Do you feel like a fully-functional human person? Annabel Rivkin and Emilie McMeekan of The Midult look at all the glamour and indignity of being a grown-up, while rummaging through the handbags, emotional knicker drawers and lives of some extraordinary people.
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Pilot podcast about books and more (or less) - arts, culture, society, recorded in London's Soho, hosted by Elena Lappin, with guests Diana Athill, Lennie Goodings, Louisa Young. Just a relaxed conversation while we enjoy some drinks...
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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 tal…
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Hi everyone, it’s podcast mash-up time! We’re starting with two of our favourite guests from the past year. First up is the incomparable Sophie Williams: There are few people as fluent, compassionate and authoritative and she came on the podcast to talk about her latest book, The Glass Cliff: Why Women in Power are Undermined and How To Fight Back.…
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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. So guys, how are you doing? Are you fiiiiiiiine or are you hurtling towards an inevitable pre-holiday collapse? Are you no longer able to reply to anything? Does every communicati…
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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. THIS WEEK we’re all about the backhanded compliment… “You’re ageing gracefully”. Translation: your entire face is falling off and, oddly, you don't seem to mind. “It’s very you”. …
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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. THIS WEEK…Are you at the end of your tether? Do you keep making idle threats such as “Don’t make me say it again” or “I swear I will kill you if you…”? Do you keep setting boundar…
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Episode 197: Politics and Rabbits with Hugo Rifkind
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We are delighted Hugo Rifkind found some space for us during this busy election time… because in between skewering politicians and offering searing commentary in both his Times column and radio show, Hugo Rifkind has written a novel, called Rabbits, which is out now. It’s been variously described as everything from Saltburn with kilts, Trainspottin…
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Episode 196: Love, loss and belonging with Clover Stroud
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Here at The Midult we’re slightly obsessed with Clover Stroud and her beautiful, brutal (brutiful?) books. So we are thrilled to say she’s back on the podcast to talk about her latest, The Giant on The Skyline, which is about home, belonging and learning to let go. Clover’s writing is full of ghosts, memories, life and death, and we talk about all …
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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 have decided to let go of hot girl summer and are celebrating OLD GIRL SUMMER. As in, wear a bikini or don’t, old girl. As in, be gentle with yourself. As in,…
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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’re all about BIG CRONE ENERGY…Have we entered our crone era? Maybe…wisdom, inner knowing, intuition, perspective and a generally disagreeable manner? Let’s re…
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Episode 195: DIY with Katherine Ormerod (don't be scared)
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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 owne…
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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 land…
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Episode 194: Brilliant Books by Esther Coren
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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…
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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 do…
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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 …
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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 …
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Episode 191: What Are You Missing? with Emma Reed Turrell
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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 bo…
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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? H…
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"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 As…
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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 c…
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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…
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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 orde…
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Episode 188: Have You Fallen off the Glass Cliff? with Sophie Williams
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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…
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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 @duckettlis…
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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 thi…
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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 may…
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Episode 186: Grief Myths with Cariad Lloyd
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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 wonde…
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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…
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Episode 185: 2024 - Time to Celebrate Our Failings
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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 ques…
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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 sl…
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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…
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Episode 183: Divorce & Flex Appeal with Anna Whitehouse
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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 fl…
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Episode 182: How To Fear Less with Trinny
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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 …
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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 party season. Are you dreading it? Do you have the energy for it? If so, how? Incidentally we recorded this podcast lying on the floor…nearly there…
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Episode 181: A History of Women and their...things!
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Regular listeners of the podcast will know that we absolutely love a book that revolves around women’s stories; that reclaims/wrestles the narrative from the petty patriarchal posturers of history. So we were delighted when Annabelle Hirsch’s 'A History of Women in 101 Objects' landed on our doormats. The book tells stories of female history throug…
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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 it’s all about the rookie errors. Yes we are seasoned, experienced, wise, broken in, been around (WILL YOU STOP NOW) but we are still making basic balls ups. Lik…
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How to look like a fully-functioning woman? The odds are against us BUT…'tis the season of miracles after all. So, Annabel has a rummage through her drawers to put together a beauty box selection of old favourites and new wonders to try and fix our faces. And bodies. And spirits. Emilie falls in love with Sun Bum’s Glow 30. We get transported back …
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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. Ok so Emilie was on the tube when a nice young man politely offered her his seat. IT’S HAPPENING… Annabel got into a swearing match with a much older woman, both from the …
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Water. Water is meant to give us good skin, improved mental health and more energy. What does it actually give us? Pee. We all know we’re supposed to get eight hours sleep a night or - they tell us again and again - we may go mad and die. How many of us manage? How many times in the past week, month, year have you woken up at 2am, 3am, 4am and then…
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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, it’s spooky season and we imagine some terrifying haunted house scenarios: a room where your WhatsApp groups have all come to life; another room where there’s a pa…
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Desperate for a little corner of calm that you can tuck yourself into? A mini-escape that is not demanding or exhausting or expensive? We are delighted that this week’s guest has found a way to calm the wild voices in her head… Poetry. Allie Esiri is a poetry anthologist and her wonderful new book 365 Poems for Life harnesses our extraordinary lite…
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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 you have to get through the next week. Oh God. Anyway, this week we decide to become local legends. But how? By wearing cloaks? Adopting a treachery of ravens? Maybe a monkey? Emilie thinks replenishing everyone’s sto…
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Episode 177: Politics on the Edge with Hugo Rifkind
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Are you reaching the edge of reason? Do you find yourself shouting at the Today programme, slamming your laptop shut after reading the Sunday papers, cursing wildly at how insane the news cycle is: the politics, the fuckery, the backstabbing, and the actual stabbings. Our next guest is at the frontline of the news – he has to watch everything, list…
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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 you have to get through the next week. Oh God. Anyway, in this episode, we get all nostalgic/nauseous about all the lies we told our parents when we were 15/16. All the shady places we went. The many dodgy vehicles we…
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Episode 176: What Happens When Cancer Happens To You...
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This is a very personal conversation with our friend Mandy Saligari where she allows us all the privilege of bearing witness to her experience of a recent stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Longtime listeners of the podcast will know Mandy is someone who we hold in extremely high regard: an addictions therapist, founder of Charter Harley Street, and all-rou…
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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 you have to get through the next week. Oh God. Anyway, in this episode, Emilie has swapped oppressive cheerfulness for gnawing anxiety and Annabel is trying to cheer her up with three-word happy stories…So you can ima…
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So we recorded this week’s podcast schvitzing in our stupid summer dresses, fretting about what we can bear to put on our bodies for Autumn. It’s like all the ghosts of our fashion past are out there: the return of the Sienna Miller-style coin belt; massive blazers and baggy jeans a la Eternal, as well kitten heels. How do we feel about wearing som…
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Sometimes we need reminding that we aren’t failing. The entire fucking system is against us. We have interviewed three brilliant American women who have dedicated their careers to looking at the patriarchy: Ada Calhoun with her Generation X defining book, Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis. Eve Rodsky’s manifest for female creativity: F…
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Episode 173: This Might Make You Feel Less Weird
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Hopefully you are fully engaged in a wonderful holiday, spending joyous time immersed in the glorious slipstream of your family dynamics. If so GOOD FOR YOU. If, however, you feel that you are on the brink, near the overwhelm or just unbelievably tired, have we got an episode to you… We’ve gathered together some self-preserving thoughts from therap…
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Episode 172: The Really Useful Beauty Episode
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Here at I’m Absolutely Fine we have gathered the finest beauty minds for a Beauty 101. Nadine Baggott brought us her Skincare SOS kit: she decodes the ingredients to look out for and keeps budget front of mind. Sali Hughes, who has launched her wildly successful skincare range with Revolution (Emilie is a devotee of her Daily Exfoliant), opened up …
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Summer is here. Maybe you are leaping into August with the enthusiasm of a newborn deer or maybe you feel as if you are about to be culled and mounted on the living room wall. We are veering wildly from wanting to scamper and scurry the streets, eating snacks and generally channelling rat girl energy; and spending so long in the bath that we turn o…
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