Medium Lady Talks

About Medium Lady Talks

Welcome to Medium Lady Talks, the podcast for burnt-out millennial moms who want to reclaim their time, energy, and joy—without the pressure of perfection. Host Erin, a working mom and mindful living advocate, shares refreshingly honest conversations and practical strategies to help you navigate motherhood, career, and self-care with medium effort. If you’re overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations and craving a more sustainable approach to life, you’re in the right place. Tune in for relatable insights on burnout recovery, self-care that actually fits your life, simplifying daily routines, and embracing imperfection with confidence. Through thought-provoking discussions, expert interviews, and personal reflections, Medium Lady Talks is your go-to resource for mindful, realistic growth—because you deserve a fulfilling life, not just a busy one. Let’s ditch the guilt, redefine success, and find joy in the small moments. Follow Erin on Instagram @medium.lady and start your journey to a more intentional, balanced life today.

Publisher

Erin Vandeven

Category

business · education · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 Mar 2021

Latest episode

12 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

215 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Sept 2026

   Episode 185: September Self-Care Capsule: "Trust Yo'Self!"

   It’s September, and if your feed has convinced you it’s time to “lock in” for the last four months of the year, this one’s for you. Erin checks in after a wildly overstimulating (in a good way) summer and names the low-grade insecurity that crept back in once the goal-tracking stopped. The antidote isn’t a new framework — it’s trusting herself. She’s calling this season Trust Yo’Self, a riff on Parks and Recreation’s Treat Yourself and this year’s word of the year, sovereign, and walks through her September self-care capsule across four buckets: read, rest, play, and think. What we talk about Where September’s “back to school” energy and the viral Great Lock In trend actually come from — and why they inflate ordinary goal-setting into pressure The insecurity that crept in after losing momentum on tracking since Episode 182 with Stephanie Cunningham Trusting two decades of lived experience (20 years at SickKids, 20 years married) over internet expertise Read: recommitting to a diverse TBR after drifting from a 45% goal down to about 35% Rest: physical (17-minute naps), mental (dance workouts), emotional (leaning into the songs that make her cry), and sensory (phone boundaries) rest for the fall Play: a nail polish capsule turned watercolor palette turned playlist turned September wardrobe Think: the mantra anchoring the month — “Trust yourself. You already have what you need to do what you want.” Frameworks & mentions The Great Lock In — the viral trend framing September–December as a final push before the new year Read / Rest / Play / Think — Erin’s self-care capsule buckets for the month Word of the year: Sovereign Books & music mentioned The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden “Wizard and I” from the Wicked soundtrack Episodes & links mentioned Episode 182: What Happens When You Track the Simple Stuff? with Stephanie Cunningham — listen here Episode 115: Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Survive September — listen here Episode 81: September Self-Care Guide: Overcoming Resistance to Change — listen here The “Wizard and I” reel that inspired this episode’s emotional rest bucket — @darlowbarlow on Instagram Connect with Erin Instagram: @medium.lady Email: mediumladytalks@gmail.com More book content on Medium Lady Reads — Instagram: @mediumladyreads

2. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Episode 184: I Finished A Book: Culpability vs. Co-Intelligence: What Fiction and Nonfiction Teach Us About AI

   This summer I read two books back to back — one fiction, one nonfiction — and they ended up talking to each other in a way I couldn't have planned. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger is a family drama about an autonomous vehicle accident and the AI-ethicist mother whose secret work sits at the center of it. Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick is the clear-eyed, cautiously optimistic case for engaging with AI as a co-worker, co-teacher, and coach. I used my Claude enabled book-club wheel widget to pull questions from both, and we get into culpability, cultural conditioning, the heat and chaos of this AI moment, and a very fun casting call — plus a real-time gut check on the Meta settlement news that broke the same week. What We Cover Why this episode doubles as entry five of the AI for the Rest of Us series, and the identity growing pains behind that Book summaries: Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (fiction) and Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick (nonfiction) Why Mollick's framing — treating readers as intelligent tool-users rather than potential AI "idiots" — landed differently than most AI commentary The Meta settlement: the company's agreement to pay about $18 billion to resolve a multistate lawsuit over addictive platform design and harm to young users, and what it might signal for coming AI regulation Ideas & Frameworks "I'm one of the good guys" — the culpability question at the heart of the novel: how much moral cover does good intent provide when you're the one building the tool. Mollick's core reminder from Co-Intelligence: today's AI models are the "worst" they will ever be — a line that cuts both ways, optimist or not. Weather and storm as recurring image in Culpability — oppressive heat driving knee-jerk, binary reactions to AI; the book's real ask is to look past output ("is it good or bad") toward where decisions are actually being made. Books Mentioned Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (fiction, 2025) Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick (nonfiction, 2024)

3. 

   10 Aug 2026

   Episode 183 Kinda Chic to Have a Podcast: What Can this Summer Trend Teach Us about Mindset?

   Everyone's feed said "kinda chic" this summer — Drew Barrymore's was, Reese Witherspoon's was, Priyanka Chopra's was too. In this solo episode, Erin traces the "kinda chic" trend from its quiet April 2026 origins on Instagram to its full celebrity-mainstream moment in August, unpacks why a three-word phrase gave so many women an "exhale" they didn't know they needed, and pulls the practice apart into two distinct emotional moves — savoring and guilt-neutralizing — that listeners can use whether or not they ever post a word of it. Part trend breakdown, part values practice: media observation and permission slip in one. What Is the "Kinda Chic" Trend? The "kinda chic" trend is a 2026 Instagram and TikTok format where people caption a photo or moment with "kinda chic to..." or "feels kind of chic to...," followed by something that doesn't fit the traditional, expensive definition of chic — a curvy body, an unglamorous home, an unfashionable habit, an ordinary routine. Instead of chic-as-exclusivity, the trend redefines chic as self-acceptance: whatever quietly makes you feel like yourself, said out loud, on purpose. Where Did "Kinda Chic" Start? The earliest post Erin traced is from April 2026, by Australian body-positivity influencer Maria Begins, who posted lines like "kinda chic being a curvy woman and actually liking it" and "kinda chic growing a human, giving birth, and wearing the aftermath like couture." The trend spread through May and June around body image, then expanded into money and even politics by July, picking up some backlash along the way for creators stretching the format past its original spirit. By August, it was fully mainstream: Drew Barrymore's carousel ("kinda chic to be in your fifties," "kinda chic to take your dog with you everywhere you go") hit six figures in likes within days. Reese Witherspoon followed with her own list ("kinda chic to be underestimated," "kinda chic to cheer on other women," "kinda chic to start a book club"). Priyanka Chopra posted an extensive list of her own — including "kinda chic to meet your husband at the Met Gala" — with a caption that closed the loop entirely: "kinda chic to hate this trend." Erin traces the deeper roots even further back — to a May 2025 TikTok moment where creator Tara Colleen posted a gatekeeping "things I find incredibly unchic" list, judging other women's style choices. The backlash to that video — essentially, "who gets to decide what's chic?" — simmered for the better part of a year before resurfacing as the "kinda chic" carousel format by April 2026. All told, roughly an 11-to-12-month cultural cycle from gatekeeping to reclamation. Why Did the Trend Get So Popular? The format works because it offers relief, not information. A private, often shame-adjacent thought gets relabeled as a deliberate, aspirational choice instead of a failing — and the comment section does the rest, with strangers confirming "same" or "you're allowed," turning a private admission into public permission. Content strategist Rachel Holt, whose breakdown of the format Erin references in this episode, describes the trend's core mechanic simply: it takes something you quietly feel bad about and turns it into a choice. Is the Trend Already Over? By August 2026, the format had turned recursive — Priyanka Chopra's own caption joking "kinda chic to hate this trend" is, in Erin's words, the moment "the snake has captured its own tail." Self-parody at that scale is usually a late-stage signal, and Erin notes her own feed already feels "more kind of than chic." Key Ideas From This Episode Chic has always required an observer. Historically bestowed by wealth, taste, or proximity to the right rooms — the trend didn't remove the gatekeeper, it just moved permission from a small cultural elite to the algorithm. Two distinct moves live inside the same three words. Savoring (noticing something already good — Erin's daily dog walk) and guilt-neutralizing (relabeling something

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 64 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

78

Social presence

94

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact Medium Lady Talks

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Medium Lady Talks