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 nostalgia
• The pressure of modern motherhood and social media comparison
• Why women deserve joy, fun, friendship, and escape without guilt
• Growing up as eldest daughters and people pleasers
• The “geriatric mean girl” phenomenon in adulthood
• The music that shaped us in the 80s and 90s
• Rediscovering passions after motherhood
• Jenifer’s journey from audiologist to published author
• Why creativity matters in midlife
• The magic of taking risks and becoming yourself again

This 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.

Instagram: @jenifergoldinwrites
Website: authorjenifergoldin.com
Books: Moms Love Boy Bands
Moms Who Read Romance Novels
Anonymous Mom Posts

Instagram + TikTok: @thejenweinstein
Website: themidlifeeditco.com

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend and leave a review - it helps more women find these conversations.

Think 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.

Eldest 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.

All 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.

Jen sits down with Jenifer Goldin, author of Moms Love Boy Bands — and if this episode resonated, you are going to want to be there.

📱 Instagram: @thejenweinstein 🎙️ Leave a review — it takes two minutes and makes a real difference. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a Tuesday drop.

"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 between
• The "building" analogy that completely reframed how I think about change
• How Ellen uses the tools of fiction writing (yes, really) to help women identify and rewrite the hidden beliefs that are quietly running their lives
• The most common stories women carry — "I must be quiet," "I must follow the rules" — and how to start unwiring them
• Why midlife might actually be the moment women finally stop outsourcing their own authority
• Ellen's new novel Summerland Cove (out June 2nd!) and what draws her to writing women's stories across generations
• What she's stopped apologizing for — and why it goes all the way back to kindergarten

Books mentioned:

• The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker - get it here
• Summerland Cove by Ellen Baker - pre-order here

Connect with Ellen:

• Website & novels: EllenBakerNovels.com
• Next Chapter Studio: EllenBakerNovels.com/studio
• Summerland Cove Spotify playlist

Connect with The Midlife Edit:

• Instagram: @thejenweinstein
• TikTok: @thejenweinstein
• Newsletter: The Backstage Pass - join here!
• Website: themidlifeeditco.com