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.

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

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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.

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CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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 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.

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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

Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.

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CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round & 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.

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.

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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

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: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.

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.

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Want more from Helen?
Here's the link to her book.
Here's the link to her podcast The Scummy Mummies

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: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.

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

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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.

Click here for a copy Katherine's brilliant books.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.

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

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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: Talissa Bazaz

Assistant Production: Sandy McIntyre

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.

Grown-up dating is a bit like the middle aisle at Aldi - full of surprises, a few hidden gems and a whole lot of sh*t you don't need.

Generation X are getting around the apps and although they didn't exist when we were young, we're fast learners, resilient as hell and our bullshit detectors are unparalleled. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Cathrine Mahoney knows. She's been post-divorce dating for almost a decade and has the stories to match. Like the time the man she'd been walking past at the park for months finally matched with her on Bumble, the time the guy asked if he could bring his "bull", and what happened when she slid into celebrity dating app Raya and everyone was famous.

If you're dating, thinking about dating or just keen to peer into the world of your single friends...

Welcome to MID, Episode 2: Dating.

Love Cathrine Mahoney? Then you'll love our podcast 456 Club - listen here

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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:

Hosts: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Assistant Production: Sandy McIntyre

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.

Julie Goodwin has had an extraordinary ordinary life. And in the last few years, she has had an extraordinary ordinary wrestle with her mental health.

While you were buying Julie's cookbooks, watching her two stints on Masterchef and listening to her on the radio, she was taking care of everyone but herself (sound familiar?) and some issues she thought she'd successfully shoved in a low drawer spilled out and began to take over.

In this first conversation for Mid, host Holly Wainwright talks to Julie about the winding road back from a "breakdown" and what happens when you stop doing everything for everyone all at once.

Welcome to Mid, Episode 1: Mental Health.

If this episode brings up anything for you Lifeline is always there on 13 11 14.

Want to get yourself a copy of Julie's incredible book Your Tim Starts Now? Click here

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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:

Hosts: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Talissa Bazaz

Assistant Production: Sandy McIntyre

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

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.