Standard Issue Podcast

Fava beans and Chianti all round as Mick's picked Jonathan Demme's Oscars-dominating 1991 psychological horror. Or is it a thriller? Other questions addressed include: how's Hannah feeling about Scott Glenn; does the film have feminist credentials; what's with the stereotyping, and how much ham is simply too much ham for Jen's mum Cath? Fffffffffffffff. Etc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talented multi-hyphenate Annabel Port's The Other British Museum is a joyful collection of potted histories of recognisable items and our Mick cannot get enough. And so, she got Annabel on the Zoom to chat museum entries, the smell of Imperial Leather, the genesis of weekends, podcasting with Geoff Lloyd, and making a career out of your social awkwardness.  As ever, there's more available for our £5 and above patreons, and you can become one of those by visiting patreon.com/standardissue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the ongoing furore surrounding last week's Baftas has proved anything, it's how poorly understood Tourette Syndrome still is. Hannah chats to campaigner, comedian and the women behind Touretteshero, Jess Thom, about living with oppositional tics, why everyone supports the disabled community (until they don't), and how the vital Access to Work scheme is being neglected. Find out more about Touretteshero here: https://www.touretteshero.com/about/ And more about supporting Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this month's round-up of the best and worst TV right now, we're talking about Under Salt Marsh, Small Prophets, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, Dirty Business and Lord of the Flies. And a surprising amount about caravans. Just because.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marie & Rosetta, which opens at London's Soho Place on Saturday, tells the story of legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and her friendship and creative partnership with Marie Knight, a gospel singer. Hannah chats to Monique Touko, the play's director, about music that makes you feel stuff, working with Beverley Knight and a lot more. Tickets for Marie & Rosetta are here: https://sohoplace.org/shows/marie-and-rosetta/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23068681375&gbraid=0AAAAAozHdPUyYvHqpNUidEGUZ2sz7hDwN&gclid=CjwKCAiA2PrMBhA4EiwAwpHyC0uVL2-RUrJpEafBHZ-6t9zJ1Op22_g3lL46PDnjpYHbkxdGJ66odxoCXYEQAvD_BwE You can support Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A sports comedy? Starring Goldie Hawn and featuring the big-screen debuts of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson? OK, we'll bite. But will director Michael Ritchie's tale of a single mum coaching a men's American football team score a touchdown, or will Jen, Mick and Hannah send it for a gratuitous early bath? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to health, award-winning broadcaster and expert medical journalist Dr Deborah Cohen knows what she's talking about. Unlike a lot of people on the internet.  And that's because she puts the work in. Unlike a lot of people on the internet. In a world where wellness influencers and podcast bros hawking wearables and supplements are becoming more trusted than the NHS, Deborah's fascinating book, Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health, is an essential exploration of modern medicine versus 21st century snake oil. Mick was champing at the bit to find out more. As ever, there's extra chat for our £5 and above patreons, and you can find out more about that here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

England's witch trials remain a fascinating and relevant subject. They're the foundation of AK Blakemore's 2021 historical novel The Manningtree Witches, which has now been adapted for the stage and premieres later this month at Colchester's Mercury Theatre – a stone's throw from the town where infamous Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins persecuted, tortured and executed local women. Jen got on the Zoom with AK and the Mercury's artistic director Natasha Rickman to talk about the importance of theatre, consistent public interest in the 17th century witch trials, and making Matthew Hopkins look a right wally. Become a Standard Issue supporter here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catherine Dyson's latest play, The Last Picture, focuses on an emotional support dog, Sam, who is taking a group of school children on a trip around an exhibit focusing on Europe in 1939. She chats to Hannah about empathy, dogs, antisemitism, audiobooks and the National Theatre. You can see The Last Picture in Manchester, Bristol and Guildford. More details and tickets here: https://ett.org.uk/our-work/the-last-picture/ Become a Standard Issue supporter here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does a “streamlined” UK border look like? And if you vote for the MP of one party, should they be allowed to defect to another? These are just two questions Jen and Mick pose as they rootle around this week's news. What did they find? Well, there's a new immigration policy bothering British dual-citizens and, upsettingly as ever, more from the man who'd like to bother many more besides: Nigel *groans forever* Farage. There's better news from the EU about companies discarding textiles, as well as a sexism Olympics alongside a JOTB report on the regular one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miller, Huston, Monroe, Gable, Ritter, Clift and Wallach - what could possibly go wrong? Well, during filming, a lot. And while seemingly nobody was happy with the end result, The Misfits is now regarded as one of the best films of the 1960s. Will Mickey and Hannah agree? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As well as being a freelance cultural strategy and communications consultant*, Meg Molloy is the founder of the Working Arts Club, a brilliant network supporting arts professionals from working-class backgrounds. She's chatting to Mick about the lay of the land for working-class kids wanting to access the arts, why it's important they can do so, what the Working Arts Club is helping to make happen, and why Madge maybe needs to calm down about Margate a bit. *Find out more about what that means with Mick's first question Find out more about Working Arts Club here. And more about Meg's exciting IWD auction project for AOAP here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news: a constant source of anxiety, rage and misery in our lives. It's probably no coincidence then, says psychiatrist, and psychotherapist Dr Joanna Cheek, that rates of mental health problems are skyrocketing. Jen chats to Joanna about her new book, It's Not You, It's The World: A Mental Health Survival Guide for Us All, why “triggers” are actually useful, the perils of living in a world we weren't really designed for, and whether or not the younger generation really are just less hardy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Epic in scope and length, deliberately problematic characters, a very distinct aesthetic and a Jonny Greenwood score to give you the jitters: Paul Thomas Anderson's 2025 award-bothering opus is Yosra's pick for this month's Flicking. But do Yosra, Hannah and Mick think Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor deserve the plaudits being heaped upon them? And how much white male gaze is too much white male gaze when it comes to the hyper-sexualisation of a Black female character?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The only living neurotic in New York? Woody Allen certainly seems to think himself so as the writer/director/star of this much-lauded comedy drama. Its Chekhovian title suggests this is a film about women, but IS IT THOUGH ask Mick, Hannah and Jen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Guardian Investigates podcast The Birth Keepers, about controversial group The Free Birth Society, is the product of a year-long investigation by award-winning journalist Sirin Kale and reporting partner Lucy Osborne. The two journalists explore links between The Free Birth Society and baby deaths around the world, and look at the role of influencers and the dangers of misinformation. Jen chats to Sirin about the podcast, birth choices, and why the state of maternity services in the US and UK is turning more and more women off medicalised birth settings. You can support us by becoming a Standard Issue patron here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Born during the one-child rule, Eva Brookes knows almost nothing about her life before she was adopted by a British couple and raised in Essex. Hannah chats to Eva about her new BBC Sounds podcast Made in China, identity, Britishness and how it feels to discuss it, privately and publicly. * You can support us by becoming a Standard Issue patron here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Educator, science translator and sustainability queen Illana Adamson works with businesses and non-profits to introduce sustainability initiatives, actions and behaviours into their organisations – and all our lives. She's a big proponent of if you can't be perfect, just be better. And we need to be, or this human race is run.  Illana chats to our Mick about real action over greenwashing, why women are so important in the work ahead, and how Mother Nature will always come out on top. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who pays the highest price when respect is missing? That's the inadvertent theme for Hannah and Mick as they tackle this week's news. And it turns out there are plenty of people they'd both like to see with an unexploded WWI ordnance shoved where the sun don't shine, including a lot of men in the Epstein Files, and a fair few MPs and Lords keen to get a dangerously faulty car on the road without an MOT. Take a deep breath and tuck in. Oh, and please do keep your historical artefacts where we can see them at all times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's not to love about John Henderson's 1996 family adventure, Loch Ness? Hannah, Mick, and Jen have no notes. Okay, they have a few. Like what kind of academic specialism has you hunting mythical creatures? What would a Habsburg prehistoric sea-beast look like? How hot is fixing a tap? And what's Rod Stewart's big beef? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If it's escaped your attention that there's a Winter Olympics getting underway at the end of the week, it might be because you think us Brits aren't much cop at all that cold stuff. Think again, say former GB snowboarder turned TNT Sports pundit, Aimee Fuller, and Chief Exec of GB Snowsport, Vicky Gosling. With the pair hoping for a huge uptick in Team GB's fortunes at the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026, Jen caught up with them to chat about the remarkable turnaround in our British team's fortunes since Beijing in 2022, whether or not it's good to be an underdog, and the TNT Sports documentary She Who Dares. You can watch 24/7 coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on TNT Sports and Discovery+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill appears to hit the rocks in the House of Lords, Hannah chats to one of the people questioning whether it is fit for purpose, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. The pioneering wheelchair racer tells us about her concerns about the disabled community, coercive control and patients with anorexia. * The Standard Issue Substack can be found here: https://standardissuepodcast.substack.com/ Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon * And Not Dead Yet UK can be found here: https://www.notdeadyetuk.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's coming to our TV screens in 2026? Find out in the year's first Outside The Box, as we talk about that, as well as why Hannah's cancelled her Netflix and what telly gems have made January a bit more bearable.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From badly-timed cinema release to sleeper hit to cult favourite, Richard Kelly's debut film spawned careers, revivals and a Christmas number one. But has it stood the test of time (travel)?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anna Maloney's fast-paced new thriller The 10:12 is set onboard a hijacked train, and some passengers aren't just going to sit back and do as they're told. One in particular, Claire Fitzroy, a late mid-life arts teacher, ruffles feathers when she not only takes action, but takes charge.  Anna chats to Mick about how wildly recollections of events may differ, have-a-go heroes (and heroines), and why you should never underestimate a woman in her mid-life.  There is, as ever, more chat for our £5 and above patrons, so if you fancy getting involved, visit patreon.com/standardissue.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Dr Donna Peberdy, associate professor of performance, sex and gender at Southampton Solent University, began to see a lot of representations of violence against women in work made by female filmmakers, she realised what a useful tool they could be. So, in collaboration with the 16 Days 16 Films festival, she started Screening Sexual Violence, a research project and online resource. Jen caught up with Donna to talk about the work she's doing, what she's seeing, and whether or not AI is about to make it so much worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Safe Haven, which has just opened at London's Arcola theatre, tells the true story of what happened in spring 2001, when two million Kurds fleeing Saddam Hussein's forces found themselves in the freezing mountains, and two Whitehall diplomats decided to intervene. Hannah chats to two of the play's stars, Lisa Zahra and Beth Burrows, to find out more. * Safe Haven is on until February 7. More information and tickets here: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/safe-haven/ * You can support Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've no idea what's going on with the US and Greenland, don't worry – neither do we. Nor, apparently, does Donald Trump, so join the club. Elsewhere, we've identified a learning opportunity for Nigel Farage, there's good news neither Hannah nor Jen are ready to listen to, and we start the campaign for equal opportunities LOL-ing at the Beckhams. And with the Australian Open underway, Jen caught up with TNT Sports pundit and former GB tennis star, Laura Robson, to find out more about the runners and riders. The Australian Open is broadcast on TNT Sports and available to stream on Discovery+ in the UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does Robert Rodriguez's 1996 grindhouse-schlock fest with a screeching plot twist put even more NO into its writer and “star” Quentin Tarantino for Mick, Hannah and Jen? Ooh, it's a breath bater. George Clooney's film debut was a far cry from ER's Dr Doug Ross, but classic Tarantino to its core. But does that mean it's OUTRAGEOUS and CONTROVERSIAL and CLEVER and THE BEST or just jerk-off dogshit misogyny? Find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist, author and mother of three, Ellie Levenson used to dream of time away from the pressures of family life, a fantasy shared by many of her female friends. This became the basis for her first novel, Room 706, a story about extra-marital affairs, gunmen, and who's picking up those bread rolls the kids like. Jen chatted to Ellie about the book, the mental load, and what it's like to get props from Sarah Jessica Parker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian, actress and writer Lucia Keskin made her name on YouTube as Chi with a C, where she started making content at just 16. Indeed, one of her first videos to go viral was her opening her GCSE results on camera.  Fair to say, Lucia's a natural comedic voice, and the first season of her BBC3 sitcom Things You Should Have Done bagged a big following as well as a couple of awards (hello a BAFTA). It's back this week for season two, so Mick got Lucia on the Zoom to find out what our spectacularly hapless hero Chi has been up to, and to talk about the joy in dopey and mean female characters, the excitement of added Bridget Christie, failing all your GCSEs, and how silly might save us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Eisenberg's Oscar-winning comedy drama received an embarrassment of plaudits from the industry and critics. Now it's time to get the ones that really matter: Mick, Hannah and Yosra watch American-Jewish cousins Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Eisenberg) as they embark on a Jewish heritage tour of Poland, following the death of their Holocaust-surviving grandmother. Feel-good film? Mismatched buddy comedy? Devastatingly bittersweet? All of the above? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the first BT of 2026, so Mickey and Hannah have some catching up to do. This time, they're talking about failure: Grok user failures, women's health study failures and child benefit failures. Still, elderly nuns are making a reappearance, so it's not all bad.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Carter's teen dance film helped launch the career of Julia Stiles, but has she been wronged by public perceptions of her dance skills in the years that followed? How many tropes are too many tropes? And can it hold a torch to 1983's Flashdance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holocaust Memorial Day is coming up later this month (Tuesday 27 January), so Hannah's been on the Zoom with historian Elizabeth Hyman to talk about her non-fiction book The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto. They talk about five very different women who lived there, the work they did for their people and the tough choices they made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feeling bogged down by meetings and out of her depth at work, travel writer Laura Hall quit her job and embarked on a fresh challenge to get her life back on track. Her new book, The Year I Lay My Head in Water: Swimming Scandinavia in Search of a Better Life, documents the year that followed, spent cold-water swimming around Scandinavia. Jen chats to Laura about the book, the appeal of the sea, the insanity of cold-water swimming, and the absolute joy of taking on a daft challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our weekly look at a film from the past is back for the New Year like a boulder about to smash into your swimming pool, as we watch Jonathan Glazer's debut: a one-last-job tale with a gangster who won't take no for an answer. No matter how many times he hears it. But does Sexy Beast still pass muster?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, actor, author, life coach and professional mad woman (she co-hosts the Women Are Mad podcast with psychotherapist Jennifer Cox) Salima Saxton got ill. Obviously she started a Substack about it and Bad Patient – in which she writes about being ill with raw honesty, humour, insight and on her own terms – was born. Salima chats to our Mick about illness: how we perceive it, how we talk about it, how we don't have to meet other people's expectations when dealing with it and how it can change our perspective on, well, everything. Also, bonus chat: tricky dads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An injury in her early 40s, and a long period of chronic pain that followed, made Wendy Welpton think about how she was moving. Now a movement coach, founder of Reclaim Movement, and a podcast host, she's also written a book – Move Well For Life: Unlock The Life-Changing Power of Everyday Movement – aimed at getting others to do the same. Jen chats to Wendy about why movement should trump exercise, why it's so important for people in midlife to move more and move better, and why she really really wants you to get on the floor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's the best book we read this year? Or the best play we saw? We're talking about that, plus our favorite TV, events, sport, music, comedy and interviews of 2025, as we wave goodbye to a year that's been, well, how would we describe it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adventure, nostalgia, trains, Cribbens and three elderly children posher than a lobster in a cravat: HOW JOLLY! Lionel Jeffries' period piece based on E Nesbit's 1906 book is a wholesome slice of classic British cinema, but what will filthy commoners Mick, Hannah and Jen make of it? And how will it go down with our resident five year old? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Swale is a busy woman, so Hannah was surprised to discover the writer and director did have the time for a chat about some of her latest projects. They cover getting the tone right for Paddington: The Musical, working with children and dogs in Amazon's new Christmas film Merv, and Jessica's new book aimed at making sure we can all have A Year of Creative Thinking. Find out more about supporting Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working in the 17th century gothic library at St John's College puts Tanya Kirk in an ideal position to talk about book-based ghost stories. She's just edited the latest in a series of short story collections - The Haunted Library: Tales of Cursed Books and Forbidden Shelves - so Hannah got on the Zoom to chat about why old books are spooky, why Christmas is a rich source of ghost stories, and the white gloves myth. Tanya's latest book is available here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-haunted-library/tanya-kirk/9780712355292 * You can support Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Benjamin's coming-of-age comedy-drama has a (sort of) dream cast, but how much will Jen, Hannah and Mick love central character Mrs Flax? Does the character even matter when she's played by Cher? And can we get over a ropey age-gap and a real lack of DIY prep to allow Mermaids to shoop-shoop into our hearts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Padel might well be one of the fastest growing sports in the world, right now, but what exactly is it? And how is it different to tennis, squash, or pickleball? Jen wanted to find out more, so she got on the Zoom with Alex Brodie, PR and sponsorship manager at UK Padel, one of the UK's leading tournament organisers in the sport, to chat about the who, what and where of the game – and why it's so good for women and girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's bring some cheer to the end of the year with Dr Suze Kundu – that's right NASA's Dr Suze Kundu. She and Mick* debunk some bad science, celebrate some impactful and robust research and tech, and create some positive associations with the work of millions. With added Katy Perry and a plea to outer space-related height restrictions.  *mostly Suze, to be fair Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just five per cent of people with a learning difference are in paid work, something highlighted by the recent case of Tom Boyd, who was let go by Morrisons after his family asked that he be paid for his work. That case spurred Liz Warner, a former CEO of Comic Relief, into action. Because the same thing had happened to her son and, we can all agree, needs to stop happening. Liz is launching a new initiative in the new year aimed to double the amount of people with a learning difference in paid work, so Hannah got on the Zoom to find out more. You can find out more about The Different Kind here: https://thedifferentkind.com More information on how to support Standard Issue is here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reaction to Wes Streeting's independent review on mental health, ADHD and autism might divide opinion, but surely we can all agree to be pleased about changes to the law around social media use in Australia. And if not, at least we'll always have emotional support dogs. Hannah and Jen take a rootle through the news and sport this week to discuss all of the above.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watching 9 to 5, what a way to earn a living. Mick, Hannah and Jen revisit Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and – people's favourite – Dolly Parton in this classic comedy about sexism in the workplace that everyone knows inside out. Don't they?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Given we're deep into pantomime season, it seemed only right that Mick got on the Zoom with Vikki Stone, the woman behind some of the best pantos in the UK. Vikki tells us about comedy, getting kids into the theatre, toddler raves, prime-time telly and why pantos remain one of the most enduring of British Christmastime traditions. Mama Goose is at Stratford East until Jan 3 Beauty and the Beast is at New Wolsey Theatre until Jan 17 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Wild West that is dating apps, women are increasingly turning to novel ways of protecting themselves. Online groups such as Are We Dating The Same Guy, offer women a platform to share bad and even criminal experiences of dating. Broadcaster and journalist Mary Mandefield investigates the groups in a new Channel 4 documentary, Red Flags: Are We Dating the Same Guy? UNTOLD. So, Jen caught up with Mary to chat about the film, the groups, why women are using them, and if they themselves are entirely ethical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices