# Dr. Maria Sophocles on sexual health in midlife and beyond Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health-in-midlife-and-beyond Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health-in-midlife-and-beyond.md Podcast: [Firestarters with Shannon Watts](https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386) Published: 2026-02-09T17:46:52+00:00 Episode link: https://shannonwatts.substack.com/p/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/187405647/a531c3051523cd1f038adacf811d1ed9.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/episodes/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health-in-midlife-and-beyond Duration seconds: 1756 ## Resource Dr. Maria Sophocles is a board-certified OB/GYN and a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner. She is a nationally recognized thought leader in menopause and female sexual function, and a frequent panelist and speaker for women’s health advocacy, investment, and policy. She is also the author of The Bedroom Gap: Rewrite the Rules and Roles of Sex in Mid Life (available on February 10th), which offers a roadmap for midlife women, couples, clinicians and anyone wanting to understand – and change – how we age, sexually speaking. In this conversation, we discussed why sex ed in schools needs to be revamped, how menopause can impact your sex life (and how to talk to your partner and doctor about it!), how resources like hormone replacement therapy and vaginal estrogen can help women in menopause, and we dispelled myths about sex and aging. Connect with Maria: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | TED Talk In case you missed it, read my essay on why women in midlife are having the best sex of their lives. For women ready to stop living on autopilot and playing it small, Fired Up will show you how to shatter your self imposed limitations and unleash your potential so you can finally start living the life you’ve always wanted. Click to order. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/episodes/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health-in-midlife-and-beyond/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/firestarters-with-shannon-watts-6727386/dr-maria-sophocles-on-sexual-health-in-midlife-and-beyond.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.