Standard Issue Podcast

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

Bollywood star Radhika Apte is unhappy new bride Uma in writer/director Karan Kandhari's feature debut, which Hannah's picked for the last Flicking of 2025. The critics loved it, audiences weren't so sure. Hannah, Yosra and Mick went in blind with no expectations and were all surprised. But in a good or bad way?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are abuses of power all over the shop, as Mick talks us through the second phase of Lady Elish Angiolini's inquiry into the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public, and a truly horrific case in France. Meanwhile, Jen's looking at more crises in public services, this time in teaching staff. But at least we've got Polly. And periods. No, really. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A superhero with no special powers. An intergalactic wrong 'un trying to destroy the earth. Brian Blessed dressed as whatever that is. Welcome to this week's Rated or Dated. Now with added lasers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Emma Rice Company's adaptation of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales opened last week to rave reviews. Hannah grabbed some time with its founder, writer and director Emma Rice, to talk about a change of name, a new venue in Somerset, and Thomas. And a lot more besides, including Emma's time as artistic director at The Globe, something that did not end happily, and why she thinks we're all being a bit hard on Enid Blyton. More information about the Emma Rice Company here: https://www.emmaricecompany.co.uk/ To support us on Patreon visit Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paddington the Musical  – a brand new show written by Jessica Swale, with music by Tom Fletcher – opens its doors at the Savoy Theatre in London this week. Among its impressive cast is Bonnie Langford, who many of us have grown up alongside, given she first graced our television screens back in 1971, aged six. Jen caught up with Bonnie to talk about playing the iconic Mrs Bird, as well as a whole host of other roles over the course of her career, and why we love that Peruvian bear so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this month's telly round-up, we're watching Death By Lightning, The Beast in Me, Down Cemetery Road, Plur1bus and Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth. Plus Hannah's finally got round to watching Where's Wanda?. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you angry? Like really angry? Of course you are. Well, does Hannah have a dinner service for you. This week, she and Mick are asking whether the justice system is about to get a little less just, looking at the newly discovered age epochs of the human brain, celebrating having a bank account, and metaphorically smashing small TVs with a sledgehammer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christmas already? We know. But can we redeem ourselves if it's Christmas by way of Jeannot Szwarc's cult classic, Santa Claus: The Movie? A box office flop, it was nonetheless a hit in the UK, thanks to Dudley Moore's turn as Patch the ambitious elf, some delightful animatronic reindeer, and top baddy-ing by John Lithgow. But will we agree? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All hail the Renters' Rights Act, the biggest shake-up to renting in England for more than 30 years, which officially comes into play next May. It's a bundle of positive news for tenants in private housing, not least the ditching of section 21 “no fault” evictions. So Mick got on the Zoom with Bismah Naqui from Generation Rent, an organisation that's been working tirelessly for the past decade to amplify the voices and concerns of private renters, to talk about why this is a big win for them and a big win for tenants.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cindy Reymond is one of the eight women secretary generals who represented host cities during this summer's UEFA Women's Euro in Switzerland. That's right: they were all women. Jen catches up with Cindy to chat about her city of Geneva, what it takes to plan a major sporting event, not being the only woman in the room for a change, and why anyone would even want to host a women's football tournament if they can't fill stadiums... Spoiler: they really can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Queen Eleanor died, her husband - Edward I - ordered that 12 enormous crosses be built along the route her body had travelled back to London. Some survive today. Historian Alice Loxton decided to walk that route on the same days. Which sadly for her, was December. Alice tells Hannah about that journey and her new book Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England's Lost Queen, as well as history on the socials and the hidden stories on our own doorsteps. More information on how to support us here: https://www.patreon.com/StandardIssue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jen gets a swift and thoroughly unexpected trip through US political rumours this week, as Hannah looks at the latest from across the Atlantic. Plus there's skorts, sports and women-only carriages. What more do you need? Saturday Night Live on edited Trump speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SesRWE02PIU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another week, another one of film's most villainous women: this time it's deranged devotee Annie Wilkes, a role which bagged Kathy Bates an Oscar for mangling the feet, mind and spirit of novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan). Its credentials are impeccable, with a William Goldman screenplay based on Stephen King's novel directed by Rob Reiner. But, ask Mick, Hannah and Jen, is that bitch crazy? Is she misunderstood? Or is she just a hell of a drug? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 2019, ultra runner Jasmin Paris made headlines when she smashed the Montane Spine Race, winning the 268-mile race in the depths of winter outright – while still breastfeeding. Her story was sold as an outlier – woman wins mixed race – but there are a lot of them about, particularly when it comes to ultra-endurance running, swimming and cycling.  Ultra Women: The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport, penned by journalists and ultra runners Emma Wilkinson and Lily Canter, explores female endurance, from the first hunter-gatherers to modern athletes winning the toughest races outright, delving into the science, physiology and psychology that could give women the edge in ultras. Our Mick was FASCINATED.  Ultra Women is out now, published by Canbury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than two centuries since her execution, Marie Antoinette continues to influence fashion and culture, and is now the subject of a major new exhibition at the V&A South Kensington, Marie Antoinette Style. Jen catches up with senior curator of the exhibition, Sarah Grant, to talk about the ill-fated former queen of France, why she still fascinates as a cultural icon, and if it's fair to compare her to Kim Kardashian. Marie Antoinette Style is showing at the V&A South Kensington until March 2026, and you can find out more about V&A Academy courses here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a lot of spies in pop culture right now. This pleases Hannah immensely, so she jumped at the chance to get on the Zoom with Agnes O'Casey to talk about her role in upcoming play, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, based on John Le Carre's best-selling book. They chat about spies and why we're so fascinated with them, Agnes's role in another spy drama, Netflix's Black Doves, and her great grandfather, legendary Irish playwright Sean O'Casey. Tickets for Soho Place and the national tour are here: https://shorturl.at/samTg More information on how to support us here: https://www.patreon.com/StandardIssue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bloody women. Is there anything they won't ruin? Well, Mick and Jen take a stab at this week's news, in which some institutions are too busy ruining themselves to notice: they're looking at you the BBC and NHS Trusts. There's also Spinderella, Stevens, and Jen very much NOT talking about Mary Earps in JOTB. Honest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know, the one with the good guy versus the evil nurse. Or is it? One of many questions we'll be asking as we watch Miloš Forman's Oscar botherer, set on a ward in a mental health hospital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of our firm favourites, poet Hollie McNish's latest collection, Virgin, explores a six-letter word with outsized power. A power that should also be outdated, but is sadly not.  It is, as you'd expect from Hollie, a brilliant collection, packed with humour, rage, beauty, heartbreak and hope. She and Mick chat about dangerous words, what ‘virgin' means to girls and women (and why it shouldn't), the perils of mashed potato and how to come to terms with the phrase “making love”.   Virgin is published by Fleet and available in all good bookshops. Details of Hollie's tour can be found at holliepoetry.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instagram is a right old pain in the proverbial when it comes to advertising, and our Jen has noticed she's suddenly getting A LOT of ads targeted at peri/menopausal women. Nutritional supplements promise women everything from a peachy bum to a sound night's sleep, but how much of it is actually true? So she jumped on the Zoom with Ruth Tongue, nutritionist, pilates teacher and co-founder of employee wellness company Elevate, to find out how much protein we really need, if supplements are any good for us and why we're always being sold a dream when it comes to our bodies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's no doubt that Yosra's picked* one of last year's juggernauts: John M Chu's cinematic take on Winnie Holzman's ridiculously successful musical version of Gregory Maguire's dark adult novel reimagining the L Frank Baum children's books that became a 1939 film classic still beloved today. Phew! That's a whole load of fan bases to tickle. But what if you're new to the new version of Oz? Why is it in two parts? Just how hard a sell is it to Mick and Hannah? And is… is Ariana Grande funny? * An epic fantasy musical? Of course it was Yosra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a cryptid been spotted in Cambridge and it's far from the least believable thing you'll hear in today's podcast, where Mickey and Hannah are chatting about exclamation marks, assisted dying, renters' rights and AI being bad for older women in the workforce. * If you're missing your Jenny Off The Blocks fix, get over to our Substack where Jen is chatting about Mary Earps' autobiography and the many, many opinions on it: https://standardissuepodcast.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Destiny's Child theme tune celebrated all the women being independent, but – question - how appropriate are those lyrics for McG's 2000 “action-comedy” film version of the 1970s TV series? Was it made for Jen, Hannah and Mick? Was it made for any women? And how many Susan Faludi references can Mick fit into a single episode? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Radio 4 and BBC World Service reporter and producer Ellie House makes some really interesting podcasts. Her latest, The Real ‘Yellowstone': a battle for the cowboy way of life, focuses on the proposed sale of public land in Montana and the strange political bedfellows that have resulted. Ellie and Hannah also chat about the introduction of National Service for women in Denmark and the joys of travelling for work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's another OTB of two halves this month, with Mickey joining Hannah to chat about Riot Women, Only Murders In The Building, The Last Frontier and High Potential. Then Jen tag teams in to talk about Slow Horses, Coldwater, Blue Lights and How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the concept of ID cards rears its ugly head once again, Hannah and Jen are asking if Keir Starmer's revolutionary way of eliminating faff will be as effective as Brexit in terms of reducing bureaucracy. Elsewhere, it seems the Home Office could do with some help in getting its day job done. Meanwhile, Henry VIII is repping Sexism of the Week via Hemel Hempstead, there are big international fixtures in Jenny off the Blocks, and thank God, as ever, for the French. If you want to know more about what Hannah thinks about ID cards, and indeed, what we all think about all sorts of things, check out our Substack here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Or is it the long good objectification of a young Pierce Brosnan? Mick, Hannah and Jen are here to prove a Rated or Dated can be both, as they watch the cornerstone British gangster flick written by Barrie Keefe, directed by John Mackenzie, and which made a full-blown film star out of the late, great Bob Hoskins. He's joined by a host of familiar faces, including Helen Mirren, in a film that's prescient, political, tight and brutal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As an 18-year-old in search of freedom and adventure, Gosia Buzzanca left her small hometown of Poznan, Poland, eventually settling in Wales. In her new book, There She Goes, My Beautiful World, she charts her physical and emotional journey, teenage traumas, love and loss. Jen chats to Gosia about her book, growing up in Poland, post-Brexit immigration in the UK, and the universal harsh realities facing young women.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Grand Old Duke of York's title now vacant, Mick and Jen visit the horrific allegations against Prince (for now) Andrew, made in Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir, and his other right royal cock-ups. There's more horror, this time in England's maternity wards. But fear not, there's also some joy, including puppies – 13 of ‘em! Woof! – a delicious turning of the tables in SOTW, and some half decent cricket results in Jenny Off the Blocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices