Podcast · Health

On the Mones

On the Mones is where pharmacist, menopause myth-buster, and accidental midlife icon Kate Thomas breaks down the chaos of hormones, perimenopause, aging, wellness woo, and the medical misinformation flooding your feed. Equal parts science and sass, Kate gives you evidence-based clarity with zero

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 30 min
Latest: 28 Sep 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

28 Sep 2026 · 31 min

Stronger at 49: Running, Hormones and ADHD

It’s my 49th birthday, and I’m feeling stronger than I did a year ago. After a family weekend at the Lonely Mountain Ultra, I’m reflecting on what it felt like to run my strongest race there yet, watch my children take on their own distances, and meet my husband at the finish of his 100-kilometre run. I’m also thinking about my friend, who kept going through a very tough day, and about the strength middle-aged women carry in all sorts of ways. From there, I turn to a question many women have ...

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

28 Aug 2026 · 34 min
When Your Team Lets You Down
This week’s On the Mones is a little different. After a deeply disappointing week for Sydney Swans supporters, I wanted to talk about what happens when a club you’ve believed in, and whose values you thought reflected your own, lets you down. I’ve always bought into the idea that the Swans had a different kind of culture: one that respected women, welcomed the queer community and stood for something beyond football. So the recent scandal has felt surprisingly personal. But I also don’t want t...
16 Aug 2026 · 22 min
Are We All in This Phone Call Now?
I’m having coffee with my friends Sue and Richard, which means we inevitably end up discussing the important social questions of our time. Like: if you’re sitting in a quiet nail salon and another client is having a very loud phone conversation, are the rest of us now part of the call? Nothing she was saying was particularly private, but suddenly I, my nail technician and hers were all unwilling participants. Is that rude? Is it particularly rude to the nail technician, who can’t exactly get ...
24 Jul 2026 · 41 min
SmartMonesZone The Calibrate Coffee Edition
What happens when On the Mones, Why Smart Women and The Skeptic Zone all end up around the same café table? You get Smart Moans Zone. Recorded at Calibrate Coffee, we’re joined by our very special guest Dr Angie from Atlanta, USA, for a conversation that somehow manages to cover cutting-edge medicine, pseudoscience, social etiquette and Australia’s noisiest birds. In this episode we chat about: The recent Four Corners investigation into peptides, including Dr Norman Swan’s reporting on the ra...
3 Jul 2026 · 37 min
Looksmaxxing, Menopause and Taking a Hammer to Your Jaw
Recorded in the car with Annie, this episode begins with a very important question: why is Kate wearing a star-shaped pimple patch on her forehead? The answer leads us into testosterone treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder, hormonal changes through menopause, and the potential role of menopausal hormone therapy and testosterone replacement for appropriately selected women. Then we enter the strange world of looksmaxxing: soft maxxing, hard maxxing, Botox, injectables, plastic surge...
26 Jun 2026 · 36 min
Heaven on a Stick: Misinformation, Uncertainty and Sausage Fingers
In this episode, I sit down with my friend Annie to talk about misinformation in science and healthcare and why the most confident explanation is not always the most accurate one. We unpack the difference between misinformation and disinformation, the idea of “inoculating” people against misleading claims, and why becoming more comfortable with uncertainty might actually make you happier. We also talk about what science really is: not a fixed collection of facts, but a process of testing clai...
19 Jun 2026 · 32 min
Can You Market Medicine Without Losing Trust? Part 2
In Part 2 of my conversation with my dad, former marketing professor Graham Dowling, we turn to a deceptively difficult question: how do you market medicine? We talk about the decline of trust in medicine and mainstream media, why people often struggle to interpret numbers and risk, and how the same data can appear to tell very different stories depending on how it is analysed or presented. We also explore an uncomfortable tension inside community pharmacy: tightly regulated medicines are sup...
12 Jun 2026 · 28 min
Can Medicine Compete with Big Wellness? Part 1
In part one of this conversation, I’m joined by Professor Graham Dowling; former professor of marketing at the Australian Graduate School of Management and Macquarie Graduate School of Management, branding expert, and my dad. We talk about what “big wellness” actually means, how health has expanded from something purely physical into something mental, emotional and social, and why wellness marketing has become so powerful. We also explore whether evidence-based medicine has a marketing proble...
5 Jun 2026 · 24 min
Kate And Annie on Immunity. Can You Really Knock a cold on the head? And what is an appropriate amount of butter?
In this episode, pharmacist Kate Thomas is joined by Annie McCubbin from the Why Smart Women podcast to unpack the myths, marketing and medicine behind cold and flu season. Together, they explore what the evidence really says about popular cold and flu remedies, including vitamin C, zinc, echinacea, andrographis, pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine. They discuss: • Can you actually shorten a cold? • Do “immune boosters” work, and do we even want a boosted immune system? • The role o...
29 May 2026 · 51 min
A Day in the Life of a Medical Oncologist
Most people think oncology is about chemotherapy. In reality, it’s also about uncertainty, teamwork, difficult conversations, and helping people navigate some of the hardest moments of their lives. In this episode, Kate talks to her husband David, a medical oncologist with more than 20 years of experience, about what the job actually looks like behind the scenes. They discuss multidisciplinary team meetings, treatment decisions, palliative care, the emotional weight of the work, and why cance...
22 May 2026 · 37 min
Bread & Butter Sex Deserves Better PR! Part 2 with Georgina Whelan from Sexual Psychology
Part 2 of my conversation with sex therapist Georgina Whelan and we’re talking about the stuff people rarely say out loud about sex in long-term relationships. What is “bread and butter sex” and why does it probably deserve better PR? Why people need a transition phase between everyday life and intimacy? And why do we expect ourselves to go from work emails, school lunches, dishes, stress and Antiques Roadshow… straight into feeling spontaneously sexy? In this episode we talk about: - des...
15 May 2026 · 29 min
Libido, The Ick & The Sexual Scripts We Never Questioned | Georgina Whelan Part 1
What actually is libido? Why do so many couples end up with mismatched desire? And why are so many people quietly convinced their relationship is the only one struggling with sex? In part one of this conversation, I sit down with Georgina Whelan from Sexual Psychology to talk about the reality of sex and desire in long-term relationships without the cringe, the wellness fluff, or the unrealistic movie version of intimacy. Georgina shares her journey from mental health nursing into sex t...
8 May 2026 · 41 min
Creatine, Nicotine & Big Wellness: Where the Science Ends
This week on On the Mones, Kate sits down with Annie McCubbin for a conversation about what happens when real science collides with wellness marketing. They unpack: why creatine isn’t just for gym broshow creatine actually works in muscle and in the brainwhat the evidence does, and doesn’t show for cognitionwhy “mechanism” is not the same thing as “proof”They also dive into the growing online claims that nicotine is a cure for dementia: how nicotine acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptorswh...
1 May 2026 · 31 min
Jean Kittson (Part 2): Midlife, Money, Hormones and having a Libido for Yourself
In Part 2 of my conversation with Jean Kittson, we get into the real mechanics of midlife, beyond the punchlines (although there are still plenty of those). We talk about the juggle of full-time work, mortgages, and the mental load of budgeting in a phase of life that’s meant to feel “settled”… but often doesn’t. Jean shares her perspective on working in midlife; what shifts, what matters more, and what we’re no longer willing to tolerate. We dive into perimenopause. The symptoms you expect, ...
24 Apr 2026 · 33 min
Jean Kittson (Part 1): From Shy Kid to Comedy Icon - Accidents, ADHD & Independence
In Part 1 of this conversation, I sit down with one of Australia’s most loved comedians, Jean Kittson, to explore the unexpected path that shaped her life and career. We start at the beginning, a shy child growing up in a family where her dad’s love of comedy, gags, and joke-shop tricks quietly set the tone for what was to come. Jean shares how she “fell” into drama almost by accident, thanks to a drama teacher at her high school. From there, we dive into her early work teaching drama in disa...
17 Apr 2026 · 36 min
Turning 18: Feeling “Whelmed” - Episode 18
In this special episode, Kate sits down with her daughter Audrey on the week of her 18th birthday. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by adulthood, or underwhelmed by the milestone, Audrey describes herself as simply “whelmed.” They talk about what turning 18 actually means today: the excitement of voting for the first time, the freedom to walk into an over-18 venue (even if you choose not to), and the strange mix of independence and expectation that comes with being a young adult in 2026. From ...
10 Apr 2026 · 30 min
From the Kitchen to the Moon: Women, Choice, and the Tradwife Myth
In this episode of On the Mones, Kate reflects on what it means to grow up as a young woman today as her daughter Audrey turns eighteen and prepares to vote for the first time. Named after Kate’s grandmother, born in 1925, Audrey represents three generations of women who have lived through enormous social change. From marriage bars that forced women out of the workforce, to the feminist movements that fought for economic independence and voting rights, the freedoms women have today were hard-...
3 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Things I Think About When I Think About Running (and Morphine)
This episode starts on a Sydney oval before sunrise. Kate reflects on her weekly Wednesday run, the quiet rituals of turning up, the characters who share the track, the sociology of shared spaces, and the reminder that the ability to move your body is never something to take for granted. From there, the conversation moves into medicine. After watching The Pitt, Kate unpacks a common myth about morphine in palliative care, the persistent idea that opioids given at the end of life hasten death....
27 Mar 2026 · 30 min
Mind, Body, Wallet: A Field Trip Through the Wellness Industry
In this special field-trip episode of On the Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas heads to the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in Sydney to explore one of the most fascinating corners of the modern wellness economy. Between handmade pottery and beeswax candles are stalls offering EMF harmonisers, orgone energy devices, pet psychics, structured frequency water, cannabinoid oils and crystal healing. Some of it is beautiful. Some of it is harmless fun. And some of it makes some very ambitious claims about ...
20 Mar 2026 · 22 min
Can Yoga Actually Help Menopause Symptoms? | A Peri-odical Review
Can yoga, Pilates, tai chi and breathwork actually help menopause symptoms, or are we all just stretching our way through the placebo effect? In this first official Peri-odical Review, pharmacist Kate Thomas looks at the evidence behind mind-body exercise in perimenopause and menopause. What does the research actually show, where do these practices genuinely help, and where does wellness culture get a little ahead of itself? In Episode 14 of On the Mones, Kate covers: Whether yoga and similar...
13 Mar 2026 · 26 min
Breath, Beach & Biology: Talking Hormones with Women Rebuilding Their Lives
In Episode 13 of On the Mones, Kate shares a recording from a special event held with women from a women's shelter. The day began with breathwork and mindfulness overlooking the ocean, a moment to pause, breathe and arrive. For some of the women attending, simply leaving the shelter and coming to the event took enormous courage. Kate then spoke about hormones, perimenopause and what is actually happening in women's bodies during midlife. From estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to sleep, ...
6 Mar 2026 · 28 min
Difficult Women, Hot Flushes & Perimenopause Around the World
In Episode 12 of On the Mones, Kate explores a word many women recognise instantly: difficult. Recently Australian activist and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame was described publicly as difficult after speaking out politically. Whether or not you agree with her views, the label landed because women everywhere know that word. The one that appears when women stop being agreeable. Kate reflects on her own experience navigating leadership, advocacy and midlife reinvention, including the ...
27 Feb 2026 · 28 min
Breast Awareness, Vaginal Dryness & GSM: Menopause Screening and Treatment Explained
In Episode 11 of On the Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas sits down with Dr Sarah Farrell, GP and principal of Sydney Women's Wellness, to tackle two major midlife health topics that do not get nearly enough honest airtime: breast awareness and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). On breast awareness, Kate and Dr Farrell cover: What breast awareness actually means today and how it differs from formal breast cancer screeningHow to know when to see your GP about a breast change or lumpBreast ...
20 Feb 2026 · 27 min
Mum Is In Perimenopause, Send Help
My first baby turns 21. So naturally, I sat him down with a microphone and asked him to explain perimenopause to the boys. What does a 21-year-old man think hormones are? Do young men talk about menopause? If boys had menopause, what would happen? There are one-word answers. There are finish-the-sentence confessions. And somewhere in there, a mother realising her son is now a man. Then Episode 10 of On the Mones turns to the reassuring comfort of biology with a clear, evidence-based mastercla...
13 Feb 2026 · 25 min
Reinvention Is a Permission Slip (Plus Testosterone, Drive & the DHEA Trap)
Midlife reinvention isn’t glossy, curated, or hashtag-friendly. It happens while you’re still paying bills, packing lunches, and doing the work you already know how to do. In this episode of On the ’Mones, I reflect on standing on stage at a menopause education event in Sydney and asking myself a quiet but clarifying question: How did I get here? Not because I suddenly became more qualified, but because I finally gave myself permission to be visible. We talk about reinvention as access, privi...
6 Feb 2026 · 23 min
Bodies on the Beach, Brains on High Alert Confidence, Clonidine & the Quiet Judgments of Midlife
Recorded on holiday in Hawaii, this episode of On the Mones starts on a beach and ends deep inside the nervous system. Watching her adult children in the surf, Kate reflects on bodies, confidence, ageing, and the subtle way awareness changes how we move through the world. From instinctive confidence to emerging caution, from physical capability to perimenopausal vigilance, this episode explores what happens when experience collides with embodiment, and how generational mirrors quietly hold us...
30 Jan 2026 · 31 min
Comfort Is Not Evidence - SSRIs, Hot Flushes, and the Perimenopause Anxiety Trap
What if the thing that makes you feel safest… isn’t actually helping you? In this episode of On the Mones, Kate unpacks a deceptively simple idea with enormous consequences: comfort is not evidence. It starts with a respectful but confronting comment thread on a debunking video about naturopathy, vulnerability, and communication. From there, the conversation widens into something much bigger: why women in midlife are so often sold reassurance instead of rigour, validation instead of verificat...
23 Jan 2026 · 27 min
Periods Gone Rogue - Bleeding, Belief and the Biology of Midlife
A ninety-year-old man walks into a community pharmacy, forgets his wallet… and pays for his prescriptions with Chaucer. A stranger steps in with quiet generosity. And somehow, that moment lodges, deeper than it would have twenty-five years ago. If you’ve noticed that things land differently in midlife, emotions linger longer, moments feel heavier, meaning matters more, you’re not imagining it. And if, at the same time, your periods have gone completely off the rails - heavier, closer together...
16 Jan 2026 · 32 min
The Perimenopause Brain: Estrogen, Brain Fog, Libido, ADHD & Why You’re Not Losing Your Mind
In this episode of On the ’Mones, Kate Thomas, pharmacist, midlife woman, and professional oversharer, tackles one of the most distressing and misunderstood parts of perimenopause: what’s actually happening to your brain. If you’ve found yourself forgetting words, losing focus, feeling anxious “for no reason,” questioning whether you suddenly have ADHD in your 40s, or quietly Googling early-onset dementia at 2am, this episode is for you. Because here’s the truth: You are not stupid. You are n...
9 Jan 2026 · 25 min
Testosterone: Confidence, Libido, and the Death of People-Pleasing
Is testosterone really making women “ragey”… or is it just giving us fewer f*$ks to give? Or is it all down to age and experience? In Episode 4 of On the ’Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas dives into one of the most misunderstood hormones in women’s health: testosterone. Along the way, she unpacks a petty (and infuriating) pharmacy encounter that sparks a much bigger conversation about boundaries, ageing, assertiveness, and how much bad behaviour women in healthcare are expected to tolerate. This...

About On the Mones

On the Mones is a English health podcast from Kate. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Kate
Language: English
Category: Health
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 30 min
Latest episode: 28 Sep 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1862699491

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