Standard Issue Podcast

Is Sidney Lumet's 1975 bank robbery drama of its time? Or years ahead of its time? Or still pretty relevant to today? Or all of it? Find out as we watch Al Pacino Al Pacino-ing it to the max as the mob cheers him on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hannah and Mick tackle this week’s headlines, looking at whether Jess’s Rule is progress or a damning indictment of the NHS, worrying about young girls reporting being sad every day, charting how the Taliban continues to take its misogyny up yet another notch, and finally – finally – finding something* to like about golf.  *Sister Rene of the Humility of Mary order https://malala.org/countries/afghanistan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Daldry’s 2000 coming-of-age comedy-drama made big waves on both sides of the Atlantic, and a star of its young lead, Jamie Bell. But how funny is it? Is that dancing actually any good? And is that really how they select people for the Royal Ballet School? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food glorious food: not only does it sustain and nourish us as individuals, it brings together communities, crosses borders and merges cultures. When Atoosa Sepehr fled an abusive marriage in Iran, she found herself alone and lonely in London. And then she started cooking. The Persian dishes she created providing an anchor to the home she missed and forging friendships in the one she was creating.  In My English Persian Kitchen, Atoosa’s story is brought to the stage by playwright Hannah Khalil. But unlike most theatre, it’s not just food for thought, it’s also food for faces: during the one-woman show, actress Isabella Nefar cooks ãsh, a Persian noodle and herb soup, hugely popular in Iran – and then she shares the dish with the audience.  Mick caught up with Atoosa and Hannah to talk about the power and joy of food, finding community, and how the hell you fit a recipe into a play. My English Persian Kitchen is on at Soho Theatre from September 30 to October 11, before travelling to Bristol, Dublin and Belfast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poet, broadcaster, and TikTok sensation, Len Pennie was last on the podcast back in February 2024 on the eve of publication of her first collection of poems, Poyums. Since then, she’s become a Sunday Times bestselling author, and picked up a British Book Award. In her new collection, Poyums Annaw, Len writes viscerally about her experiences of domestic violence, mental health problems, patriarchy, and a four year fight for justice, as well as love and joy. Jen chats to Len about the ups and downs of her last year, why she writes with “love and spite”, and getting permission to feel our feelings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Emmy time again and this month we're chatting about the good and bad choices made this year. Which is also an excuse to talk about The Penguin. We've also been watching King of The Hill, Only Murders in the Building, I Fought the Law, Hostage, The Newsreader, King & Conqueror, and Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A freedom of speech special awaits you this week, as Hannah and Jen debate the rights and wrongs of opinions expressed on the killing of Charlie Kirk, as well as the rights and wrongs of hammering nails through your penis. There’s added joy from some nuns on the run and - finally - some good news for Keir Starmer and the families of the 97 victims of the Hillsborough Disaster. We also bring you the latest in women’s sport and some very strange noises from Hannah’s neighbour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s a young man to do when he can’t stop murdering women he fancies? Blame his mum, obviously. The malign power of mothers is just one of several themes raised by the  genre-defining Hitchcock classic and discussed by Mick, Hannah and Jen. Hold onto your shower curtains, it’s time for some piercing violin.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Art historian, curator and broadcaster Kate Bryan is on a mission to wrest control of the art world from asymmetric haircuts and aloofness, and put it firmly back in the hands of us all. In her new book, How To Art, which is illustrated by David Shrigley, she sets about doing exactly that. Jen chats to Kate about entering the art world from a working-class background, how to talk about art even if you don’t really know what you’re talking about, and why snobbery is so rife in the art world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s silly turned up to 11, as Mick catches up with brilliantly bonkers comedian Harriet Dyer, who describes her standup as a fizzy blancmange of whimsy. Delicious.  Harriet’s currently on her biggest UK tour to date with her show Easily Distra…, but found some time to chat to Mick about mental health, getting trapped in cupboards and what she’s like at parties.  Tickets for Harriet’s tour can be found here: harrietdyer.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a much-lauded off Broadway run, Maia Novi's play about the time she was involuntarily held in a mental health facility has arrived in the UK. The Argentine writer and actor speaks to Hannah about Invasive Species, inner monologues, ambition and the advice Michaela Coel gave her. Tickets for Invasive Species are here: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/invasive-species-q1qt More info about the Standard Issue membership club is here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mick and Jen are on Bush Telegraph duties this week and, unlike it does for Sabrina Carpenter, the idea of men doing more housework is not getting them going. In other news, can you kill someone with menstrual blood? And was Angela Rayner right to resign? Plus, Jenny Off the Blocks returns with all things women’s sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "gay cowboy movie" certainly opened the door for a lot of other films, but how does it fare 20 years later? Hankies at the ready as we take another look at  the small story, big landscape romance that was robbed at the Oscars. Don't @ us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Medea has been popular since antiquity and continues to endure today. Not least because big names want what’s undoubtedly one of the meatiest female roles in theatre. Meatiest in its most gruesome sense, as Medea is most famous for killing her children in order to get revenge on her faithless husband.  Or at least that’s the headlines. It is, of course, more complicated (if no less horrifying) than that, so our Mick was delighted that author, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes’ latest novel, No Friend to This House, is her take on the Medea story.   They talk Medea as witch and midwife, Medea as refugee, the power of love, the dangers of motherhood and why Medea has proven so endlessly fascinating to storytellers and story listeners alike.  No Friend to This House is published by Mantle on Thursday 11 September, but available for pre-order now. And you can find out where near you Natalie is touring by following her on X @officialnhaynes and on Insta @nataliehaynesauthor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It took clinical psychologist, trauma therapist and complex trauma survivor Dr Ingrid Clayton years to understand how she had reacted to abuse within her home as a young person. But what she later understood to be a relational-trauma response known as “fawning” also helped her to make sense of her behaviour and relationships in the years that followed. And now that work informs her book, Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves. Jen chats to Ingrid about why we sometimes lean into situations that make us feel unsafe, the long-term impacts of this behaviour, and why we should revisit the narrative around trauma responses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Robbie Williams, but he’s a chimp! But is there anything more to Michael Gracey’s biopic jukebox musical drama about the British pop phenomenon? Are there any facts in it? And will you look at that cast: Steve Pemberton! Alison Steadman! Damon Herriman! Jonno Davies (who? what?). It’s (oddly) Hannah’s pick, (poor?) Yosra’s second watch and (warning) may contain Mick singing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Returning from a BT hiatus, Mickey and Hannah take a rifle through some of the daftest stories of the week, including AI failures, ball pits, watered down beer, rumours of Trump's death and odd book choices. While in Sexism of The Week, it turns out everything has been fixed in our absence. Oh no wait, it hasn't. Shame. Chloe's story about The Salt Path is here: http://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there anything Meryl Streep and/or Shirley MacLaine can’t do? It's a question we return to, as we settle down with Mike Nichol’s 1990 dramedy, based on Carrie Fisher’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. But to what extent is it based on Fisher’s real-life relationship with her mum, Debbie Reynolds? How well does it reflect issues around addiction? And, another question we return to: what is Roger Ebert even on about? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A century after their birth, the Mitford Sisters continue to fascinate and appal in equal measure. As a new play about them, The Party Girls, opens at The Marlowe in Canterbury, Hannah chats to playwright Amy Rosenthal about why their stories still resonate, sisterhood and the frivolity of evil. Tickets for The Party Girls are here: https://showtours.co.uk/the-party-girls-tour-dates/ More info about becoming a Standard Issue supporter is here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fairy tales have long been a source of life lessons and observations. Adding to that tradition and brimming with female power, Wild Folk: Tales From the Stones, by writer and illustrator Jackie Morris and stained glass artist Tamsin Abbott, is officially one of the most beautiful books in our Mick’s possession. She chats with Jackie and Tamsin about the power of stories, the collaborative process, finding just the right sky and that aforementioned female power.  Wild Folk isn’t as easily available as it should be, but you can – and should – get it from www.sevenfables.co.uk. Also, give Tamsin a follow @tamsintheshed and ditto Jackie @jackiemorrisartist, both on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices