Standard Issue Podcast

Addie E. Citchens’s debut novel, Dominion, received A LOT of award nods. And rightly so: set in the Mississippi Delta, it’s a powerful story about powerful men doing powerfully bad things. But Addie puts her focus on what the women who love them have to do to survive them – and how far those women will go to protect them.  Mick chats to Addie about how the patriarchy shapes all of us, the violence of male entitlement, the things women do to survive it, what happens when love and morality clash, and how patriarchal religions are an own goal for men.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After stepping in at the 11th hour to save the event, Glasgow will host The Commonwealth Games when they kick off on July 23. Jen jumped on the Zoom with former GB athletes-turned TNT Sports pundits, Eilidh Doyle, Ellie Simmonds and Beth Tweddle, to chat about the importance of the games, competing in your home nation, and what they’re looking forward to watching. Every event of Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games is exclusively live across TNT Sports and all HBO Max subscription plans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Lynne Ramsay film? It’s been a while… The director’s psychological drama slash postpartum nightmare garnered loads of praise for lead actor Jennifer Lawrence and got a fair few awards nods. But what will Team Flicking make of it? Hannah’s got her ‘I heart Lynne Ramsay’ banner out, Yosra’s prepped for the big bleak, but not sure it’s all about the new mumming, and Mick’s real worried about that dog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

England in a World Cup semi-final, a Brit in the semis at Wimbledon and Unions Jacks all over the F1 drivers' table, that's a busy few weeks of sport. In a special episode, Jen and Hannah talk about what's going well and what's not, as well as hydration breaks, VAR and other World Cup dramas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This fish-out-of-water comedy-cum-bubblegum “feminist” smash, starring Reece Witherspoon as pink-loving sorority princess Elle Woods, made a killing at the box office, spawned a whole Legally Blonde world, and inspired girls to go to law school. But 25 years on will it make Mick, Hannah and Jen bend… or SNAP?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleanor Drage is one of the UK’s leading AI ethicists and gender studies researchers, working at the University of Cambridge. Her first book, What If We Got AI Right? How to stop catastrophising and build an ethical future, is released this week, so Hannah grabbed the chance to find out more. * You can pre-order Eleanor's book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-if-we-got-ai-right/eleanor-drage/9781805225447 * Find out more about the Standard Issue supporters' club 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 her short lifetime of just 47 years, Frida Kahlo was a relatively little-known artist. Now, she's a global icon. And while her actual work is hard to come by, her image is not.  Tate Modern's Frida: The Making of an Icon explores how Kahlo's iconic status came to be and her enduring influence on generations of younger artists.  Co-curator Beatriz Garcia-Velasco, talks to Jen about the exhibition, Kahlo's life and work, and the way in which she's been adopted as a cultural icon in feminist, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicky Denson-Elliott knows that a high tide lifts all boats. She first came to our Mick’s attention because of her current campaign to replace ‘hysterectomy’ with ‘uterectomy’ in NHS patient materials (you can sign the petition here), but it quickly became apparent how many different projects Nicky's got going in order to raise that tide for all boats. And by boats, we mean women.  In this episode, Mick chats to Nicky about bigging up women, medical language rooted in misogyny, a documentary she’s got in the pipeline, tackling internal misogyny and much more. £5 and above Patreons can have even more so much more. Join here.  Check out The Wilder Collective, Nicky’s excellent community for female founders and freelancers, and indeed her podcast Women’s Business, here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mickey and Hannah bring you a veritable rogues gallery this week: Farage, Trump, Infantino, a vigilante cat shaver. Shall we go on a 2,400-mile rowing trip to get away from it? Sure. But don't forget to pack your vaginal oestrogen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood giant John Huston directs Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and – wait – Pelé, in this sports-war drama, reimagining the 1942 “Death Match”. But how bad can a prisoner of war camp be when all you have to do is dick around playing football? How solid is the history? And can you really do that with a sub? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Rebecca Wait makes a return visit to the podcast to chat to Hannah about her latest book Havoc, a dark comedy about a mystery illness that breaks out at a girls' boarding school in 1984. They chat about Cold War anxiety, hysteria and, of course, Picnic at Hanging Rock. Grab a copy of Havoc here Or Suzanne O'Sullivan's The Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories of Mystery Illness here Want to join the Standard Issue Club? Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This summer marks the 19th year of the Arcola Theatre’s seminal Grimeborn festival, a season of new and reworked operas. Jen chats to the Arcola’s executive director, Leyla Nazli and Lisa Logan, the composer behind new work After My Breath, about bringing opera to Dalston, why people find the art form intimidating, and those comments by Timothée Chalamet. The Grimeborn Opera Festival runs from 15 July to 5 September at the Arcola Theatre, London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evie King to tell her they'd been inspired to get plans in place for the end of their lives. If that's what she could achieve without trying, she thought, why not write a book to help people though the whole process? Hannah chats to Evie about Get Ahead of Being Dead, wills, funerals and why the hard conversations are always worth it. You can buy Ashes to Admin here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ashes-to-admin/evie-king/9781915306302 And Get Ahead of Being Dead here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/get-ahead-of-being-dead/evie-king/9781804193785 * Join the Standard Issue Club here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is too much screen time really the scourge of the under-twos? And exactly how excited should we be that the first ever female Labour Prime Minister is Andy Burnham, a man who isn’t even Prime Minister yet? Jen and Mick tackle these hot button questions and more in this week’s flirt with the news, which also includes another heinous rape trial, legitimately great news for young women, and Greg Cotswolds. Here's that BBC news story on the men named in the Stockport rape trial: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv9er181lno Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No-one's going to argue that Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical doesn't have issues, but does it still have things to recommend it? Is Anna an early feminist? Does it contain a banger? Is The Small House of Uncle Thomas a masterpiece? And why was young Hannah so fascinated by Yul Brynner?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working-class, feminist comedian Rachel Fairburn has long been a guaranteed good laugh on the comedy circuit, and a must-listen on All Killa No Filla, her smash hit true crime podcast with fellow standup Kiri Pritchard-McLean.  Rachel’s new show, Vexy Beasts, moves her into the ‘character comedy’ bracket, as she introduces hairdresser Leanne, fighting for her salon’s life while spilling the T on her clients, in the fictional Manchester suburb of Harpurvale. Our Mick was keen to find out more. Give Rachel a follow on Instagram, or visit her website for forthcoming gig details. As ever, there is bonus natter for our £5 and above Patreons, which includes more class chat and a whole load of Blackpool love.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new book, Pleasure: The Reclamation of My Body, journalist and broadcaster Emma-Louise Boynton interrogates the societal forces that teach women to mistrust their bodies and perform rather than feel pleasure. Jen chats to Emma about Emma's own story, the impact of the male gaze and digital culture on women’s pleasure, why gendered ideas around sex and pleasure are doing us all a disservice, and about Emma's live event series and media platform, Sex Talks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planning on spending the weekend on the sofa with all the fans pointed at you? Here are some suggestions on what you could watch at the same time. This month, we're talking about Two Weeks in August, The Four Seasons, Rivals, The Witness, The Burroughs, Widow's Bay, World War Two with Tom Hanks and what we make of World Cup coverage so far. * Hannah's chatting about why she thinks The Pitt's Dr Robby is less than a hero on out Substack here: https://standardissuepodcast.substack.com/p/dr-robby-is-the-pits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s feeling swampish in the UK this week, but spare a thought for the poor old Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool over in Washington DC. It seems Donald J Trump can think of nothing else. If the leader of the free world is distracted, the leader of the UK is... well, to be decided/Andy Burnham following Keir Starmer's resignation. There’s sexism live from the ITV kitchen, Hannah's found some elderly nuns hoping Scotland don’t come home too soon, and Jen's feeling cynical about Serena Williams in Jenny Off The Blocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Spielberg’s swashbuckling, whip-cracking, quip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones’s first adventure was beating the Nazis to the lost Ark of the Covenant. Will film picker Mick keep her big love for the film and its flawed hero under her fedora? Spoiler: NO! But what will Jen and Hannah have to say about the breakneck Oscar-nabbing adventure film that launched a thousand adventure films in its image? And also, George Lucas if you’re reading/listening: WTAF, man? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wondered why a female health campaigner writes ‘seggs’ instead of ‘sex’, or uses an emoji instead of a medical term? Turns out social media platforms are systematically censoring medically accurate content on topics such as menstruation, fertility and menopause – often misclassifying such content as “adult” material and limiting its reach. It goes further, with femtech entrepreneurs also finding themselves routinely censored.  Enter the brilliant Clio Wood, co-founder of CensHERship, a research hub and campaign that has ending this sexist nonsense in its sights. Our Mick chats to Clio about exactly what’s happening, why it’s happening and how it’s having a negative effect on everything from women’s health outcomes to the global economy.  Members of our Patreon £5 and above gang get some extra chat, including what Clio makes of the Government’s new Women’s Health Strategy.  You can access that by visiting patreon.com/standardissue And if you’re not already involved with our Substack, you can find that at standardissuepodcast.substack.com or sign up on our website, standardissuepodcast.com.  And you can buy Clio and her team a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/censhership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the saying goes, you never forget how to ride a bike. But how easy is it to teach a small person something you can’t remember not being able to do? Following the UK launch of children’s bike brand Woom, Jen jumped on the Zoom with senior marketing manager Christina Pallanch to talk about modelling an active lifestyle for our girls, carving out time to stay active as a mum, and top tips for picking a bike and getting your youngster on it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charming, melancholic, funny and ever-so British, Tim Key and Tom Basden’s tale of two men stuck in the past and on an island is Hannah’s pick for this month’s Flicking. How does Carey Mulligan fit in? Is Basden really that grubby? And why is Key making Mick and Yosra cry so much?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hannah and Mick can’t say FFS loud enough as The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns from the dead for another round in Parliament. And just how good an idea is the blanket banning of social media for under 16s? Or indeed the blanket banning of anything? Still, in good news, reading is up, the Wombles are back, and women get two personality choices courtesy of The Times. How generous.  The kids, they be reading more. Here's that article Hannah mentions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze93wggw74o Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second film in Jim Henson’s much-beloved franchise, contemporary critics said 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper failed to live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, The Muppet Movie. But were those reviewers mad? Can it top Hannah’s love for The Muppet Christmas Carol? What has Jen’s daughter written in her notes? And what has Mickey got on her feet? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Set in Trinidad in 1956, Driftwood is the debut play of actress Martina Laird. She chats to Hannah about why Trinidad's history is England's history too, The Little Mermaid, and the night they sat really near each other in a theatre. * Driftwood is on at the Kiln Theatre in London. More here: https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/driftwood/ * Details on how to become a member of the supporters' club here:  Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Roberto De Zerbi was made Spurs' new manager, his previous public support for player Mason Greenwood – who was in the past accused of various sexual assaults, although all charges were dropped – made the headlines. As a Spurs fan, journalist and broadcaster Kate Mason wrote about her take on this for The Athletic. She chats to Jen about how clubs deal with accusations of misconduct, the options legally available to them, alienation of female fans, and whether misogyny really is rife in the men’s game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor Liv Hill made her TV debut in the BBC’s remarkable Three Girls back in 2017, aged just 16. She’s currently playing Jane in Ava Pickett’s astonishing play 1536, in which three Tudor friends face the echoes of Ann Boleyn’s trial and beheading in their own rural lives. It’s a sharp and powerful portrayal of misogyny that also crackles with humour and the joy of female friendship. Mick chats to Liv about female friendships, trickle down politics, ugly choices, powerful roles, and playing a young Glenda Jackson.  1536 is at the Ambassadors in London’s West End until August 1. Visit theambassadorstheatre.co.uk for tickets. More of this chat? But of course: patreon.com/standardissue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thick as mince headlines, more body ‘correcting’ jabs, World Cup qualifying nonsense, online child sex abuse and women being harassed by drunk men on trains: no wonder British women are fuming. And yet, Mick and Jen are also bringing good news – some of it even relating to that long list of bleak.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would we want to live in a Utopia where everyone is killed at 30? Would we run? Would we dress like we were in Pan's People? Would we find wrinkles fascinating? Find out as we watch the classic dystopian sci-fi that begs these questions and many, many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actress and writer Sofia Barclay's love for the Bard shines through her book Shakespeare's Heartbeat: 40 Sonnets for Navigating Big Feelings. She talks to Hannah about big feelings, Desdemona, filming in a heatwave, Sam Rockwell playing a baby and Ted Lasso. * You can listen to Shakespeare's Heartbeat: 40 Sonnets for Navigating Big Feelings on Audible here * Find out more about the Standard Issue supporters' club here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An estimated one million under-18s in the UK help to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition or drug and alcohol problems. Inspired by her experience of providing end-of-life care for her own mum, director Rosie Morris's short documentary Is Mum OK launches on The Guardian this week. In it, Rosie meets with some of Britain's young carers dealing with responsibilities far beyond their years. Jen chats to Rosie about the incredible young people in the film, recognising their achievements and their struggles, and combating the shame that comes from caring as, or being cared for by, a child. The Carer’s Trust provides help and support for carers. You can find out more by visiting their website: https://carers.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like women all over the world, writer and director Rebecca Lenkiewicz found herself in a state of disbelief, horror and rage when the naming of huge numbers of well-known, powerful associates of convicted child sex offender Jeffry Epstein, failed to trigger any meaningful legal action. Wanting to recognise the Epstein victims, and to give women feeling this collective pain a voice, Rebecca invited writers to join her in creating All The Rage: A Theatrical Response to the Epstein Files. Jen chats to Rebecca, along with writer and producer Anoushka Warden, about the production, the endemic nature of male sexual violence against women and girls, and the rage women feel as we grapple with our treatment within modern society. All The Rage is showing at London's Theatre Deli from June 11-13. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are fans rioting when they won? Is a degree as worthwhile as it used to be? How badly are some pregnant women treated in maternity wards? Where is London's newest museum? And who has just become one of the highest paid female athletes in the world? This week, Hannah and Jen have all the answers. And yet, somehow, still have more questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it a bird, is it a fish, is it a pig, or is it swinging on a star? Turns out, Michael Lehmann’s Bruce Willis vehicle is everything and nothing much at once. But the film that famously blew its budget, bombed at the box office and got savaged by critics is having a renaissance. WHY, ask Mick, Hannah and Jen? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fewer and fewer woman now identify as straight. Why? Well that's what Phoebe Maltz Bovy's new book The Last Straight Woman sets out to discover. She chats to Hannah about how trends, empathy for LGBT people, a rejection of gender roles, bad PR for men and porn may all be playing their part.  You can buy The Last Straight Woman here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-last-straight-woman/phoebe-maltz-bovy/9780771013027 You can join the Standard Issue members club here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over on Instagram, Alex Light is a rare voice of sanity amid the relentless madness that is beauty standards for women and girls. Her new book, The Price of Pretty, examines the crushing beauty standards women are subjected to – and how we can learn to fight back.  Mick chats to Alex about finding compassion for ourselves and other women in how we navigate these toxic waters, whether we choose to opt in, try to opt out, or just want to see change for the young girls growing up in a system that’s rigged against us. The Price of Pretty: How toxic beauty standards are bringing women down and how we can fight back is published by HQ and out now. And you can follow Alex on Instagram at @alexlight_ldn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much older men have dated much younger women since time immemorial, but should it feel inappropriate when the younger women in question are over the age of consent, but not yet 18? Dating educator, social worker, and podcaster Lalala Let Me Explain wants to end the “unwise but not illegal” defence used by grown adults entering relationships with young people who are above the age of consent but not yet eligible to vote. Having joined forces with campaigner Poppy Mason to launch Close the Consent Gap, a campaign aimed at making such relationships illegal, she chats to Jen about it, and the harm that such power imbalances can cause. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a little tour of the devolved Governments (where Wales comes out a lot better than Scotland, if we're honest), and for a look at one of the worst rulings in an English court in a long time. Bring a Chris or a talking animal, or indeed anything but a woman over 60. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who do we forgive in times of war? Louis de Bernières’ 1994 novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, has some suggestions, but are they the same as John Madden’s 2001 imagining of it? Still, never mind the morals, what about the accents? And can Nicolas Cage ever laugh like a normal person? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Waiting On A Friend, the debut novel of journalist Natalie Adler, is set in the crucible of the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York. Natalie chats to Hannah about what inspired her to write it, a lost generation, and Old "affordable" New York. * Waiting on a Friend is available to buy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/waiting-on-a-friend/natalie-adler/9781529439052 To find out more about supporting Standard Issue click here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want some TV recommendations? Yeah, you do. This month we're chatting about Legends, Ponies, Widow's Bay and Believe Me, as well as some good and bad news about what's still to come this year, plus what should probably never have been on the telly in the first place.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Number 5 is alive! Or is he? This week, Hannah and Jen talk about the family-friendly sci-fi comedy, its inappropriate casting and why the love interests have the same haircut.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Search for Water: A Human History of Thirst is an expansive and important new book from journalist and anthropologist Virginia Mendoza. Part-memoir and part-history, Virginia weaves personal reflection and her memories of growing up in La Mancha – the driest region in Europe – with a meticulously researched anthropological exploration of how water – both too little and too much – has shaped our species.  Mick chats with Virginia about water and how it connects us to our oldest ancestors, from where we were all born in Africa to migration, from myth-making and religion to what our relationship with water means today. English isn’t Virginia’s first language so a heads up that she pronounces drought “druth” the first couple of times she says it.  The Search for Water: A Human History of Thirst is translated into English by Thomas Bunstead, published by Pushkin and out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by her own experiences of autoimmune diseases, writer Gillian Best decided to delve deeper into the topic of pain. Her book, Chronic: Understanding Pain, explores what pain is, how to treat it, and the research being done to improve the lives of the 1.5billion people across the world living with chronic pain.  Jen chats to Gillian about chronic pain, how to navigate it, its impact on women, and why it’s more than a medical issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Coogler’s much glazed box-office smash is Yosra’s pick this month. It’s a vampire horror about life and times in the Jim Crow South with a banging Blues soundtrack and a lot to say about cultural appropriation, colonialism and the Black experience. Does its midway handbrake turn work or is it too reminiscent of a film Mick and Hannah would rather forget? Do the not one but two Michael B Jordans bring out the actor’s best? Is Jack O’Connell under control? And could we love Wunmi Mosaku any more? Find out.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Labour suffering huge losses in last week’s local elections, Hannah and Jen look at the wholesale batshittery of the reaction to it, from the party itself and the media, as well as misinformation and the women (allegedly) begging Nigel Farage to “save them”. Thank God for the nuns, and the slightly safer territory of end-of-season football and tennis’s clay season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take off all your clothes and climb into bed with your female pal, as David Lynch’s twisty neo-noir nightmare-dream that tickles the seedy underbelly of Hollywood gets Rated or Dated. Join Mick, Hannah and Jen, as they ask questions, such as ‘what the fuck is happening?’, ‘who cares?’ and ‘WHY?’ about a film some regard as one of the greatest movies of the 21st century. Is that a dolphin? What’s in this Twinkie? WHO CARES. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Clare McGlynn is fighting the good fight when it comes to tackling the growing harms of extreme porn. She chats to Hannah about her new book, Exposed: The Rise of Extreme Porn and How We Fight Back, not being cool with the kids and how we're all having worse sex because of porn, whether we watch it or not. * You can buy Clare's book here * More info on ad-free listening and bonus content here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The family courts in England and Wales are going through some changes. In particular, a move to a 'child-focused' approach – designed to minimise trauma and cut a huge backlog of cases. But what does that really mean? Weren’t the family courts already child-focused? And will the changes really help victims of domestic abuse? Jen got on the Zoom with Laura Naser, award-winning partner in family law at Penningtons Manches Cooper, and author of The Family Lawyer’s Guide to Separation and Divorce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices