I'm Absolutely Fine! by The Midult

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 go retro and talk about Rivals: unashamedly joyful romp or uncomfortable reminder of the inequities of the 80s? How much has really changed? Also - are there any Midults out there not devoted to lip balm? Do you have one in every desk drawer, coat pocket, bottom of bag? Is it less a lip balm, more a balm for our frazzled synapses? Lip balms supporting our existential crises this week include By Terry Baume de Rose Lip Balm, Carmex Classic Lip Pot Balm, Vaseline Lip Therapy Tin in Rosy Lips, Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Mango and Ciate Watermelon Burst 2-in-1 Everyday Lip Mask & Balm… We’ve clearly gone balmy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re taking a break from rifling through Annabel’s beauty drawers - instead we’ve gone to the vault and an episode we recorded last year about poetry. Because let’s face it, we are a little desperate for a corner of calm that we can tuck ourselves into; a mini-escape that is not demanding or exhausting or expensive. Our guest Allie Esiri found a way to calm the wild voices in her head; she is a poetry anthologist who harnesses our extraordinary literary resources to offer - if not a solution - then a balm for the soul. Of course, you might be thinking, ‘How is reading a poem a day going to make me feel less mad, vulnerable, sad, tired, stretched, defeated?’…Well, Allie came and talked about poetry. Read a few of her favourites. Recommended a few others. Does poetry have the power to make us feel a little less alone? Have a listen. Allie’s book 365 Poems for Life is out now… Normal service will resume next week, and when we say ‘normal’, we mean that term loosely, obviously… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Ok so Annabel is teaching Emilie to darn. YES, DARN. Because, MOTHS. But it’s not all rock ‘n roll. We also talk about parties (not dreading at all) and Annabel delivers a Midiot’s guide to blusher, so we don’t go out into the world looking like Victorian consumptives/Aunt Sally. She recommends Merit Flush Balm Cheek Colour in Cheeky; Charlotte Tilbury Matte Beauty Blush Wand in Pillow Talk and Jones Road Lip and Cheek Stick in Bright Coral…Check out our Instagram for the tutorials... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. This week we discuss little pick me ups - Emilie tried culottes and she can tell you right now that they did not pick her up. AVOID AVOID…Instead Annabel recommends lip gloss and lots of it (yes, very Rivals)…We talk about Ciate’s Glow Dewy Gloss, Clarins’ Lip Perfector and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Flash as well as Annabel’s prescription for an easy Sunday face: Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow, Guerlain Terracotta The Bronzing Powder and Jones Road Lip and Cheek Stick. Add jeans, a nice jumper and hoops. Of course, hoops... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Emilie is just back from her 30 year university reunion. 30 years!!! We discuss ALL THE FEELINGS around that particular craziness. Plus the triggering nature of musicals *howls*. And the power of baths, particularly when powered by Olverum... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Ok so it turns out that Annabel has been keeping secrets from Emilie… in the form of RapidBrow Eyebrow Enhancing Serum… Hey, a girl’s got to have her secrets, and also fantastic eyebrows… apparently this stuff really works! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. So guys, how are you doing? Are you enjoying our tweakment? This week we’re all about tinted moisturiser which Annabel is practically drinking and Emilie is predictably frightened of. Can she face her fear? Annabel attacks her with Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow, Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint, Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 30 and Kosas BB Burst Tinted Gel Cream… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New term, same shit: Ok we’re back. But given how close to the edge we actually are, we are actually having a tweakment and making a change to Podcast from the Edge. Emilie is sick of staring at the howling horror of her face. Annabel is a beauty expert so she is going to talk us through one or two products a week: simple things that might make life a little easier and hopefully make us all feel a little more like a fully functioning human women…First up eye stuff! Starring Sali Hughes for Revolution Skincare Ringlight Creamy Illuminating Eye Balm, Erborian CC Eye and Hannah Martin X Ciaté brushes… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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

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. She was of course sensational; making us a little angry and lot more informed. Brace yourselves and have a listen... After Sophie Williams, there’s another friend of the pod. There aren’t many people who can go by just one name: Madonna, Cher, Beyonce and….Trinny. And we all need a Trinny in our lives, so here she is talking positivity and how she finds the confidence, hell, the energy to keep - well - flourishing so magnificently…plus her beauty must-haves. Obviously… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. 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 communication feel as if it is landing at 5:30pm on a Friday? Do you keep dropping things or bumping into things? Are you boring yourself every time you open your mouth? Do you feel hungover to hell even though you are not drinking? IS JULY BREAKING YOU? AAAARGH… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. 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”. Translation: No one but you would be stupid enough to wear that. “I love how discerning you are”. Translation: God you’re a pain in the arse -  just order from the menu like a normal person. Have you had a jaw-dropper recently? Or are you guilty of dishing them out? Let us know...  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. 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 boundaries (because we are so mentally healthy) and then watching as the boundary crumbles? Are you going to need a bigger boundary? Then this is the episode for you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, Trainspotting meets The Secret History – it’s set in the 90s in Scotland and it’s really excellent, so order it now for your holiday. Sorry to be bossy. We talk about teenage kicks, the maddest bits of the election so far and why he’s SHOCK HORROR optimistic about the future... PLUS This week’s episode is bravely brought to you by seasn, non-alcoholic aromatic bitters designed to give any drink something a little bit extra, which Emilie is putting on absolutely everything. seasn is the brainchild of Ben Branson, who is the founder of elegant non-alcoholic sprits Seedlip. He is also on this week’s podcast talking to us about creating a breakout category of his own and how he made his twin super powers of ADHD and autism work for him...seasn is available to buy online from seasnyourdrinks.com, and we have an offer for you guys - 15% off with the code MIDULTSEASN15.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 these big things, as well as what it’s like to uproot your family and move from Wiltshire to Washington, at the tender age of 48. Adventure or shitshow? Fun or frightening? Or like everything right now, is it a bit of both? This episode is sponsored by Wild Nutrition who is offering Midults 50% off their first three months of orders, with the code MIDULT50 on wildnutrition.com/midult TS&CS apply.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we 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, who cares if your leg hair is making friends with the leg hair of the person next door to you on the commute. As in, you have never actually been hotter, old girl…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Friday! Just slipping into your feed to let you know that the week is nearly over, and there’s only one more week to go before we have to get through the next week. Oh God. This week we’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 reclaim the crone… PS: The book Emilie was talking about is A History of Women in 101 Objects by Annabelle Hirsch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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