# From War Zone to Rom Com: Divorce, Midlife Love, Menopause & Life-Affirming Friendship with Deborah Copaken Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056/from-war-zone-to-rom-com-divorce-midlife-love-menopause-life-affirming-friendship-with-deborah-copaken Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056/from-war-zone-to-rom-com-divorce-midlife-love-menopause-life-affirming-friendship-with-deborah-copaken.md Podcast: [Private Parts Unknown: Sex & Love Around the World](https://stenobird.com/podcast/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056) Published: 2026-02-04T13:30:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/claritaspod.com/measure/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/EDGY4114420583.mp3?updated=1770162057 Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/claritaspod.com/measure/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/EDGY4114420583.mp3?updated=1770162057 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056/episodes/from-war-zone-to-rom-com-divorce-midlife-love-menopause-life-affirming-friendship-with-deborah-copaken Duration seconds: 2290 ## Resource Save 10% on your next Fleshlight with promo code 10PRIVATE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fleshlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For the 245th episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and screenwriter Deborah Copaken. A former war correspondent turned chronicler of intimacy, Deborah has spent her career examining what it means to choose love over conflict and what it's like to be a woman in a world hostile to women. In this interview, Deborah reflects on finding the greatest love of her life at 56, navigating a relationship shaped by Alzheimer’s caregiving, and what motherhood has given her. She also talks candidly about midlife women's health and her life-affirming friendship with Nora Ephron. For more from today's guest, Deborah Copaken: Buy Deborah's book ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ladyparts Subscribe to Deborah's Substack, Lady Parts deborahcopaken.substack.com/welcome Check out Deborah's website www.deborahcopaken.com Get your copy of Girl Gone Wild from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Psst, Courtney has an 0nIyFan$, which is a horny way to support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/cocopeepshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Private Parts Unknown is a proud member of the Pleasure Podcast network. This episode is brought to you by: Beducated brings pleasure-based sex education right to your bedroom. Kick off your best sex life with Beducated's awesome quiz that takes only five minutes and will recommend a personalized roadmap to sexual happiness just for you. Go to https://beducate.me/pd2606-private to kick off your personal pleasure journey. VB Health offers doctor-formulated sexual health supplements designed to elevat… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056/episodes/from-war-zone-to-rom-com-divorce-midlife-love-menopause-life-affirming-friendship-with-deborah-copaken/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/private-parts-unknown-sex-love-around-the-world-220056/from-war-zone-to-rom-com-divorce-midlife-love-menopause-life-affirming-friendship-with-deborah-copaken.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.