MID

Personal Journals
**MID**

Welcome to MID – the grown-up conversations women deserve.

Ever wondered what to do when your ducks don’t all fit neatly into the row they’re supposed to?

Each episode we bring you handpicked compelling stories discussing relationships and wellness.

Fun, frank wisdom from an impressive line up of well loved names, in the second act of life who share it all.

MID goes deep on self-care with zero shame and rich experiences you can cherry-pick for wisdom to share, changes to make and attitude we can borrow.

In MID… we’re anything but.

Latest Episodes:

When MID Doesn't Come With Money Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

Simmone Jade McKinnon was - and is, to many - Stevie from McLouds Daughters. She joined that iconic Australian show fresh from another era-defining TV moment, Baywatch, with a Hollywood star fiancé on her arm and a creative career in full flight.

And then everything changed.

Simmone and her son Madigan have been living in a caravan and then a shed in her family’s back paddock for the best part of a decade. She’s been making ends meet with carer’s subsidy, odd jobs like jillaroo and by starting her own small business. When she decided to step out of a dark time and back in front of a camera for a reality show earlier this year it was very clearly with one goal in mind - the prize money.

On this episode, the first MID conversation about money, you'll hear how all that's been going for Simmone. And you’ll hear what it was like to be on one of the biggest shows in the world and get fired for what you refused to do in lingerie on a beach. How she came back from crippling panic attacks during a high-profile break-up to film wedding scenes for our viewing pleasure and, most importantly, how she’s kept moving and dreaming and pushing on as she’s been parenting her son alone on a very minimal income.

Simonne is famous but she’s not rich, and we assume those things go together. Her story might not be yours, but there’s plenty of familiar territory here. Please enjoy MID, Season 2, Episode 3: Money, with Simmone Jade Mackinnon.

LINKS:
You can follow Simmone on Instagram here.
Find her clothing company here.
You can donate to the Council of Single Mothers here.

THE END BITS:

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Audio Producer: Thom Lion

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finding The Joy In A Pile Of Shift Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Kylie Gillies is telling Holly Wainwright about The Shift. You know, the moment when you realise things have changed - your children were tiny, and now they’re not. Your parents were giants, and now they’re not. You were the bold young thing in the office. And now you’re not.

Kylie has been in living rooms across Australia for 17 years as co-host of The Morning Show with Larry Emdur. Not only is Kylie an experienced, engaged journalist, but she's also a MID woman perfectly placed to talk about all that shifting - kids growing up, losing and caring for much-loved parents, reflecting on your career and working out what’s next.

It's a conversation about the joy and wonder of being properly grown-up.

Welcome to MID, Season 2, Episode 2: The Shift.

You can follow Kylie Gillies here.

THE END BITS:

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Audio Producer: Thom Lion

Content Manager: Talissa Bazaz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From No Sex To Best Sex At 49 Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Overlooked, touched-out and too tired. That's how many MID women feel about sex. It's how Leslie Morgan felt, too. At 49, her marriage ended, and after not having sex for three years, she decided to change that. Over the next year, Leslie found five boyfriends and discovered her sexual self wasn't actually dead, she was just having a good lie down.

In this interview with Holly Wainwright, author and advocate Leslie Morgan discusses what women really mean when they say they no longer care about sex, why you should never cover your wrinkles to attract a younger man (if you want one) and how it feels to have the best sex of your life after 50.

Welcome to MID, Season 2, Episode 1: Sex.

LINKS:
You can learn more about Leslie and find her books here.
You can follow Leslie on Instagram here.

THE END BITS:

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Audio Producer: Thom Lion

Content Manager: Talissa Bazaz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MID Has A Message For You Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

Sex. Money. Sandwich.

Season Two of MID with Holly Wainwright is coming back to your ears and your hearts on Tuesday 6th August.

You're not going to want to miss these incredible conversations with (and for) Gen X women who are anything but.

Follow and subscribe so you don't miss a thing, wherever you listen your podcasts.

THE END BITS:

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Content Manager: Talissa Bazaz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I Am Woman, Hear Me Giving No Shits Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

By MID, you've woven a big, beautiful, messy life. Some of it joyful, some of it devastating, some of it entirely unexpected.

Today's guest, the iconic Australian musician Christine Anu has woven plenty of stories about all these things. In this very frank conversation, she talks about rebuilding herself, her life, her relationship with her kids and her career after a divorce knocked her off her feet.

Now, about to release her new album, Christine is reckoning with how all the parts of her past have brought her to a place where she's making the music of her life, free of the expectations of an industry that can be unkind to grown-up women.

Welcome to MID, Episode 8: Everything.

THE END BITS:

Listen to Christine's new single Waku - Minaral A Minalay here

Get $20 off for our birthday. Click here to get a yearly Mamamia subscription for just $49.
Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Your Children Aren't Children Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

It goes so fast. Did you want to pinch the people who said that to you when your babies were small? And now you know it's true.

Welcome to the season of parenting when they're taller than you, they're eating the fridge and apparently, you've done your job right if they need you less and less every day.

This episode of MID is a reunion. Holly hosted This Glorious Mess with author, presenter and Australian icon Andrew Daddo for years. Her kids were tiny, his were teens and together they unpacked all the messes young families bring. Now Holly's are teens, Andrew's are young adults, but between the five of them, only one has actually flown the nest.

How do you navigate parenting children who are no longer children? What happens when you're not always right? And how does it feel when they actually... leave?

Welcome to MID episode 7: Really Big Kids.

THE END BITS:
Get $20 off for our birthday. Click here to get a yearly Mamamia subscription for just $49.
Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round & Tegan Sadler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grief Has No Time For Your Bullshit Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

By MID, you've likely lived through some loss.

You know grief has no time for fancy words and clever jokes. In fact, it hasn't a lot of time for words, full-stop. It's a full-body experience that can change you on every level.

No-one wants to talk about death, except for our guest: interfaith minister, author and death-walker Dr Jackie Bailey. Jackie has experienced a great deal of loss, and she spends her life walking others through it, helping people prepare for it, and acknowledging it when it happens.

And if you think that makes for a depressing interview, you'd be wrong. Jackie is insightful, wise and funny, full of both practical and emotional support for the grieving. She's the perfect person to help us through the hard parts.

Welcome to MID, Episode 6: GRIEF.
Links for Jackie Bailey:
Jackie's tips on writing a eulogy
Read Jackie's eulogy for her mum here
You can buy a copy of Jackie's beautiful book here
Helpful links mentioned in the show:
Advanced care planning website
A link to a printable advanced care directive wallet card here
The list of questions you can ask someone incase they become non-responsive
Palliative care help here.

THE END BITS:
Get $20 off for our birthday. Click here to get a yearly Mamamia subscription for just $49.
Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't Tilt Your Head At My Midlife Body Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

Your relationship with your body might be the most complicated one you'll ever have. So says comedian and podcaster Helen Thorn. And she'd know.

Helen has been performing onstage in a skin-tight gold spandex catsuit for years, at all sizes and shapes, as one half of the Scummy Mummies comedy duo. She says that she always felt "f*cking powerful" in it, and laughed off the patronising head tilts of those who declared her "brave".

But when Helen found out her husband was cheating on her, upended her marriage and headed into lockdown with a broken heart, her relationship with her body began to shift.

This is a story not about losing weight, but about a 'midlife' woman discovering her strength in every sense. What happens to your life, your health, your friendships when you go from living on wine and take-out to running marathons and lifting very heavy things? Well, as it turns out: a lot.

Welcome to MID episode 5: BODY.

THE END BITS

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Cure For Burn-Out Is Cooked Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

Burn-Out, says author Katherine May, is what happens when you repeatedly ignore your own needs. Sound familiar?

The first signs are often that you can't focus. Can't read, maybe. Can't sleep, or sleep too much? Can't eat, or can't stop eating? You're Tired All The Time. You have that cold that just won't leave.The cure, everyone says, is simple: Slow down, Darl. But it's not so easy when everyone needs something from you.

Author and advocate Katherine May - creator of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling books Wintering and Enchantment - thinks that the way we're taught to deal with burn-out is unrealistic for most women, particularly midlife women with overflowing plates. Waking up to meditate is not so easy when you've got lunches to make, work to do, life to live. And let's face it, a world that prioritises productivity hacks isn't exactly championing meaningful rest.

So how do you replenish, in 2024, when absolutely everyone's lost their charger?

Welcome to MID, Episode 4: Burn-Out

THE END BITS

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

Click here for a copy Katherine's brilliant books.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Do I Know If I'm Drinking Too Much? May 27, 2024

Show notes

Most Gen X-ers did not grow up idolising 5am-rising yoga girlies. For many of us, drinking "like the boys" was almost an act of feminist pride, and certainly the way we knew we were having a "good time".

Holidays, celebrations, milestones. Wine o’clock, and the witching hour and the glass (or two) that marks the end of the work day... Alcohol is woven into our social lives in an almost invisible way. So what happens when you realise that the habit you thought of as your little helper is actually making everything worse?

On this episode, we're talking to Shanna Whan from Sober In The Country about why Generation X women drink so damn much. Shanna says that 90% of the people who seek support from her peer-to-peer organisation are women aged between 40 and 60. That's us, friends.

So why do Gen X women drink so damn much? How do you know if you’ve got a problem? And if it isn't you you're worried about, how do you talk to people in your life about their drinking?

Welcome to MID episode 3: Alcohol.

If this episode raised anything for you, here are some incredible resources:
Sober In The Country
Hello Sunday Morning
Alcoholics Anonymous
Life Line
Drink Wise

Want to hear Shanna's interview with Mia Freedman on No Filter? Click here
Read more about Shanna's story here

THE END BITS

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Assistant Production: Sandy McIntyre

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.