I’m Jennifer Gerson, a reporter at The 19th who has a deep passion for bringing people into conversation about the issues that are shaping their lives. Now, I’m excited to be writing a weekly newsletter all about perimenopause, menopause and the experience of navigating middle age (and society’s expectations). In this newsletter we’ll be digging into the science of symptoms, introducing evidence-based research on our health, and engaging with how aging and gender intersect now. I love stories that get at how culture influences discourse, whether in politics or health, and who’s most impacted. I was part of the team at The 19th that won an Edward R. Murrow Award for our breaking news coverage of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential election and Vice President Kamala Harris’ ensuing nomination. As a freelancer, my work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, and Insider, among other places. I received a Maggie Award for my reporting on reproductive health and policy for Yahoo Health and have been nominated for American Society of Magazine Editors awards for my work in both Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire. I was also a founding editor of the pioneering feminist blog Jezebel. A native Atlantan, I live in my hometown in Georgia’s election-year-famous Sixth District with my husband, two children and codependent cat.