In Episode 2 of On the ’Mones, Kate starts with a moment many midlife women will recognise: a close friend, a few glasses of wine, a forgotten word — and the immediate dismissal of perimenopause as something “everyone else is doing.”

That moment opens the door to a much bigger conversation.

This episode explores why many women resist menopause care — even informed, health-literate women — and why perimenopause is often misunderstood as a “trend” rather than what it really is: a long-overdue correction to decades of silence, stigma, and medical neglect.

Kate unpacks:

• Why perimenopause is being talked about more — and why that doesn’t mean it’s overdiagnosed
• How menopause mirrors the cultural unmasking we’ve already seen with ADHD in women
• Why HRT is no longer just about hot flushes, but long-term brain, bone, and heart health
• The three types of estrogen (E1, E2, E3) and how oral, transdermal, and vaginal forms differ
• How to think about estrogen as a toolkit, not a one-size-fits-all prescription
• And why resistance to “what everyone else is getting” is often about fear, identity, and agency — not medicine

The episode also features a deep dive into Wellness Woo of the Week, tackling wild yam cream: what it claims to do, why it doesn’t work biochemically, and why women are so often targeted by hormone misinformation in the first place.

This is an episode about hormones — but it’s also about psychology, culture, gender bias, and what happens when women finally have language for what they’ve been experiencing all along.

Smart, evidence-based, occasionally sweary, and deeply validating — this one is for anyone who’s ever wondered whether midlife medicine is a fad… or long-overdue progress.

On the ’Mones — Episode 1: Welcome to the Hormonal Girl Band

Is it just me… or is something seriously happening to my body?

In the very first episode of On the ’Mones, pharmacist of 25 years Kate pulls back the curtain on peri-menopause, hormones, rage-quitting jobs, libido loss, bone health, and the quiet suffering so many women carry alone.

From estrogen “leaving the group chat” to a friend breaking down in the kitchen whispering “I thought it was just me”, this episode sets the tone for the podcast: honest, evidence-based, funny, messy, and deeply human.

You’ll hear:

• Why peri-menopause catches so many women off guard
• How hormones are meant to rise and fall (spoiler: balance is a myth)
• The Beyoncé–P!nk–Adele explanation your biology teacher never gave you
• Why loss of libido isn’t a personal failure — and what options actually exist
• A takedown of seed cycling (sorry, chia pudding)
• And a new segment: Is it peri-menopause or am I just being a Karen?

If you’ve ever felt anxious, irritable, flat, foggy, ragey, invisible, or like your brain “isn’t braining” anymore — this is for you.

You’re not broken.
It’s not your fault.
And you’re definitely not alone.

Welcome to On the ’Mones. Let’s get on them.