Areej Osman is a senior placement coordinator at Refugees At Home, and this week, she’s explaining the realities of hosting a displaced person. She and Jen chat pros, cons, vulnerabilities and responsibilities. Victorian girl power is the foundation of author Liz Hyder’s latest fiction, The Gifts , and she’s talking to Mick about fierce women, unscrupulous surgeons, surprise wings and the joyful power of storytelling. In Jenny Off The Blocks, there’s a surprise retirement and more cricket, while...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 20 min
The stage version of The Life of Pi is currently pulling in the crowds and snaffling all the Olivier nominations, so Hannah got on the Zoom with the woman responsible for adapting the book: Lolita Chakrabarti. They talk about the highs and lows of tackling such a well-loved novel and its themes of storytelling and faith, as well as chatting about some of Lolita's other recent projects, including A Working Diary, the book she wrote with her husband, fellow actor Adrian Lester. Support this show h...
Mar 27, 2022•29 min
How do you turn a book of short stories into a cohesive play? This week, Mickey finds out as she chats Angela Carter, feminism, wolves and circus skills with Mary Swan, director of Proteus Theatre’s adaptation of The Bloody Chamber . Jen's been on the Zoom with US writer Kimberly Jones about her book, How We Can Win, and the economics of racial inequality in the US, and in Jenny Off The Blocks, she's looking forward to the Women's Six Nations. In BT, we're discussing P&O and Child Q, plus yo...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 23 min
Professor Jane Monckton Smith is a criminologist specialising in domestic homicide, a former police officer, a professor of public protection at the University of Gloucestershire, and responsible for groundbreaking work on coercive control and stalking. Too right we love her. In this Chops, she chats with Mick about her latest book, In Control: Dangerous Relationships and How They End in Murder , in which she lays out the eight stages of a domestic homicide timeline – the first temporal sequenci...
Mar 20, 2022•32 min
Comedian and Standard Issue fave Rachel Parris has been soliciting advice from strangers for her new book, which is called... Advice From Strangers . She chats to Hannah, from the back of a cab, about the joy and madness of actual advice from strangers, being on tour, and her candid writing about late miscarriage. Our resident music buff Liz Buckley is back and she's in a shiny hat, because this time she's talking to Mick about country music superstar, rhinestone queen, philanthropist, stealth f...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Aaron Sorkin's award-winning adaptation of much-loved Harper Lee novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is finally coming to London's Gielgud Theatre. In this week's Chops, Jen catches up with Pamela Nomvete and Gwyneth Keyworth, who play Calpurnia and Scout in the new production, to find out what it's like to play such beloved roles, how Sorkin has brought the play into the 21st century, and whether or not Scout is a revolutionary, rather than simply an innocent narrator. Support this show http://support...
Mar 13, 2022•25 min
It's Hannah's Flicking pick and she chose the third film of a trilogy set in a time of pandemic AND war. So, is Matt Reeves' 2017 sci-fi, dystopian, performance capture, ape-tastic blockbuster good enough for Yosra and Mick to forgive her? All hail Caesar is all we're saying. 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...
Mar 12, 2022•29 min•Ep. 709
Jessica Turner and Amara Karan are stars of Tim Walker’s new play Bloody Difficult Women , in which they play Theresa May and Gina Miller respectively, in a storyline that charts the events behind the court case Miller brought against May in 2016 and what’s happened since. They chat to our Jen about being powerful women – and making Theresa May sympathetic. Sorrywhatnow? Hannah’s been on the Zoom with comedian Hayley Ellis to chat touring with the boss (as in our boss, Sarah Millican), bringing ...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 708
Psychologist and working-class feminist author Dr Jessica Taylor’s new book, Sexy But Psycho: How the Patriarchy Uses Women’s Trauma Against Them , is an uncompromising challenge to the psychiatric labelling and medicalisation of women and girls. And blimey, what a book: huge food for thought and a push for seismic change, engagingly written. In this Chops, she chats to our Mick (fresh from having her mind blown) about why she’s challenging the traditional medical model of psychiatry, the incalc...
Mar 06, 2022•45 min
Why is everyone in Iceland so happy? Might it be that they are closer to gender equality than most? In this week's podcast, Hannah chats to writer, journalist and First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, about life for women in a country with the same number of residents as Nottingham, and her new book Secrets of The Sprakkar . With the Winter Paralympics just a few days away, Jen's been on the blower to Vicky Gosling, chief executive of GB Snowsport, to talk about a disappointing Winter Olympics and ...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 21 min
My Pen is The Wing of a Bird is an excellent new book - on sale now - featuring short stories by 18 new female writers in Afghanistan. It exists thanks to the hard work of the people behind the writers' development programme Untold, and exists despite the not insubstantial obstacles of a global pandemic and the disaster that befell Afghanistan last summer. In this week's Chops, Hannah talks to the founder of Untold, Lucy Hannah, and Shekiba Habib, one of the translators who worked on the stories...
Feb 27, 2022•37 min
Loads of TV to chat about this month, but does any of it tickle our fancy? In this episode we talk about Trigger Point, Chloe, The Tinder Swindler, The Responder, Screw, Misha and The Wolves and more. Plus, Hannah explains why she's not watching Inventing Anna and is totally #TeamRachel. 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...
Feb 24, 2022•31 min
After finding herself stuck in a decade-long cycle of toxic and controlling relationships, comedian and writer Maddy Anholt embarked on a period of self-reflection, therapy, and research about the perpetrators of domestic abuse. She caught up with Jen to talk about her new book How To Leave Your Psychopath , patterns of abuse and being endorsed by Melanie Brown. Sobriety coach Veronica Valli is on a mission to spread the word that “sober” doesn’t mean “boring” and that you can visit festivals an...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Frayed , Sarah Kendall’s comedy drama set in 1980s Australia, is well worth your time and with Frayed 2 due to land on Sky One on Wednesday 23 February, our Mick got on the Zoom with the writer and comedian to find out more. They chat writers rooms, punchy storylines, Yellowjackets , T-shirts, toenails, and creating one of the most unlikeable leads on television. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Lear...
Feb 20, 2022•37 min
Fanology, personal ads, two world wars, Aids, racism and homophobia: the path to satisfying dating never has run smooth. Mick discovers all this and more in her chat with journalist, broadcaster and dating expert Nichi Hodgson. It’s 80 years this week since the US signed what became known as the Japanese Internment Bill, so Hannah has a fascinating chat with author Andrea Warren about her latest history book for kids, Enemy Child . In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen’s looking back at a record-breaking...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Currently making us laugh in Radio 4/BBC Sounds' The Train At Platform 4 , Rosie Cavaliero is a familiar face to anyone who's watched almost any British comedy in recent years. She talks to Hannah about the highs and lows of train travel, radio acting, being "the female Kevin Eldon", being covered in pustules in front of Jon Hamm, and a terrifying flight through the Himalayas. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...
Feb 13, 2022•30 min
Mile-high wigs, sweets galore, sumptuous sets, a punk soundtrack and a laissez-faire regard for historical facts: all present and correct in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette , starring Kirsten Dunst in the title role. It's one of our resident film buff Yosra Osman's favourites and a new watch for Hannah and Mick. What did they make of it? Find out. Maybe have some cake as you listen – it's what she would have wanted. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on ...
Feb 12, 2022•30 min
Beatrix Potter was a woman of many talents and with Drawn To Nature , a new exhibition dedicated to her life and work, opening this weekend at the V&A, Hannah got on the Zoom with Helen Antrobus, one of its curators, to find out more. Jen's chatting to Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, creators, editors and contributors to Anonymous Sex , a new collection of erotic fiction. In Jenny Off The Blocks, there's more Winter Olympics, and Mickey's got her best velour tracksuit on for this week...
Feb 09, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Sheffield Theatres is 50 and is opening its anniversary season with a big one: Anna Karenina . Often acclaimed as the best novel ever written, Leo Tolstoy’s epic narrative is an immense canvas of desire, duty and defiance, adultery, passion and suicide told over more than 800 pages. A piece of cake to bring to the stage, right? Helen Edmundson’s much-celebrated adaptation does some of the heavy lifting, leaving the rest to the Sheffield Theatres team. So Mickey got on the Zoom with two of the pr...
Feb 06, 2022•29 min
On the bus home from her diagnosis of degenerative hearing condition otosclerosis, journalist and broadcaster Helena Merriman got thinking about the experiences of others on the receiving end of life-changing diagnoses. In this week’s podzine, she talks to Mick about Room 5 , her latest series for Radio 4, a collection of stories about lives that change in a heartbeat and the process of diagnosis and recovery. With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics kicking off this week, Jen chats to skeleton gol...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 696
Ever wondered where the weird and wonderful workouts of the women’s fitness industry originated? Danielle Friedman did, which is why the journalist and author decided to research and write a book about the history of women’s fitness. In this week’s Chops, the last of January so possibly at the point at which you’re thinking of ditching any new year’s fitness resolutions, Danielle chats to Jen about Let’s Get Physical . They also talk about perceptions of women’s strength, the dismissive attitude...
Jan 30, 2022•37 min
Ann Dowd – sorry… ANN DOWD! – joins Hannah on this week’s podcast to talk about her new film Mass , the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance, Aunt Lydia, The Leftovers , feral nuns and making it over 35. Jen chats to Sonita Gale, about her BAFTA long-listed new documentary, Hostile , the history of immigration to the UK, and the realities of the hostile environment for the very many people living in it. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Australia is host supreme when it comes to women’s sport, although...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 694
“Random angry woman” Fiona Mackenzie was appalled when she saw the ‘rough sex’ defence being used in the horrific killing of Natalie Connolly in 2016 – a defence which, in December 2018, saw her killer sentenced to just three years and eight months in prison. And so Fiona did something about it, starting We Can’t Consent To This to highlight and then to campaign against men claiming ‘consensual rough sex’ as a defence against injuring and killing women. Last year, a new amendment was added to th...
Jan 23, 2022•36 min•Ep. 693
It's the first Outside The Box of 2022 and we're talking about a whole load of telly, including Anne, Rules of The Game, Four Lives, The Girl Before, The Green Planet and Yellowjackets . We also find out if anyone is still watching And Just Like That.... Spoiler alert: Jen is - even if she's not entirely sure why. 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/a...
Jan 21, 2022•42 min
Would you want to predict the future, if you could? This week, Hannah is chatting to actor writer and disability activist Athena Stevens, about her play The Diagnosis , in which another Cassandra is doomed not to be believed - again. Journalist Hazel Davis gets on the Zoom to author Jenn Ashworth to talk about unreliable narrators, listening to your own books and her latest novel, Ghosted. Jen's got her eye on the Australian Open ball in Jenny Off The Blocks and we're pondering the Prime Ministe...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Most people think they've got a grasp on history when it comes to the Tudors, but how much of that knowledge comes from pop culture or male historians? This week, Hannah chats to Dr Andrea Clarke, curator of The British Library's fantastic exhibition Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens. They talk about Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, how they were similar and how they were different, and what myths about them need to go in the bin right now. Andrea talks us through some o...
Jan 16, 2022•25 min
Fauns and fascism ahoy, as Hannah gets Yosra and Mick to watch Guillermo Del Toro’s 2006 dark fantasy, Pan’s Labyrinth , set in post-civil war Spain. It throws up a lot of questions: Just how good is Ivano Baquero? Would you trust a fairy-tale creature? Who in the 21st Century is buying little statues of Francisco Franco? And why does Mick Jagger get a mention? Also contains – inevitably – some history chat, and what’s possibly a revelation of Hannah’s other career as a spy. Finally, Mick would ...
Jan 15, 2022•28 min
Some of us made plans to “better ourselves” to mark the advent of 2022, so Mick got on the Zoom with our resident psychotherapist Jane Watson, to talk about why we make new year’s resolutions, why we break them and how we can all be a bit kinder to ourselves. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen has a natter with two-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, about an amazing year in women's motorsports and what's coming up next. In the Bush Telegraph there are questions of taste, responsibility and bunga b...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Northern Ireland is so often absent from our media and from the arts in the UK, so Hannah has been on the Zoom with Kate Reid, the writer of new play The 4th Country , and one of its stars, Rachael Rooney. They chat about a time of great change in the province and why England's view of it is so often wrong, as well as the highs and lows of rehearsing under the ever-present threat of a new lockdown. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...
Jan 09, 2022•25 min
In the first podzine of 2022, Mickey asks ‘new year, new business?’ as she catches up with Karen Campbell: marketing consultant, small business enthusiast, owner of Hotsy Totsy – a supper club and community for brilliant women – and fierce champion of female entrepreneurs. They’re chatting about why you should start your own business, the pandemic’s silver lining for small business owners, the joy of art deco, and how finding your tribe is key to success. Bound to get those exercise muscles twit...
Jan 05, 2022•49 min
