MID

Are you "difficult" if you speak your mind, or have you just grown into yourself?  Do you just finally know what you want and how to ask for it? We asked Tina Arena. She's a Gen X icon with immense success under her belt, who can speak and sing and win awards in four languages, who has lived all over the world, and who, in recent years, has been refreshingly open about everything from politics to parenthood and to ageism in the music industry. Not everybody likes that. But as Holly learned in this conversation about standing up for yourself, speaking your mind, about the music industry, about her son moving overseas with his dad, about beauty and ambition and truth… is that Tina doesn’t mind if you disagree with her, she just wants us all to tell our stories fearlessly. She’s going first. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman 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.

Nikki Parkinson's husband kept assuring her that her suspicions about infidelity were all in her head. And then one day, she got an email in the middle of the night that changed everything...What happened next took Nikki's life apart piece by piece.  Six years on, former lawyer Nikki says she made so many mistakes during that time she never wanted other women to do the same. Now she's turned that into her work, becoming a Divorce Coach, Separation Strategist and Co-Parenting expert, and she wants us to celebrate the end of bad marriages as much as we celebrate the beginning of good ones. This is a story of the hard-won expertise that only comes from lived-experience - no matter where you are on the relationship spectrum, Nikki’s story has something to teach you about self-preservation, smart preparation, and rising from the ashes of a life you thought was set in stone. LINKS:  The Divorce and Separation Hub Website Instagram Facebook Linkedin Podcast THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producers: 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.

It’s not an actual list of dickheads, although let’s face it, by this stage of life, we’ve all met a few of those. No, this list is for Kasey Chambers herself. It’s a list that signals to her that she isn’t listening to her gut - something that, by now, many of us MIDs have learned is our secret weapon... Kasey has built a career tuning into her gut - she calls it her little foghorn. The foghorn told her that her first album should be called The Captain, despite the suits thinking it was a terrible idea. The Captain went on to go platinum three times. The foghorn who pushed her to ask Ed Sheeran if he might like to sing with her, even though she was pretty convinced he might be… busy. (Spoiler Alert: He did).  The foghorn that told her to seek help for an eating disorder that brought her to her knees, to leave a marriage that was no longer working, to parent against the grain, and to step off the glamorous but arduous international touring circuit to get back to what she loved. She travelled around Australia, in a van, with her family, singing songs to people who wanted to hear them. This conversation is an absolute gem because Kasey is. It’s dripping with hard-won mid-lessons, good advice and stories of times everything went tits up, many of them recounted in Kasey’s book, called - you guessed it - Just Don’t Be a Dickead. LINKS:  You can follow Kasey here. You can find Kasey’s book here. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producers: 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.

Gen X can be funny about food. A lot of us were raised on a diet of Kate Moss, cigarettes and coffee. We were happy to talk openly about skipping meals, cutting carbs, and cabbage soup cleanses. We swam in a sea of celebrity diet tips, fads and…shame. In today’s episode of MID, Holly is talking about food and the absolute necessity of small joys with Virginia Trioli. Virginia Trioli is one of the most highly-regarded journalists and broadcasters in Australia. She’s a two-time Walkley Award winner, and her voice, on radio, on television has lent authority and comfort to some of the most difficult moments we’ve lived through as a nation. And this has given her a lot to say about…joy. That’s what her new book, A Bit On The Side, is about. Because for her - and for Holly - food is part of that joy. And allowing ourselves to lean into the small pleasures that make a life, without guilt or shame, is a radical act, really. Particularly for women, when we have been taught that self-sacrifice and deprivation are our life’s lot. So please feast on this conversation between Holly and Virginia - talking about food, love, and hard-fought parenthood and step-parenthood and losing your parents and wisdom and age and work and friendship and pleasure and letting go - and those times when you just have to… grow up, apologise and eat a shit sandwich. LINKS:  You can follow Virginia here. You can find her book, A Bit On The Side, here. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producers: 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.

Welcome to our first MID episode about hormones & peri & meno…we meant to do it earlier, but, you know: brain fog. For more than twenty-five years, Grace Lam lived and breathed the rarefied air of high fashion as a Vogue editor. Everything was going according to plan for the talented, organised, focused Grace until hormones entirely upended her tidy world. She’s going to tell you about exactly what that felt like. Fast forward a few years, and Grace has become a loud and important voice for women being messed with by their hormones. She’s just appeared before the Western Australian Senate Public Hearing on issues related to peri/menopause, presenting the practical changes we need our medical and government institutions to make to catch up with what we need. Grace is sharp and funny and honest and no bullshit. Like you. I think you’re going like her. OH, and she’s sweary. So. Yes, you’re definitely going to like her. Grace is also generous - and has opened up her Instagram Rolodex with some links to follow for more information and inspiration about perimenopause & menopause. As always - please do your own research, but this could be a good place to start. LINKS:  You can follow Grace here. Grace’s Suggestions Below: @peripausers @heramenopause @menopause_doctor @samtalkssex @doctorginni @rhitrition @dr_naomipotter @glucosegoddess @drjengunter @physicalkitchness @menopausepilates @dremilyleeming THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producers: Thom Lion & Leah Porges 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.

To kick off Season 3 of MID we are bringing you a conversation that Holly says kind of changed her life. We think it will change yours, too. Inspired by her book - and it’s really a very good book - We Are The Stars - we talk about all that loss, all those different seasons of life she’s lived through, from being a wild young girl with a baby bird in her pocket, mercilessly bullied at school, to being a starry-eyed raver at the peak of Sydney’s club scene, to being a survivalist who falls in love with a man from somewhere else, gets diagnosed with cancer at the very moment she’s about to become a mother, has three precious years with her baby girl before that sickness comes for her, too. And the woman who chose, in the aftermath of unimaginable loss, to change again, to live. And live big. Gina Chick really does know how to look change right in the eye. LINKS:  You can follow Gina on Instagram here. You can find Gina’s book, We Are The Stars here.  THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producers: Thom Lion & Tegan Sadler 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.

Season Three Of MID with Holly Wainwright will be back in your ears on Tuesday 15th October with more conversations for - and with - Gen X women who are anything but.  THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producer: Tegan Sadler 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.

It's the last conversation of MID, Season Two, with our guest Alison Brahe Daddo. Ali was THE Australian model of the late 80s, on every magazine cover and on many a teenage girl’s wall. She had a huge career here and overseas, and then she married the equally famous and swoon-worthy Cameron Daddo, backed right away from the industry, settled in LA and raised a family. Now, as Alison Brahe Daddo, or Ali, as very many of us know her, she’s also become just the most honest, interesting voice about midlife and menopause and all the messy challenges it brings us. But in this episode, we’re not actually talking about that. We’re getting deep about surface stuff. Beauty, whatever it means to us - and let’s be honest, there’s a sliding scale of how much any of us can ever claim to have felt beautiful, at any age - is a beast in midlife. Because how we wear our age on our face and our bodies can feel so important, so crucial to how the outside world sees us, even as we know it’s really the silliest of all our concerns. It often doesn’t feel that way. Listen to Holly and Ali discuss how they’re feeling, what they’re doing about, and where they stand on the mistakes they’ve made in thinking and talking about our faces and our bodies as we move on through. Welcome to Mid, Season 2, Episode 8. Beauty, with Ali Daddo. LINKS:  You can follow Ali on Instagram here. Find her books and other projects here. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producer: Thom Lion & Leah Porges 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.

You've heard about the incredible invisible women of MID. One minute we're there, the next we're unseen by the naked eye, our voices only audible to dogs. Well, what if there was a way to reappear? Jane Tara is a writer whose brilliant novel Tilda Is Visible follows a woman who - literally - begins to disappear, and how she brings herself back into view. Not just the world's, but crucially, her own. When it comes to disappearing, Jane’s lived it. In the year she turned 50, life was hammering her - she'd been hospitalised with a significant health issue, lost her business and been dumped via text by her partner of a decade. So how did she bring herself back to life, and back into view? That's the subject of this conversation, between Jane and host Holly Wainwright. Welcome to MID, Season Two, Episode Six: Invisibility.  LINKS:  You can follow Jane on Instagram here.  You can buy her book Tilda Is Visible here.  And you can buy Holly’s books here. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producer: Thom Lion & Leah Porges 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.

Welcome to MID, the podcast for Gen X women who are anything but.Today we’re talking with Gen X Aussie icons, Vika and Linda Bull, all about family, and sisters in particular, and how they hold you and shape you and give you something to push back against as you grow into mid. If, like Holly, you don’t have a sister, there’s still plenty of things to find in this conversation, because the women in it are excellent. Frank and funny and no bullshit and full of stories formed by not only being sisters but sisters who have spent the best part of 40 years in a tour bus together, singing, fighting, harmonising, and getting around some big messes. They spent years performing with the coolest and most successful of Aussie acts of a certain era. The genius songwriter Paul Kelly. The uber-cool Joe Camilierri. They toured the world and navigated the boys club and stepped out onto the main stage sometimes together, sometimes apart. Across all those years, their sisterhood has seen them both through arguments and fights, divorce, addiction, loss and those endless trips in tour buses… the things of many a midlife.  And despite being deeply different people they are, still doing it, and living round the corner from each other and their parents, who are now in their 90s, making family the centre of their world. Like every episode of MID, it’s about them but it’s about you.  Welcome to MID, Season 2, Episode 5 - Sisters. LINKS:  Follow Vika & Linda Bull on Instagram here.  Find their tour dates and learn more about Vika and Linda here. THE END BITS:  Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au  Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.  Want to go in the running to win a $50 voucher? Answer this short survey. CREDITS: Host: Holly Wainwright Executive Producer: Naima Brown Producer: Tahli Blackman 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.