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Good morning,
A change of season always makes me want to hit pause. I check in on what’s working, what’s not, what needs a refresh.
This week we’re leaning into that impulse. Our Minimoir Challenge dares you to sum up your life in 18 words. I did it. It’s harder than it sounds, but oddly clarifying.
Reinvention can be as small as a sentence or as big as walking away from the myth of “having it all,” like I explore in my piece about mothers, daughters, and the cost of ambition. Or it can be as simple as rewatching The Wizard of Oz.
This season—what story do you want to tell next?
Let’s start there.
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LIVING OUT LOUD
Real stories of rewiring, relationships, and this messy, beautiful life.
BY MELISSA T. SHULTZ
Eighteen words. That’s all it takes to capture a lifetime—or at least the part that still keeps you up at night. Our new Minimoir Challenge proves that the smallest stories often hold the biggest truths. From hard-won resilience to late-in-life love to defiance and reinvention, the 23 minimoirs we’ve collected are as diverse as the lives behind them. This season of change is the perfect moment to pause, look back, and distill your own story. Read the collection.
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CULTURE
Sharp commentary on the world around us.
BY SUSAN DABBAR
“Having it all” was the rallying cry for my boomers. My daughter, a millennial — pregnant and still grinding through 100-hour weeks—calls it what it is: a lie. The myth promised balance but delivered burnout, resentment, and a lifelong juggling act. In this mother-daughter reckoning, we unpack what’s changed, what hasn’t, and why today’s women are done apologizing for wanting both ambition and intimacy. Read the full piece.
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LAUGH LINES
Humor with bite—because if we're not laughing, what are we even doing?
BY ABBY HEUGEL
Dorothy wasn’t just a wide-eyed farm girl in gingham. She was a teen who killed a witch, wrangled three hapless dudes, ignored the man wearing a bathrobe behind the curtain, and just went home. Watching The Wizard of Oz as a grown-ass woman reveals it’s less a fairy tale and more a survival manual for navigating patriarchal nonsense—with better shoes. Follow the Yellow Brick Road called midlife.
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TAKE NOTE
Timely and worth your attention.
🐒 Farewell to a Legend—Like so many of us, I grew up watching Jane Goodall in the forests with her chimps. She sparked my love for animals and curiosity about their habitats. A true trailblazer, she proved that a young woman with grit and a notebook could change the course of science. Goodall, who passed away on Wednesday at 91 while still on tour in the U.S., transformed how we understand the natural world and inspired generations to protect it.
📬 No More Paper Checks from Social Security—Wait, what? Starting this week, Social Security payments go fully digital. If you didn’t have direct deposit or a Direct Express card set up by Sept. 30, you could miss your check. The new payment schedule also shifts when you’ll see your money, based on your birthdate. Useful, annoying, inevitable—and something everyone on fixed income needs to know. Here is the full schedule for the remainder of 2025 for what's due when.
🛍️Chat-to-Cart Is Here—Shopping just slid into your chat box. ChatGPT is rolling out a new feature called Instant Checkout starting with Etsy. If you’re chatting in ChatGPT and see something to buy—a personalized mug or a quirky holiday ornament—you’ll see a Buy button in the chat. Tap it, pay once, and track your order in the new Orders tab. Dangerously easy. I checked this morning and have the Orders tab, but no Buy button yet. For now it’s Etsy, but Shopify is coming next.
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OUR PICKS
Curated reads—flirty, fierce, thoughtful, or just in need of a good story.
BY BETH KANTER
A new season calls for a new stack. Whether you’re feeling flirty, fierce, frazzled, or just craving calm, we’re circling back to one of our favorite round-ups—15 books that get your mood—and might even change it. From classics to modern favorites that make you laugh, think, or fall head over heels, this list is your perfect fall reading companion. Check out the book list that reads the room.
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BRAIN AND BODY
Wellness, emotional fitness, and what nourishes us now.
BY SHARON BRANDWEIN
Can’t sleep? You’re not alone. Between menopausal hot flashes, mental to-do lists, and that partner who’s out in three minutes flat, midlife sleep can feel like a lost cause. Enter the 10-3-2-1 method: No gadgets, no pricey supplements, just a simple countdown that could help you stop staring at the ceiling at 2:47 a.m. This isn’t another “sleep hack”—it’s surprisingly old school, but it works. Count down here.
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✍️ HELP US GET IT RIGHT
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READER SPOTLIGHT
What you said stopped us cold.
✒️ Here’s what one fabulous reader had to say this week:
"My husband and I are retired. He has no male friends. I have to make all entertainment plans. I belong to several women’s groups and enjoy the time spent with them. He feels that 'it’s just so you can go out for lunch.' He is on the internet from the time he gets up until he goes to bed. I find myself so tense because it’s ALL ME. I daydream about being alone, on my own, and think of how I would enjoy spending my time with no restrictions and resentment coming from him." — Marilyn on Mankeeping is Real—and Women Are Exhausted
Want to be featured next? Drop a comment on your favorite piece—we read them all.
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⌨️ Our newsletter and articles are written by Susan and the talented writers of PROVOKED. Get to know the women behind them here.
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