We Finally Got You a Pro Dom with Leoh Blooms

Lately, as we have gotten older and our preferences have changed, we have been wondering, "What is fun?" Robin Gelfenbien, the self-proclaimed Ambassador of Fun, is the perfect person to answer that question. Right out of college, Robin was chosen out of thousands of people to drive the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, and her experience provided excellent fodder for her acclaimed solo show "My Salvation Has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey”. She has had several other fun jobs from creator and producer of the storytelling series and podcast "Yum's the Word" to co-hosting the podcast "Hello Menopause" to producing Isaac Mizrahi's podcast "Hello Isaac". Robin inspires us with her stories of involving strangers in all kinds of fun, but we also talk about things like thinning hair and anxiety, two very common and un-fun symptoms of perimenopause. If you are like us and are re-defining your definition of fun (there is nothing wrong with skipping that party!), this episode is for you.

Topics and timestamps
12:35 - Thinning hair is not fun
23:18 - Anxiety is also not fun
31:12 - Driving the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile is the most fun
40:44 - Hosting and producing podcasts is also fun
42:52 - In midlife, what is the definition of fun?


Handles and sites
Robin's website
Robin's Insta
Yum's the Word Youtube
Yum's the Word Podcast
Robin's Facebook
Robin's Tik Tok

List of Resources Mentioned
Midlife Doesn't Have to Be a Crisis by Jancee Dunn
Robin telling her airplane story on YouTube
No, YOU Tell It! "Fly By" featuring Ellie as host and Robin as a writer/storyteller
An Old Medicine Grows New Hair for Pennies a Day, Doctors Say
Oscar Meyer Wienermobile and Hot Dogger Community
Hello Menopause Podcast
Hello Isaac Podcast

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness
https://circlingthedrainpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

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Katie Fogarty will make you feel like turning 50 is the best thing that could ever happen to you. She is the host of A Certain Age, an age-positive podcast that helps you live your best evolving midlife—loud and proud. She is also the creator of the Age Out Loud movement, a platform which aims to spotlight as many stories of midlife awesomeness as possible. On top of all that, she is the founder and CEO of The Reboot Group, helping professionals build great careers, which includes encouraging reinvention in midlife. We talked about the stupidity of lying about your age, the importance of finding doctors who get it, and Julia's definition of "trash panda rage". We also talk about how Ellie may not be able to hit the high notes anymore, but she can still do the high jumps in ballet class. If you need a boost of inspiration, look no further than this episode.

Topics and timestamps
9:40 - Not realizing you are in perimenopause until you are on the other side
13:00 - Launching A Certain Age podcast right before turning 51
21:10 - The art of career reinvention
26:11 Working as a board member of Let's Talk Menopause
29:45 - Children's awareness of menopause
33:35 - The Age Out Loud movement

Handles and sites
A Certain Age Podcast
A Certain Age Insta
A Certain Age facebook
Age Out Loud Insta
The Reboot Group

List of Resources Mentioned
School Spirits
Why Ballet Might be the Best Exercise for Midlife
Let's Talk Menopause
Support the Menopause Research and Equity Act of 2023
Dr. Helen Fisher

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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How does a child of deaf adults who grew up in a tin shed with no running water or electricity witness her father commit a violent crime and then grow up to be the joyful owner of a comedy venue? Kambri Crews will tell you how! Author of the acclaimed New York Times best selling book Burn Down the Ground and sole owner and operator of Q.E.D. which was voted #1 comedy club in NYC by Time Out NY, Kambri is a damn delight. Her message, "Life's Tough. Laugh More." is evident as she chuckles about light things such as restaurant staff seeing her use sign language and then ignorantly handing her a menu in Braille, and heavy things such as her father attempting murder not once but twice. As Julia says, "If at first you don't succeed...". We also discuss gross habits like picking at your skin and chewing the inside of your own mouth, having to read the instructions for how to boil rice at least fifteen times, and how ice skating in midlife can result in the ass of your dreams. Thanks to all our listeners for your generous donations - we're thrilled to be back and we can't wait to tell you what's next.

Topics and timestamps
12:29 - Menopause and then breast cancer
14:35 - Kambri's autobiographical book, Burn Down the Ground, in which a child of impoverished deaf parents witnesses her father trying to kill her mother
23:48 - Processing trauma without traditional therapy
26:00 - How to laugh yourself back from rock bottom
30:20 - How an imaginitive child grows up to run her own events space
36:15 - Ice skating in midlife to optimize joy (and a tight butt)


Handles and sites
Q.E.D. Astoria
Buy books through Q.E.D. instead of other places
Kambri's website
Kambri's Insta
QED Insta
QED Facebook
Kambri facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Cheek biting: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment
Something Was Wrong podcast
Flaco the Owl’s Year of Freedom From the Central Park Zoo

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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We chose this episode with Dr. Rachel Rubin as our final encore of the year because she is the person who has given us the most practical, valuable, and easily shareable information to help women with their genitourinary functions as they age. Dr. Rubin is a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine specialist who dropped so much knowledge and helpful information into one conversation that our puny little brain-sponges got super-soaked. Listen to learn about the two little-known FDA-approved drugs that actually help women's libidos with no negative side effects, why you should be using local vaginal estrogen twice a week for the rest of your life, and how even a doctor can agree with us that the field of medicine is a disgusting dumpster fire of brokenness. As if that weren't enough, we also talk about the Grow Your Clit Movement, Covid Hemorrhoids, and what the hosts never thought they'd do in their 20's that they have done now. Admit it: you're intrigued.

DR. RUBIN'S LINKS
Dr. Rubin's Website
Dr. Rubin's twitter
Dr. Rubin's facebook
Dr. Rubin's Insta
Dr. Rubin's LinkedIn

ARTICLES AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
The Magic of Hormones
International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health - ISSWSH
Addyi
Vyleesi
The Grow Your Clit Movement

LINKS TO DREAMY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Purely Elizabeth Affiliate Link
Julia's Wellness Coaching Website

Circling the Drain Podcast Website

Support the show

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For our first encore episode, we chose the inspiring pair of Michelle and Joan MacDonald. Not only are they glorious examples of what a healthy body can achieve after midlife, they seem to have an enviable mother-daughter bond that is beautiful to witness. These women broke the internet after Michelle, a body builder and transformation coach, guided her then 70-year-old mother through a process that resulted in life-changing weight loss and the subsequent elimination of a slew of health problems. Joan's before and after photos can be found at Train with Joan, and you should take a peek before listening to understand the full impact of what these women achieved together. This was our only chat with a mother-daughter duo, and we couldn't have found more mind-blowing specimens.

Michelle MacDonald - Your Healthy Hedonista
Michelle's Insta
Michelle's Facebook
Michelle's e-Book The Best of the Basics
Joan MacDonald - Train with Joan
Joan's Insta
Joan's Facebook
The Wonder Women
My Macros
Science, Bitch!

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Meghann Koppele Duffy is a cofounder of the Neuro Studio, a premier education and movement company helping people living with neurological conditions move better, and teaching movement professionals the best cutting edge techniques to work with people living with Neurological Conditions. Meghann is a fast-talking, zero BS practitioner who has been called the Larry David of Pilates because she is skilled at "observing weird things". She claims to not be everyone's cup of tea, but who is? It's clear to us that Meghann is passionate about her work and is making an epic difference in the lives of people who want access to movement and freedom from pain. We talk about changes in proprioception throughout our life cycle, adapting to movement as we age, and using humor and honesty in work that can be emotionally difficult. We also teach you what a "cloner" is. Bonus points if you email us your best guess BEFORE listening to the episode!

Topics and timestamps
15:40 Meghann's origin story and how she co-founded The Neuro Studio
23:40 Using humor and honesty to diffuse heaviness with clients
30:20 How women's bodies change proprioceptively throughout their life cycle
39:40 How to keep it together when physical work gets emotional
45:35 Meghann's Idea of the Zone of Genius
49:33 Adapting to movement as we age

Handles and sites
The Neuro Studio Website
The Nuero Studio Insta
Meghann's Insta
Sessions or movement classes with Meghann

List of Resources Mentioned
What is MS (Multiple Sclerosis)?

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Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Germany-based comedian Abigail Paul says that co-host Ellie is her oldest friend. Not her most elderly friend, but the friend she has known the longest. She met co-host Julia a few years later, making all three of them VERY ELDERLY/OLD FRIENDS. That should entice you to listen to this episode, because richness of history makes for juicy conversation. Abigail moved to Germany as a young adult because she was "on the lam", trying to escape her abusive and narcissist mother, whose life and death inspired Abigail's award-winning solo show Involuntary Momslaughter. There are many wonderful stories in this episode, including the one about Abigail ignoring her fibroid tumors until she collapsed in a pharmacy and ended up in emergency surgery, the one where her gynecologist proclaimed her vagina her weakest organ, and the one where 18-year-old Abigail and Ellie sat together to take a pregnancy test after a condom broke. Also, all three people in this episode had birthdays in the last week, so listen and laugh and feel seen and celebrate with us!

Topics and timestamps
11:45 The story of 18-year-old Abigail and Ellie and a pregnancy test
13:30 The story of Abigail's gynecological adventures in Germany
22:20 The story of Dr. Dr. Mueller
31:05 The story of how health insurance is better in Europe
36:00 The story of Abigail's horrible relationship with her mother
39:30 The story of how a mother with Narcissistic Personality Disorder is great fodder for a solo show

Handles and sites
Abigail's website
Abigail's Insta
Abigail's facebook

List of Resources Mentioned
Rosacea and Menopause
Exposed Podcast
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
Dr. Ramani Durvasula

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Blaire Postman is a comedian who was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and then embraced it as a super-power. She created a solo show called Lady ADHD: Hilariously Mind Blowing Observations from a Hyper-Insightful Brain. Due to a current medication shortage, we got to interview Blaire ten days into "going commando", and we talked about emotional dysregulation, song-stimming, and how a performance piece about a topic like ADHD can make audiences feel seen and not alone. We can relate to that for sure. We hope that you will relate to Ellie cursing at her son in a fit of perimenopausal aggression, and Julia's incredulousness at the fact that they only just invented a crash test dummy that mimics the female form.

Topics and timestamps
12:50 Being diagnosed with ADHD as a 30-year-old female
16:30 The ADHD medicine shortage
18:23 Emotional dysregulation related to Adult ADHD
22:35 A job interview and mismatched shoes
29:00 Audience members' reactions to Lady ADHD

Handles and sites
Blaire's website
Blaire's Insta
Blaire's YouTube

List of Resources Mentioned
This is the first crash test dummy modelled on the female body. Will it make cars safer for women?
Adult ADHD
Clip of Blaire and a guest "song-stimming"

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Dr. Kimberly Mangla is a reproductive psychiatrist who works collaboratively with the obstetrics department at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. She is involved in the teaching and supervision of psychotherapy and medication management during pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause. She also happens treat Julia's Adult ADHD, and in honor of ADHD Awareness Month, we asked her ALL of the questions. What is ADHD, and why do many women not discover this diagnosis until adulthood? How can someone have ADHD and be high-functioning and laser-focused all at once? What is the intersection between ADHD and perimenopause? When is it time to take medication to help treat it? Does Ellie have ADHD or is she merely addicted to the apps on her phone? We also talk about crunchy knees, forgetting to shower and brush teeth, and pharmacies that carry an expensive array of vibrators.

Topics and timestamps
14:00 Combining an OB/GYN education with psychiatry
17:25 Explaining the need for and lack of reproductive endocrinologists
20:40 Defining ADHD and what it looks like in children vs. adults
25:35 How can you have ADHD and be laser-focused at the same time?
32:04 What is "executive function"?
41:00 When to explore pharmaceutical intervention for ADHD
43:49 How perimenopause intersects with adult ADHD

Handles and sites
Dr. Mangla's Practice
Dr. Mangla's Insta
Dr. Mangla's Handbag Insta

List of Resources Mentioned
Knee Noise: Crepitus and Popping Explained
Adult ADHD

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness

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Dr. Maria Uloko is fired up, and we are right there with her. As the first ever Black female Urology student at her university, she has been trailblazing for the entirety of her career. Dr. Uloko specializes in comprehensive sexual health which includes the medical and surgical management of ALL genders. She is considered a world leader in chronic pelvic pain and vulvar conditions, she believes in empowering her patients to take ownership of their sexual health by providing a shame-free space to ask questions and share their stories, and she seeks to close gaps in disparities of care and implement systems that promote diversity and inclusivity. She is also an international award winning researcher with a focus in vulvar health, most notably her research in defining how many nerves are in the human clitoris. (Can you believe that this number was not known until recently, when she and her colleagues embarked on a study?) She told us that the anatomy of the vulva is not taught in medical school, even to gynecologists, and that this lack of knowledge and adequate care is equivalent to malpractice against those with female anatomy. She wants to start a revolution to correct all of this nonsense, and we have pledged to be her soldiers. We will march to the beat of Beyonce, and we will eat a cake in the shape of Queen Bey while we do so.

Topics and timestamps
13:25 - Becoming a female urologist after being told she couldn't do it
18:35 - Providing gender-affirming care to people with every type of genitalia
20:58 - Taking charge of your own sexual health
26:17 - Pain is not acceptable. Women do not have to live with pain.
36:45 - Libido and orgasm: the two most complex portions of the sexual response cycle
42:54 - Discovering the number of nerves in the clitoris

Handles and sites
Dr. Uloko's Website
Dr. Uloko's Insta
Meet the Trailblazing Urologists on a Mission to Help Women Have Better Sex


List of Resources Mentioned
Is Menopause Changing My Hair?
Prevalence of female pattern hair loss in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study
How many nerve fibers innervate the human glans clitoris: a histomorphometric evaluation of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris

Other Links
Erin's Faces Affiliate Link
Julia G Wellness
https://circlingthedrainpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

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