Standard Issue Podcast

Vaginismus is not often talked about, not often recognised and not often understood, but the Vaginismus Network is on a mission to change that. Back in the summer, Mickey and Hannah met its co-founders Kat Wilson and Lisa Mackenzie to learn more about it, how it affects them and how they are helping bring other women with the condition together.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standa...

Top funny women Kemah Bob and the Scummy Mummies’ Helen Thorn and Ellie Gibson joined Mick and Hannah on stage at the Marlowe Comedy Festival in Canterbury to talk forgotten swimming costumes, racing vibrators, pillow privilege, wasp chocolate, the horror of Cats (the forthcoming film not the animal), evolving incompetence and all the beautiful colours of the rainbiv. Yeah, you heard us, rainbiv....

Meg Mathews is the fourth Chops in our menopause series, as Mick finds out all about her website, megsmenopause.com. They talk about the loneliness menopause can bring if you don’t understand what’s going on, and how Meg's experiences made her want to make things easier for other women to recognise what's happening and thrive rather than survive.  megsmenopause.com is a brilliant resource for any...

This week Jen and Mick chat to comedian and writer Sara Pascoe about her wonderful new book, Sex, Power, Money. They talk about society's transactional view of sex, when pop songs used to empower young girls, and yucking someone else's yum, as well as all the other projects Sara has on the go right now. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

Oh yes, we're coming at you live this week and by live, we mean we recorded this at London Podcast Festival at the weekend. We were joined by two special guests: comedian and disability rights activist Tanyalee Davis and journalist and co-author of Slay In Your Lane Yomi Adegoke. We talked about the historical shitstorm that is UK politics, the decline of print magazines and what you should and sh...

Dealing with menopause in the workplace is just one of the things Elaine Miller is passionate about. Her official title is physiotherapist and comedian but we reckon Queen of the Pelvic Floor is more fitting, and in this, the third in our series looking at the menopause, she chats to Mick about what needs to be done to make the menopause an accepted and well-handled part of everyone's life.   Elai...

In this episode Jen chats to Juventus and former England striker Eni Aluko, a straight-up legend of the women's game, to talk about her new book, They Don't Teach This. They had a natter about identity and fitting in, valuable lessons Eni's learned throughout her impressive career as a footballer and a lawyer, and what it's like to take on The Man – as Eni did when she challenged the culture withi...

This week Mick and Jen catch up with star of the stage and screen Jodie Prenger, currently touring in the National Theatre’s production of Shelagh Delaney’s taboo-breaking play, A Taste of Honey (https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/a-taste-of-honey-uk-tour), to talk about mimicking everyone from your nan to Liza Minnelli. Hannah chats to tour guide and living history practitioner Ailsa Clarke...

When Carrie Gracie took the BBC to task about its gender pay gap, the whole world was watching. The journalist and now author tells Mickey and Hannah how it felt to fight, to win, to find a sisterhood, and to bear the standard for other women. They also chat unconscious gender bias, the motherhood penalty, why so many people don’t think the gender pay gap exists, and how men need to step up. All o...

With women all over the country struggling to get their HRT prescriptions filled, are we in a women's health crisis? As part of our special series about the menopause, Hannah chats to Dr Anne Henderson about what is causing the HRT shortage, what women can do if they are affected and what the rest of us can do to help. They also chat about the paper recently printed in the Lancet linking HRT to br...

Carrie Gracie – that's right, the fierce AF BBC journalist who kicked Auntie right in the nuts over equal pay – joins us to talk about exactly how being "mad, bad and determined" helped her win a previously unthinkable fight with her employer. She also explains how she wants to help all women get the equal pay they deserve, as she shares her story, research and advice in her new book, Equal: A Sto...

Throughout September we'll be running a special series of Chops about the oft-dreaded and rarely-discussed subject - the menopause. In this first episode, Jen speaks to author Darcey Steinke about Flash Count Diary: A New Story About Menopause, a fierce and fantastic account of her experience, including some major plus points and some unexpected animals. Support this show http://supporter.acast.co...

Bernardine Evaristo's latest fusion fiction, Girl, Woman, Other, long-listed for this year’s Booker Prize, is an exploration and celebration of black womanhood, being black British and a love song to modern Britain – which is as complicated a relationship as you’d imagine. Mick caught up with her at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to find out more, and to talk about the burden of represe...

Author Kit de Waal chats to our Jen about her about her new novel, Becoming Dinah, which is part of the Bellatrix series for feminist young adult and teen readers. They chatted about re-imagining the classics, finding your inner 14-year-old, and the forthcoming Primadonna book festival (Aug 30-Sept 1, https://www.primadonnafestival.com/), of which she's one of the co-founders. Support this show ht...

Ding Ding! Round Two of this month's Outside The Box is here and yes, that is a tortured wrestling reference. Because this time we're talking Netflix's Glow, which is back in the ring for a third series. Elsewhere, we're all about Channel 4 as we watch Kathy Fucking Burke's All Woman, Aisling Bea's This Way Up and Jade: The Reality Star That Changed Britain. Get it in your ears and be set for a gr...

Cats in space, dogs in graveyards and other animal biographies come to the fore as Hannah chats with Kimberlie Hamilton, children's author of Rebel Cats; Brave Tales of Feisty Felines and Rebel Dogs: Heroic Tales of Trusty Hounds, both of which have new pride of place on the Dunleavy bookshelf.  Suzy K Quinn reveals all the Lies We Tell Mothers, which is handily also the title of her latest book (...

In this episode, Jen catches up with mega-author Dorothy Koomson, who tells her about her 15th book, Tell Me Your Secret. They chat bodily autonomy for women, violence, the "perfect" victim, and Casualty - because of course they did. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

This week busy bee Mick chats to Dani Beckett of UK campaign organisation Abortion Rights about what's currently what in England, Scotland and Wales and how BoJo's new Cabinet might impact this and – surprise! – not in a positive way. She also catches up with comedian Anna Drezen to talk about her Edinburgh Show Okay, Get Home Safe!!, and hobbit erotica, among other things. Hannah chats to Dr Shir...

In this episode, Jen chats to author Katie Hale about her new book I Am Monster, partly inspired by Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein, as well as the current global political bin-fire. They chatted about said bin-fires, about societal concepts around femininity and motherhood, and writing complex female leads. And dogs, there are a few dogs, too.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standa...

We wanted to do a homelessness special in the summer, because it’s a situation that gets a lot of attention at Christmas, but is a grim reality for many people all year round. Mick talks to absolute powerhouse Bianca Robinson, CEO of CEO Sleepout, about getting big businesses to help people on the streets, the reality of rough sleeping and how we can all do our bit. She and Hannah also met up with...

Orange is The New Black has come to an end and we chat its seventh and final series, as well as its legacy, in this month's Outside The Box. We also talk Dark Money, I Am... and Catch-22. Plus, Hannah's finally caught up with Home and Mick watched something new on Netflix. Or maybe it was a fever dream. Either way, she tells us about it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuesp...

Why don't more of us appreciate how interesting older women are? It's a question we put to author and social history fan Kate Thompson, who came to tell us about her new novel Secrets of the Homefront Girls and why, when you've written about real-life matriarchs, there's no going back. Rachel DeLoache Williams talks to Hannah about being taken in by a con woman, enduring a high-profile trial and h...

She's been a dinosaur-based pop singer, started conversations about depression and penned a musical about cancer. Now performance artist and writer Bryony Kimmings is at the Edinburgh Festival with her show I’m A Phoenix, Bitch, which tackles trauma and recovering from it – with trademark Kimmings' songs, warmth and comedy of course. She tells Mickey all about it, and they also talk mental health...

Do social media companies wield too much power or should we all take more responsibility for what we put online? It's a question The National Youth Theatre's new play F. Off is currently asking Edinburgh Fringe audiences. Hannah grabbed some time with Tatty Hennessy, one of the show's co-creators, to chat about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, being addicted to the internet and why boycotting soci...

Comedian Sindhu Vee, professional Loose Woman Andrea McLean and the boss herself Sarah Millican joined Mick and Jen for this In Conversation recorded at Kings Place back in May. Chat included socks for sex, old lady home perms, success at any age, not shitting for a month, and meeting Jon Bon Jovi covered in sanitary towels. Also contains excellent advice on how to handle both a spider and a shit...