Live Every Friday from 4 to 5pm PT on KCAA Radio — 1050 AM • 106.5 FM
Menopause is finally having its moment. The question is: what took so long?
In this candid conversation, Maria Calabrese sits down with Dr. Joan Irvine, an author, educator, and longtime women's-health advocate who was trying to start a public conversation about menopause more than 30 years ago—only to be told it wasn't an appropriate subject for television. Today, women are talking openly about hot flashes, sleep, brain fog, mood, sexual health, hormones, and the larger question of what it means to age well.
Maria and Joan revisit how dramatically the conversation around menopause and hormone therapy has changed, including the lasting impact of the 2002 Women's Health Initiative, gaps in physician education, and why women increasingly expect better information and more individualized conversations about their health. The episode isn't about declaring hormone therapy either “safe” or “dangerous”—it's about understanding why the answers have become more nuanced as the evidence continues to evolve.
Cannabis enters that conversation with similar unanswered questions. Maria explores the emerging intersection between reproductive hormones and the endocannabinoid system, while making an important distinction: menopause-specific cannabis research remains limited, even as women report using cannabis for sleep, mood, anxiety, pain, relaxation, and sexual wellness. Joan sees cannabis not as the answer, but as one potential complementary wellness tool among many.
Ultimately, this episode is about something bigger than menopause, cannabis, or hormones. It's about women asking questions—even when medicine, research, and culture haven't caught up with the answers—and approaching aging with better information, more choices, and the confidence to keep learning what their bodies need as they change.
A recent look at how newer evidence is reshaping the conversation around menopausal hormone therapy, including why the risks associated with HRT are now understood with more nuance than they were after the landmark Women’s Health Initiative findings.
The FDA’s 2026 announcement approving labeling changes to menopausal hormone therapy products, including removal of certain cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and probable dementia risk statements from boxed warnings.
A study examining menopause education among U.S. medical residents. Only 6.8% of respondents reported feeling adequately prepared to manage women experiencing menopause, supporting the episode’s discussion of gaps in physician training.
Research examining cannabis use among perimenopausal and postmenopausal individuals. Participants most commonly reported using medical cannabis for sleep disturbance and mood or anxiety, while the researchers emphasized the need for further research into cannabis and menopause-related symptoms.
A scientific review examining interactions between the endocannabinoid system and reproductive hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, providing background for the episode’s discussion of the relationship between hormonal changes and the ECS.
Explore Dr. Joan Irvine’s ongoing conversations about menopause, hormone therapy, sexual wellness, healthy aging, cannabis, and creating the best chapters of life. Recent programs include conversations about women, orgasms, menopause and cannabis, Female Orgasmic Disorder, and other issues affecting women in midlife and beyond.
A free master class exploring desire, intimacy, sexual health, and menopause through expert guidance and women sharing their lived experiences—including Joan. Hosted by Naomi Watts, the program features sexual health physician Dr. Somi Javaid and psychologist Dr. Cindy Meston and explores topics including desire, pain, relationships, arousal, and reclaiming sexual well-being in midlife.
A deeper conversation about cannabis, sexual wellness, intimacy, and the science behind how cannabis may affect sexual experiences. This is a natural companion to the sexual-wellness portion of Joan's conversation without making it the focus of EP. 028.
A broader look at women, cannabis, science, research, and representation—including what happens when women are underrepresented in medical and wellness research. That makes it especially relevant to EP. 028's discussion of the women's-health research gap.
A practical conversation about cannabis education, wellness, dosing considerations, and asking better questions when navigating cannabis and health.
Explore why researchers are studying menopause and the endocannabinoid system together, including reproductive hormones, changing endocannabinoid signaling, and the evolving evidence around cannabis and menopause.
A foundational introduction to the body’s endocannabinoid system, what it does, and how cannabinoids such as CBD and THC interact with this complex regulatory network.
A closer look at cannabis, sleep, and women over 50—extending the episode’s discussion of sleep as one of the reasons women report exploring cannabis during menopause.
If you’re local to LA’s Inland Empire, catch "Just Say KNOW" with Maria live on NBC's KCAA Radio & TV 1050 AM/106.5 FM Fridays from 4-5 pm Pacific.
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