Standard Issue Podcast

Straddling the seasons of Hallowe'en and Christmas like some stop-animation colossus, The Nightmare Before Christmas – aka Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas – is our Yosra Osman's pick this month. But what will Hannah and Mick make of the 1993 (1993!) cult favourite, how do we make Sally stop pining over self-obsessed Sandy Claws-kidnapper Jack Skellington, and what's Hannah wearing next...

Welcome to Lockdown II: Electric Boogaloo or whatever we’re calling these latest Unprecedented Times. It’s already having an effect and has put My Red Stripes – disability and inclusion campaigner Jo Milne’s public health awareness campaign around Usher Syndrome – on hold for a while. Nevertheless, Jo still has a lot of interesting stuff to share with Mick about what she’s been up to, what we can...

We can all agree that lockdown wasn't especially joyful, but what many of us also agree on, is that the absolute highlight were the antics of Olive and Mabel, two very good dogs belonging to Andrew Cotter, sports commentator and now author of very good book Olive, Mabel and Me. In the first of our International Men's Day 2020 interviews, Hannah asks Andrew what this year has taught him about fame,...

Homelessness is a topic that, sadly, never goes away, so in this week's podcast Mick chats to Maeve McClenaghan, investigative journalist and host of brilliant podcast The Tip Off, about what she discovered when she started looking into the number of people dying homeless on Britain’s streets. The US election is less than a week away and Hannah talks about the best/worst case scenario with America...

Dr Polly Russell is the curator of the British Library’s cracking and important new exhibition Unfinished Business: The Fight For Women’s Rights. Bang up our alley? Yes siree.  She chats to Mickey about this landmark, three-years in the making exhibition of extraordinary content, which shows how the work of contemporary feminist activism has its roots in the long and complex history of women’s rig...

Katy Wix AND Rachel Parris? Yep, this is a stone-cold doozie of a Zoomcast. Chat includes choosing one word to describe 2020, jigsaw aggression, unusual funeral behaviour, a needs-must ‘rethink reskill reboot’, the joy of geeking out, Tracey Emin, Tori Amos, Mick’s not-wedding, Hannah’s auntie Tina, and the geography lessons we can all learn from Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car.  Support this show http:/...

Our world is more divided than we can ever remember it, but what can we do to change hearts and minds? In this Chops, Hannah chats to Megan Phelps-Roper, author of Unfollow, a memoir about growing up in - and leaving - the notorious Westboro Baptist Church. They chat about how the media ought to be reporting on extremist groups, why - and how - we should talk to people we don't agree with, and who...

We've not one, but two, great chats about fascinating books in this week's podcast. Mickey talks to Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga, whose latest novel, This Mournable Body, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and who was recently arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest about government corruption. Meanwhile Hannah's been on the Zoom to Westboro Baptist Church apostate and autho...

It's Baby Loss Awareness Week, so in this Chops Hannah chats to Karen Burgess, CEO of baby loss counselling charity Petals, and Lia Shimada, one of the bereaved mothers helped by the service. They talk about the shame and blame around the loss of a child, what society can do to help reduce that, what's helpful to say or do for parents grieving this loss and – importantly – what's not.  Support thi...

It's too rainy, right? Let's all spend the weekend in front of the telly catching up on some excellent documentaries. We chat The Social Dilemma, A Perfect Crime and Challenger: The Final Flight in this month's Outside The Box. Hannah admits to having watched series two of Ghosts twice already and gives Mickey the hard sell, and we talk Des and whether it's fair to judge something on what you want...

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp and comedian Laura Lexx is the romance we all need right now. Yeah yeah, it’s not real, but it is joyous. You can and should read all about it in Laura’s book, Klopp Actually: (Imaginary) Life With Football’s Most Sensible Heartthrob. She tells our Mick how it all came about, what the man himself thinks so far, and why it’s best to treat Twitter like a child.  Meanwh...

Incels, pick-up artists, men's rights activists; the internet is literally crawling with angry men and as Laura Bates found out, they are more than happy to indoctrinate youngsters too. The writer and creator of the Everyday Sexism project tells us about her new book, Men Who Hate Women, how online bile is bleeding into the mainstream and why tech companies need to do more to prevent it. It's some...

It's that time of the month where Hannah, Mick and our resident film buff Yosra Osman chat about their favourite films. This time Mick's picked 1984's supernatural comedy classic, Ghostbusters. But what about underused Winston? And, erm, predatory Venkman? If Hannah and Yosra don't like it, who's Mick gonna call? (Ghostbusters: 555-2368) Also features cat interludes and the mystery of why Hannah's...

Wondering what lockdown did to the nation's physical and mental health? Then wonder no longer, because this week Hannah's been on the phone to Dr Daisy Fancourt, one of the team behind the Covid Social Study, to find out how things like sex, age, race and socio-economic grouping absolutely affected how you will have experienced the last six months. Hazel Davis chats to Michelle Rawlins, author of...

Monday 28 September is International Safe Abortion Day and our hard-working, very tired friends at Alliance 4 Choice got in touch to let us know that while the usual March For Choice can’t happen this year because pandemic, they’ve got some activities lined up over the weekend to celebrate it. It seemed the perfect opportunity to have a catch up about where abortion rights are at in Northern Irela...

One last face-to-face interview before we all become inside people again? You got it. Mick meets up with our music guru/mother of kittens Liz Buckley to celebrate Joan Jett, an incredible musician who isn’t letting turning 62 get in the way of being a rock icon. Hannah gets on the blower to Kaya Stanley Money, executive director of Camden People's Theatre, to find out what's next, both for that ve...

In this week's Chops, Hannah chats to radio producer and presenter Katherine Boyle about her move (along with Iain Lee) to Amazon's new streaming service Twitch. They talk about equal pay in radio, niche fandom, working with the Great British Public and the mental health of the nation. Tuck in! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

Welcome to our third Zoomcast - yes we're sticking with that word - where we're joined by comedian and author Jane Hill, and the writer and one third of Drunk Women Solving Crime, Hannah George. We talk about happiness, injuring yourself on the toilet, whether audio books are the ultimate in laziness, and if any of our clothes fit us anymore. You are welcome. Support this show http://supporter.aca...

Dr Jess Taylor is a feminist psychologist, founder and owner of VictimFocus, and author of essential read, Why Women Are Blamed For Everything – an exploration of the many reasons women are blamed for male violence. Because aren't we just? She chats to our Mick about ‘victim’ versus ‘survivor’, how education and the media are letting us all down, and unpicking the tangle of reasons that leads us t...

How the hell is it September? Don't think too deeply about that and instead get your ears round this month's Outside The Box, where Hannah very much doesn't hate I Hate Suzie, and she and Mick chat the highs and lows of I'll Be Gone In The Dark. Plus - there's never been such times - we do some listener requests, watching Harlots, Almost Australian and The Umbrella Academy. You are welcome. Suppor...

Big questions dominate this week’s episode.  1. Does building a house while singing and dancing make amends for outrageous sexism? No, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, no it does not. Still, nice moves. That’s just one of the old(er) films Hannah and our resident movie buff Yosra Osman tackle in a fascinating chat about what happens when your favourite film – and indeed novel, song or cartoon – be...

This week's Chops is Mick's full half-hour chat with the awesome Annie Nightingale: Britain's first female DJ, the longest serving woman at Radio 1, and a proper joy. They chat about Annie's latest book, Hey Hi Hello, 50 years of pop culture, the sadness of nostalgia, being awestruck by the mere mention of Miles Davis, and what happened when she found herself in a lift with Paul Newman.  Support t...

Ah, Terence Malick, a Marmite maverick in cinema. Do you love his films? Do you hate his films? Perhaps you're prepared to have your mind changed either way, like someone who ran out of jam to put on their toast, but found an old jar of the yeasty brown stuff in the cupboard and gave it another shot. Find out whether it's "Malick on toast all round!" as Hannah gets Mick and Yosra to watch 1973's B...

We took the Bank Holiday off so there's no BT or DDD this week, but instead four - count 'em - FOUR great interviews with FIVE - *faints* - top women this week.  Mick catches up with the one and only Annie Nightingale, Britain's first female DJ, longest serving woman at Radio 1 and an utter delight, to talk about Hey Hi Hello, her latest book, which charts five decades of pop culture. Hannah's tal...

As kids return to schools, Lavinya Stennett of The Black Curriculum tells Mick why Black British history needs to be mandatory teaching within the national curriculum and chats about the #TBH365 campaign aiming to make that a reality. Hannah talks to award-winning novelist Elif Shafak about her new non-fiction book, How To Stay Sane In An Age of Division, and why we should all spend a bit more tim...