Happy Holidays! This year’s gift is forgiveness—because rage ages you faster than Botox can fix. Emmy-winning filmmaker, author, and forgiveness coach Gayle Kirschenbaum joins us to explain how she went from fleeing home at 16 to making peace with the mother who bullied her for decades.
We crack open the “secret generation,” expose the wounded toddlers inside our most difficult parents, and explain why waiting for an apology is the most delusional holiday tradition of all. Whether your mom is turning 103 or just live-blogging her medical complaints, this episode shows how forgiveness isn’t about letting her off the hook—it’s about finally unhooking yourself.
Consider this your MenOpod holiday survival guide for your soul, your sanity, and your inner child.
For more about Gayle visit her website, check out her book tour, buy her book on Amazon or purchase singed copies on her website of BULLIED TO BESTIES: A DAUGHTER'S JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS and MILDRED'S MINDSET: WISDOM FROM A WOMAN CENTENARIAN.
Gayle is also offering an exclusive discount to our listeners for her Full day virtual forgiveness intensive workshop on Sunday March 22, 2026 - use code MENOPOD
And you can follow her on Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Two sisters reunite for an entire week for the first time in decades and immediately unravel. On this episode of Menopod, we spiral over dog strollers, inside vs. outside shoes, clutter shame, emotional-support storage units, and the unforgivable discontinuation of a beloved face soap. There’s sibling rivalry math, Scrabble humiliation, surprise HRT bleeding, a Thanksgiving UTI, and the creeping realization that all our favorite things—soap, sanity, and cursive—are disappearing.
Plus, we debut our new weekly segment, “What Hurts This Week?”—a medically unnecessary but spiritually essential inventory of everything that aches. Nothing requires medication. Everything requires discontinued Clinique soap from eBay. Possibly a storage unit. This is not a breakdown. It’s a system.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Menopause hits like a freight train, and Menopod is your weekly ride.
This episode the over-50 brain has officially left the chat. Eliana loses her lip gloss, her patience, and maybe her mind in a urogynecology waiting room run by bitchy baby bouncers guarding old-lady vaginas like VIP passes to Coachella. Leora discovers freckles are now “sunspots,” adult teeth demand Tooth Fairy payouts, and husbands cling to hole-y underwear held together by hope.
Twin-urn drama sparks existential panic, parking lots nearly become true-crime scenes, and Leora plots to abandon her minivan alongside her youth.
Plus: Cluttercore is now trendy, which means Eliana’s piles of crap are officially fashionable. And breaking news: hormones might finally get the green light instead of a black box. Hope! Maybe! Tune in!
It’s insane. It’s menopausal. And it’s exactly what you need.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Welcome to the gloriously chaotic MenOpod Simcha Special, where weddings, bar mitzvahs, and low-budget hotel toilet paper collide. This week, Eliana and Leora recap a weekend of joy, dancing, eating, schlepping, and the kind of physical pain that only comes from wearing sparkly heels after age 50.
Eliana’s ass is on fire (thank you, Angel Soft a.k.a. Devil’s Sandpaper), Leora’s pearls get murdered in the dryer, everyone gets wedding tattoos, someone asks for the secret to a long marriage (spoiler- it’s being too lazy to get divorced), and a listener wonders if calling your mom “Mommy” is weird (it’s not—step off).
Plus: Barzinkans, bad water pressure, family-style food rage, penis-shaped pillows, and wedding vows so sweet they could induce actual nausea.
It’s a simcha, a schlep, and a shit show—just how we like it.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Welcome to Menopod’s Thanksgiving Spectacular - the only holiday guide that actively recommends skipping out.
Eliana has officially aged out of fucks, and Leora is hanging on by a therapist’s disclaimer. Together they cover everything from peanut-oil “oopsie” homicides to the annual “you look healthy” hate crime. Expect Ozempic interrogations, bathroom ball-checks (professionally! we swear!), emergency Chinese food, Date Deck discussions, and of course, Brown Friday: the Super Bowl of clogged toilets.
If your expectations aren’t in hell yet, lower them. Your dysfunctional Thanksgiving starts here. 🦃🍗
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Eliana’s mustache is on, Leora’s eye-rolls are strong, and Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Blaise Aguirre is here to save men everywhere from the deadly combo of shame, silence, and epigenetically inherited mishegas.
This Part 2 episode dives deep into why men won’t talk about mental health unless it’s Movember-branded, the rise of anxiety fueled by curated world disasters, social media turning into the “anti-social media,” and why half of today’s college grads can’t find jobs (thanks, AI). We unpack suicide red flags, roommate rescue missions, DBT coping tools, and why parents need to stop lecturing and start listening.
It’s raw, it’s real, it’s hilarious, and it might save a life. Also: Eliana threatens to wear pubic-hair underwear. You’ve been warned.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
In this kickoff to our two-part Movember special, we sit down with Ben Pargman, founder of Manny’s Band Foundation, to talk about the devastating loss of his teen son Manny to suicide. Ben opens up about the months leading up to Manny’s death, the signs nobody recognized, and the brutal truth about how young men are silently suffering behind social media perfection. We unpack the stigma around men’s mental health, the shame that keeps them silent, and the community support (and 988 phone number) that can literally save a life.
It’s emotional, it’s honest, and it’s a reminder that vulnerability is strength - and connection is oxygen.
If your heart beats, this one’s for you.
Learn more about Manny’s Band Foundation events and initiatives.
For information about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
It’s November, Eliana’s wearing a mustache (don’t ask), and somehow the men in our lives have decided they also have “brain fog.” The sisters spiral through doctor-appointment drama, pap-smear politics, fart etiquette (or lack thereof), kosher-shrimp-cocktail wins, microwave-pasta shrinkflation, cottage-cheese crimes, and Eliana’s new food that turns her into a human jetpack. Plus: Kristen Bell envy, Harvard merch scams, stolen Libby accounts, and the absolute chaos of raising boys who treat farting like a competitive sport.
A warm, wild, unhinged ode to aging, health, and the men who make us laugh, cry, and gag.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Leora dials in from her “dream” family vacation in Montenegro with nine suitcases, five ungrateful kids, one crunchy air-dried wardrobe, and a husband who left his toiletry bag and sense of humor at home. Meanwhile, Eliana hunkers down in Miami (her MenOMiami home studio) declaring that vacations are just hell in prettier places. From Europe’s “pay to pee” bathrooms to pee-dripping husbands, the sisters expose the ugly truth behind Instagram-perfect family trips. Because sometimes the only souvenir you bring home is resentment.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
It’s still Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means it’s time for more boobs!
Eliana and Leora sit down with breast radiologist and social media legend Dr. Robyn Roth, a.k.a. The Boobie Docs, to myth-bust everything you think you know about mammograms, lumps, dense breasts, deodorant drama, and Justin Trudeau’s very thorough “celebrity breast exams.” Equal parts hilarious and life-saving, this one truly has the breast advice around.
Link to the Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment Calculator
Check out Dr. Robyn Roth's website to order her book and follow her on socials for more fun, informative content!
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Forget small talk — Eliana’s new icebreaker is asking strangers how many ungrateful children they have. From there, the sisters spiral into brain fog chaos, empty-nest diplomacy, Mimi Menopause fashion, farting husbands who chew like farm animals, towel turf wars, and a traumatic flashback to that time Leora used Eliana’s monogrammed college towel as a maxi pad. 😱 If laughter burns calories, this episode’s your new fitness plan.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we’re talking boobs, books, and BRCA genes with the unstoppable Gila Pfeffer- author, survivor, pre-vivor, and full-time badass. From prophylactic surgery to publishing her memoir Nearly Departed, Gila’s story is equal parts heartbreaking and hysterical. We talk “free tummy tucks,” family secrets, writing through trauma, and how to find your funny when life hands you dynamite boobs.
This episode is pink-ribbon realness with MenOpod-level chaos. Informative, inappropriate, and a little bit insane. No bras, no filters, and definitely no shame. A feel-it-on-the-first reminder to laugh louder, live larger, and check your boobs.
Purchase Gila's book.
Access the resources mentioned in this episode.
Subscribe to Gila's newsletter FEELIN’ IT.
Link to our favorite Amazon dress.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Warning: this is not Katie Couric’s colonoscopy. This is a real shit-show (literally.) From $200 underwear casualties and “did I just fart or…” roulette, to baby-wipe salvation and a Costco velour jumpsuit worth dying in, we cover every messy, hilarious detail. It’s a deep, dirty, explosive dive into midlife preventative care.
Come for the poop jokes, stay for the menopause real talk (and maybe book your own screening).
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Forget apples and honey — this Rosh Hashana brought kugel disguised as dessert, family we dodged like landmines, and a Deadpool betting pool on who’s kicking it first. From synagogue side-eye to sibling rivalry, we dish on why chosen family beats blood relatives every damn time, and how to get inscribed in God’s podcast guest list.
Not your rabbi’s sermon—this is MenOpod’s High Holiday survival guide: sharp, raunchy, and way more fun than sitting through services. L’chaim to another year of menopause, midlife, and maximum mess.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Menopause brain fog or early-onset dementia? Sandwich generation hell or just an overstuffed Oreo of crap?
This week Leora is rocking her HRT patch—along with octopus-attack-level suction marks. Meanwhile, Eliana has finally found her “people” at physical therapy (middle-aged complainers with THE BEST stories.) Together we uncover the darkly hilarious world of late-in-life dating (spoiler: sometimes you get “ghosted” because the guy has literally dropped dead), debate whether coconut oil belongs in your hooch, and confess our newest obsession with Amazon flash sales.
Plus: royal family gossip, mommy’s freezer meltdown, and the real secret to sisterly love—less talking, more podcasting.
Hot link to Leora's Amazon dress
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Forget fasting, flogging yourself at the gym, or doomscrolling ‘til 4am. This week's guest, certified menopause coach Christie Chapman, explains why cortisol is sabotaging your body, why fasting is trash, and why food that “comes from the ground or had a mother” is your new BFF.
Add in bone broth hacks, breakfast saves, and a little Canadian calm, and suddenly midlife fitness seems a whole lot less like punishment.
Oh yeah- and her 30-30-30 rule (protein, fiber, movement) might make you feel 100% better.
Book a FREE Hormone Clarity Session with Christie or check out her 5 Day Hormone Friendly Meal Plan.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness, menopause hacks and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
This week’s MenOpod comes in hot from Eliana’s glam New York weekend - wedding gossip, theater reviews, and a DIY pedicure that cost less than a latte. Leora admits her contact lenses are glued to her eyeballs, Eliana admits she hasn’t updated her makeup since 1991, and both admit they’re now fully signed up for the We Do Not Care Club.
Add in a side of Ozempic envy, My Kids Suck solidarity, and the eternal question of whether looking good actually makes us feel good—and you’ve got a MenOpod classic: irreverent, raunchy, and painfully relatable.
Check out this link for everything you need to know about getting cheap broadway tickets!!!
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
This week the sisters are unhinged (blame no sleep, no coffee, and no poop). Eliana’s ice maker has a meltdown while Leora defends her daughter’s mattress heist like a mob boss in a dorm room. We dive into back-to-school tips that may or may not end with burner phones, unpack the rage of packing school lunches no one eats, and debate whether teachers deserve Starbucks or sainthood. Also: Leora attempts menopause math with an HRT patch schedule as confusing as a divorced-parent custody calendar. Plus, Eliana coins the term “Tweenior” - because 50 is way too hot for “Senior,” thank you very much.
Buckle up, bitches - MenOpod is in session.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Who knew sending a kid off to grad school could feel like passing a placenta? Eliana dishes on her anxiety-soaked drop-off saga while Leora finally glued an HRT patch to her ass and is waiting to see if she glows or croaks.
In this episode we cover everything from levitating teeth and insurance-funded dental torture to Target fraudsters and bougie shampoo worth more than your mortgage. Sprinkle in Aldi’s vs. Walmart vs. Trader Joe’s snobbery, scamtastic sound baths, and the shocking realization that after 50, death isn’t “too soon” — it’s just “fair game.”
Oh, and meet Eric Lopez, the bedtime boyfriend whispering us to sleep every night (sorry, husbands). It’s menopause, midlife, and madness all rolled into one sound bath of sisterly chaos.
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess
Eliana is spiraling, Leora’s got the post-hotel-sex-glow, and Empty Nesting guest expert Allie Hill is here to talk both of them off the ledge (or at least into a guided meditation). It’s all about the meltdown before college drop-off — the anxiety, the Amazon cart spirals, the parental guilt, and whether or not your son will make his flight back from Asia in time to move into his damn apartment. Plus: FERPA forms, dorm decorating drama, and why tracking your kid on Life360 might save your sanity - or destroy it.
Also, the most important parenting model you never knew you needed- “benign neglect.” You’re welcome.
📘 Get the book: The Girlfriend’s Guide to Empty Nesting by Allie Hill
👉 Follow @MenOpodPodcast for more midlife madness and behind-the-scenes shenanigans
🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss the mess