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

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

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 about all the terrible things that happen to our faces and bodies in pictures: one huge eye bulging next to a normal-sized one; extra leg/hand/foot (who does that belong to?!?), limbs that look like hams - is it because we’re terrible people? Also we’re announcing a change. Sorry. We hate change. But we have to change. Here’s the thing: For the past six years, we’ve been sending out our free newsletter. But if internet years were like dog years that would be (Jesus, MATHS now?) 42 years. It’s so nice to get things for free, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s no longer possible for us to do it for free, so we are going to have to change. And, by change, we mean charge. 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 we believe that, if we’re not in it together, we’re not in it at all. Link in bio…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you near burn out? Do you find yourself having the same arguments over and over again? Have you had therapy and still find yourself stuck down the same emotional cul-de-sac? In other words, what are you missing? Well, this week we are thrilled to welcome psychotherapist Emma Reed Turrell back to the podcast. She’s written another banger of a book, What Am I Missing?, about our blind spots and how they hold us back. We talk about whether we are Rocks, Gladiators, Hustlers or Bridges; about attachment styles and assumptions. Yikes… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Good 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 podshot is all about the anti-bucket list: things we plan never to do again. Are we all moving from our “Yes please!” era to our “Are you f***ing joking?” era? Hell, yes. Ouzo (just hearing the word makes us gag a little), organised fun, bikini waxes, segways and more… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"When you talk about women like me, there comes a whole host of other things: 'what religion is she? What caste is she? Does she eat pork? Why is she holding champagne? Why is she wearing those clothes?' Then come death threats. And if you're not wearing a headscarf, if you're not talking about religion, you're in no man's land. They say 'you're Asian and you're acting mainstream, what the heck's that about?'" This week on the podcast, the indomitable Saira Khan on the reality of being an Asian woman in the UK and why, with her skincare line, Saira Skin, she’s finally found her tribe. Please note there are themes of sexual abuse in this podcast. 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. Anyway, needless to say, 2024 is kicking our arses…So what does fun even look like, these days? Sitting in the car outside the house? Going home to get ugly? Rubbing our cracked heels together like decrepit crickets? Sending everyone masses of love… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok guys, time to talk about sex. Are we doing it right/enough? Is the sex we’re having good/interesting/naughty enough? Are we good/interesting/naughty enough? And what to do when it feels as though it’s all gone wrong. THE PRESSURE. So we roped in a psychosexual therapist, and not just any psychosexual therapist: Kate Moyle is also the host of The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast and she’s written a book called The Science of Sex: Every Question About Your Sex Life Answered. We discuss rhetorical predicaments couples can find themselves in; sexual anxiety; “should sex”; how to fix a sex drought; how to introduce kink and what to say to yourself if you are single, no longer 25 and haven’t had sex with someone new for a long time. Plus…. lube. LET’S GET DOWN TO IT… 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 are asking: are you a kitchen criminal? Do you gouge the butter rather than scrape? Do you try to shove the rubbish down in to the bin again and again in order to avoid taking it out? Do you put the milk bottle back in the fridge with a pointlessly minuscule amount left in it? Time to confess… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve heard of the glass ceiling, of course. You may have bumped your head on it - or even smashed through it. But have you heard of the glass cliff? This is the phenomenon where female leaders are much more likely to be given the opportunity to step into leadership roles within businesses that are already in a prolonged period of poor performance. And therefore, set up for organisational failure. Well, the wondrous Sophie Williams (author of Anti-Racist Ally and Millennial Black) is the global expert on this phenomenon and it’s what her latest book - The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back - is all about. She’s on the podcast this week being magnificent; making us a little angry and lot more informed. Brace yourselves and have a listen...   The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back out on March 7 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. Recently we asked for your best advice - in just four words. As usual you were amazing: “Arrange your alibi first”, said @samanthaddv, “I charge for that” said @duckettlist, “Try not to worry” said @laura_bradley…Tune in for more...    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Annabel was talking to a friend the other day who - sounding improbably zen - confessed that she had given up complaining. Not coffee, not booze, not sugar. But complaining. And we could immediately see the point: imagine not relying on all the negativity and panic and self-doubt for conversation? Imagine…So move over manifesting, we’re sharing this hot tip, because we are bottomlessly kind. So kind that we scream at other drivers when we’re in our cars, to keep them safe and alert on the roads. So kind that we leave parties early as a way of giving other people permission to leave early too – like a shepherdess guiding the meek home. JUST SO KIND. We also talk about holiday fantasies – it’s that kind of episode… 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 episode we are all about conversational responses for February. Mostly “No”. But also “Gosh” - for when a response is required but you don’t know what to say. And maybe “I don’t care”. Because, let’s face it…  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is a member of the DDC – the Dead Dad Club. Just like us. Sadly, Cariad Lloyd has been a member since she was 15, when her father died suddenly. After years of floundering, she took her grief and turned it into a beautiful living thing – by talking about it on her award-winning podcast Griefcast and writing about it in her wonderful book You Are Not Alone, out in paperback on the 1st February. She talks to people about their experience of grief and death and in doing so, has become a friend to hundreds of thousands, creating a gentle grief guide on how to navigate this most personal and painful of experiences. 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… 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 about THINGS YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE A GROWN-UP. Like: You should never buy the smallest size you can squeeze into (it is not the victory it once seemed to be); moths and leaks make you panic; something always hurts (knee.. back… soul); fitted sheets are having a laugh and you know more and less at the same time…so where does that leave us?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Year's Resolutions seem to have criticism and judgement woven through them? How can I be better? Do better? How can I improve myself? Eurgh. So instead in 2024 we are going to aim for self-acceptance, rather than self-improvement. Let’s celebrate our bits of disgustingness and our flaws and our failings. In this episode we ask all the deep questions, such as: How often do you wash your bra? When you eat a steak, these days, do you feel like you are a boa constrictor digesting a villager? How long ago was 1970 (obviously 30 years is the correct answer)? Hello 2024! Please bring us buns of steel and also buns of cinnamon; shoes that are secretly orthopaedic but look really slutty and the light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s unleash laughter, and also hell…. 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. In this weird opening-of-the-year week, we talk about what to say when people ask you about your New Year’s Resolutions. An intolerable question. Perhaps you plan to be slightly worse this year? Become a dark force? A bad omen? Or will you be taking up spiritual veganism? There’s everything to play for.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone!! We’re coming to you direct from the perineum of the year…So that’s nice…Don’t know what day it is…Don’t know what to eat next but I’m sure we’ll be eating something imminently. We just wanted to pop up and share with you one of our most popular episodes of 2023, clearly because it’s called How To Be Happier. Professor Cassie Holmes is a happiness teacher. At UCLA. To MBAs. She is also an award-winning academic and social psychologist, who, nearly defeated by the grind, decided to learn how to have a more fulfilling existence. And - spoiler alert - it’s mostly about how we manage our time. Happily, she’s written a book about it called HAPPIER HOUR, full of practical tips and wisdom to help everyone find their happy hour. And guess what? It’s not about being richer or better looking. We talked about how paying attention, putting down our phones and thinking small rather than big are the keys to unlock happiness. Anyway, it seemed like an appropriate time to leave it here for anyone who needs it…Happy New Year, see you in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023 has been huge for Anna Whitehouse, also known as Mother Pukka. She’s been fighting for flexible working rights for eight years and last week it was announced that her bill will become law in 2024. Her Heart FM radio show is going from strength to strength with over 11 million listeners. She’s also written a pair of books about childcare and flexible working called Divide and Conquer - and the person with whom she wrote these books is her soon-to-be ex-husband. And they are plotting a loving divorce. It can’t be easy writing, working, being an activist whilst also negotiating the dying embers of a marriage. So many plates spinning. We talk about why hers isn't the traditional happy ending, but there is happiness, there is Hinge and there is the realisation that what she has really been fighting for is choice. Happy Christmas everyone…see you on the other side... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does today’s guest really need an introduction? After all, who didn’t watch What Not To Wear in the early Noughties and cry and laugh with the women Trinny and Susannah transformed? Who hasn’t marvelled at the success of her beauty brand Trinny London, and the way she's made Instagram her own? This is a woman who has made a career out of trying to help women feel better about themselves. Over the years, she has learnt to feel fearless - and now she’s written the book on it. We were thrilled that she is here to share some of that courageous wisdom and to talk to us about how she finds the confidence, hell, the energy to keep - well - flourishing so magnificently. She tells us why her house is the Ritz for mice, why she eats broccoli for breakfast, how she talks to her demons; as well as dispensing some hot, skincare tips to keep us looking fresh.  Fearless - a collection of everything Trinny has learnt throughout her life and career - is available to purchase in hardback, eBook and audio . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices