Standard Issue Podcast

This week, Hannah and Mickey look at some of the week's best and worst stories, including major finds by archeologists, the scandal that continues to engulf Cambridge University, free travel for disabled people in England, and the ongoing "early release" crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alejandro Amenábar’s creepy AF tale of grief and darkness in post-war Jersey cleared a path for the return of old-school horror. But does it stand up when you already know the twist? Is there a fate worse than Keith Allen in your upstairs? And will we ever stop inflicting Nicole Kidman on poor Hannah? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a while since comedian Susan Calman went on tour: 10 years, in fact. Her brand new show, Tall Tales, kicks off in September, and promises stories, big laughs, a dose of peri rage, and – possibly – some dancing.  Mick got on the Zoom with Susan to talk comedy, weights, cats, anxiety, grief, facing big challenges, sex cruises and serial killers. As ever, there’s more chat for our £5 a...

When it comes to saying no, journalist and author Anna Holmes has form. Back in 2007, she founded feminist website Jezebel, which at the time was a big old flip of the bird to traditional women’s media, and went on to change the entire media landscape. In her new book, The Power of No: A Celebration, she turns ideas around a presumed negative (especially when uttered by a woman...

Eva Victor’s lauded auterial debut about a bad thing that happens to a young woman called Agnes and how she feels and deals in the aftermath, is Yosra’s pick for this month. Billed pretty much everywhere as a black comedy, will Mick and Hannah do any laughing?  Is Victor’s telling of trauma authentic? How big is that cat? And how do they all feel about the term ‘traumedy’? (Spoiler: traumedis...

This week’s apocalypse is brought to you by Mick and Jen. They’re chatting about the early release of prisoners, which may require more nuance than ‘from October’, the rise and risks of pervert specs, some lovely cash news for women who invest, and why Jen is sat in a puddle staring at the sun. There’s fake wives and sexist weather in SOTW, and some joyous shouting of ‘BELLEND!’ And ‘ELIMINATOR!’...

We escape a red hot summer to visit, checks notes, another red hot summer in Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter's adaptation of LP Hartley's novel. There's big hair, wild hats, Alan Bates - swoons! -  future British sitcom stars and crippling social conventions. What could possibly go wrong? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian and long-time Standard Issue friend Vix Leyton's latest show – Chief Petty Officer – is on at the Edinburgh Fringe right now. She chats to Hannah about big changes, small pettinesses, the cost of the Fringe (in every sense), and the joys of moving up North. Tickets and info for Chief Petty Officer here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Investigative journalist Lucy Taylor is, along with her partner in podcasting and partner in life Dan Ashby, responsible for the award-winning BBC Radio 4/BBC Sounds programme Buried, the third series of which has been recently released. She chats to Hannah about how the dumping of dead animals in a tiny community led to a network of organised crime in the British countryside, and how rural p...

Is there a new grifter on the scene? Hannah’s been nose to the ground around the ever-growing tall tales of Jason Arday, the University of Cambridge’s youngest ever black professor with a very impressive CV. Too impressive? Weeeelllll. There’s definitely an old grifter on the scene, as Mick’s been nose to the ground around the ever-growing “joke” candidate list for next week’s Clacton-on-Sea’s bye...

“Wake up, Claire, Jim’s dead! They’re all dead!” Is the subtle way Tom Cruise’s super-cool spy Ethan Hunt tells a woman her husband’s been killed a cipher for the rest of Brian De Palma’s slick and shiny 1996 thriller? How secure is that CIA vault? Where did you get that mask? Is it really that easy to get stabbed through a fence? Mick and Hannah answer these questions and many more, as the first...

When it comes to women and girls being not just welcome and safe in public places and spaces, but also thought about and designed for, Susannah Walker has credentials and previous.  When she and Imogen Clark co-founded the not-for-profit Make Space For Girls back in 2021, her eyes were opened to a whole load more issues to address when it comes to women and girls in public places and spaces....

Like it or loathe it, social media is a huge part of our everyday lives. That's the topic sociologist and journalist Kathryn Jezer-Morton grapples with in her new book, The Story of Your Life: Social Media, Storytelling and the Branding of Everyday Life, in which she attempts to uncover the deeper truths about how what we see and share on social media is rewriting the ways we make sense...

In this month's guide to the best and worst TV,  we're watching Cape Fear, Katie Price: Nothing To Hide, Ann Droid, Jesy Nelson; Life Changing, The American Revolution and I, Jack Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Bigelow’s “wet western” action-thriller has something for everyone: Keanu Reeves’ face if your Jen, Gary Busey in general if you’re Mick, and a dog being thrown at a person during a high-speed foot-chase if you’re Hannah. But will this wang-heavy surfer-bank-robber classic stand the test of time? And we did all know it was directed by a woman, right? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

On July 28, 1986, estate agent Suzy Lamplugh went to work as normal, preparing to meet a client. She was never seen again and no trace of her has ever been found. Suzy was declared legally dead, presumed murdered, in 1993. In response to her disappearance, her parents Paul and Diana set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, and over the last 40 years, the Trust has been responsible for vital work...

Writer and music journalist Cathi Unsworth’s compilation for Ace records, Dressed in Black: Goth Divas From the Dark Side 1941-2025, shines a light on the women who laid the sonic and cultural foundations for Goth. The album is a dark joy and an excellent companion to Cathi’s 2023 book, Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth. And the perfect excuse for our Mick to get Cathi on the Zoom to chat what...

The UK has a new Prime Minister, and you’ll never bloody guess who it is. Mick and Jen talk about the King of the North’s brand new office, as well as some legislative heel-dragging around surrogacy and some Marie-France van Heel-dragging by the usual suspects. There’s good news on shadow-banning, cat-finding and, in JOTB, filming female athletes. Also in JOTB, does anyone have any VAR on the lack...

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, th...

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 wat...

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 d...

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...

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, ta...