Standard Issue Podcast

Embalming and rape might not sound like the makings of a great conversation, but Mickey proves that theory wrong when she gets on the Zoom with Alexandra Donnachie, whose play When We Died covers both topics. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's chatting to boxer Caroline Dubois about the Olympics, trash talking, and turning professional. And in Rated or Dated, well, as you'll hear for yourself, we've t...

"But women are violent, too" is a phrase often designed to shut down conversations about male violence. But, the inconvenient truth is, women can be and are violent. When? Why? And how does it differ from male violence? They're just some of the questions Hannah puts to Anna Motz, author of a fascinating new book A Love That Kills: Stories of Forensic Psychology and Female Violence. Support this sh...

Politics, power and sex play important parts in both of this week’s interviews. Ahead of new BBC documentary, Becoming Frida Kahlo, Hannah’s been on the Zoom with filmmakers Louise Lockwood and Nancy Bornat to talk about the superstar Mexican painter, who channelled her pain, heartache and womanhood into her art.  Jen takes us even further back in time to revisit Tudor queens, Catherine of Aragon...

Why do we have hundreds of terms for the different stages of childhood and adolescence, but just one for the parents navigating their way through them all? This is just one of the questions asked in journalist Nell Frizzell’s excellent new book, Holding the Baby: Milk Sweat and Tears from the Frontline of Motherhood. Nell joins Jen to talk about her part-memoir, part-manifesto examining why we tre...

One woman’s “reasonable” is another woman’s eating cheesy crisps on the Tube. With our own concept of what it is to be reasonable, and indeed unreasonable, so entrenched in personal experience, Mick was fascinated to chat to cultural studies expert Kirsty Sedgman about her new book, On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the Rules and Making Things Better. Titanic Belfast is about to reopen after a major...

In sociologist Dr Marieke Bigg’s new book, This Won’t Hurt: How Medicine Fails Women, she explores the huge gaps in women’s health, the sexism inherent in medicine and the lingering gender bias which means women are mocked, misdiagnosed and dismissed. Come on now, that’s bang up our street, right? Right. And, as you’d expect from a sociologist, Marieke is interested in the role society has to play...

The Last of Us is breaking hearts, inspiring nightmares and repopularising Linda Ronstadt. Is there a more versatile show on TV? In this month's Outside the Box, we find out as we watch Nolly, Lockwood & Co and Better, plus we've final thoughts on Happy Valley *sobs*. There's been some documentary viewing going on too, as we chat about Stolen Youth, Emily Atack: Asking For It? and Killing County....

Where can you find a new exhibition featuring the work of more than 20 female artists, curated by another - Sarah Lucas? Essex, that's where. This week, Jen's chatting to Sally Shaw, director of Firstsite Colchester, about its new BIG WOMEN exhibition and the state of art in the UK right now. Mick's been on the Zoom with award-winning actor Bukky Bakray, star of the film Rocks, currently on our sc...

Yesterday (18 February 2023) was the 80th anniversary of the arrest of two youngsters, brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, members of The White Rose, a non-violent group pledged to resisting the Nazis through a leafleting and graffiti campaign. Just four days later, Hans, 24, Sophie, 21, and another member of the group, Christoph Probst, 23, were executed for high treason. Hannah was lucky...

It's got Oscar nominations coming out of its ears, and now our Yosra Osman has given Daniels Kwan and Scheinert's dizzying multiverse adventure the nod, by picking it for this month's Flicking.  But what will Mick and Hannah make of this tale of a middle-aged woman (Michelle Yeoh) unwillingly embroiled in an epic battle in various parallel universes to save the various parallel universes while sti...

Jacqui Honess-Martin’s brilliant ITV drama, Maternal, centres on three female doctors going back to work after having children and our Jen bloody loves it. As well as exploring mumhood and female friendship, it’s also a warts-and-all look at the NHS, so Jen and Jacqui chat dodgy temperatures, dodgy infrastructure, and why it’s not helpful to put the NHS on a pedestal.   Hannah’s been on the Zoom w...

The Merchant of Venice remains one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays, but how does a gender-swapped Shylock change things? In this week's Chops, Hannah finds out as she chats to actor and playwright Tracy-Ann Oberman, who is about to start a UK tour playing theatre's most notorious money lender. They chat about Tracy-Ann's tough-as-nails female ancestors, anti-semitism then and now, Twitte...

Our Hannah might not seem like the most likely candidate for a chat about Valentine’s Day, but when she found out Standard Issue fave Val McDermid was presenting Cupid Loves Eros, a Radio 4 programme exploring queer love poetry, she was on the Zoom like a ferret up a (too long) trouser leg. They talk about representations of love in literature, the interest in queer love, and the return of Karen P...

Jo Todd has worked in the domestic abuse sector for more than 30 years, so she really knows her shit. For the past 22 years, she’s been CEO of Respect UK, a pioneering domestic abuse organisation, developing safe, effective work with  perpetrators, male victims and young people who use violence. In this week’s Chops, she chats to our Mick about what safe, effective work with perpetrators looks lik...

The gang's all here! And by that I mean, this week Mick is having a very lovely natter with The Boss, Sarah Millican, about Bobby Dazzler, Late Bloomer, Taskmaster, robots, balloons and safety potatoes. And Hannah is chatting to our Yozzie - Yosra Osman - about what she makes of this week's Oscar nominations. Jen's got words for the president of motorsport's governing body in Sexism of the Week. A...

The whole country's watching Happy Valley, so we decided not to bother because ... nope, can't keep that up. Of course we're watching it and of course we've loads to say about it. But that's not all. We're also chatting about The Last Of Us, The Light In The Hall, Our Flag Means Death, Without Sin, I Hate Suzie Too, Christmas - remember that far back? - and more.  Support this show http://supporte...

Ellie Gibson, comedian, one half of comedy double act The Scummy Mummies and self-proclaimed “bit of a pisshead”, has taken a long, hard look at her relationship with booze and decided to do something about it. She’s started a podcast! She tells our Mick about the excellent Sort Your Shit Out, the joys and rules of moist January, the perils of kiwi fruit, and finding a liveable middle ground when...

Tech whizz, creator of award-winning social enterprise Stemettes, host of the Women Tech Charge podcast, and a familiar face off the telly thanks numerous Countdown appearances, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon is a firm advocate for women and girls owning it in tech spaces. Her excellent new book, She’s In CTRL: How Women Can Take Back Tech, aims to help more women and girls do just that.  She got on the Z...

Another Mickey Flicking choice, another veritable wang fest. OTT pro Will Ferrell heads up a stellar comedy cast in Anchorman, a 2004 satire of 1970s newsrooms co-written with and directed by Adam McKay. Packed with clever silliness, silly silliness, incredible performances, quotable lines and a really cute dog that speaks Spanish, it’s one of Mick’s go to ‘cheer me up’ films. But what do Hannah a...

Familiar TV face Kate O'Flynn is back on the box in Everyone Else Burns, a new Channel 4 sitcom about a family in a religious cult. So Hannah jumped on the Zoom to chat to Kate about her career to date, the joy of deadpan delivery, representation of the regions, and acting alongside Olivia Colman.   With the Australian Open underway, Jen caught up with former world number 5 and legendary pundit Jo...

Back in 2016, actor and comedian Cariad Lloyd started Griefcast, her award-winning podcast in which she talks to people about their experiences of grief and death. That’s seven years of talking about death and grief, and Cariad has poured all of the things she’s learned into a wonderful new book, You Are Not Alone: A New Way To Grieve, which – like her – is candid, funny, warm and full of empathy....

Happy Valley is finally back for a third and final series, hooray, so Hannah leapt at the chance to chat to its creator, the writer Sally Wainwright. They talk about the return of Catherine Cawood and why there might be life in Gentleman Jack yet. Mickey's been on the Zoom with comedy double act Norris and Parker – Katie and Sinead to their pals – to talk sirens (the female kind), witches, friends...

After stalling while the Tory Party considered which unelected Prime Minister was going to lead the country back in 2022, the Online Harms Bill is now back on the agenda in Parliament, rebranded as the Online Safety Bill. In this week’s Chops, Jen catches up with Dr Lisa Sugiura, Reader in Cybercrime and Gender at the University of Portsmouth, to find out why that rebranding might be a problem. Th...

The so-called “wellness” industry is worth an estimated $4.4 trillion, but what does “wellness” even mean? As we deal with the onslaught of #newyearnewyou Instagram advertising, and algorithms set to do a guilt-tripping number on us over any festive indulgences, Jen jumps on the Zoom with journalist Rina Raphael, author of the new book The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the False Promis...

What an incredible year for women's sport: the Lionesses’ glorious Euro win at Wembley; Commonwealth Games triumphs; the inaugural Tour de France Femmes - there's been A LOT to feast on. It all means there are tough choices in store for England Cricket captain, Heather Knight, Sky Sports' NFL expert Phoebe Schecter, Eurosport's Queen of cycling Orla Chennaoui, and England Rugby's Shaunagh Brown, a...