TueNight 10: Kate Hanley

Age: 49. I actually enjoy saying the number because in my mind I’m already telling myself I’m 50 in preparation; but I’ve still got seven months of my 40s left, dammit!

Quick Bio: Kate is the host of the podcast “How to Be a Better Person” and author of the book of the same name. She lives in Providence, RI with her husband, two kids, and a rescue dog named Cookie.

Beyond the Bio: “The thing I love the most about full-on middle age is losing the compulsion to have people like me and speaking up; the thing that trips me out is all the things you thought would never happen to you, happening to you: crepey skin, thinning hair, a new sun spot every week, needing reading glasses, developing a wattle, feeling time speed up. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I’m like, “who is that?” But, hey, I’m younger than I’ll ever be, and I’m fairly healthy. I appreciate these things immensely and really try not to take them for granted.” 

1. On the nightstand: A selenite crystal wand (for cleansing; lots and lots of cleansing) and a quartz pendulum (for universal guidance), a tiny battery-operated clock with a button you press to turn the light on so you can tell what time it is at 2 a.m. without having the numbers blaring at you all night; pens; reading glasses; a lamp; stacks of books, which at the moment include How to Be an Anti-Racist, Listful LivingThe Testaments, and Wild Bird (my 11 yo daughter’s favorite book she wants me to read); two different sleep masks; dust.

2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Not doing things I don’t want to do. Bringing my dog along on car rides around town. Reading. Hating group texts. Snuggling my kids at bedtime even though they’re older because that’s when they tell me what’s really on their minds.

3. Jam of the minute: Terry Gross. It’s a damn travesty that I am just not listening to much music in my life except in the car, where it’s either Top 40 radio (my one beef with Providence is that our radio is decidedly meh), or ancient CDs.

4. Thing I miss: Writing and receiving letters; having weekend days with nothing in particular to do.

5. 80s crush: First it was a toss up between Gopher and Isaac on The Love Boat. Later it was David Addison on Moonlighting. And of course, throughout it all (and to this day), Prince.

6. Current crush: Elizabeth Warren. And I’m still not over the hot priest from Fleabag.

7. Will whine about: Being menopausal during the Trump era. It just feels like insult to injury. Also, bad hair days.

8. Will wine about: Now that it’s fall, pinot noir. Although I’m having a problematic relationship with wine lately, in that if I have more than one glass, I wake up in the middle of the night for a few hours, but after I have one glass I think it’s a really great idea to have another. So I guess I will also whine about that.

9. Best thing that happened recently: I launched a podcast! (See above.)

10. Looking forward to: Getting some a-holes out of office in 2020; bidding my period adieu; inspiring more people to be better people; figuring out how to monetize my podcast; turning 50 — I’d rather be at the dawn of a new era than at the tail end of an old one.

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