What is it actually like to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at 40? This week I sit down with my best friend of 28 years, Taryn, for her first-ever interview about life with MS — the strange early symptoms she ignored for years, the nine months of doctors not knowing what was wrong with her, the MRI that changed everything, and why she never cried once.

We talk about the journal entry I wrote on her birthday — a year before her diagnosis — when I noticed her pulling away and couldn't figure out why. We get into what it's like to parent four kids with a chronic illness, why she refuses to be pitied or babied, how our friend group learned to joke about it (and why that's exactly what she wanted), and what she'd tell anyone whose life gets flipped upside down in the middle of it.

Whether you're living with a chronic illness, love someone who is, or are just trying to figure out your forties — this one's for you.

In this episode:

• The first noticeable MS symptoms — and the weird early warning signs (electric shocks, wrist pain, slurred speech) that doctors missed for years
• How long it took to get an MS diagnosis, from "it's probably your hip" to MRI lesions and a neurologist
• Why Taryn never cried — and whether "just keep grinding" is a coping strategy or a superpower
• Feeling like an inconvenience: girls' trips, wheelchairs, and what her friends did right
• Parenting four kids with MS, and the husband who won't let her be negative
• Turning 40 with a progressive chronic illness — and not having a midlife crisis about it
• Her advice for the newly diagnosed, and for anyone whose friend is going through it: don't pity, don't baby — let a bitch live

Connect: Follow the show, leave a review (it genuinely helps people find us), and come say hi on Instagram @letabitchlivepodcast

Let a Bitch Live is a podcast about reclaiming your life, one small experiment at a time.

New episodes weekly. Follow along and connect with Cori:

• Instagram: instagram.com/letabitchlivepodcast
• Substack (weekly updates): substack.com/@letabitchlive

Remember the first time you held a smartphone and thought, this is amazing? Yeah. That was the beginning. In this episode of Let a Bitch Live, Cori introduces her monthly experiments — small, sustainable shifts designed to make life feel a little more like living — and kicks off July with a screen time challenge that doesn't require burning your phone in the backyard.

Cori talks phone addiction (the kind most of us have but don't like to admit), how social media quietly rewires our relationships and attention, and why she finally caved and bought a Brick. She shares her experiment: no social apps from 10 PM to 8:30 AM, the reasoning behind those specific hours, and why she deliberately didn't go hardcore about it. She also asked her Instagram followers how they limit their own screen time — and the responses say a lot about how many of us know we have a problem.

Whether you're doom-scrolling until midnight, checking Instagram before you even get out of bed, or just feeling like your phone is running your life more than you're running it — this episode is for you.

In This Episode:

• The moment Cori first held an iPhone (circa 2010) — and why that was the start of something she didn't see coming
• What phone addiction actually looks like (hint: you probably do it every day)
• How smartphones have changed the dynamics of relationships and connection
• Introducing monthly experiments — the low-pressure, sustainable alternative to 75-hard-style challenges
• The Brick: what it is, how it works, and why the regular iPhone Screen Time feature is basically useless if you're a rule-breaker
• July's experiment: no social apps from 10 PM to 8:30 AM — what Cori hopes to protect on both ends of her day
• Why starting small is the whole point

Mentioned in This Episode:

• The Brick — screen time management tool
• Weekly experiment updates on Substack → substack.com/@letabitchlive

If this episode hit home, leave a 5-star review — it helps more people find the show and honestly, it would make Cori's day (LIFE!).

Let a Bitch Live is a podcast about reclaiming your life, one small experiment at a time.

New episodes weekly. Follow along and connect with Cori:

• Instagram: instagram.com/letabitchlivepodcast
• Substack (weekly updates): substack.com/@letabitchlive

I recorded this first episode on my 40th birthday, and instead of celebrating with answers, I'm celebrating with questions. In the very first episode of Let A Bitch Live, I share the story behind the podcast, a text message from a friend that reminded me why life is worth living, and five things I've been thinking about as I enter my 40s—from friendship and perimenopause to caring less about what people think and figuring out what it means to build a life that feels fully lived.

Let a Bitch Live is a podcast about reclaiming your life, one small experiment at a time.

New episodes weekly. Follow along and connect with Cori:

• Instagram: instagram.com/letabitchlivepodcast
• Substack (weekly updates): substack.com/@letabitchlive