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 Trojan Horse , Helen Monks. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Host...
Oct 06, 2019•28 min
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/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about y...
Oct 06, 2019•25 min
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 more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Oct 04, 2019•49 min
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 with author Liz Hyder about her brilliant debut fiction, Bearmouth , kids down coal mines, women w...
Oct 02, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 285
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 why the Dickens there aren't more treatment pathways available to endometriosis patients. This week's...
Sep 29, 2019•24 min
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/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ...
Sep 29, 2019•27 min
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. Thanks to Emma Corsham for all things tech, thanks to all at the Marlowe Comedy Festival and thanks ...
Sep 25, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 282
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 woman feeling like she’s at the start of the peri, deep into it, or even a good few years before it’...
Sep 22, 2019•39 min•Ep. 281
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.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Sep 22, 2019•49 min
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 should not glue onto your forehead. Get it in your earholes! This week's episode of the Standard Issue...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 279
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. Elaine is also very funny and her show Gusset Grippers is hilarious and informative. Catch it if you can a...
Sep 15, 2019•38 min•Ep. 278
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 within the Football Association. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Ho...
Sep 15, 2019•36 min
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 to learn about the Edinburgh Seven – the first women to train to be doctors in the UK ( https://w...
Sep 11, 2019•1 hr 14 min
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 of which is covered in Carrie’s excellent new book, Equal: A Story of Women, Men & Money . Suppor...
Sep 08, 2019•39 min•Ep. 275
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 breast cancer, and Hannah learned something about how few doctors receive training in the menopause at...
Sep 08, 2019•37 min
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 Story of Women, Men and Money . Listeners, we swooned. Also swoonsome is playwright Sadie Hasler, who's...
Sep 04, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 273
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.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more ab...
Sep 01, 2019•34 min
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 representation, misguided history and the joys of experimental form. Support this show http://supporter.ac...
Aug 25, 2019•37 min•Ep. 270
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 http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...
Aug 25, 2019•28 min
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 great weekend in front of the telly. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespod...
Aug 23, 2019•32 min
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 (sorry, but it's time to wave ta-ra to that pineapple induces labour myth). Jen's rightly fuming abo...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 267
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. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Aug 18, 2019•23 min
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 Shirin Hirsch about Disrupt , the People's History Museum's exhibition marking 200 years since the Pete...
Aug 14, 2019•53 min
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 Sabrina Cohen-Hatton a leading fire officer and psychologist, author of the brilliant book The Heat...
Aug 11, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 264
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/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about you...
Aug 11, 2019•24 min
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/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choi...
Aug 09, 2019•35 min
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 her new book My Friend Anna . Jen's serving up a shit sandwich in Jenny Off The Blocks and there are ...
Aug 07, 2019•1 hr 18 min
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 social media might be too simplistic a response. Get yourself off Facebook and put this in your ears! F ...
Aug 04, 2019•22 min•Ep. 259
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 and the NHS, art on the school curriculum, climate change, creativity for all, and just how hard it...
Aug 04, 2019•31 min•Ep. 260
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 friend. Next gigs: Edinburgh: Aug 11 and 12, Stand 1, 1.40pm Kings Place, London: Sep 15, 4.30pm Inf...
Jul 31, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 258
