This week’s guest is the award-winning novelist, Maggie O’Farrell. The author of eight novels, most recently the stunning Women’s Prize winner, Hamnet, and one of my favourite memoirs of all time, I Am, I Am, I am. And now she’s written a children’s book, the absolutely gorgeous Where Snow Angels Go, which is a banker for a Christmas Day teatime animation a la The Snowman if ever I saw one.  While Maggie noses through my bookcase and plays with Sausage the (tail-less) cat, we talk being a social media refusenik, giving voice to women’s stories, saying good riddance to the male gaze, why she never thought she was the marrying kind. Oh, and why she still secretly fears someone might take her Women’s Prize away! Frankly, if Maggie O’Farrell has imposter syndrome, what hope is there for the rest of us? The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker • The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out in hardback and available to buy here. • Where Snow Angels go by Maggie O’Farrell and Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini is out in hardback and available to buy here - the perfect stocking filler! • Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell is out in hardback and available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s episode comes to you from the Glasgow kitchen of straight talking crime writer Denise Mina. (Lockdown let up long enough for me to leave the house - yay!) She’s written 15 novels, including the award-winning The Long Drop, and her last, Conviction, was scooped up by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Bookclub. But her latest, The Less Dead, based on a real life Glasgow serial killer, focusses on what makes a “good” victim versus a “bad” one, and takes her right back to her political roots. Over an enormous pot of strong tea (she truly has the biggest tea pot I have ever seen) Denise and I go to all the places. And I mean ALL OF THEM. I could have stayed there all day. From sexism in crime fiction and what it was like growing up in the 1980s to channelling her anger, plus HRT, withering vaginas and creaking joints and so much more... Plus Denise tries (in vain) to teach me the art of confrontation; all while taking a delivery from John Lewis and baking a mean pecan pie - but don’t tell her I told you so! The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. • The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out now in hardback and available to buy here. • The Less Dead by Denise Mina is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest has been in the tabloids since her early teens. In fact, like me, you’re probably guilty of thinking you know all about Meg Mathews just because you read about her marriage to Noel Gallagher, her partying with the “primrose hill set” and her journey off the rails and back on again. But she’s set out to prove us all wrong with her campaign to put an end to the menopause taboo and a new book, The New Hot. In her immaculate North London living room, Meg talked to me with brutal honesty about the symptoms that almost stole her sanity, “losing the will to live” and - trigger warning - how watching her mum die from osteoporosis made her determined the same would never happen to her - or her daughter Anais. Meg is bold, brave and candid and you may find some of her experience upsetting, but this is a must-listen if you’re either in the throes of perimenopause or forty something and feeling like you’ve lost your marbles! (There is also some vagina talk – which is only to be expected if you put Meg and me in the same room for more than five minutes!) The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker • The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out now in hardback and available to buy here. • The New Hot by Meg Mathews is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Find out more at megsmenopause.com. Get more information at menopausedoctor.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I’m chatting to a woman who is the very definition of a Bestseller. Jodi Picoult has written 24 global smash hits (including A Spark of Light and Small Great Things) all with her inimitable mix of hard hitting issues and intimate personal stories, and her last eight novels have debuted at No 1 in the New York Times bestseller list. Her new novel, The Book of Two Ways, is a page turning exploration of life, death, grief and the biggest question of all - what would our lives look like if we’d taken a different path? Who doesn’t wonder that sometimes/often/all the time?* (*delete as applicable!)? Over a cup of coffee as big as her head, Jodi shares her own ‘what if’ moment, why covid-19 makes her fear for women’s position in society and why she’s angrier than ever. Put it this way she’s a fierce defender of women’s rights and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump…!  (Jodi was sitting in her attic on America's East coast so apologies in advance if the transatlantic quality is occasionally a bit shonky.) The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker • The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out now in hardback and available to buy here. • The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Jodi's book recommendation: Beach Read by Emily Henry is available to buy in paperback. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest will be no stranger to you but she’s a little bit of a different one for The Shift because, at 40, Bryony Gordon is a mere whipper snapper, but she’s crammed a whole lot of living into those years. Journalism, Mental health campaigning, marathon running, body positivity activism, bestselling books and, as we’ll be hearing, alcoholism.  In her latest bestseller, Glorious Rock Bottom, Bryony gives a painfully candid account of alcoholism, what it does to the alcoholic and the people around them - and, crucially, how it feels to come through it. It is TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH. It is also immensely likeable and - dare I say it because this is not a Bryony thing - heartwarming. Aaaah! Bryony talks openly about everything from addiction and abuse to shame (and shaming yourself), forgiveness, the tyranny of being a "good" mother, the craziness of women lying about their age and why she will never, ever moan about getting older. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. TRIGGER WARNING: Bryony talks candidly about her alcoholism, mental health crises and suicidal ideation. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker • The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out now in hardback and available to buy here. • Glorious Rock Bottom by Bryony Gordon is out in hardback and available to buy here. Her new book, a practical guide to mental health called, No Such Thing as Normal, is published on 7 January. Click here to preorder. Bryony's book recommendation: Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud. Out now in hardback and available to buy here. You can follow bryony on instagram @bryonygordon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My brilliant guest for the first episode of this season is a very special one. You may not have heard of Karen Arthur, but you sure as hell will have done by the time she’s finished with you. Because Karen - the founder of Menopause Whilst Black - is a woman on a mission. In the few months since she launched Menopause Whilst Black on Instagram she has become a force to be reckoned with in the fast-growing “menopause community” (not sure what that is, but it will come as no surprise to you that it was very, very white…) and now she’s launched a podcast of the same name.  For the first three decades of her working life, Karen was a teacher. Then she had a breakdown that caused her to rethink everything about her life (sound familiar?!). She recreated herself as a fashion designer, activist, campaigner, model and set about giving black menopausal women a much needed voice. Join Karen and me for an eye-openingly honest and generous conversation about what can happen when you hit a wall and don’t even know who you are any more. You can follow Karen on instagram @thekarenarthur and @menopausewhilstblack. Find Menopause Whilst Black podcast on spotify. The Shift - How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too is out now in hardback, and available to buy from Amazon and all good bookshops. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is hosted by Sam Baker, produced by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where to start with this week’s guest? Now 58, Emma Freud is a broadcaster, presenter, columnist and fund-raiser, for want of a better way of putting the incredible work she and her partner Richard Curtis do with Comic Relief. And she’s got four kids. And a bazillion pets (listen on for kittens!). And she lives in my Pinterest board. And she’s not afraid to call a spade a spade. Lots of spades, in fact. In a no-holds barred conversation, Emma talks frankly about reshaping Comic Relief for a new generation, how being the mother of one of the country’s most outspoken millennials, Scarlett Curtis, has changed her attitudes to just about everything, the contradictions of ageing (will dye, won’t Botox) and why she will never ever deny her age.  Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Find out more about Comic Relief here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guest is journalist and author, Kate Spicer. Kate went from “just another journalist” to national treasure and the country’s most famous dog-lover when her dog Wolfie went missing and she enlisted twitter to help find him. That story became a book, Lost Dog (billed as What did Fleabag do next? But equally a story about the love between a lost human and her four-legged friend), and is now on the way to becoming a film. There is no-one better than Kate to talk about the way child-free women are stereotyped (dog as baby substitute anyone?), the way menopausal women are stereotyped, the way women are stereotyped fullstop! There’s also swearing. And chemicals (and not just the hormone replacing kind). Kate is funny, frank (and sweary!) as she tells the unvarnished truth about hitting her 50s as a single woman, slowing down her hectic party girl lifestyle and coming to terms with the changes wrought by menopause. (Oh, and her past life as a pyromaniac!) Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker * The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Lost Dog by Kate Spicer is out now in paperback and available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Career crises are tough at the best of times, but imagine being in the midst of menopause - hot flushes, anxiety, brain fog, the lot - and finding your thirty year career is crashing down around your ears. That’s what happened to this week’s guest, the brilliant DJ and broadcaster Jo Whiley when she was given the job of co-hosting BBC radio 2’s drive time slot with Simon Mayo. She talks honestly about coming through the most turbulent year of her career, regaining her confidence, learning to listen to your heart not your detractors, going outside your comfort zone, empty nest syndrome, why she’s obsessed with fitness and why “age appropriate” dressing can do one.  Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Hear Jo on BBC Radio 2 Monday-Thursday 8-10pm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest this week is the epitome of grown up style - so much so that her effortless look has earnt her almost a million followers on Instagram. At 45, French model and producer Caroline de Maigret is the face of Chanel and co-author of two bestselling books that take a tongue in cheek look at the whole 'cult of the French woman' thing. So how does it feel when your face (and body) is your fortune and you discover that - yes! - even fashion icons age? Especially when you go to get a mole checked and your dermatologist suggests you “get those wrinkles looked at”! (Seriously...) Listen on for Caroline’s tips on loving your style post-40, how the fashion industry treats older women and why she thinks age is no excuse for anything. Plus you can learn the French equivalent of “old bag”. So, it’s educational too! Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker * The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Older But Better (but older) by Caroline de Maigret and Sophie Mas is out now in hardback and available to buy here. Caroline's book recommendation: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does it feel to suddenly become ultra-visible just as the world is trying to invisible you? That’s what happened to this week’s guest, mega-selling novelist Jojo Moyes, when the book her old publishers didn't want to publish - Me Before You - became a global bestseller and smash-hit movie in her mid-40s.  Since then every book Jojo has written has been a bestseller and she’s sold the movie rights to pretty much everything she’s ever written. (Not remotely jealous.) Her latest, The Giver Of Stars, the transporting story of a group of women setting up a horseback library in the Appalachians is currently at the top of the bestseller lists and a movie is underway.  But life wasn’t always like that. Far from it. Jojo is funny and frank about the impact of stratospheric success on her professional and personal life. How it felt to be suddenly visible in her late forties. Health, fitness, freedom, a new found love of clothes and why she feels better than ever at 50. She also reveals how she finally overcame Imposter Syndrome, why she no longer suffers fools and how making new friends at 50 has been a revelation.  Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker * The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. The Giver Of Stars by Jojo Moyes is out now in paperback and available to buy here. Jojo's book recommendation: Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, out now in paperback and available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week will give hope to anyone who’s looking at their work life and wondering WTF? The inspirational Sara Collins was a lawyer and mother of five (I know!) when she looked at her life and thought: no more! (The job, not the kids!) She took a creative writing course and wrote the first few chapters of the book that was to become her debut novel and a runaway bestseller on both sides of the atlantic that has received glowing reviews from everyone from Oprah to Margaret Atwood to Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo: The Confessions of Frannie Langton.  Now Sara is writing the TV script for Frannie and working on her second novel. All this while experiencing hot flushes, brain fog and all the other sure signs that menopause is coming for you. Sara talks frankly about turning a midlife crisis into career success, writing the book you’d always wished existed, the power of women’s anger and why she can’t decide whether or not to Botox those pesky frown lines. Note: this podcast was recorded before lockdown. The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker, edited by Emily Sandford. I’d love to hear what you think - please let me know on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker * The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 - and you can too by Sam Baker is out now in hardback and available to buy here. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins is out now in paperback and available to buy here. Sara's book recommendations: Such A Fun Age by Kylie read, out in hardback and available to buy here and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, available to buy here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices