Friday Flames | 12.8.23

A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about debunking faulty menopause research, the upside of Felicity Huffman's community service, and running halfway to Montreal.

Hello, new Fiftypedians!

First of all: Welcome to all the new subscribers who tuned into our discussion about menopause with Jackie Piasta! (See below.) As the medical community learns how vital menopause care is, women are learning not to be gaslit about their myriad symptoms.

Klatch as klatch can

This holiday season is presenting a lot of new terrain for us, because it’s our first as four adults, who have jobs and car insurance and new husbands and missing cats and can’t say, baby, where we’ll be in a year. After 15 years of divorce, we’ve long since accepted that our holiday gatherings rarely conform to the holiday calendar. But now that we’re all autonomous and farther-flung, trying to incorporate our schedules and step-families and stationary parents into a cohesive plan feels farther-fetched.

But there is good news, because when Magda comes to Michigan next week, we’ll all be together for the first time since the wedding. We’ll sit around with each other, and head out for Peruvian food, and plant our forks in a plate of aji de gallina, and make whatever holiday we can make. We couldn’t have imagined that this is how we’d celebrate Christmas 2023, but that’s kind of on brand with why this podcast exists.

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This week on the podcast

Did you know that perimenopause can start in your mid-30s and last 14 years? Jackie Piasta focuses exclusively on treating menopause because outdated reports, corporate hesitancy, and incomplete medical training are withholding important care.

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This Might Be A Thing

Here are some links that peeked through the noisy news cycle:

• Felicity Huffman, reformed criminal: She thought breaking the law was the only way to give her daughter a future (puh-leeze). But her community service was at A New Way of Life, which helps women rebuild their lives after jail.

• Science says nature is good: New research says that living near parks, trees, and other green spaces really, seriously, scientifically slows the aging process.

• “If you’re a square peg, make square holes”: Author Matt Haig offered an interesting response to being diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 46.

• Is There Still Sex in The City? Candace Bushnell is developing a reality show for “the hottest new dating demographic,” fiftysomething women.

Currently reading

Magda is reading The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan, a romance novel about a rabbi and a former porn performer falling in love, and she's utterly charmed by the characters and their world. Up next: Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Doug is reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, whose suicidal protagonist gets to Quantum Leap into her life’s alternate realities that would have ensued from alternate life decisions. It’s an attractive premise for mid-lifers considering the roads not taken, and a good match for Haig’s sparsely insightful writing style.

Currently watching

Doug’s first watch after rebooting his Netflix account was American Symphony, which explores Jon Batiste’s whirlwind 2022—when he owned the Grammys, quit The Late Show, and married Suleika Jaouad after her leukemia returned. Batiste is a unique and undefinable artist, but some of the intimate moments feel too curated.

Magda and Mike finally finished the Great British Bake-Off, and until they figure out what to start next, they’re dabbling in older food shows including Ugly Delicious (with Dave Chang), Crazy Delicious, and The Chef Show (with Roy Choi and Jon Favreau).

Currently cooking

Thanks to our son’s current job, Doug’s household is enjoying a steady inflow of bread. So we’re repurposing as much as we can into toasts, puddings, croutons, stuffings, panzanelle, and stratas. And now we know what a carbonnade is!

Magda made latkes for Hanukkah, halving the exact recipe for potato pancakes exactly made for almost 60 years at the German-American Festival in Oregon, Ohio: 

Next on the podcast

While her kids were growing up and moving out, Episode 27 guest Annie Crombie learned she can run an ultramarathon for 27 hours straight.

Thanks for reading while the backstage boogie sets your pants on fire.

Magda and Doug