Miranda July’s Perimenopausal Thriller

Death, Sex & Money

Slate Podcasts

Business, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Careers, Relationships, Sexuality

4.6 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Miranda July entered her early forties, she noticed a grim feeling emerge. “It wasn't coming from me,” she said, “I guess it came from this lack of imagery, or stories, or even just basic medical information about what was going to happen next with my body.” The dearth of information and near absence of cultural mythology about perimenopause and menopause became the catalyst for her novel All Fours, which came out in May and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. In this episode, Miranda talks about the unease that inspired the book and speculates about what the future could look like if more people openly discussed this crucial chapter of life. We also hear from listeners who share their experiences with perimenopause and menopause. The interview with Miranda was recorded live in San Francisco for City Arts & Lectures. You can check out a great profile of Miranda, which is referenced in the episode, here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/20/miranda-july-profile Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram, and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, or critiques, is [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi Anna this is Gail from North Potomac Maryland I am in my 60s this is Kate I am 46 years old I am 52 years old I'm 44 years old I am 61 years old. I'm 44 years old. I am 61 years old. And I am Anna Sale. I'm 43 years old.
0:18.6	That means I'm on the verge of the age range for that nebulous thing called
0:23.8	perimenopause. It also means that I've gotten texts from friends in their
0:27.9	40s throughout the summer saying things like, have you read all fours yet?
0:31.8	I just got another one the other day.
0:34.0	All Fours is Miranda July's new novel that is a sexy adventure story
0:40.0	about the emotional and physical changes that can come in your mid to late 40s.
0:45.0	I talked to Miranda July about writing it in this episode and I also heard from
0:50.6	listeners in that demo about what you've noticed going on as your
0:55.0	hormones change. The biggest surprise and challenge for me has been the total
1:00.4	lack of control I often feel over my own body. I am an active person and it's been truly
1:06.8	humbling to find out that I either can't do some form of exercise I used to love or that
1:12.1	it doesn't feel good anymore.
1:14.0	My periods are very irregular.
1:17.0	Sometimes they're very light, sometimes they're extremely heavy.
1:20.0	They started feeling very different in my body as far as like joint pain and hair loss and I started getting headaches.
1:29.0	I remember I was living in Oklahoma at the time driving down a major road and having what I now
1:36.3	know is a massive hot flash and calling my mother here in San Jose and saying what kind of hellscape is this and she just laughed and I thought what the heck?
1:52.0	Why didn't you ever tell me about any of this?
1:55.9	This was a common refrain. Total surprise, especially when it came to the emotional and
2:01.7	cognitive symptoms.
2:03.4	My mood swings have been the worst, and I feel somewhat unstable.
	...

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