Club Sandwich

If you’re caring for ageing parents and quietly thinking “I cannot keep going like this”, you’re not imagining it. Sometimes burnout is not a mindset. It’s your body calling in the debt.

Ageing Parents? You've got them, we've got you.

JOIN THE CLUB: Visit clubsandwich.community to join the tribe, access resources, and find our private Facebook community.

SEND US YOUR QUESTION: hello@clubsandwich.commun...

Ageing in an ageist society can feel confronting, especially when you are caring for older parents while navigating your own changing body, identity and future.

In this episode of Club Sandwich, Sarah Macdonald and Clubber Kerry Milligan (Gogglebox) explore how to age in an ageist culture, why invisibility can feel painful but also freeing, how body image and confidence shift over time, and how lived experience can become a so...

If you’re the sibling holding the whole system in your head and everyone else is “right behind you”… this episode is your permission slip and your playbook.

Sarah Macdonald and clinical psychologist Jo Lamble unpack sibling dynamics when you’re caring for ageing parents, including why one person becomes the default carer (and why it stays that way).

Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve g...

Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve got you.

One minute you’re living your life, and the next, you look at your parents and realise everything has changed. Whether it’s a sudden health event or a slow "crumble," navigating the aged care system while holding down everything else - work, kids, grandkids, ...

Caring for ageing parents and quietly thinking “Something’s gotta give”? Welcome. 

Because you’ve got them - and we’ve got you.

The Sandwich Generation is finally getting the conversation we deserve.

Club Sandwich is the community for those caring for ageing parents while juggling work, kids, relationships, and sanity. This is your tribe when family doesn't get it - or just isn't enough.

Hosted by...

The Sandwich Generation is finally getting the conversation we deserve.

If you're feeling the squish, our new podcast Club Sandwich is for you.  It's the community for those caring for ageing parents while juggling work, kids, relationships, and sanity. This is your tribe when family doesn't get it - or just isn't enough.

And the best news is, Agehood host and Vera.guide CEO Melissa Reader is a Clubber too - and she's handing ...

Most of us know we should talk about the end of life - but almost none of us know where to start.

In this episode, Melissa Reader is joined by Dr Ira Byock, one of the world’s leading voices in palliative care, to explore how we can live and love more fully by facing what we often avoid. A physician, author, and global advocate, Ira has spent decades reminding us that illness and dying are not just medical experiences, they&r...

What does it take to face fear, to lead with love, and to truly care for others at their most vulnerable?

In this episode of Agehood, Melissa speaks with Professor Steve Robson - former President of the AMA, doctor, and son - about the lessons he’s carried from rural Queensland to the frontlines of Australian medicine. Steve shares what jumping out of planes taught him about fear, the Christmas conversation with his mum he&rs...

When former NSW Minister Victor Dominello helped build Service NSW, he made government simpler for millions. But when his mum was diagnosed with dementia, he discovered just how broken the system still is.

In this powerful conversation, Victor shares the reality of being a son and brother in the thick of caring, the toll it’s taken on his family, and his vision for a future where bureaucracy doesn’t break us—but a...

What happens when you get the call - the one that changes everything?
Author and journalist Casey Beros found out when her dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Overnight she became organiser, advocate, and round-the-clock carer, all while parenting two young kids.

In conversation with Melissa Reader, Casey talks about the heartbreak and humour of those years, the gaps in our health system, and the unexpected strength she discove...

Kate Carnell has seen ageing and end-of-life care from every angle – as a pharmacist, as Chief Minister of the ACT, as a founding voice of Beyond Blue, and now as chair of Violet, the organisation behind Agehood. But this conversation isn’t just about policy or health systems – it’s about families, choices, and the very human side of planning for the end of life.

In this episode, Kate shares why even the mos...

When someone we love dies, our world shifts in ways we can’t always name. Too often we’re left to navigate grief without a guide, unsure of what to say, how to feel, or even what’s expected of us. Dr Emily Musgrove is a clinical psychologist who specialises in grief, loss and trauma — and while her expertise is invaluable, what makes her work so powerful is her deep understa...

Holly Ransom is best known as a globally recognised speaker, strategist, and CEO of Emergent — the woman who’s interviewed the Obamas, led a G20 Taskforce, and worked with some of the world’s biggest companies. But in this deeply personal conversation, she opens up about the loss of her beloved grandmother Dorothy — and how grief, for the first time in her life, brought her to her knees.

Holly shares the pow...

Zenith Virago is a death walker — someone who walks alongside people as they approach the end of life. For more than three decades, she’s supported individuals and families through death, grief, and everything in between — from the bedside to the burial, from the paperwork to the heartbreak. In this powerful and moving conversation, Zenith invites us to see death not as a medical event, but as a human one — ...

Geraldine Doogue is one of Australia’s most respected journalists and broadcasters. And in this episode, Geraldine reflects on losing her husband, Ian Carroll, in 2011 — and the reality of walking beside someone you love through their final chapter. She talks openly about the moments of courage, the guilt that lingers, the memories that endure, and the relief of honouring Ian’s wish to die in hospital, not at home...

This week on Agehood, we’re diving into one of the biggest, hardest, and most universal experiences we’ll ever face: death. But not in the way you might expect.

Dr Hannah Gould is a cultural anthropologist and researcher at the University of Melbourne’s DeathTech Research Network who is reimagining how we mourn, memorialise, and find meaning in the end of life. Drawing on both her academic work and personal e...

When Alex Lollback received a string of anxious late-night texts from her mum, she had no idea it would mark the beginning of a year that would upend every part of her life. As the executive producer of Ladies We Need To Talk and a mother of two, Alex was already stretched — but when her mum’s physical and mental health rapidly declined, she found herself thrust into the thick of the sandwich gene...

This week on Agehood, we’re joined by Kerry and Isabelle Silbery — the mother–daughter duo you’ll know from Gogglebox Australia. For eight seasons, they shared their lounge room (and lives) with the nation, alongside beloved family matriarch Emmie.

A few weeks ago, Emmie passed away following a long journey with dementia. In this deeply personal conversation, recorded shortly before her death, Kerry and Izzy...

This week on Agehood, we’re having the conversation that matters most—but often happens least. Dr Kathryn Mannix is one of the world’s leading voices on dying well. As a former palliative care doctor, she's sat beside thousands of people at the end of their lives—and what she's learned might just change how you live yours.

In this gentle and powerful episode, Kathryn shares the real story of what dying actua...