The Women Are Plotting
Do you know how to use a rotary phone?
Worry about how much Aquanet you inhaled as a teen?
Wonder about the creative worlds of writers?
Believe belly laughs make the best ab workouts?
Seek answers to the mysteries of menopause?
Then welcome to The Women Are Plotting -- a new podcast that allows a peek into the unfiltered minds of three Gen X writers. Give us a listen. And if you like what you hear, tell your friends.
If you have a story or an idea you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at info@thewomenareplotting.com
Episodes
49 episodes
Scams & MLMs
We trade real scam stories, from a dating app crypto pitch to classic IRS impersonation calls, and pull apart the red flags scammers rely on to trigger urgency and secrecy. We also connect the dots between AI voice cloning, fake grandkid cons, ...
Cults
A cult doesn’t usually start with robes and chanting. It starts with a leader who feels magnetic, a group that promises belonging, and a subtle new rule: don’t question the story. We dig into the psychology of cult leaders, the behaviors that s...
The Books That Warped Our Young Minds
We revisit the children’s books and fairy tales that felt normal at the time and realize how many of them were basically horror stories with a moral. We connect the nightmares to bigger questions about censorship, family dynamics, and what we w...
Book Boyfriends Unmasked
We get honest, funny, and a little feral about the fictional characters who live rent-free in our heads, from Regency classics to modern fantasy heartthrobs. Along the way we name the psychology behind it, swap our most questionable crushes, an...
Dating Apps, Sex, & What We Want Now
First, we share which U.S. state tops the charts for chlamydia, gonorrhea & syphilis--a wake-up call for anyone dating in midlife. Use condoms. Be safe. Especially if you live in or are visiting the certain areas of the country! <...
Sunscreen, Botox, & Aging Gracefully
Aging gracefully sounds simple until you’re staring at a mirror, a sunscreen bottle, and a menu of “quick fixes” that all promise confidence. We get honest about what actually helps, what scares us, and what feels worth it, starting with the mo...
The Only Thing We Packed Was Chaos
Customs doesn’t pull you aside when you look healthy. They pull you aside when you look like you haven’t slept in days, you’re sweating through August heat, and you’re dragging one sad bag while trying not to throw up. We start with that moment...
Let's Talk About Penises
Penis size is one of those topics everyone jokes about and almost nobody talks about honestly, so we decided to do it out loud. We start with the basics of micropenis as a medical definition, why it’s considered rare, and what affects male geni...
Adults Acting Like Children
One missing piece of Tupperware should not feel like a five-alarm emergency, and yet somehow it can. We start with the kind of domestic “micro crisis” that turns into a full body stress response, then zoom out to the bigger question: why do adu...
You’re Not A Murderer: The Real Story Of Harm OCD
A terrifying thought flashes across your mind and instead of fading, it sticks. It replays. It mutates. It demands proof that you’re a good person. That’s the lived reality of Harm OCD, and it’s why so many people suffer in silence while the wo...
Why Do We Ghost People?
Someone can go from “texting you nonstop” to acting like you’re engaged after one date, and suddenly you’re trapped in a conversation that won’t end. That’s where ghosting, blocking, and boundaries stop being abstract ideas and become very real...
Sexual Harassment
A stranger’s hand on your body. A customer who won’t leave your register. A coworker who hides behind “just kidding.” We go there, because sexual harassment is not a rare horror story, it’s a pattern that shows up in everyday workplaces and get...
Kinks, Fetishes, And Why People Like Them
Someone asked Jane if he could saran wrap her boobs, which sets this episode's tone: honest, hilarious, and more thoughtful than you’d expect. We discuss sexual kinks and fetishes without fake shock or shame, using real experiences and real def...
Creative Writers Versus Artificial Intelligence
You can feel it happening: the internet is getting louder, flatter, and more crowded with machine-written words. So where does that leave writers who actually care about voice, craft, and meaning? Etty, Heidi, and Jane talk through the real, me...
Celebrity Close Encounters
We swap our most unforgettable celebrity close encounters, from sweet sidewalk chats to moments that feel too strange to be random. Along the way, we dig into fan etiquette and why photos can kill a real connection.• Dwayne Johnson’s no...
Accountability Is Love (Even When It Hurts)
Something shifts in a friendship—you miss a call, dodge a check-in, or quietly stop showing up—and suddenly that easy, comfortable bond has tension running underneath it. We follow that feeling straight into the messy, meaningful world of accou...
Bigfoot, Not Deer & Other Cryptids
Something is “off” in the woods, your dog freezes, and suddenly every harmless shadow has a pulse. We follow that feeling straight into the world of cryptids, starting with the perfectly named “Not Deer” and ending with the question that haunts...
Dating Profiles
We roast terrible dating photos, celebrate profiles that actually work, and trade stories about the green flags and red flags hiding in plain sight. From “naked elf on the shelf” to coachable partners and clever bios, we map the line between pl...
Sexual Mishaps
We trade outrageous, honest stories about sexual mishaps and pair them with real medical facts, hygiene guidance, and hard boundaries that keep intimacy safe and fun. From penile fractures to water-vacuum myths, we turn cringe into caution and ...
Roommates From Heaven And Hell
What if your roommate hung clown masks in the kitchen, nurtured a mold colony, or secretly read your pay stub? We dive into the relatable world of shared living—where tiny habits tell big truths—and trace the line between quirky and dangerous.&...
Why Estrogen Matters: Daisy's Story
Menopause shouldn’t feel like a mystery you solve in the dark. We pull back the curtain on overlooked symptoms and the relief many women are still told to fear—from local estrogen for UTIs and urethral irritation to transdermal estradiol that s...
Our Dating Horror Stories
Dating can sometimes be thrilling. And other times absolutely unhinged. Our wildest dating horror stories may make you laugh, cringe, and rethink your safety plan for your next first meet. We start with a hilarious “not-a-date” blin...
From Tea, Shawls, And Scrolls To Modern Drafts: How Writers Build A Process
We swap myths for methods and share the rituals, tools, and edits that actually move pages from first draft to final. From Hardy’s shawl to Hugo’s naked deadline, we strip the romance down to reliable habits, smart structure, and brave cuts.
Babysitting In The Eighties
Jane, Heidi, and Etty trade raw, funny, and unsettling babysitting stories—celebrity trivia, 80s nostalgia, grooming red flags, an axe in a basement—while tracing how babysitting moved from teen rite of passage to vetted adult work. We end with...
Burning Man Changed My Brain
Think a festival is just loud music and long lines? Try building a city from nothing, losing your tent to a dust storm, getting adopted by strangers, and watching 70,000 people cheer a sunset after the sky finally breaks. We go deep on Burning ...