Standard Issue Podcast

Politics has become very macho and very toxic in recent years, so in the fourth of our International Men's Day interviews, we invited political activist Femi Oluwole and comedian and writer Chris Addison in to find out what they thought about politics becoming literally a load of old balls. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

Putting the men into mental health, treating yourself as an ongoing project, accepting your parents as people, being a "woke feminist geezer", and when it's absolutely inappropriate to windmill – there's a whole maze of chat as Mick catches up with Rich Wilson, comedian, bloody lovely fella and host of the excellent Insane In The Men Brain podcast. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stan...

In the second of our International Men's Day 2019 specials, Hannah and Jen caught up with George Alagiah – journalist, author, and main dude at the BBC News at Six. They chatted living in a relentless news cycle, the masculinity of a newsroom, and George's new book, The Burning Land. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

In the first of this year's International Men's Day interviews, Hannah and Mickey went to London's Old Vic to meet actor Paterson Joseph, who is about to appear on stage as the Scrooge in Jack Thorne's version of A Christmas Carol (opens on Nov 23). They chatted about why writers are still drawn to Dickens, the state of the world, The Leftovers and, of course, Johnson. Because Johnson. Support thi...

In this episode, we're joined by comedian and Standard Issue fave, Jen Brister to chat about her new book The Other Mother. We talked about what it's like to be the "other" or non-biological mother of twin boys, not feeling guilty, and novel uses for all those jars of teeth*. *Not as weird as it sounds. Probably. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast....

Dr Jen Gunter, gynaecologist, expert on women’s health, and author of bestseller The Vagina Bible, chats to Mickey and busts some myths about the vulva and vagina. From Greek statues to white knickers, "dirty" vaginas to bullshit about the hymen, and what porn is teaching kids, you might want to take notes/buy the book. You definitely want to follow her on Twitter @drjengunter. Support this show h...

In this week’s podzine Hannah chats to author Anna Cosslett about her new book Your Life As I Knew It, about bringing up her severely autistic son, Huw. We’re joined in the studio by our resident consumer expert and all-round lovely person Vix Leyton to give us the lowdown on bagging a Black Friday bargain and what the Brexit is happening in the world of retail. There’s electoral Wacky Races, ques...

Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are the two Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporters that broke the Harvey Weinstein story back in October 2017. It kickstarted the #MeToo movement, which continues to this day. Their new book, She Said, is a powerful page-turner that tells the story behind the breaking of the story – and what happened next for some of the women involved in the allegations again...

It's dark out, so best stay in and watch some TV. And man, is there a lot to choose from. We talk Succession, Bojack Horseman, Motherland, Young Offenders, The Accident, Seven Worlds, Dublin Murders and a tiny bit of His Dark Materials in this month's Outside The Box. Have at it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

Radical women, bloody-minded women, successful sports women: there's loads of positive stuff in this week's podcast – hurray! Hannah learns all about the excellent Greenham Women Everywhere project from its co-coordinator Rebecca Mordan, who explains the work of, and shares anecdotes from, the extraordinary campaigners of the Greenham Common peace camp of the 1980s. Mickey has a lovely natter with...

Fiercely successful business brains Debbie Wosskow and Anna Jones, founders of leading women’s network The AllBright and authors of Believe Build Become, chat to Mickey about the power of failure and risk, the benefits of a poor short-term memory, the huge boost women can and need to give other women, and how a serendipitous meeting led to the formation of a monster global sisterhood of kick-ass w...

It's rare we open a gigcast with the question "WTF?" but as our guests last month were MP Stella Creasy and US comedian Taylor Glenn it seemed rather fitting. We also talked about what we'd change if we were in charge of the world, "liberal bros", disastrous driving tests and foam shrimps. Because foam shrimps.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. S...

Last week, Mick and Hannah went to the pub with comedian Sophie Duker to find out if life has changed since she became one of the first women of colour to be nominated for an Edinburgh Award. Spoiler alert, it has. They also chatted about her show Venus, making Oxbridge more accessible to minorities, and lesbian cruises. You are welcome. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuesp...

Back in August Jen caught up with Jemma Neville, author of Constitution Street, which charts the real-life stories on one Edinburgh Street. With Brexit looming – possibly, probably, who knows? – now seems like as good a time as any to share Jemma's thoughts on the UK's current political shitstorm, why democracy needs reframing, and the good that can come from the act of listening. Support this sho...

On this week’s pod, Mick chats to Alliance For Choice’s Danielle Roberts about some good news on reproductive and gay marriage rights in Northern Ireland, following changes to the law this week. Hannah speaks to former Conservative, now Lib Dem MP Heidi Allen about what’s going on in Parliament about Brexit this week and how you can help push for a People’s Vote. Jen speaks to author Kiran Millwoo...

Back in August, Jen and Mick had a natter with pirate queen (of sorts), writer and wonderful human Sara Sheridan about her new book Where Are The Women: A Guide To A Reimagined Scotland. They talked about what Scotland would look like if we thought about women's achievements in the same way we do men's, why it's important to memorialise women, and what exactly a pirate queen smells like. Support t...

This week best selling author Jung Chang drops by to chat to Jen about her new book Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, and the joy of archives. Mick and Hannah chat to Sarah Raphael and Naomi Shimada about their mixed feelings around social media, how it’s affecting all of our lives and what the Dickens a Snapchat “streak” is.   In Jenny Off The Blocks, Carrie Dunn tells us about her new book ...

Ahead of World Menopause Day 2019 on October 18, we do a bit more banging on about the menopause. Because it's important. And also because we managed to grab some time with Dr Louise Newson, known to many simply as the Menopause Doctor. Mick chats to her about symptoms, diagnosis, education, her (excellent) Haynes manual, and how knowledge is very much power when it comes to coping and indeed thri...

It's the 63rd BFI London Film Festival and our Jen has been getting right in the thick of it, chatting to top female filmmakers. She has sourced quite the eclectic bunch for you. Alice Seabright and Elaine Gracie are director and writer of End-O, a short film about endometriosis; Anna Eborn is the director of coming-of-age documentary Transnistra, about a group of teenagers growing up in the break...

Always make sure you are in the right place for an audition. That's just some of what we learned from Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong and Simone Ibbett-Brown, who came into the studio to tell us about their new play, Shuck N Jive, which is based on their experiences of the theatre as actresses of colour. Jen got on the phone to civil rights legend, writer Nikki Giovanni, ahead of her event at the Sou...

Helen Monks tells us about Trojan Horse, the award-winning play she co-created, which tells the story of the Trojan Horse scandal, and is about to go on a nationwide tour. She also chats tackling ingrained Islamophobia and the joys of multicultural Birmingham with our Hannah, who manages to almost get some Upstart Crow news out of her too. Tuck in! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stan...

Back in August Jen met up with Malorie Blackman at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. They chatted about Malorie's new book Crossfire, the fifth instalment of her Noughts and Crosses series, why she loves writing for young adults, and what it's like to be loved by Stormzy. Look out for a second helping of Chops today, in which Hannah has a natter with actor and co-writer of the new play Tr...

Was it worth the wait for Mindhunter? Is Unbelievable the most feminist TV we've seen yet? Why was Bojack cancelled? Who is the guy that's like the Hulk but red? We answer these and many more questions in this month's Outside The Box, where we're also talking Top Boy, Frayed and Brassic.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Abortion rights, Victorian-esque coal mines, dead dictators and dodgy CGI: this week’s podzine is quite the mix.  Filmmaker Lucy D'Cruz tells Hannah and Jen all about the current situation regarding reproductive rights in Argentina and her new documentary My Body, Their Choice. (Get involved with the crowdfunder, here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/abortion-my-body-their-choice#/). Mick chats...

In the fifth and final instalment of our series on the menopause, Jen catches up with journalist Lucy Pasha-Robinson, who went through a temporary, medically induced menopause aged 25, as treatment for endometriosis. They chat about the physical and physiological impacts of experiencing symptoms of the menopause at such a young age, the lack of support for those experiencing early menopause, and w...