Almost 40

Creator, Actor, Producer (not gonna list everything else he does because we will be here all day), Parle Patel gets into how he got over having yesmanitis (when you say YES to everything anyone asks of you), bad behaviour from Aunty Ji's, how turning 30 during lockdown changed everything for him and why working for a mainstream media organisation wasn't the answer to all of his career related pray...

Bollywood legend Zeenat Aman posted an image of herself wearing a sweatshirt with "Aunty" sprawled across it, loud and proud asking "which genius decided Aunty is a derogatory term?" So this episode is a deep dive on the Aunty. How do women feel about being called one? When were they first called one? What does the word mean to them? Are they currently in their Aunty era? It's like an ode to all t...

Presenter, Producer and Writer, Rena Annobil checks in with the Nurse for an Almost Assessment (an almost medical assessment based on the most annoying/offensive questions women are asked on a regular basis). Rena gets into feeling an energy shift at 40, being proud of her nose, why £100 moisturisers don't work, perimenopause and more. Raj is still not over Big Flap Energy. Here's to being more Ka...

Audio Producer, Writer, Presenter and Gender + Sexuality Academic, Anouszka Tate gets into why reaching her career goals at 26 left her feeling like she was at a dead end (and she's never set goals for herself since), becoming comfortable with her masculine side and celebrating being in her 30's, unmarried and child free. Raj has mad issues with the term "settle down" and is not here for Allure tr...

Vulture called 2024 the year of MILF cinema thanks to rise of "onscreen moms climbing atop a youthful stud and running off into the sunset." We're talking Anne Hathaway in The Idea Of You, Nicole Kidman in A Family Affair, Nicole Kidman (again!) in Babygirl and the trend moving into 2025 with Renee Zellweger in the latest Bridget Jones installment (that's not a spoiler, okurrrr). Naturally Raj had...

IT'S A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! Do you dream of having the perfect "trad" Christmas? Does it ever work out that way? Raj gets into how Papa Johns saved her celebrations, why she thinks ozempic is the biggest influencer of 2024 and why she picked a Cowboy Carter Christmas over a Gavin and Stacey one. She's asked her friends to share the Christmas traditions they've kept since childhood, the traditions th...

Podcaster, Actor and soon to be Author, Salima Saxton checks in with Nurse for an Almost Assessment (a fake doctors assessment based on the most annoying/offensive questions women get asked on a regular basis). Salima gets into why she did the same degree as James Bond, smear tests, being a child bride (not really - she just married young!) and a meet cute where she did everything wrong but when t...

Your favourite (solo?) Love Island winner, Reality TV Qween, Romance Author and Swimwear Designer, Amber Rose Gill gets into the expectations vs the reality of being twenty something, friendship break-ups and moving to London from Newcastle. Did she really have a quarter life crisis? Is life different after a friendship break up? And why did she hate London when she first moved there? And - Raj ha...

Producer, DJ and one half of Panjabi Hit Squad, Rav Patti gets into the PHS origin story, navigating grief in his teens, PHS becoming the first South Asians to be signed to Def Jam and BBC 1xtra and how lockdown changed his life's course. Oh and Raj is a bad judge of character and has one major lockdown regret. Send your clubbing suggestions to: almost40thepodcast@gmail.com Follow @almost40pod @_r...

The one about the recent UK Race Riots, which were for some reason called "protests." What was being protested? How did POCs feel in the lead up to the riots and now, in the aftermath? Did we win the fight against racism? Expect to hear takes on that and an introduction to the Southall Race Riots which took place in 1979 (FYI Raj Pander is a Southall Girl and will never shut up about it). Watch De...

Radio Presenter (Gaydio), Viral Sensation and Podcaster (Fancy A Pod), Bally Singh visits the Nurse for an Almost Assessment (a fake doctors assessment based on the most annoying/offensive questions women get asked on a regular basis). Bally gets into why he has kept his age a secret (until now), his issues with people not liking his content (a like is free you know) and Tito Jackson's OBSESSION w...

Podcaster, Events + Partnerships Extraordinaire and Former Fashion Gworl, Jennie Becker (Sliding Doors Podcast) shares her top secret tip for getting into the cockpit, why treating yourself is hella important and getting her smile back. She gets into the expectations vs the reality of her life's biggest milestones so far including turning 30, quitting her dream job and starting a passion project....

Judd Apatow has mentioned that 40 year olds have a tendency to re-watch "This Is 40," so now that I'm 3 months into my 40th era, I thought why not? Join me as I figure out how turning 40 in 2012 compares to hitting that milestone in 2024. I totally forgot Leslie Mann's character was OBSESSED with telling everyone she was younger than her actual age, so I asked the squad to tell me about the times...

Award winning Podcaster, BAFTA nominated Director and Raj's soul sister Poppy Jay (Brown Girls Do It Too) steps into the Nurse's office for an Almost Assessment (a faux doctors assessment based on the most annoying/offensive questions women are asked on a regular basis). Poppy reviews 11 dating apps - including Raya, talks us through her preference for open relationships and why she is cool with b...

Entrepreneur, Viral Sensation and founder of Make Love Not Porn, Cindy Gallop schools us on why life gets better the OLDER you are, moving to New York from London for her dream job (and how to negotiate a pay rise) and the encounters that led her to start Make Love Not Porn. She talks us through her life's biggest milestones so far, including some unpredictable moments (stripping off in an intervi...

Mattel and The Design Museum are celebrating 65 years of Barbie this year. So (insert Carrie voice here) I couldn't help but wonder... what would be different for us if we grew up without Stereotypical Barbie beauty standards? And is the doll Ruth Handler created with her daughter in mind really responsible for shero worshipping blonde hair, blue eyes, and being super slim? There are rants about r...

Executive Assistant (she's an Emily, not an Andie, honey) Sara Orritt checks in with Nurse for another Almost Asessment (a fake doctors assessment where women are asked the MOST ANNOYING questions they are asked on a regular basis). Sara gets into enjoying single life, pre nups, long distance friendships and more. Raj is trying to figure out why she feels nothing for her long term celebrity crush....

Journalist, Author and Powerlifter, Poorna Bell gets into writing the South Asian representation she wants to see in her new novel This Is Fine, choosing not to have children and her thoughts on ultimatums in relationships. She talks through the expectations vs the reality of her life's biggest milestones including turning 40 and how she believed it would change her sense of style and why she thou...

Raj Pander and friends get into Bridget Jones... Is Bridge REALLY a problematic character? Surely the fuck not. Aaaannnddd she gets into Bridget's and her own relationship with her weight... So she's decided to ask herself (and her people) what their weight has held them back from. If that wasn't enough, Raj has been enlightened by the Love Island Samantha/Joey/Grace scenario that she now backs th...

This is a Taylor Swift Eras Tour SPECIAL baby! Raj is off to see TayTay in Liverpool so she's having conversations based on some of her favourite ERAS. We get into what everyone is still doing now, that they once thought they would be too old to do (we're all still feeling 22 and Red), how life would be different if we were men (shout out to The Man), our thoughts on Karma (Midnights is my favouri...

Podcaster Nikkita Beghi (Two Chickpeas In A Podcast) checks in with Nurse for her Almost Asessment (a fake doctors assessment where women are asked THE MOST ANNOYING questions they get on a regular basis). Nikkita gets into why she thinks brown men are the best kissers, her first date stories and that Sex And The City theory either known as the taxi cab theory or the bus theory (we aren't sure). R...

Radio Presenter, West London's Kris Jenner/Marketing Extraordinaire, Kirat Assi talks us through her expectations vs the reality of turning 40, celebrating surviving the "Sweet Bobby" era and why watching Neighbours is her self care ritual. She gets into some Southall history and how she handles other people's perceptions of herself. Raj has lost her voice, again. This is becoming a pattern eh? DA...

Raj Pander is phuckin 40 and she's lost her voice. It turns out that even though she wanted to do nothing for her 40th, her friends had other plans... Raj gets into the representation of women in their late 30s/early 40s in film as according to the internet, Anne Hathaway is "too hot" to play a 40 year old in The Idea Of You, even though she's 41. And apparently, being 40 means she shouldn't be we...

Celebrity Social Media Strategist, Letitia Becher heads into the surgery to take on Nurse and the Almost Assessment (a questionnaire made up of THE MOST ANNOYING questions women get asked on a regular basis). Letitia gets into unsolicited baby making advice, chess players cheating via vibrators where the sun don't shine, her worst dating stories and Raya vs Hinge. Raj finally gets the tea on botox...

Podcaster, Author and Fashion Gworl, Nicole Ocran gets into why she was convinced she was going to be with her high school boyfriend forever, wanting to lose her virginity at 18 and the expectations vs the reality of becoming a wife. She talks us through her biggest milestones, including starting Mixed Up pod with Emma Slade Edmondson. The girls reflect on why they have considered dating women. Ra...