Club Sandwich
The Sandwich Generation finally gets 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 veteran broadcaster Sarah Macdonald, Club Sandwich features clinical psychologists instead of life coaches, GPs instead of gratitude journals, and honest conversations about the relief-guilt paradox nobody else will touch. Episodes include: 🔧 This Week's Hack - Actionable strategy you can use today 💌 Listener Letter - Real questions from Clubbers like you 🔥 Hot Mess Moments - Stories that make you feel less alone 🛠️ What We're Using - Resources and tools that actually help Meet the regular Clubbers: Melissa Reader - CEO of Vera aged care platform (vera.guide) and expert on Australia's ageing crisis and system failures. Dr. Jo Lamble - Clinical psychologist specializing in guilt, family dynamics, and the impossible decisions when every option has a cost. Dr. Ginny Mansberg - GP and women's health advocate who tells it straight about what caregiving does to your body. Dr. Stephanie Ward - Geriatrician and consulting expert for ABC's Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds, helping you understand when "old" becomes a crisis—and when it doesn't. Kerry Milligan - Gogglebox Australia star bringing humor, honesty, and hard-won perspective to impossible family situations. No bubble baths. No bullshit. Just expert-led, community-first support for people who don't need another thing to feel bad about not doing. Club Sandwich is more than a podcast - it's a movement. Join our private Facebook community, attend live events across Australia, and access free downloadable resources with every episode. New episodes every Thursday. Visit clubsandwich.community to join the tribe. Topics covered: Caregiver guilt, sibling conflict, dementia care, financial planning, legal issues, family boundaries, burnout prevention, end-of-life decisions, self-care that actually works, navigating aged care systems, and the emotional toll of caring for ageing parents. Credits Club Sandwich is brought to you by Vera, helping families caring for ageing parents navigate this stage of life — so you don't have to do it alone. Sarah Macdonald - Host + Executive Producer Melissa Reader - Commissioning Editor, Executive Producer + Clubber Rachel Fountain - Executive Producer Audio + video edits by Fountain Media Group Thanks and kudos to Sean Wayland for our awesome theme music Club Sandwich - hear more from Sean at seanwayland.com
Episodes
Most of us have a conversation we keep avoiding – about ageing, about more help at home, about dying. In this week's episode, recorded live in Sydney, palliative care physician Dr Kathryn Mannix shows us how to have that tender conversation.
Recorded live at our Stay For Supper event, Sarah Macdonald sits down with Dr Kathryn Mannix — global campaigner, author of With the End in Mind and Listen, and palliative ca...
Dementia is the leading cause of death in Australia, and a lot of what we believe about it is making things worse. This week, meet the man who moved in. Ageing parents? You've got them. We've got you.
JOIN THE CLUB: Visit https://clubsandwich.community to join the tribe, access resources, and find our private Facebook community.
SEND US YOUR QUESTION: hello@clubsandwich.community
In this episode:
Our youngest guest yet. At 21...
Sarah Macdonald and Bianca Dye on caring solo for a mum with dementia when you have no kids and no siblings to share the load – and why "I don't have children" doesn't disqualify you from the sandwich generation.
This week Sarah Macdonald is joined by broadcaster Bianca Dye: an only child, with no kids of her own, and the sole carer for her 81-year-old mum, who has Alzheimer's-form dementia.
Bianca keeps apologising fo...
Ageing parents? You've got them. We've got you.
This week Sarah Macdonald is joined by Dr Joanne Bennett from the Australian Catholic University, designer of the upcoming 'Thriving Without Driving' program, to unpack one of the most loaded conversations in the sandwich generation: taking the keys.
Together they map the three kinds of older drivers (the acceptors, the reluctants and the resistors), why stopping drivin...
Former NSW Premier Bob Carr on losing his wife Helena, and the year of grief that followed. A long, honest conversation about bereavement.
Ageing parents? You've got them. We've got you.
In 2023, Bob Carr's wife Helena died of an aneurysm in his arms in Vienna, after a night at the opera. She'd been his constant companion for more than 50 years. The former NSW Premier and Foreign Minister has written about it in his book, Bring Bac...
86% of us never have this conversation with our ageing parents. So we built you a way in. Free guide at https://putthekettleon.com.au — and a podcast episode to walk you through it. Ageing parents? You've got them. We've got you.
JOIN THE CLUB: Visit https://clubsandwich.community to join the tribe, access resources, and find our private Facebook community.
SEND US YOUR QUESTION: hello@clubsandwich.community
In this episod...
Sandwich-generation carers don't get a holiday — not even on Mother's Day. 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.community
In this episode:
The Conversation: Sarah Macdonald and clinical psychologist Jo Lamble unpack the relationship shift nobody wa...
If a glass of wine has become your shortcut from caregiving stress to “I can finally exhale”, this episode is for you.
Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve got you.
JOIN THE CLUB: Visit https://clubsandwich.community to join the tribe, access resources, and find our private Facebook community.
SEND US YOUR QUESTION: hello@clubsandwich.community
In this episode:
The Conversation: Sarah Macdonald and Melissa...
Trying to work out aged care in Australia before you are forced into it? This episode is your practical starting point. Sarah Macdonald and Linda Mellors break down how aged care works, what My Aged Care actually does, when to start, what home care packages mean, and how to make early decisions that can save families stress later.
Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve got you.
In this episode
The Conversation: Sarah...
Are your parents living longer, but not necessarily living well? In this episode, Sarah Macdonald talks with author Lucinda Holdforth about the private thoughts many carers have but rarely say out loud: what happens when old age stretches on, frailty deepens, dementia changes the person you love, and the caring role starts to swallow your own life.
Ageing par...
Worried about an ageing parent ending up in hospital? Caring from another city or another country? In this episode, Sarah Macdonald and Matt Preston talk about dementia, sibling guilt, hospital overwhelm, aged care delays, and why the smartest move is to plan earlier than feels necessary. Matt also reflects on the personal experience behind his current TV work on dementia: supporting his mum through the disease before she passed aw...
If your parent is ageing and still saying “I’m fine”, this episode is your nudge to stop waiting for crisis. Sarah Macdonald and Gogglebox's Kerry Milligan talk about the conversations families avoid until it is too late: downsizing, wills, advanced care directives, aged care, death planning and the cost of denial.
Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve got you.
JOIN THE CLUB: Visit clubsandwich.commun...
Feeling guilty all the time? Guilty you are not doing enough for your parent. Guilty you are not present enough for your kids, your partner or your job. Guilty for wanting a break. Guilty for even thinking this is all too much.
In this episode, Sarah Macdonald is joined by clinical psychologist Jo Lamble to tackle one of the biggest emotional burdens of sandwich generation life: guilt. They unpack the difference between guilt and r...
When your mum or dad insists everything is fine, but you can see the fall risk, the spoiled food, the missed cues and the slow slide, it can make you feel like you’re losing your mind. This episode is for the daughter who’s being called bossy when what she really is, is exhausted, worried, and carrying too much.
Ageing parents? You’ve got them. We’ve got you.
JOIN THE CLUB: Visit clubsandwich.community to jo...
They want to stay home. The hard part is making that possible.
In this episode, Sarah Macdonald and Melissa Reader talk about one of the biggest questions families face: how do you help an ageing parent stay at home for as long as possible, without waiting for a fall, a hospital stay or a full-blown crisis? They cover the emotional pull of home, the practical reality of care, and the steps that matter most if you want to plan early...
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.
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