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