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I'm Absolutely Fine! by The Midult

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.

The Midult

Are you so bored of cooking that you’d quite happily throw all the utensils out of the window? Have you abandoned any attempt at culinary imagination? Are you worried about how to feed everybody, let alone with any kind of flair, without going insane and bankrupting yourself? Well, we are delighted to welcome the delicious Thomasina Miers to the podcast. She won Masterchef (FFS!) before founding Wahaca and her latest book, Meat-Free Mexican is an absolute goldmine. We talk about anxiety, cooking as meditation and how to spice up your lunch…cheaply. 
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Episode 132: With Thomasina Miers

We are slightly awestruck by our guest this week – she’s a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning screenwriter of such magnificences as The Hour, The Split, Iron Lady and Suffragette. But she’s soon to be famous for her bestseller This is Not A Pity Memoir. Ok, so we should warn you that this is a book about a series of heart-breaking events: her husband had a catastrophic reaction to MS drugs; he woke up from a six months’ long coma and she was the only person he didn’t recognise. Then, while caring for him and supporting the family, she got breast cancer. This is an incredible conversation with an incredible woman about life, love, death - all the big guns - and how you survive the unimaginable...
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Episode 131: With Abi Morgan

Recently someone said to us – as they do – just go with the flow. Our first thought – obviously – was…’Have you ever met us?’ Swiftly followed by, ‘What time does the flow start?’ And ‘What do we wear?' We have never knowingly or unknowingly gone with the flow. Anyway, we are unlikely to tell anyone to go with the flow, but there are a lot of things we are currently saying to people who have annoyed us like, ‘I’m just going to leave that with you’ and ‘Wow, you have given that a lot of thought.’ We also talk about ways to punch up a social situation (‘Who do you hate here?’) and all the childhood fantasies that turn out to be adult nightmares….like making decisions and taking responsibility and being able to watch whatever we like. Plus Emilie’s improbably intense relationship with her soft-closing drawers and, stay tuned for a ten-minute chat with Symprove's founder, the brilliant Barry Smith... 

PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove. You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for a 15% discount MIDULT15 at symprove.com. Follow your gut feelings...
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Episode 130: Bonus Bank Holiday Episode

Recently someone said to us – as they do – just go with the flow. Our first thought – obviously – was…’Have you ever met us?’ Swiftly followed by, ‘What time does the flow start?’ And ‘What do we wear?' We have never knowingly or unknowingly gone with the flow. Anyway, we are unlikely to tell anyone to go with the flow, but there are a lot of things we are currently saying to people who have annoyed us like, ‘I’m just going to leave that with you’ and ‘Wow, you have given that a lot of thought.’ We also talk about ways to punch up a social situation (‘Who do you hate here?’) and all the childhood fantasies that turn out to be adult nightmares….like making decisions and taking responsibility and being able to watch whatever we like. Plus Emilie’s improbably intense relationship with her soft-closing drawers and, stay tuned for a ten-minute chat with Symprove's founder, the brilliant Barry Smith... 
PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove. You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for a 15% discount MIDULT15 at symprove.com. Follow your gut feelings...
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Episode 130: Will We Ever Find The Flow?

This week we’ve got a veritable powerhouse of a guest. Maybe you started needlepointing during lockdown? Or baked a dodgy sourdough loaf or two? But if you’re Steph McGovern, you started a whole television show…. from your front room. In fact, Steph’s Packed Lunch, was just nominated for a BAFTA. We talk about our dire knicker situation, dealing with IBS and what it’s like to be a northerner who doesn't like tea. 
PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove. You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for a 15% discount MIDULT15 at symprove.com. Follow your gut feelings...
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Episode 129: With Steph McGovern

If you are ever depressed about the chilly perfection of Instagram then we have the antidote…. Em Clarkson, who uses this platform to call out the constant cultural undermining of women and to smash our own internalised misogyny one awkward-yet-joyful post at a time. We talk about the power of changing your mind, what will happen if we just keep letting ourselves be coated in shame and judgement, and why we shouldn’t try to be liked by everyone. Warning: Contains ranting. Link in bio. 
PS: This podcast was bravely brought to you by Symprove. You can sign up for a 12-week introductory programme – and here’s your code for a 15% discount MIDULT15 at symprove.com. Follow your gut feelings...
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Episode 128: With Em Clarkson

We have a question: at what point does your ‘manner’ become your horrible personality? Because – somewhere – we all have a horrible personality. Even Emilie. This week we discuss why we need to own our anger, and why all our inner people - Inner Warrior, Child and Diva - are malfunctioning at the moment. Plus lots of ways to get Midult high AND ways to say no without saying no - because we are, after all, only here to help…tune in for Big Midult Energy….
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Episode 127: Is It Just Our Horrible Personalities?

Has there ever been a better time to talk about sex education? Girls, women and their bodies are under siege. Supposed protectors of laws and rights are watching porn in the Commons. Young people are deluged with mixed messages about what they should and shouldn’t expect. There’s an orgasm gap, along with all the other gaps FFS. It’s enough to make you want to start burning everything down. So this week we are thrilled to welcome journalist Sophia Smith Galer to the podcast to talk about her new book, Losing, which proposes a new template for sex education for the 21st Century - starting with the absurd mythologising of virginity. It will make you angry about the sexual untruths peddled at girls and boys for generations. It’s time for a sex reset...
PS: This podcast is bravely brought to you by sex-positive start-up, HANX. They are offering listeners a HANX Free Set, which includes two of their best-selling, vegan, biodegradable condoms and two samples of their water-based, toy and condom friendly, gentle lube. Plus a discount for their next order at HANX – you just need to pay £3.50 for P&P. Just go to hanxofficial.com/midult and get it on…
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Episode 126: Let's Talk About Consent, Baby

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
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Episode 125: What Was I Saying?

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
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Episode 124: Mid-Life Mayhem With Karen Arthur

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
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Episode 123: How To Get Dressed With Kat Farmer

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...
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Episode 122: How To Crack Your Creativity With Eve Rodsky

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. 
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Episode 121: Why Is Money So Hard?

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.
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Episode 120: With Julia Samuel

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 
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Episode 119: Money Madness

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.
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Episode 118: What Does It All Mean?

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…
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Episode 117: Clover Stroud

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
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Episode 116: Books To Bring You Back To Life

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 
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Episode 115: How To Heal A Broken Heart

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
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Episode 114: Welcome To... The Panicdemic

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…
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Episode 113: How To Get A Pay Rise (And The Rest) With Helena Morrissey

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
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Episode 112: Don't Panic, It's Only *Insert As Appropriate*

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
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Episode 111: Supplements...The Truth! With Lucy Goff

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
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Episode 110: Manifest That Shit With Cherry Healey

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 
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Episode 109: The Perineum of The Year!

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…
 
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Episode 108: Happy Christmess

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
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Episode 107: Have We Got News For You With Hugo Rifkind

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...
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Episode 106: Why Men Win At Work

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.  
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Episode 105: From Crazed To Catatonic...And Back Again

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. 
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Episode 104: Skincare SOS With Nadine Baggott

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. 
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Episode 103: Hormone Havoc With Lisa Snowdon

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 
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Episode 102: Halloween Hysterics

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
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Episode 101: Solo Motherhood With Liv Thorne

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/
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Episode 100: Are We Having Fun Yet?

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/
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Episode 99: The Horror

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/ 
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Episode 98: Let's Talk About Sex

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
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Episode 97: The Panic Point

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
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Episode 96: Autumn Beauty Special

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...
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Episode 95: It's September! WTF?!?

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…
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Episode 94: Having a Break(down)?

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
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Episode 93: Hannah Martin

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. 
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Episode 92: Appy ever after?

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...
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Episode 91: Stacey Duguid

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.
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Episode 90: Unlocking for some

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.
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Episode 89: Helen Thorn

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
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Episode 88: Esther Coren

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...
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Episode 87: Navigating the unlocking with Julia Samuel

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...
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Episode 86: Going Out - of our minds

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?
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Episode 85: It's time to go woo woo

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?
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Episode 84: Anya Hindmarch

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
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Episode 83: Beauty bits to make you feel better

These are turbulent times, aren’t they? We have bent ourselves in all sorts of shapes over the last year and not in a fun way. Now that we are slowly blinking in the sunlight we are not sure who we are anymore and - in particular - who we are in relation to everyone else. Thankfully our guest this week is Emma Reed Turrell, a psychotherapist who has written the definitive book on people pleasing, called Please Yourself, which is out now. Are you a people pleaser? There are few different types you know - even some bolshy ones. So whether you have fallen down a people pleasing hole in lockdown, to whether you suspect that you’ve held yourself hostage to other people’s feelings, this is for you…
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Episode 82: How to stop people pleasing with Emma Reed Turrell

Hasn’t this been a huge week? Have we finally lost it? Will we ever get off the emotional Coronacoaster? Now that we are expected to put on our human suits and go out into the world again, we talk about the weird behaviours, the paranoias and the terrible conversational habits we’ve picked up… Are we ready? Doesn’t look like it…
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Episode 81: How mental are we anyway?

Anyone else forgotten how to get dressed? Having spent a year in elasticated waists, we felt the need to call our friend Kat Farmer, also known as Does My Bum Look 40, an authority on wearable, affordable clothes. We talk about why this is not the time to reinvent ourselves and find that there is a halfway house between troll who hasn’t left the house for a year and fully functioning fashion-aware female.

This podcast was bravely sponsored by Meg&Bee - beautiful bags for all the women that you are. The bags are classic, affordable and fantastic quality as well as being designed by an all-women team - and it takes a woman to know how to handle a handbag. You can change up the straps and play with tassels and charms depending on how you’re feeling. Annabel is wearing the navy suede classic with the disco strap, Emilie is wearing the suede classic with the camo strap. Meg & Bee are offering Midults a 15% discount until the end of April using the code MIDULT15
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Episode 80: How to get dressed with Kat Farmer

At the tail end of lockdown, we’ve never been so grimly aware of the dust, dirt and clutter in our homes. So we are thrilled that our guest this week is Lynsey Crombie, also known as Lynsey Queen of Clean. We get filthy about cleaning and why it both drives us mad and keeps us sane. Lynsey’s latest book The 15 Minute Clean is out today…
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Episode 79: Talking dirty with Lynsey Queen of Clean

After a year of panicking about lockdown, we are now deranged with panic about post-lockdown. I mean who even are we anymore and what on earth happens next…

#AD This podcast was brought to you by Diet Coke. They have teamed up with magazine app Readly to give you two months FREE subscription to lots of amazing magazines! Pick up a Diet Coke and unlock your free two-month Readly subscription code via the ring pull… Grab #YourDietCokeBreak…@dietcokegb @readly
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Episode 78: The end is nigh!

Anyone else eating the same thing every night? We can’t remember a time when we’ve been more obsessed yet exhausted by food - so thank goodness our guest this week is the sensational chef and restaurateur Skye Gyngell. We beg for her help… Warning: may cause hunger.
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Episode 77: WTF's for dinner with Skye Gyngell

This week we talk about the panic/excitement/panic around the return to our old lives: Eye contact? Packing? Restaurants? Oh my... We think about the mood-loop of the past year and how it’s messed with our sense of identity. Who even are we?
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Episode 76: What's normal anyway?

Are we slowly grinding to a halt?  This week we talk about all the terrible conversations we’ve been having (favourite pasta shapes, the state of our feet); why you must never overthink a loo brush; all the lockdown phases we’ve been through and why we might just be a week away from doing something dramatic to our hair and/or never getting out of bed again...
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Episode 75: We haven't got this

This week we are thrilled to have Sophie Williams on the podcast. Sophie is a leading anti-racism advocate, activist and the author of Anti-Racist Ally and the upcoming Millennial Black (out in April). We talk to her about what we can do to be authentic allies and how perfection isn’t the aim, but progress is...
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Episode 74: How to be an anti-racist ally

It’s amazing how little we know about our vaginas. We may have had sex, we may have had babies, we may have had scares, but there remains a kind of insidious ignorance and confusion about our own anatomy. This week we thought we’d take a deep dive with our guest, the fearless Dr Hedieh Asadi. What she doesn’t know about female bits and pieces is not worth knowing so we tackle vulva myths, how to look after vaginal health, to lube or not to lube and why a happy vagina means a happy woman.

This podcast is sponsored by DeoDoc, beautiful products for beautiful bits.
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Episode 73: The Vagina Dialogues

This week we talk about the tiny things threatening to tip us over the edge, virtual micro-aggressions and why Sunday carbs and Thursday vodka don't count… They just don’t.
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Episode 72: Lockdown rage

This week we talk about box sets in the bath (party for one), Zoom panic and spiralling social anxiety. On the plus side, we haven’t had to deal with a missed delivery slip for months…
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Episode 71: Are we nearly mad yet?

Anyone else feeling full-on feral? This week we talk about bed jumpers; run through the technicolour spectrum of walks we are taking and roll around in the ways we’ve aged since March 2020.
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Episode 70: Podcast from the edge

This time last year, we recorded a podcast with phenomenal therapist Mandy Saligari about self-esteem and how we can meet the demands that life throws at us without constantly running on empty. Little did we bloody know! Anyway now that we have nothing left to give - and yet more and more is asked of us - we thought we’d bring Mandy back. Because she’s a badass who helps people untangle their demons. We talk about how to feel your feelings, conquer that insidious personal isolation and why this is yet another f***ing growth opportunity...
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Episode 69: Mandy Saligari

As we enter the perineum of the year, we talk about all the things we’ve learned in 2020, ineffective stress busters and why we are all still rockstars on the inside - despite the 9pm bedtimes….

Thank you for all your wonderfulness this year… see you on the other side.

P.S. This episode is bravely sponsored by Skin + Me - personalised skincare, prescribed just for you, delivered to your door. Skin + Me are offering listeners their first month for free using the code MIDULT1220 (minus a £3.50 prescription charge). Check it out...
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Episode 68: Post-Christmess Special with A&E

It’s beginning to look a lot like… Stressmas and we are acting out in all sorts of strange and uninteresting ways. So Annabel has rifled through her drawers (oh yes she has) to unearth some bath, skin and make-up discoveries to brighten up the most ruthless time of year.

Finds include…

Chanel No.5 Le Deodorant
Soaper Duper Nourishing Coconut Body Wash
Aroma Active Laboratories Muscle Recovery Soak
Neighbourhood Botanicals Face Off Cleanser Facial Oil
Dr Dennis Gross All-in-One Cleanser with Toner
Beauty Pie Dr Glycolic Pore Purifying Glow Toner (we have a Beauty Pie
code MIDULTSENTME)
Laura Mercier Blurring Pure Canvas Primer
Vieve The Essential Eye Palette and Modern Matte Lipstick in Treasure
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner
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Episode 67: Happy Stressmas beauty special

This week we have the glorious Daisy Buchanan with us - a woman we trust with everything but most particularly books. Daisy is a wonderful author and host of the hugely popular literary podcast You're Booked and is a bit of an expert of the high brow and the low brow and the everything in between brow. And, right now, what do we need more than little, affordable portals of escape? A book - the most joyful way to think outside of yourself. Even when you’re stuck inside contemplating the end of the world as we know it.
P.S. Her shockingly sexy book Insatiable is out in February

For when you have misplaced all hope - The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

For any kind of grief – The Consequences Of Love by Gavanndra Hodge

For all your party needs - Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz

For when you’re on the brink of joining a cult – Untamed by Glennon Doyle

For missing friends – Happy All The Time by Laurie Colwin

For when you have forgotten how to get dressed – Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch/How To Be Yourself by Simon Doonan

For romance to warm your cynical heart – Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman

For when all you need is love – Leonard and Hungry Paul by Roman Hession
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Episode 66: Daisy Buchanan

In this week’s episode of I’m Absolutely Fine!, we talk guilt, girlfriends and gravy with the incomparable Claudia Winkleman.
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Episode 65: Claudia Winkleman

This week we get personal about the panic. Our guest is the magnificent Andrea McLean, Loose Woman, award-winning broadcaster and writer of bestsellers. She talks to us with shattering honesty about the very dark place she went to last year and why it led her to write her book, This Girl Is On Fire. If anyone listening to this episode is experiencing any of the feelings discussed please reach out and get help. You are not alone and you are worth it.
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Episode 64: Andrea McLean

This week our guest is the extraordinary entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, founder of beauty brand after beauty brand. Her most recent incarnation is Beauty Pie, the disruptive buyer’s club that changed the way we think about beauty shopping. We talk self-doubt, skin and why this might actually be the best time to unleash your creativity…

P.S. Beauty Pie is offering you lovely lot your first month's membership free. Your code is MIDULTSENTME*

*T&Cs apply
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Episode 63: Marcia Kilgore

This week we are going to have a little light lockdown therapy: our guest Anna Mathur is a psychotherapist, bestselling author and podcaster. We talk about all the fucking feelings, micro needs, big anxiety and small panics and why it is so hard to wade through it all at the moment.
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Episode 62: Anna Mathur

This week it’s the superb Scummy Mummies - and it's chaos! We had them round Annabel’s kitchen table one evening - back when such things were allowed - to talk terrible sex injuries and why we’re all feeling so insane. They are properly funny stand-ups, properly famous podcasters and properly brilliant human beings: we love Helen Thorn and Ellie Gibson so excuse the swearing, the snorting and the general mayhem of this recording. It was just bliss to do.
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Episode 61: Scummy Mummies

On the podcast this week we have a guest with a unique perspective on the horrors of getting dressed in the morning. It’s hard enough when you only have yourself to answer to. Imagine, if you can bear it, knowing that the eyes of the world will be on you, poised to criticise your figure and your fashion choices. Well, Samantha Cameron had years of those terrifying camera flashes and, since then, she has amalgamated her experience and channelled it into her own label, Cefinn, renowned for its solution-oriented elegance. So if anyone can give us some tricks to get out the door looking like a fully functional human woman even when our minds and bodies are betraying us, it's her.

P.S. We’re very happy that this podcast is brought to you by Label/Mix. They’ve collaborated with new, exciting brands and designers to bring you hot fashion at slightly more accessible prices. Have a look...
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Episode 60: Samantha Cameron

Today we are delighted to have a real fashion authority with us. Anna Murphy is Fashion Director of The Times and renowned for her stylish, real life approach to getting dressed; drawing our attention to wearable, relevant clothes as well as new and interesting brands with all sorts of creative, sustainable, ethical and fantastical stories to tell. Thanks to her we might all find it a little less traumatic to get dressed this winter…

P.S. We’re very happy that this podcast is brought to you by Label/Mix. They’ve collaborated with new, exciting brands and designers to bring you hot fashion at slightly more accessible prices. In fact, this podcast includes a little chat with the force behind Label/Mix, the sensational Gemma Metheringham. Have a listen...
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Episode 59: Anna Murphy

In these strange times, when we are so unsure, it’s reassuring to talk to experts. So, taking a break from weeping into our wardrobes, we talked to the peerless Caroline Issa: fashion super force, publisher of Tank magazine, consultant for beautiful brand after beautiful brand, street-style queen, on every best dressed list for ever. Because if anyone can navigate us through these choppy wardrobe waters it is this lady.

P.S. We’re very happy that this podcast is brought to you by Label/Mix. They’ve collaborated with new, exciting brands and designers to bring you hot fashion at slightly more accessible prices. Have a look...
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Episode 58: Caroline Issa

Way back in the mists of time - 2018 - the authors of the bestselling Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl’s Bible, came on our podcast. It opened our eyes. So, as soon as there was a whisper of a new book, we booked them in. So yes, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene are back with Loud Black Girls, an anthology of 20 black British women writers asking what’s next…
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Episode 57: Loud Black Girls with Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene

Do you suspect that you may have aged 1000 years in the last six months? Well you probably have…. stress + environment + everything = skinpocalypse. So we talked to one of London’s leading cosmetic doctors Dr Suha Kersh about life, lines and how to get your face back on track.
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Episode 56: Dr Suha Kersh

Today's guest is the sensational Sophia Money-Coutts who is an actual person and a writer, not a made-up character. She is the author of best-selling, sexy novels; a journalist and now the host of a new podcast about freezing her eggs called Freezing Time. We probed her on every single detail - legs in stirrups please.
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Episode 55: Sophia Money-Coutts

We’re back! Are we though? Oh God. Everything is so crazy. So... to counter the moaning, the madness, the uncertainty, the sheer precariousness of everything, Annabel takes us for a romp around her bathroom cupboard. This week we are all about September Beauty Heroes from a soothing cleanser to a sensational new mascara via the best bath oil and glowy skin stuff...

@drunkelephant
@oskiaskincare
@katesomervilleskincare
@afrohairandskinco
@weledauk
@skinceuticals_uki
@malinandgoetz
@suqqu_europe
@ctilburymakeup
@narsissist
@olverum
@colorwowhair
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Episode 54: September beauty special

Are you a bit miserable? Do you feel as though you’re failing? As though you’ve missed the life you could have had. Because most grown-up women are finding themselves living in a total shit show. But – as we always say – if we’re not in it together, we’re not in it at all. So, it’s very exciting that just before we fully surrender to our nervous breakdowns, we have a real authority on the line. Ada Calhoun has written the definitive analysis about why Generation X women feel so close to the abyss: In Why We Can’t Sleep – Women’s New Midlife Crisis she looked at housing costs, employment trends, debt, divorce, perimenopause and at every turn she saw a pattern – Gen X women were in crisis. See? It’s never just you…
P.S. The podcast is taking a break, see you in September. Love, A&E x
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Episode 53: Ada Calhoun

This week our guest is sunshine in man form. Jules Von Hep has worked in the tanning industry for over 10 years, bronzing up Hollywood’s finest, getting models golden backstage at fashion week, always on and off TV sets, including Strictly and The X Factor – you name it, he’s seen them naked and at their most vulnerable. So it’s no surprise that he is also obsessed with body positivity, inclusivity and making people feel really good about themselves… ENJOY
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Episode 52: Jules von Hep

We all have a super weird relationship with food, don’t we? Well, this week we’ve got a rosé-drinking, no-nonsense nutritional therapist, the wonderful Eve Kalinik on the line. With her realistic approach to gut health and food fads, she talks sugar, gluten, caffeine - all the big guns - and what the perfect poo should look like. It’s a gut ‘un…
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Episode 51: Eve Kalinik

This week we talk to the brilliant columnist, satirist and broadcaster Hugo Rifkind about the rubbish new normal - from the threat of 'space weather' to Donald Trump sex dreams, via our old friend Brexit (remember him?) and our even older friend impostor syndrome.

P.S. This week’s episode is sponsored by the fun-fact-filled magazine, The Week Junior. You know how when you are a kid you think, 'I can’t wait to be an adult and then I will know everything'? Obviously, that didn’t pan out, but The Week Junior can help the young people in your life make sense of the world. The Week Junior is the current affairs magazine for 8-14 year olds. Its pages are packed with the latest news, animals, nature, science, books, sport, technology, films, recipes and puzzles to stimulate and inform those curious minds. It might even give you some help working out what the hell is going on! I’m Absolutely Fine! listeners can visit theweekjunior.co.uk/themidult to try their first 6 issues of The Week Junior absolutely FREE, with home delivery included.
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Episode 50: The rubbish new normal with Hugo Rifkind

This week we have a real, live female film director here. The magnificent Coky Giedroyc is known as the queen of costume drama: she’s made Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, The Virgin Queen, all with Tom Hardy coughs. Also Harlots and The Hour to name but a few… Her latest film is How to Build A Girl, an adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s book, which lands on Amazon Prime on the 24th July. In lockdown she’s also been Zooming with Take That because she’s making Greatest Days, a film about their fans. We talk corsets, heartthrobs and dealing with so many men in a male dominated industry - gripping.
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Episode 49: Coky Giedroyc

This week we talk to a proper beauty expert, the delightful Emma Guns, about everything from our terrible toes to our terrible hair, via stretch marks and beards.
P.S. This was recorded remotely so please forgive us if it’s a bit rough and mad. Here are all her top tip products...

Boots Foot File https://bit.ly/3euumWD

Philips Lumea https://amzn.to/318ewgd

Braun Silk-Epil https://amzn.to/2V80vva

Body Brush https://bit.ly/383HyiD

No7 Hydration Masks
https://bit.ly/2B55wxW

Kate Somerville ExfoliKate https://bit.ly/2YysLtn

Kate Somerville DeliKate https://bit.ly/2YysLtn

Parissa Hot Wax https://amzn.to/2BuTMEM

Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen https://amzn.to/37Y7e0f
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Episode 48: Beauty Special with Emma Guns

This week we talk about quicksand, office a***holes and daily malpractices - from Manifestering to adopting a Positively Mental Attitude...
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Episode 47: The new abnormal

From suspender belts to knee supports, this week’s episode of I’m Absolutely Fine! is all about the multiple personalities of our knicker drawers. Bravely sponsored by Stripe & Stare - who are offering all of you 20% off with the code FINE10 (until 31st July)
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Episode 46: Are you wearing your Big Girl Pants?

This week we discuss living in The Overwhelm, on The Brink, in Denial, deckchair panic and how we've forgotten how to be civilised members of society.
P.S. All these episodes are recorded remotely so please forgive us if they are a bit rough and mad. Love A&E x
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Episode 45: Lockdown special 9

This week we talk about what would happen if Midults did Love Island, Locktail hour, and all the therapy we are going to need when this madness is over.
P.S. All these episodes are recorded remotely so please forgive us if they are a bit rough and mad. Love, A&E x
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Episode 44: Lockdown special 8

This week we are deranged with joy to welcome our very dear friend Gavanndra Hodge to the podcast. Her new book, The Consequences of Love, is about love, addiction, trauma, parties, grief and the eventual understanding that, if we are brave enough to look at long ago loss, we can change our lives. Listen to her. Then read the book. Trust us x
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Episode 43: Lockdown special 7 with Gavanndra Hodge

This week we’re back on the Corona-coaster talking about all the different flavours of panic, insomnia and some of the times we disgraced ourselves…
P.S. All these episodes are recorded remotely so please forgive us if they are a bit rough and mad
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Episode 42: Lockdown special 6

This week Annabel and Emilie talk about The Tiredness, micro horror stories and games you can play to keep the madness at bay. Sort of…
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Episode 41: Lockdown special 5

This week Annabel and Emilie comb through the remnants of their former lives, from past-their-sell-by-date condoms to hair balls to secret copies of The Rules...
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Episode 40: Lockdown special 4

It’s Episode 3 from reality 2020. This week we discuss the erosion of our sense of self and how our fantasy life is getting out of control - in all directions
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Episode 39: Lockdown special 3

We’re absolutely fine but… we’ve gone lockdown loco. It’s our second dispatch from the new normal. We talk about the magimix of feelings, the terrible sex dreams and how it’s possible to feel lonely and claustrophobic AT THE SAME TIME. Love A&E x
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Episode 38: Lockdown special 2

We’re absolutely fine but…. we’re in lockdown. This is our first episode from Reality 2.0. Join us as we share some of our wildest thoughts in these strange times…
P.S. This was recorded remotely, on our phones - which are now actually fused to our hands - so forgive the glitches…
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Episode 37: Lockdown special

Mandy Saligari is complete badass: an addictions therapist whose TedTalk is titled 'Handle feelings before they handle you'. She is a multi-hyphenate who has helped thousands untangle their demons in order to learn to live a fuller life. She looks at self-esteem, the frightening areas of vulnerability, fear and how we can meet the demands that life throws at us without constantly running on empty. Sound familiar? She is wisdom in motion… this is an important 40 minutes. P.S. This podcast was recorded before life turned upside down. Love A&E x
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Episode 36: Mandy Saligari

If you haven’t heard of @DoesMyBumLook40 then you’re about to. For years she’s been a badly-kept fashion secret: doling out tips and tricks on Instagram. She combs through the tat and shares the treasures. Now she is leaping from your iPhone screen to your TV screen in BBC1’s Prime Time show You Are What You Wear next Thursday. We are so grateful to you Kat Farmer, for helping us get dressed in the most human way. P.S. This episode was recorded two weeks ago when the world was a little different. Stay safe everyone ❤
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