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Good morning,
Sisterhood can be a minefield. One minute it’s “you look amazing,” the next it’s a Facebook thread that implodes. We say we want honesty, but most days we only reward flattery—and call it kindness. The same dance plays out everywhere: in our closets, our love lives, even our bank accounts.
What ties it together? Women navigating truth versus performance. Protection versus permission. Support versus suffocation.
We’re poking at all of it. Glad you’re here for the mess.
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CULTURE
Sharp commentary on the world around us.
A Facebook thread about a reunion dress spirals into chaos. Sound familiar? Because it’s not really about hemlines—it’s about whether we still matter and whether sisterhood can survive truth-telling. When every critique is called bullying and every compliment is hollow, what kind of community are we left with? This piece digs into the psychology, the conditioning, and the quiet ways women police each other—offering a look at what it says about us, and what it costs.
→ Sisterhood or showdown?
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READER SPOTLIGHT
What you said stopped us cold.
✒️ Here’s what one fabulous reader had to say this week:
“She has been my hero and role model for years. By her example, I learned to embrace aging (I’m 72) and blow a big, fat, juicy raspberry at the media and society that try to tell me how I should look, act, and feel. I call it Emmy Unleashed, and I will not apologize for honoring my true self.” —Emmy on Jamie Lee Curtis: The Reign of Defiance
Want to be featured next? Drop a comment on your favorite piece—we read them all.
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YOUR WALLET
Money, power, and getting what you're worth.
So you retired. Congrats! But what happens when your money quits before you do? Meet the “unretired” generation—millions of 65+ women trading beach chairs for desk chairs. Groceries cost more, Medicare isn’t free, and the taxman’s knocking. Buzzkill, right? Don’t panic—we’re breaking down the hidden costs and why a paycheck might be the new pension. You’re not powerless. Let’s crunch the numbers together.
→ Think you’re done working? The numbers may disagree.
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LIVING OUT LOUD
Real stories of rewiring, relationships, and this messy, beautiful life.
Frustrated with online dating? Swiping left on love and blaming the apps? Andrea McGinty, the godmother of modern matchmaking, has a blunt message for women over 50: It’s not the apps, the men, or the sites. It’s you. Ouch. Her tough-love approach has helped thousands of women reboot their love lives—and her rules might be the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.
→ Stop blaming the apps.
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LAUGH LINES
Satire with bite—because if we're not laughing, what are we even doing?
America will sanitize a countertop within an inch of its life, but god forbid you ask someone to slip off their Costco-trodden sneakers before walking across your rug. The rest of the world figured this out ages ago—Japan offers slippers, India calls it sacred, Sweden even hands you fresh socks. Meanwhile, we treat it like a civil rights violation. Consider this your tour of slippers, taboos, and the tiny courtesies that send Americans over the edge.
→ You and your floors deserve better.
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BRAIN AND BODY
Wellness, diet, and what nourishes us now.
You’ve seen the books, the Netflix special, the endless “live to 100” hacks. But what if the Blue Zones are built on bad math and missing birth certificates? One researcher calls fraud, experts clap back, and the rest of us are left wondering: Do we really need to move to Sardinia—or just eat more veggies and call our friends? The science may be messy, but the fight is juicy.
→ Are Blue Zones based on white lies?
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NEWSWORTHY
👑Candice Bergen’s daughter, Chloë Malle, just stepped into the impossible role: Anna Wintour’s sorta-successor at Vogue. At 39, the proud “nepo baby” wants to scrap Vogue’s monthly issues for themed, collectible editions printed on thick paper and double down on weddings, niche voices, and “childlike excitement.” Bold vision—or tone-deaf elitism? Either way, fashion’s crown just got a younger glow-up.
❤️🩹For Bruce Willis’ Wife, Real Love Means Impossible Choices. Critics can whisper all they want, but Emma Heming Willis knows caregiving isn’t about optics—it’s about survival, strength, and fierce love. She made the tough call to place husband Bruce in full-time dementia care, and the judgment? Loud and unfounded. Unless you’ve lived it, you don’t get a vote.
🍪Chocolate Chip Ice Cream’s Identity Crisis Chocolate chip walked so Cookie Two-Step could run—and now it’s getting left in the freezer aisle. Sales are down, cookie-based flavors are up. Is this the end of an era, or just a snack-size identity crisis? RIP chocolate chip.
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OUR PICKS
Watch this. Try this. Both worth your time.
🎬 Darkly Brilliant, Brilliantly Dark: The Women of Wednesday Joanna Lumley struts into Wednesday Season 2 as Grandmama Hester Frump—part velvet dagger, part wicked matriarch. She makes Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) squirm, steals Wednesday’s (Jenna Ortega) heart, and reminds us all that the closest maternal relationships don’t just embrace the abnormalities—they encourage them. Check out three generations of grim glamour now on Netflix.
⏰ Test Your Brain in 10 Minutes I tried this free online memory and attention test—and good news, my neurons are still snapping. No signup, instant scores, legit neuroscientists behind it. MindCrowd is building the largest brain-aging study ever (aiming for one million participants). See how you measure up.
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✍🏼 Are you a bold, voicey writer—or know one?
PROVOKED is now open for pitches. We’re looking for smart, fresh, unapologetic ideas that challenge cultural stereotypes, stir the pot, and elevate the conversation for women 50+. If your idea makes us laugh, gasp, or mutter “WTF?!,” we want to read it. Click through to submit and learn how to become a PROVOKED writer.
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