The Weird Years is the podcast for anyone Googling "How to make life decisions" at 2AM. We thought we had time but life moved fast, the rulebook disappeared, and the next step feels like a big fat ? Each week, Lydia (@lydsie) and a guest dive into the big, weird, and messy realities of career, relationships, health, identity and more. There's no sugarcoating, no perfect answers, but a lot of laughs—just real talk about figuring it out together. 🎧 New episodes every Tuesday. Follow on IG now & join the conversation. https://www.instagram.com/theweirdyearspodcas
How do you make the huge, meltdown-inducing decisions of your 30s - and is there ever really a "right" answer? In our first ever Decision Clinic, I'm joined by Jemma Sbeg, host of The Psychology of Your 20s - one of the biggest psychology podcasts out there - to get into real listeners messy, emotionally loaded questions that I'm pretty sure we're all going through right now. Jemma brings her background in psychology, politics and philosophy to real listener dilemmas, including: ✨ The sadly all-too relatable question of how to handle someone you know being pulled into online conspiracy content ✨ That giant wtf or whether to stay child-free or have a baby ✨ Whether to stay in a long-term relationship with no intimacy ✨ And more big life decisions, relationship doubts, and identity crossroads If you're overthinking a major life choice and desperate for reassurance that you're not the only one spiralling, then tap in. Follow the show on your favourite platforms👇 And if you want to submit to the next DECISION CLINIC, check out our IG. Jemma - @jemmasberg Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
Date, get married, have a kid, live happily ever after - that’s what we were sold, right? Well, the dating pool is looking kind of swampy, women are more self‑sufficient and self‑funded than ever before and actually… not everyone wants kids. Cher said “Mom, I am a rich man” and influencer and internet personality Sophie Milner stepped up to it. Sophie is known for her hot dating takes, big girls’ girl energy and being everyone’s gym crush, whilst having zero interest in being in a relationship. Sucks for them, huh. In this episode we get into: ✨ The reality that men now have to compete with female happiness and independence to win us over ✨ How the manosphere and “body count” obsession are influencing modern dating ✨ Attachment styles, real chemistry, and relationship patterns in your 30s ✨ Why Sophie would rather be single than ever settle for less than she wants This episode is like a wine‑fuelled chat between two of your far‑too‑honest friends. If you’re dating in your 30s, wondering whether to settle or stay single, you’re going to love it. Follow the guest & show on your favourite platforms: Sophie - @itssophiemilner Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
You know that niggling feeling that the path you're on isn't the right one... it's time to talk about it.The relationship which isn't moving forward, the job where the promotion never comes, the city we know will never feel like home - why do we stay too long in something we know isn't right? In this episode, we're going deep into the unspoken part of making decisions: knowing when to walk away. We get into: ✨ What psychology says about sticking around when the vibes aren't sticking (sunk cost, fear of change) ✨ The ins and outs of sunk cost fallacy ✨ How to know when you've invested too much vs when you've not invested enough ✨ The trap of sunk cost fallacy in jobs, relationships and cities ✨ How to navigate the hard question — to stay or go? If you feel like you've been lingering somewhere you need to leave - job, relationship, city or lifestyle, then tap in and listen. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast TikTok - @theweirdyears
What if one radical choice to heal rewired your life completely? Joining me this week is nutritionist, author and functional medicine practitioner Daniel O'Shaughnessy. Daniel has been doing something which many of us might have curiously come across, but haven't pulled the plug to try. He has been expanding his healing approach to include psychedelics and plant medicine. Daniel grew up overcoming bullying, and as a surviver of childhood sexual abuse. As an adult, deep-rooted feelings of shame seeped out through steroid use, partying and an unhealthy pursuit of "perfection" fulled by the competitiveness of the queer scene. At breaking point, he made a decision that changed everything – to face trauma head‑on through psychedelics. We get into: ✨ Body dysmorphia and shame in the gay community ✨ Anabolic steroids, partying and the pressure to look “perfect” ✨ When talking therapy hits its limits for chronic overthinkers ✨ How psychedelics and plant medicine became a portal in his healing ✨ The realities of using psychedelics for trauma, not just a “quick fix” This is a story of deciding to step into discomfort, of choosing to move toward healing rather than more destruction and using every tool available to change deep rooted issues. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Daniel - @thenakednutritionist Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
What if being ‘too much’ was never the problem - you were just with people who couldn’t hold you? This week I’m joined by the stunning, vivacious and straight‑up hilarious Jackie Adedeji – the broadcaster and girls’ girl from Instagram known for her unapologetic empowerment and gentle roasting of her “older middle‑class white man” husband. We talk about the one decision in her twenties that changed everything in her thirties: starting therapy. Not as a quick fix, but as the slow, uncomfortable work that reshaped her self‑worth just enough that when she met her husband, she was able to give him a chance at something serious. This is about the complexity of how self-esteem might show up and a story to decide to follow love even when it shows up in a package you did not expect to find. We get into... ✨ Feeling publicly confident but privately feeling shame that she was "too much" ✨ The truth of therapy as a turning point – and not a quick fix ✨ Ditching dating and situationships for a deep sense of self‑respect ✨ The honest dynamics of an age-gap relationship which people often want to shy away from ✨ What it's like to be living with the knowledge you'll likely end up a window much earlier than most If your on the brink of booking that therapy sesh, or maybe love just showed up in a package you did not expect and your nervous, then girl, TAP IN. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Jackie - @Jackie Adedeji Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
Welcome to Decision Season dramatic music plays I joke, this won't be scary, I promise. This season we dig into the choices that have shaped us so far, the ones we still wonder if we got right, and the ones we’re wrestling with right now. In this episode, I’m getting into a truth we all know but might be avoiding: the decisions are coming thick and fast in our thirties. It feels daunting, it can feel intense, and we often judge ourselves for not knowing it all yet. We cover career, kids, where to live, and what to do when you’re overwhelmed by too many options. It might feel safer to shove this to the back of our minds, but whilst we’re not running out of time, time is moving. So what would happen if we stopped fearing the decisions and started embracing the relief that comes with making them? In this episode I get into: ✨ Why we need to sound the alarm on the big decisions of our thirties ✨ The sneaky illusion of “keeping our options open” ✨ How deciding which doors to close can actually set life in motion ✨ Why decisions aren’t dead ends, they’re next steps ✨ A simple exercise to help you find more clarity If we choose to face the question marks actively, we might just create the best decade yet, so let’s get into it. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
"I love you, but I'm exhausted" is a line that's been whispered at 2am, 2pm, 10pm, and every hour in between to our big blue-eyed, five-month-old baby. Last time we caught up on baby life, I was three weeks postpartum and riffing mainly on the birth. Now, we're nearly five months in and emerging from the haze of the tiny baby stage. A new shape of me, my life, and my identity is starting to form, so it's time for an honest catch-up. In this episode, I'm sharing a real, unfiltered debrief of the first five months of motherhood as a first-time mum, including: ✨ How I ACTUALLY feel now we're five months postpartum ✨ The things that have surprised me most about becoming a mum ✨ The many contradictions of motherhood and the postpartum experience ✨ What it's like to experience matrescence and a rewired "mum brain" ✨ The weird intrusive thoughts no one talks about ✨ Why motherhood is making me want to be vegan again (I know... odd connection, right?) If you're contemplating starting a family, already in the thick of new motherhood, navigating the newborn phase, or simply want to understand someone you care about who's going through it, this one's for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
Why are we suddenly craving the "soft life"? You might know this term from polished reels of flawless women skipping out of pilates at 11am and into a matcha café, but the soft life philosophy has a much richer origin. It started with women in Nigeria reclaiming their time and energy, pushing back against hustle culture and the expectation to always grind, give, and self-sacrifice. Now more than ever, as the pressures of our thirties start to build, more of us are craving a dose of slow living. And with the dumpster fire of an economy we're trying to navigate, it's not any surprise. In this episode we get into: 🧘♀️ What the soft life philosophy actually means (and it's forgotten roots) 🧘♀️ How the broken promise of success has left millennials burnt out and wanting to clock out 🧘♀️ The quiet quitting approach 🧘♀️ The watch out: when soft life tips into financial dependence 🧘♀️ How to bring more slow living and nervous system regulation into the life you already have If you're one "I hope this finds you well" email away from lying motionless in a forest for a few days, then stick around. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
What if the version of “working on yourself” you’ve been sold is actually pulling you further away from other people? In this solo episode, I’m unpacking the strange relationship between self-improvement and selfishness, and the point where becoming your “best self” can turn into endless optimisation, isolation, and feeling like who you are right now is never enough. I get into how self-improvement shifted from something that happened naturally through life and connection… into a billion-pound marketplace selling us better skin, better habits, better nervous systems, better mornings, better relationships and somehow still leaving us exhausted. We’re talking: ✨ Why women are under more pressure than ever to optimise themselves ✨ How beauty, wellness and even spirituality became products to consume ✨ Whether “working on yourself” can become an easy scapegoat away from real connection ✨ And why the massive piece missing in self-improvement is connection If you’ve ever felt stuck between wanting to grow and wanting to just be enough already, this one’s for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
Why does everything feel like it’s your fault… even when it isn’t? In this solo episode, I’m unpacking guilt - that constant, low-level hum that seems to follow women everywhere. From work to relationships, money to motherhood, friendships to finances… why does everything feel like it’s somehow our responsibility? I get into the psychology behind why women experience guilt more frequently and more intensely than men - and how both nature and nurture conspire to keep us stuck in these guilt spirals. We're talking: ✨ Rational vs irrational guilt > and how to tell which one you’re feeling ✨ Why women feel responsible for other people’s emotions (and how this is costing you) ✨ How guilt becomes a hidden decision-making tool that keeps you small ✨ Practical ways to stop carrying guilt which isn’t yours Because if you’re making decisions just to avoid guilt… there’s a good chance you’re not actually choosing the life you want. If you’ve ever felt like you’re constantly doing something wrong (even when you’re not), this one’s for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
What if your “self-awareness” is just control in disguise? 👀 I hate to call you out like that… but I’m also calling out myself. In this episode, I unpack something that’s been sitting uncomfortably with me: I can explain my feelings perfectly… but I don’t always feel them. I dive into the sneaky coping mechanism of intellectualising emotions — how we analyse, rationalise, and “do the work”… without ever actually letting the feeling hit our body. And why so many of us (especially high-functioning, self-aware women) are stuck in this loop. I’m riffing on: ✨ Why emotions have started to feel inconvenient (and what that’s doing to us) ✨ How overthinking shows up - from productivity to humour to therapy-speak ✨ What happens when feelings don’t get released (they don’t just disappear) ✨ How to get out of your head and actually feel your emotions I also share a pretty raw personal shift 😅 the moment something cracked open for me, and I actually felt something fully for the first time in years. Because the breakthrough in your 30s isn’t becoming more self-aware…it’s learning how to stop controlling your emotions, and actually let them move through you. If you’re hyper self-aware but weirdly disconnected… this one’s for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
What if it’s not dating that’s broken… but how we’re showing up in it? Stick with me for this.... I personally know so many amazing, sucessful, loving, and beautiful women who want to find a partner but are struggling in the dating world, so what's going on? In this episode, I'm joined by dating and confidence coach Laura Nagiel to get into how we can break the cycle of unsuccessful dating and find someone who is worth partnering up with. Laura's approach is rooted in awareness of what you want, direct honesty on who you need to become and never lowering your standard. We're getting into... ✨ The difference between confidence vs self-love and how it shows up in dating ✨ A new approach to avoid dating burn out ✨ Is "being realistic" a myth or a need? ✨ How we might be both the victims AND the cause of toxic dating culture ✨ The biggest mistake many woman are making in dating If you’ve ever felt like you’ve built a great life… but love is the one thing not clicking, this one's for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears Follow Laura - https://www.instagram.com/lauranagiel/?hl=en
What if the problem isn’t your body… it’s the fact you’ve been thinking about it for 30 years straight? This week, I’m getting into body image, and why, somehow, it feels more confusing now than it ever did before. Because here’s the thing… I've generally had a pretty good relationship with my body. Then I hit 30, then at 33 had a baby and suddenly it all feels a bit weirder. In this episode I go all the way back — childhood, teenage years, my time modelling, the “health” phase that tipped into obsession — to unpack how our body image is actually built over time. We're getting into... ✨ The mental reframes I'm trying to accept my body post-baby. ✨ The return of skinny culture (and why it’s messing with all of us) ✨ When even your own past self becomes the comparison ✨ The subtle ways we’re taught our value is in how we look ✨ Actionable ways to improve your body image If you’ve ever felt like you’re simultaneously trying to accept your body and change it at the same time… this one’s for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide. We're sold a Disney-inspired story of love. Meet the love of your life, get married, have children and live happily ever after. But nothing in life is guaranteed. What happens when something cataclysmic changes your whole life’s path? How do you begin to rebuild after trauma and sudden loss? And who might you become when the dust starts to settle? This episode is Lisa’s story of losing her husband to suicide and how that suicide loss changed everything, leaving her a widow with three children at 31. In this conversation we explore: ✨ The earth-shattering shock of sudden loss ✨ How suicide loss impacted her self-esteem as a woman ✨ What shifts when your “life plan” suddenly disappears ✨ The stigma that shapes grief after suicide ✨ Building new meaning and post-traumatic growth after loss This is partly a story of what happened, but really a story of rebuilding life after losing a partner to suicide. If you’ve ever built a life you thought was certain, only to watch everything change overnight, then this one is for you. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears Follow Lisa - @the_widowdiaries
If you told me a year ago that I would be releasing this episode, I would have been shooketh... But wow can things change. Really fast and really dramatically. And now my big becoming era is being shaped by a new reality of motherhood. I was very unsure about the choice to have a child, I was very scared about how it was going to shape me and maybe you're feeling the same if this is something you're considering. So I'm going to lay it all bare, the good, the bad and the weird. In this weirdly personal episode I get into: ✨ How my birth plan got derailed ✨ The c-section experience ✨ Sharing a ward with a schizophrenic mother in psychosis ✨ How weirdly magical breastfeeding is ✨ The REAL partner test ✨ The inevitable identity shift coming my way If you’ve been circling the idea of motherhood, wondering what it really does to you, not just physically, but to your identity, your control, your relationship, your sense of self - then this one is for you 🤍 Stick it on and go for your hot girl/guy walk. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears
In our 20s it feels far away. Like something that will “change everything”. But in your 30s? It starts to feel closer. And the questions get louder. Will I lose myself? Will my ambition survive? What happens to my identity? In this episode, I’m joined by Raychel Addo. We talk about the fear around motherhood, the way life reorganises with a child, and the identity shift that comes with becoming a mum. Because what if the story we’re told - that you lose yourself - isn’t the full picture? In this conversation, we cover: ✨ The fear narrative around motherhood ✨ The identity shift of matrescence ✨ Grieving who you were before ✨ Motherhood and ambition ✨ Boundaries, productivity and career as a working mum This isn’t about pretending it’s easy. Raychel is honest about the sleep deprivation, the adjustment, the overwhelm. But we also talk about growth. Clarity. Confidence and the unexpected ways motherhood can expand you rather than reduce you. If you’ve ever felt unsure about becoming a mum… If you’ve worried it might cost you your ambition… If you’re navigating motherhood and career at the same time… This one’s for you 🤍 Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears Follow Raychel - @milkandmummiespodcast #Motherhood #WorkingMum #WomenInTheir30s
Somewhere along the way, making new friends got… weird. In our 20s it just happened. School. Uni. Work. Nights out. You were thrown together and something stuck. But in your 30s? It can feel awkward. Forced. Like everyone else already has their people. In this episode, I’m joined by Rose and Zoe, founders of CityDaze! We talk about why adult friendships feel harder now, how algorithms quietly narrow our worlds 📱 and why so many of us are craving real connection but feel out of practice actually talking to strangers. In this conversation, we cover: ✨ Why making friends in your 30s feels different ✨ How tech shapes who we meet (and who we don’t) ✨ Why walking makes conversations deeper and less intense ✨ The awkwardness of meeting new people ✨ A small challenge you can try this week If your world has started to feel smaller… If you’ve been feeling a bit disconnected… If you want to get better at being open again… This one’s for you 🤍 Pull up a chair. Or better yet - go for a walk. Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyears Today's Guests - @Zoemallet & @stillchill.ig #MakingFriendsInYour30s #AdultFriendships #BuildingCommunity
Do you ever feel overstimulated, constantly distracted… but at the same time, you know something inside you needs space? This episode is about what happens when you remove the noise completely. When there’s no phone, no talking, no distractions, and no way to avoid yourself. I’m joined by Rio, who travelled to Poland to spend four days in complete darkness and silence. Pitch black. Total stillness. Just her, her thoughts, and whatever came up. Honestly… parts of this conversation made me want to throw my phone in the bin. Other parts made my skin crawl. We get into: • What a darkness retreat actually involves (and how you even function inside one) • Why our phones are the easiest way to numb emotion • What comes up when you stop performing and start feeling • Shame, people pleasing, and patterns that come from childhood • Why slowing down can feel terrifying before it feels freeing • How to create space in everyday life without disappearing from it Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theweirdyearspodcast/?hl=en Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theweirdyears This episode is a reminder that doing less isn’t failing. Sometimes clarity comes from stopping, not pushing. #Overstimulation #SlowingDown
Do you feel like your life isn't going to plan…but at the same time, you know you're growing? This solo episode is about that uncomfortable, confusing phase so many of us hit in our 30s, where things are shifting internally but the external milestones haven't quite caught up yet. That feeling? It's limbo. In this episode, I break down why limbo exists, honestly... why it feels so shit, and why it doesn't mean you're failing or falling behind. We get into: • Why life can feel stuck even when you're evolving • The difference between identity exploration and rushing to label yourself• Why confusion isn't inefficiency • The grief of letting go of lives you thought you'd have • Five practical ways to stay in the in-between without spiralling Follow the show on your favourite platforms: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theweirdyearspodcast/?hl=en Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theweirdyears This episode is a reminder to stop rushing yourself into clarity and start trusting the becoming process. Limbo isn't a dead zone.It's a formation space. #limbo #Feelingstuck #selfdevelopment
The DJ, the Control Freak & the Incoming Baby... in like 2 weeks, wtf. This week, I’m joined by my husband Chris for a very honest pre-baby conversation, recorded in that strange limbo where everything is about to change.… but hasn’t yet. We lay it al out on what it really feels like to stand on the edge of being first time parents and the lurking "uuuraaaghhhh" of what is about to happen. We get into: 🍼 What having a baby has brought up for us before even arriving 🍼 The different ways we thought about the decision to start a family 🍼 Fear, identity changes, and the pressure to stay “the same” 🍼 Who we hope we can be as parents This episode is for anyone who's thinking about kids, unsure if they want them, or just fascinated by the moment before a life changing moment. 🖤 Follow Chris: @chrisavantgarde 🎙️ Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast 🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
