus some bonus wisdom from pelvic floor expert Dr Ruth Maher. PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by pelvic floor trainer Innovo. They are offering listeners £55 off the full kit using the code MIDULT55. Time to give ‘Inner Strength’ a whole new meaning....https://www.myinnovo.com/uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we're 90% panicking, About energy: mental energy, emotional energy, physical energy. Will we ever have any again? About temperature. About everything breaking. About the new rhythm of life and we're meant to be dancing to the beat of what drum exactly? *cue Darth Vader theme tune* P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewellery sensation @AnaLuisa. Go to https://shop.analuisa.com/absolutelyfine and use the code ABSOLUTELYFINE for a 10% discount. It doesn’t cost the earth… or the planet. #analuisany Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week it’s all about stuff to make life feel a little…easier. How about that? Annabel rifles around in her beauty drawers to talk about what might give you that bit of up, up and away as we step (stagger?) into Autumn...featuring: Hairstory Living Proof Advanced Clean Batiste Dry Shampoo and Volume Klorane Dry Shampoo Kristen Ess Working Texture and Loose Styling Powder   Saltee Daily Protection Formula SPF 50 La Roche Posay Anthelios Age Correct Amanda Harrington The Face Set Oskia Adaptive Tan Mist Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster   Jones Road Miracle Balm Charlotte Tilbury Nudegasm Drunk Elephant O-Bloos Rosi Drops! Christian Dior Forever Cushion Powder Shiseido Micro Liner Ink Charlotte Tilbury Bigger, Brighter Supermodel Eyes Liner Duo Hourglass Curator Palette Nars Soft Matte Tinted Lip Balm in ‘Brief Encounter’   P.S. This week’s podcast is bravely sponsored by carbon neutral jewellery sensation @AnaLuisa. Go to https://shop.analuisa.com/absolutelyfine and use the code ABSOLUTELYFINE for a 10% discount. It doesn’t cost the earth… or the planet. #analuisany Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn’t love a solution story? The tale of a grown-up woman who had a problem and thought, ‘You know what? I am not going to wait for some fucker to fix this – I am just going to do it myself’? This week we have two such stories from the podvault – first up is Sahar Hashemi who smashed through many a ceiling and is still busy opening lots of doors for women: she founded Coffee Republic - three years before Starbucks landed on our shores; for the past couple of years, she’s been putting her considerable energy into spotlighting women-owned businesses with her Buy Women Built movement; asking the question: why do we only hear about the men? Did you know that 81% of 11-18-year olds are unable to name one single female entrepreneur? She’s out to change all that.  Then we have some highlights from our interview with Joanna Jensen, who suffered from eczema as a child and, when her own children were born with the same condition, she decided ‘enough is enough.’ In 2010 she created Child’s Farm from her kitchen table and, by the end of the decade, it was the UK’s number one baby and child brand. She sold it to Cussons for £40 million in 2022. *does a little dance*. Anyway, it might sound like an enviably smooth ride but, like all of these stories, it is full of bumps, lumps, divorce and other crises. Why have one brilliant female entrepreneur when you can have two? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to your life. Oh God. This week we talk about what we need in our Back to Life pencil cases (a rubber to erase all the times you were a dick?), the weird ways we receive compliments (This old thing? I found it in the skip) and the little domestic fantasies that keep us going. We take our thrills where we can find them... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are going on holiday. We think. But as we prepare to leave the building/consciousness we wonder if we are grown-ups? Or teenagers? About the little lies we tell every day and our own, personal pingdemic. This episode is so mad that our delightful producer @chesleyxmoore emailed us to asked if we were OK. Who knows? See you in September you lovely lot… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone we talk to is exhausted - desperate for a holiday/a break/a month lying down in a darkened room. And we are all sick of looking at our faces: newly etched and grey from all the WFH: Worrying from Home. So we are delighted that the renowned make-up artist Hannah Martin came on the podcast with a ton of tips and tricks for make-up to make us look like we’re having a break. Not a break down. PS: She’s developed the perfect lip oil for My Beauty Brand - and there’s 30% all her products on My Beauty Brand with the code HANNAHMARTIN HANNAH'S SUMMER SAVERS Superdrug Control Papers Shiseido Oil-Control Blotting Paper  Beauty Pie Sheer Tinted Oil Free SPF 20 (we have a code, MIDULTSENTME)  Tarte Shape Tape  L’Oreal Infallible  Iconic London Sheer Bronze  Nars Tinted Moisturiser  By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Westmann Atelier Peau de Peche Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Tata Harper Cream Blush Jillian Dempsey Cheek Tint Ciaté London Glow-To Illuminating Blush in Baby Doll Trish McEvoy Cream Eyeshadow Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow stick in Golden Bronze Victoria Beckham Future Lash Trish McEvoy High Volume Tubular Mascara Urban Decay 24-7 Eyeliner in Tiger Eye Max Factor Kohl Pencil Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal Liner Hannah Martin x My Beauty Brand Perfect Pink Lip oil Charlotte Tilbury Red Carpet Red Mac in Ruby Woo or Lady Danger Max Factor Infinity Huda Beauty Liquid Matte Lip Kylie Jenner Lip Kit Urban Decay All-Nighter Hourglass Veil Setting Spray Charlotte Tilbury Setting Spray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dating apps. Minefield or smorgasbord? Necessary evil or delicious distraction? Our guest today is writer Phoebe Luckhurst, a seasoned dater with her fingers on the swipe button. We tell tales from the dating frontline, ask whether punctuation is a deal breaker and why digital connection can end up meaning personal disconnection. Phoebe’s first novel The Lock In is out next week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some resets you plan, some ambush you. What happens when you are 47, you get divorced, you lose your house, you lose your dog and you get an unexpected diagnosis? Maybe you spend the next few years in a darkened room. Or if are our guest this week, fashion editor and columnist Stacey Duguid, you look life right in the eye and decide you want to embrace the second half with, as she puts it, "the kind of high-level enthusiasm you might find on centre court during the finals.” And that includes dating, a lot of dating. But you also spend a hell of the time in that darkened room. In this episode we talk about how she coped when the universe decided to reset almost every area of her life. It’s a tough one... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is anyone else finding that doing the things we used to do feels 1000 times more exhausting than before the pandemic? How is that possible? This week, on the podcast, we wonder if we are doing anything right and why sometimes it feels as if our lives are at the mercy of some evil writers who keep shouting PLOT TWIST…. Plus all the ways we feel 90 years-old: Annabel’s head torch makes a comeback and Emilie embraces the sturdy (orthopaedic) shoe. #rockstars This podcast is bravely brought to you by @readly. Heard about Readly? It’s a digital subscription service for magazines and newspapers, a kind of Spotify for thousands of national and international titles available at a touch on your smartphone or tablet. Readly is offering you lovely lot 2 months free if you sign up today using our link readly.com/themidult. Then it's £7.99 a month for over 5000 titles and you can cancel anytime. Remember staggering around, weighed down with three tonnes of mags that cost a million pounds? Not any more. It couldn’t be simpler and… boom? Suddenly the world is at your fingertips. It’s a joy actually. We’re really into it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone in the world had a bit of a shocker in March 2020. But few more so than our guest, Helen Thorn whose marriage suddenly ended 3 weeks before lockdown. So, what happens when you find that you’ve fallen out of marriage and fallen in love with being single via dating, drinking, lawyers, video sexting, single parenting, wanking and female friendship? Not all at the same time. She’s one half of the brilliant Scummy Mummies comedy duo and her book Get Divorced, Be Happy is out next month - a testament to the fact that there can sometimes be treasure in the horror. This podcast is bravely brought to you by @readly. Heard about Readly? It’s a digital subscription service for magazines and newspapers, a kind of Spotify for thousands of national and international titles available at a touch on your smartphone or tablet. Readly is offering you lovely lot 2 months free if you sign up today using our link readly.com/themidult. Then it's £7.99 a month for over 5000 titles and you can cancel anytime. Remember staggering around, weighed down with three tonnes of mags that cost a million pounds? Not any more. It couldn’t be simpler and…boom? Suddenly the world is at your fingertips. It’s a joy actually. We’re really into it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you out in the world, attacking the day or do you just want to lie in bed staring at the wall? Well, the brilliant Esther Coren is here this week, armed with a book list to get through this languishing low. She’s a writer, podcaster and voracious reader who has an arsenal of brilliant books for our every wild and crazy thought… of which there are MANY... This podcast is bravely brought to you by @readly. Heard about Readly? It’s a digital subscription service for magazines and newspapers, a kind of Spotify for thousands of national and international titles available at a touch on your smartphone or tablet. Readly is offering you lovely lot 2 months free if you sign up today using our link readly.com/themidult. Then it's £7.99 a month for over 5000 titles and you can cancel anytime. Remember staggering around, weighed down with three tonnes of mags that cost a million pounds? Not any more. It couldn’t be simpler and… boom? Suddenly the world is at your fingertips. It’s a joy actually. We’re really into it. Esther recommends…. Wintering by Katharine May How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason Wow No Thank You by Samantha Irby Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny Cobble Hill by Cecily Von Ziegsar A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles A Bit of a Stretch by Chris Atkins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t know about you, but we are trying to find some even footing in a year where we’ve alternated between stagnation and panic - sometimes both at the same time. And now we are expected to deal with more change - to rise to meet the re-opening of the world. But we are still…stuck. So this week we asked our old friend Julia Samuel to come and talk to us because she wrote the book on change - literally. She’s a bereavement psychotherapist whose book, This Too Shall Pass, is out in paperback. She is also launching an app, http://www.griefworks.app/, to support people through grief - helping to navigate that most devastating emotion. We talk about living losses, the fear of the unlocking and why small steps might mean big leaps - eventually... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week things are meant to be near-normal. laughs hysterically Not this end. We talk about how we no longer understand diaries; the things you shouldn’t say when you are finally exposed to fellow humans - and we ask you: are you languishing? Because we sure as hell are... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You will have heard of Hadley Freeman, The Sunday Times columnist who writes about feminism, the arts, politics and, she says, anything else that takes her fancy. She is also the author of several acclaimed books – including Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, just out in paperback. It’s a searing record of her own illness, illuminating the dark corners of this most brutal of mental health disorders, with her deft blend of forensic detail and humour. Please note we talk frankly about this devastating illness. It sounds “oof” (take this as your trigger warning) but Hadley is so generous both in the book and on the podcast that it feels like a ray of light rather than a trauma wallow... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Haven’t you found that, over the past year or so, your old tricks have stopped working? Your trusted emotional fallbacks have fallen short. You have become a stranger to yourself and to others. Yes… it's been heavy. And many of us are wondering if it might be time to… go another way. So this week we are delighted to welcome a little light into the studio. Estelle Bingham has been described as ‘The Heart Whisperer’ and she has been helping people find love, purpose and connection for over 20 years. Her flavour of energetic and psychic healing is all about embracing the joy and potential in our lives - and welcoming in all the possibility. Are you listening? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you suffering from an acute case of doubt? Then, according to this week’s guest, it’s time to wash your hair. Anya Hindmarch is the poster girl for kindness in an industry not renowned for its compassion. A leader in her field and a few others - Anya is brilliance in human form: creative, generous, innovative, organised. She has written a book called If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair, a guide to being kind to yourself and living a little more boldly. And who doesn’t need a dose of that? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re broadcasting from the edge… the brink… the overwhelm. Sometimes when you are feeling truly weird, a bit of a beauty tip can help. So Annabel has a rummage around in her drawers again to help you face the world. All products listed below… Cinema Secrets Professional Make Up Brush Cleaner, 473ml, £21.99 CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser for Normal to Dry Skin, 473ml, £15.00 CeraVe Moisturising Cream, 177ml, £9.00 Beauty Pie Super Healthy Skin Deep Purifying Cleanser, 100ml, £7.97 (we have a code MIDULTSENTME) Bliss That's Incredi-peel Glycolic Acid Pads (15pk), £21.99 Dr Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel (30pk), £89.00 SkinCeuticals Ultra Facial UV Defense SPF50, 30ml, £41.00 Ren Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic, 100ml, £15.00 Frank Body Caffeinated Scalp Scrub, 125ml, £13.95 Wildsmith Toning Body Serum, 150ml, £65.00 This Works Perfect Legs Skin Miracle, 120ml, £38.00 Braun Silk-épil 5 5-820 Epilator for Women for Gentle Hair Removal, £109.99 Boots Exfoliating Gloves, £1.50 NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser SPF30, 50ml, £33.00 Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer Perfecting, 50ml, £34.00 Sensai Silky Bronze Natural Veil Compact, £45.00 Clarins Everlasting Compact Foundation SPF9, £32.00 Trinny London Just a Touch Foundation-Concealer, £28.00 Ciaté London Dewy Blush Glossy Cheek Tint, 10ml, £19.00 Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant, 50ml, £27.99 Laura Mercier Blush Colour Infusion Blusher, £24.00 Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Luminous Colour, £43.00 Guerlain Terracotta The Bronzing Powder, £39.00 Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega X Three Powder Blush-Bronze-Highlight Palette, £42.00 Bambrows Organic Caster Oil, 10ml, £12.00 Charlotte Tilbury Brow Cheat, £22.00 Glossier Boy Brow, £14.00 Trinny London Eye2Eye, £18.00 NYX Professional Makeup Epic Wear Long Lasting Liner Stick, £7.00 Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara, £9.99 L'Oreal Paris X Elie Saab Bridal Collection Limited Edition Paradise Mascara, £12.99 Chanel Rouge Coco Bloom Hydrating and Plumping Lipstick, £33.00 Victoria Beckham Bitten Lip Tint, £32.00 Charlotte Tilbury Tinted Love, £25.00 Morphe Luminous Setting Spray, 125g, £16 Johnson’s Baby Lotion, 500ml, £1.50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices