The Oprah Podcast

Gray Divorce (after 50) & Adult Children: The Fallout for the Family, with Oprah and Leading Experts

28 Oct 2025

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Oprah is joined by a live audience in New York City for a candid conversation about the soaring rates of divorce for people over the age of 50, what experts are calling "gray divorce.” Even though the overall divorce rate is on the decline, the divorce rate for people over 50 has doubled and more than tripled for those over 65. Oprah is joined by Susan Guthrie, a family law attorney and host of the popular podcast, Divorce and Beyond®. Joining the conversation are Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Dr. Susan L. Brown, co-author of the studies identifying this national phenomenon, and a Distinguished Professor at Bowling Green State University. We also hear from several women who are in the early stages of gray divorce, have gone through gray divorce and adult children of parents who divorced after age 50. 00:00:00 - Rising divorce rates after 50 (“gray divorce”) 00:02:00 - Expert insights with Dr. Susan Brown 00:03:18 - Why gray divorce is on the rise 00:04:09 - Guest: Family law attorney Susan Guthrie 00:06:20 - Guest: Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone 00:11:00 - Why divorce feels shameful 00:14:30 - Men’s surprise at women’s “invisible work” 00:16:22 - Is divorce always terrible? 00:19:02 - Divorce as grief and loss 00:26:45 - First steps after divorce 00:30:58 - Impact on older children 00:36:58 - Why few expect to remarry 00:41:50 - When parent-child roles reverse 00:47:32 - Knowing when to move on Additional Resources: Susan Guthrie, The Divorce & Beyond Podcast https://divorceandbeyondpod.com/ Dr. Susan L. Brown, National Center for Family and Marriage Research at BGSU BGSU.edu/ncfmr "Maybe You Should to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed” by Lori Gottlieb, is published by Harper Collins and available wherever books are sold. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-lori-gottlieb?variant=40828383363106 Addison Aloian’s Women's Health piece, 'My Parents Got Divorced When I Was An Adult. Why Do I Feel So Weird Now That They've Moved On? https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a63799212/adult-child-of-divorce/ Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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