Miranda July on the unexpected wildness of ageing - THE SHIFT REVISITED

The Shift with Sam Baker

Sam Baker Ltd

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.8 • 525 Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I was the very first person to interview Miranda July about All Fours this time last year. To say she was nervous about how it would be received was an understatement. "Will you have my back?" she asked me (and the rest of the female world) towards the end of our conversation. Yes, I said, yes we will. And how! Since then All Fours has taken the world by storm - women over 40 have a sex life, who knew?! So I've decided to replay this episode for everyone who's new to The Shift and new to midlife. ------ Every so often you get the chance to interview someone whose work has fascinated you for, well, forever. And today is one of those days. Miranda July is an artist, performer, film maker and writer who has been doing it her own way since she was in her teens. She has made three films - The Future, Me and You and Everyone We Know and Kajillionaire, held countless exhibitions, written several books and won a bunch of awards. You get the picture. Now 50, Miranda has turned her attention to midlife with her first novel in a decade. All Fours is a painful, poignant, hilarious and extremely hot exploration of what happens when “a curious, creative, sexually active woman reaches the midpoint of her life, goes off the oestrogen cliff and starts to question her direction?” It is wholly unlike anything else I’ve read about this life stage. And is sure to change a few games. Miranda joined me to talk about her own trip off the oestrogen cliff, reimagining relationships as we get older, conscious co-parenting and moving into the house in the backyard. We also discussed the menopause whisper network, outing herself as “no longer young”, getting out of the anxiety cul de sac and why ageing is “unexpectedly wild”. * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including All Fours by Miranda July and the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by me. * If you enjoyed this episode and you fancy buying me a coffee, pop over to my page on buymeacoffee.com. • And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including exclusive transcripts of the podcast, why not join The Shift community, come and have a look around at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com • The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's no one like you, and there never will be.
0:03.0	From the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:06.6	There are many legends, but there is only one.
0:12.0	Michael, in IMAX in Cinema's Wednesday, April 22.
0:20.2	Hello, and welcome to The Shift, the podcast that aims to tell the no-holds about being a woman post-40,
0:26.5	created and hosted by me, writer and broadcaster, Sam Baker.
0:31.5	Every so often, you get the chance to interview someone whose work has fascinated you forever.
0:40.3	And today is one of those days.
0:47.2	Miranda July is an artist, performer, filmmaker and writer who has been doing it very much her own way since she was in her teens. She's made three films, The Future, Me and You and Everyone
0:53.6	We Know, and Cagillian Air. She's held three films, The Future, Me and You and Everyone We Know, and Cagillionaire.
0:55.8	She's held countless exhibitions, written several books, won a bunch of awards.
1:00.5	You get the picture.
1:02.0	Now 50, Miranda has turned her attention to Midlife with her first novel in a decade.
1:08.0	All fours is a painful, poignant, hilarious and extremely hot exploration of what
1:15.4	happens when a curious, creative, sexually active woman reaches the midpoint of her life,
1:20.8	goes off the estrogen cliff and starts to question her direction. It is wholly unlike anything
1:27.4	else I've ever read about this life stage,
1:30.1	and it is sure to change plenty of games. My life changed, you know, in ways that my 30-something self
1:38.1	would delight in, you know, would actually be like, I want that. I want my home to be like that. Maranda joined me to talk about her
1:47.3	own trip off the estrogen cliff. We're imagining relationships as we get older, conscious co-parenting,
1:53.6	and why she moved into the house in the backyard. We also discussed the Menopause Whisper Network,
1:59.7	outing herself as no longer one of the young ones,
	...

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