Sarah Macdonald on radio, podcasting and navigating the ‘sandwich generation’

Fourteen months on from her sudden and unplanned exit from ABC Sydney Mornings, Sarah Macdonald still literally gets stopped in the street by loyal listeners who miss her terribly.

In November 2024, Macdonald revealed on-air that she wouldn’t be returning in 2025, and not by choice – prompting a massive social media backlash.

“I was really overwhelmed by the reaction and the love that came towards me,” Macdonald says. “It’s kind of carried me through.”

But the award-winning journalist has moved into a different media space that she loves. And she found it in the podcast world.

Having just completed All I Can Be – a heartwarming documentary podcast which tells the stories of young people who triumphed over adversity – Macdonald has embarked on a new and deeply personal project.

It’s an ongoing podcast for mid-life women who were dancing in moshpits not so long ago, but now find themselves squished between caring for ageing parents, demanding jobs and kids who still live at home.

Aptly-titled Club Sandwich, the podcast is being launched as Australia’s caregiving crisis hits breaking point.

In 2026, two demographic milestones collide: the first Baby Boomer turns 80, and the first Gen Xer turns 60.

Macdonald says it’s seismic, and it’s going to be what demographers call a s@%#storm.

With Australia’s over-85 population surging 400% by 2030, caregiving is shifting from private struggle to national crisis, and the sandwich generation – juggling ageing parents, kids, and careers – is about to buckle.

Macdonald’s podcast gives voice to the millions of Australians quietly their holding families – and the economy – together.

Right now, Macdonald is navigating the sandwich generation herself, caring for her 92-year-old mother and 94-year-old mother-in-law, while raising children in their early twenties and sustaining a demanding national media career.

As Macdonald tells Radio Today, “It’s just absolutely exhausting. And there is just so much you have to be across. And the grief of watching your parent decline and struggle – it’s so multi-layered that it is super emotional.”

“It’s a confronting time. There’s dealing with your own emotion, and then the sheer weight of the responsibility is emotionally exhausting.”

Like many, Macdonald has been doing the juggling act for a long time.

“I think it just dominates every waking hour of our life, if you’re in this zone,” she says “It permeates everything. It affects our relationships, it affects our own health, it affects our job, it affects how we navigate the world, it affects our friendships. It’s just so consuming.”

“And yet, we’re expected to do it like it’s just one part of our life. And of course it is just one part of our life, but … there are parents’ groups for when your kids are little, but we don’t really come together on the sandwich generation.”

“I think that’s what I wanted – to be there for other people going through this as well.”

Early episodes of Club Sandwich feature geriatrician Dr Stephanie Ward on ageing, dementia and decision-making, clinical psychologist Jo Lamble on guilt, sibling dynamics and the emotional toll, Gogglebox’s Kerry Milligan on ageing gracefully and impossible family choices and GP Dr Ginny Mansberg on the physical cost of chronic stress in midlife women.

Macdonald promises there’ll be no toxic positivity or wellness influencer platitudes. No aspirational ‘self-care’ culture that just makes women feel worse.

Instead, there’ll be practical strategies, expert insight and real stories from ‘Clubbers’ – women in the thick of it.

There is also an accompanying inter-city tour with a film called Careless, with events being held in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Tasmania.

Macdonald herself is a voracious podcast consumer.

“I love how they can kind of go deep and specific. Radio is kind of generalist. There’s just sort of a power in that that I’m really loving.”

There are certain things she doesn’t miss about radio.

“I’m loving not having to engage with the daily news cycle. There’s a great freedom with that.”

2025 was what Macdonald describes as her ‘try before you buy’ year. A year of saying yes to everything. Well, maybe not everything.

“I wasn’t ready to really commit to one thing,” she says. “I had a lot of fun trying different things. This year, I’m going to commit to the podcast.”

Of the massive reaction to her ABC departure, Macdonald says “I mean, I still walk down the street and have people come up to me going ‘Oh my God!’ And fourteen months on, I’m like – OK,” she laughs. “That can be confronting sometimes!”

Macdonald hasn’t left radio completely, appearing Thursday mornings with Mark Levy on 2GB.

“So I still get that little fix of radio!” she says. “I get what I need from it. I miss beautiful people, like the amazing producers I worked with at the ABC.”

“But I’m over it. I’m happy. I’m working with good people, doing good things and having good times.

“That’s my mantra.”

Images supplied.