Hosted by Stephanie McLaughlin · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 158 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Sometime around age 40 (+/-) you might start feeling like some part of your life no longer fits and you don't know what to do about it. It could be at work or at home - or simply inside of you. You might be asking questions like, "How did I get here?" Or, "Is this all there is?" "Is this what I've been working so hard for?" Or, "Why aren't I happier?" Growing out of her own experience turning 40, Stephanie McLaughlin became captivated by the big “four oh,” and how people handle the milestone birthday. On The Big Four Oh Podcast, Stephanie has conversations with people about their life experience around turning 40. This birthday often comes wrapped in larger life changes, whether it’s a newfound search for meaning, accepting your mortality, or shedding all those things you did because some external authority said you “should.” Her mission is to make it common cultural knowledge that there IS a transition most of us face around age 40, and then showcase so many versions of that tra
Stephanie McLaughlin hosts The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40, a society show with 158 episodes published.
There's a difference between surviving the turbulence of life and doing the internal work of transition. Rachel Lobdell is a journalist, mother, and nonprofit executive, approaching 40 with a generational lens on what mi
At 45, MJ Rod discovered that the man she'd believed was her birth father biologically couldn't have been. What followed was a years-long investigation: cold calls, DNA tests, dead ends, and a mother who went silent rath
Dr. Polly Watson did everything right. Medical school, residency, a thriving OB-GYN practice, two kids. And yet somewhere in her mid-thirties she looked up and realized the career she built felt nothing like the one she
John King spent decades building a life that looked successful on paper, until it all unraveled in a single moment in his mid-40s. What followed wasn’t a clean reset. It was years of redefining what normal meant for him
Zoey Charif describes how a painful breakup in her early thirties forced her to confront her lack of self-worth and the relationship patterns she had repeated for years. Growing up across continents, Zoey was no stranger
Cora Rennie was a good girl who did everything “right.” Military. Marriage. Motherhood. Long-term partnership. From the outside, her life looked good. Inside, though, something felt off. Cora shares how divorce, a passio
A career pivot in his early 40s forced Nathan Karol to confront something he had not thought about since childhood: how his brain actually works. What followed was not a crisis, but a reorientation. Through therapy, test
The Midlife Burn Book: What People Are Really Saying About Midlife Today, Stephanie McLaughlin shares the unexpected result of an experiment she brought to Podfest 2026: the Midlife Burn Book. Here’s what happened when r
Burnout rarely announces itself. It shows up as brain fog, chronic stress, unexplained health issues, and a sense that you are doing everything right but still falling apart. Michelle Niemeyer spent years powering throug
What happens when a life that looks “fine” stops feeling true? Mikelann Valterra discusses the strange freedom that can follow loss. From rebuilding financially at age 40 to learning how to trust intuition, design a life
Andrea McGinty built what many people would call the ultimate success story: a booming global business, a high-profile marriage, and great kids. So why did midlife still ask her to stop and reconsider everything? Andrea
Stephanie digs into the deeper meaning behind that restless, unsettled feeling so many people experience in their thirties and forties. Instead of considering midlife a crisis, she reframes it as a natural emotional upgr
What if midlife isn’t a crisis at all, but an upgrade you never knew you were getting? In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Dr. Deborah Heiser, a psychologist and midlife specialist who believes our forties mark the
When Lauren Hayes became a mother in her mid-30s, her fierce independence and lifelong people-pleasing suddenly collided. Parenthood cracked open old patterns she didn’t know were running the show, like the “funny” famil
If your life looks fine on paper but feels off on the inside, you should probably tune in for the Season 8 opener of The Big Four Oh , in which Stephanie McLaughlin shines a light on the very real midlife transition that
When Terry Tateossian hit her late 30s, she was running a successful marketing agency, raising two kids, and running herself into the ground. Two hospital visits later, she realized her body was sending a message she cou
At 43, Ray Martin’s world fell apart. His marriage ended, his business unraveled, and his father passed away, all within months. What looked like an ending became the beginning of his midlife transformation. In this epis
Denise Lee’s path through midlife has been anything but simple. From surviving childhood trauma to battling addiction and the pressure to live up to cultural expectations, she spent years feeling like she was running beh
What happens when a Google search changes the course of your life? Sabrina Victoria shares how she broke free from a controlling, abusive relationship and rebuilt her life from scratch. From secret bank accounts and late
Turning 40 and breaking down in banana bread When Edel Howlin moved from Ireland to Houston in her late 20s, she was certain she was building her dream life. She found her calling in public radio and was thriving profess
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The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40 is hosted by Stephanie McLaughlin. The show is categorised under society (culture) and has published 158 episodes.
The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40 has published 158 episodes.
The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40 regularly covers society, culture, personal. It sits in the society category, with a culture focus.
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Episodes of The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40 average 52 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
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