The Midlife Edit

Don’t Be Afraid: Music, Reinvention & Finding Your Way Back to Yourself with Debora MastersonWhat happens when you stop letting fear make your decisions?This week on The Midlife Edit, Jen sits down with debut novelist, musician, educator, producer, and lifelong creative Debora Masterson for a conversation about music, reinvention, grief, creativity, and learning how to say yes to yourself at every stage of life.Debora’s debut novel, Freedom Quest: A Love Story, is inspired by the real-life story of a 1970s rock band, a decades-long love story, and the late partner she eventually found her way back to after 26 years apart.But this episode becomes so much bigger than a book.From touring with Sammy Davis Jr. as a young singer and dancer, to building a television agency in Los Angeles, to learning bass guitar later in life and joining a band in her seventies, Debora shares what it means to keep evolving — even when the world tells you it’s too late.This conversation is for anyone who has ever:wondered if they missed their chancefelt afraid to start overtalked themselves out of something they wantedneeded permission to reinvent themselvesforgotten that creativity doesn’t expire with ageWe talk about:The real story behind Freedom QuestReconnecting with the love of her life decades laterWriting through grief after losing her partnerWhat Sammy Davis Jr. taught her about opportunityWhy she believes fear stops more dreams than failureLearning bass guitar later in lifeWhy music becomes attached to memoryThe difference between being a writer and becoming an authorAging, creativity, and refusing to shrink yourselfThe importance of saying yes before you overthink itThis episode feels like sitting in a coffee shop with someone who has truly lived.Listen + Follow DeboraWebsite: https://deboramasterson.comInstagram: @freedomquestbookListen to Freedom Quest on Spotify Get your copy here! Loved this episode?Share it with a woman who needs the reminder that it is NOT too late to begin again. And if you loved this conversation, don’t forget to rate, review, and follow The Midlife Edit Podcast.Want more conversations like this?Join the Backstage Pass newsletter - The Midlife Edit’s weekly note filled with music, midlife reinvention, honest conversations, podcast updates, playlists, and reminders that it’s never too late to become more yourself.Sign up here!

What if the reason women are reconnecting with boy bands, 90s music, and nostalgia has nothing to do with the music itself?In this episode of The Midlife Edit, Jen sits down with author Jenifer Goldin to talk about motherhood, identity, burnout, friendship, social media pressure, and the versions of ourselves we thought we lost forever.Inspired by her novel Moms Love Boy Bands, Jenifer shares how women in midlife are reclaiming joy, creativity, and the passions that patiently waited for them underneath motherhood and responsibility.Together, they discuss:Why moms in midlife are reconnecting with boy bands and nostalgiaThe pressure of modern motherhood and social media comparisonWhy women deserve joy, fun, friendship, and escape without guiltGrowing up as eldest daughters and people pleasersThe “geriatric mean girl” phenomenon in adulthoodThe music that shaped us in the 80s and 90sRediscovering passions after motherhoodJenifer’s journey from audiologist to published authorWhy creativity matters in midlifeThe magic of taking risks and becoming yourself againThis episode is funny, emotional, nostalgic, and deeply validating for any woman who has ever wondered:“Who was I before everyone needed something from me?”Grab your coffee, put on your favorite 90s playlist, and settle in.Connect with Jenifer GoldinInstagram: @jenifergoldinwritesWebsite: authorjenifergoldin.comBooks: Moms Love Boy Bands Moms Who Read Romance NovelsAnonymous Mom PostsFollow The Midlife EditInstagram + TikTok: @thejenweinsteinWebsite: themidlifeeditco.comIf this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend and leave a review - it helps more women find these conversations.

EPISODE DESCRIPTIONThink of a song. Not your current favorite. Not the one you'd put on a playlist to impress someone. The one from when you were 13, 14, 15 years old. The one you played so many times the tape warped. The one that felt less like entertainment and more like survival.This episode is about that song. And about why you needed it.In this solo episode of Hot, Hormonal & Highly Opinionated, Jen goes deep on the intersection of two things that defined a lot of us without us realizing it: being the eldest daughter — and the music that basically raised us when no one else was available for the job.This one got personal. Consider yourself warned.WHAT WE COVEREldest Daughter Syndrome — what it actually is: It's not a cute TikTok trend. It's a whole psychological pattern that a lot of us are still paying off in therapy co-pays. The eldest daughter — whether by birth order or by emotional default — is the kid who figured out early that things worked better when she kept it together. The helper. The peacekeeper. The one who read the room before she could read a book. The one who was always told "you're so mature for your age" like it was a trophy.She became an expert at anticipating everyone else's needs. She helped raise siblings, made lunches, babysat, settled arguments, translated adult emotions — and became a little adult while she was still a kid herself. The most capable one in the room. The most invisible one in the room. Same person.Why the music did what people couldn't: Music is safe because it's borrowed. You're not the one feeling the feeling — the artist is. You're just nearby. For a kid who was told — without words — that her feelings weren't the priority, standing in the proximity of someone else's emotion was everything. The rage you couldn't show? There's a song for that. The exhaustion of holding it all together? There's a whole genre for that. It's called grunge. We owe it a debt.The songs that wrecked us weren't random. They were precision targeted. That's not nostalgia. That's coping.THE SPOTIFY PLAYLISTAll 13 songs in order — 🎧 The Eldest Daughter Playlist — put it on next time you're driving alone. See what comes up for you. That's kind of the point.NEXT WEEKJen sits down with Jenifer Goldin, author of Moms Love Boy Bands — and if this episode resonated, you are going to want to be there.CONNECT WITH JEN📱 Instagram: @thejenweinstein 🎙️ Leave a review — it takes two minutes and makes a real difference. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a Tuesday drop.A NOTE FROM JEN"The songs that wrecked you at 14 weren't random. They were precision targeted to the exact feelings you had no outlet for. That's not nostalgia. That's coping. And that kid? She wasn't dramatic. She wasn't being too much. She was doing the best she could with what she had — and what she had was great taste and the good sense to use it as a lifeline."

What if the key to changing your life wasn't burning it down — but making a small edit to the story you've been telling yourself about who you are?This week I'm sitting down with Ellen Baker, novelist and founder of Next Chapter Studio, and this conversation is one I know you're going to want to come back to. Ellen's own life is a masterclass in reinvention: she landed a two-book deal with Random House at 30, blew up her life anyway, moved across the country, and ultimately found her way back to herself — and to publishing in a major way with her novel The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson.Now she's channeling everything she's learned from writing complex, layered fictional characters into coaching women through their own reinvention — and the framework she's built is genuinely unlike anything I've heard before.In this episode we talk about:Why so many women in midlife feel like their only options are "burn it all down" or stay stuck — and what's actually possible in betweenThe "building" analogy that completely reframed how I think about changeHow Ellen uses the tools of fiction writing (yes, really) to help women identify and rewrite the hidden beliefs that are quietly running their livesThe most common stories women carry — "I must be quiet," "I must follow the rules" — and how to start unwiring themWhy midlife might actually be the moment women finally stop outsourcing their own authorityEllen's new novel Summerland Cove (out June 2nd!) and what draws her to writing women's stories across generationsWhat she's stopped apologizing for — and why it goes all the way back to kindergartenBooks mentioned:The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker - get it hereSummerland Cove by Ellen Baker - pre-order hereConnect with Ellen:Website & novels: EllenBakerNovels.comNext Chapter Studio: EllenBakerNovels.com/studioSummerland Cove Spotify playlist Connect with The Midlife Edit:Instagram: @thejenweinsteinTikTok: @thejenweinsteinNewsletter: The Backstage Pass - join here! Website: themidlifeeditco.com

Episode DescriptionYou're not crazy. You're not lazy. And you're definitely not the only woman who has sat in a parking lot after a doctor's appointment wondering why you somehow left feeling worse.Women are being dismissed in exam rooms, overwhelmed by conflicting information online, and told to "just manage stress" while their bodies are clearly changing. So today we're getting into the how — how to actually advocate for yourself in perimenopause, what questions to ask, what red flags to watch for, who to trust (and who to scroll past), and how to stop feeling alone in the middle of all of it.This isn't me pretending to be a doctor. This is me, a real woman navigating all of this alongside you, handing you the guide I wish someone had handed me.Resources + Links Mentioned🎁 Free DownloadShe's Not Crazy. She's Perimenopause. — The free guide that goes with this episode. Symptom tracker, appointment prep, questions to ask your doctor, red flags, trusted resources, and a little "before you spiral on TikTok" gut check. Grab it → here💊 Jen's ProviderBlair Wellness and Weight Loss — Jen's functional medicine nurse practitioner practice. Joanna and Jenny specialize in perimenopause, HRT, and whole-picture women's health. Currently accepting patients. → Check them out here🩺 Pelvic Floor HealthDr. Taylor Edmiston, PT, DPT — Jen's sister and pelvic floor physical therapist. If you're leaking when you sneeze, dealing with pelvic pain, or just feel like no one has ever actually explained what's going on down there, follow her. → @edmistonphysicaltherapy📚 Voices Worth FollowingDr. Mary Claire Haver — Author of The New Menopause and The New PerimenopauseDr. Stacy Sims — Strength, fitness, and female physiologyDr. Jen Gunter — OB-GYN and myth-busterDr. Kelly Casperson — Women's sexual health and hormonesBeth Crosby, @thegarbagemom — Perimenopause, midlife, and the kind of honesty your group chat needsMelani Sanders, @justbeingmelani We Do Not Care Club — Less perfection, less performing, less apologizing for agingIf This Episode Hit HomeSend it to a woman in your life who needs it. You know who she is.And if you want the free guide — She's Not Crazy. She's Perimenopause. — grab it below. No email list selling, no upsell, no gimmick. Just the resource I think every woman navigating this chapter deserves to have in her hands.→ Get Your Guide HereThe Midlife Edit drops every Tuesday. Follow, share, and leave a review if this episode meant something to you — it's the single best way to help more women find this show.themidlifeeditco.com | @thejenweinstein

This week’s episode is part story, part reminder, and part permission slip.Jen takes you inside a once-in-a-lifetime weekend in Brooklyn that started with one thing: an email she almost didn’t send. What followed was a surreal and deeply emotional experience recording with Tracy Bonham at Grand Street Recording for the 30th anniversary re-recording of Mother Mother — alongside a room full of women who felt like lifelong friends within minutes.But this episode isn’t just about music or nostalgia. It’s about:Imposter syndrome in midlifeMaking yourself smaller to fit into other people’s expectationsFemale friendship and authentic connectionLearning to take up space unapologeticallySaying yes before you feel readyRemembering who you are underneath all the performanceJen reflects on the power of witnessing women fully in their element, the reality that even wildly successful people still struggle with self-doubt, and why midlife can become the chapter where we finally stop asking for permission.If you’ve been sitting on an email, a dream, a boundary, a creative idea, or a version of yourself you’ve been afraid to fully step into — this episode is your sign.In This EpisodeRecording in Brooklyn with Tracy BonhamThe emotional legacy of Mother MotherWhy women in midlife crave real connectionThe truth about imposter syndromeLearning to stop performing for everyone elseThe freedom that comes with agingWhat happens when you finally send the email anywayMentioned in This EpisodeMother MotherJemThe Midlife Edit Co.Free ResourceJen also shares her free guide:“Nobody Warned Me” — The Honest Midlife Hormone GuideA real, no-BS resource for women navigating hormones, perimenopause, exhaustion, and everything nobody prepared us for.You can download it at:The Midlife Edit Co.Favorite Quote From This Episode“You don’t have to feel ready. You just have to go.”If this episode resonated with you, share it with a woman who needs the reminder not to take herself out of her own life.