As part of her work as CEO of Girls for a Change, Angela Patton was faced with girls in her community who desperately wanted to spend quality time with their fathers. But in this case, the girls’ fathers were in jail, in a system that increasingly prevented contact time with loved ones. Not one to be phased by a challenge, Angela pioneered the highly successful programme, Date with Dad, which provided just that: an opportunity for the girls to attend a dance with their dads. When director Natali...
Aug 19, 2024•22 min
So much sport, has there even been any time to watch telly? Of course there has. This month, Hannah, Mickey and Jen are talking about Simon Biles Rising, The Bear, Those About to Die, Slip, The Lady in the Lake, High Country, The Jetty and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 15, 2024•44 min
This week, Jen's joined by Hannah to chat about the carnival of sporting achievement that was Paris 2024. They're chatting about gender parity, Team GB winners, Raygun, whether the 100m is over-rated, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and what the hell is Hannah talking about when she says "I've been watching the running up the wall." Plus, if you now feel like watching more sport, Jen's going to tell you what to look out for. * In this podcast, Hannah says that of the nine mothers in Team GB, six won m...
Aug 14, 2024•45 min
It’s a bona-fide classic in the Rated or Dated chair this week, as Hannah and Mick watch Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins for the umpteenth time and Jen comes at it fresh. Well, as fresh as someone with a four-year-old can be. The songs are bangers, the plot’s ridiculous and surely no one’s comfortable with being told how amazing they are all of the time. And it raises all sorts of questions, although ‘how many times has Hannah been to a wedding with a chimney sweep?’ wasn’t one any of us were expe...
Aug 14, 2024•31 min
Writer, performer and comedian Bryony Byrne loved playing football at primary school. So why can’t she remember any footballers post 1998? She explores this, as well as gender stereotypes, and female rage, through the spirit guidance of Eric Cantona in her Edinburgh show, Fan/Girl. Jen chatted to Bryony about the '90s, ladette culture, and falling back in love with football through Charlton Athletic. Fan/Girl is at the Edinburgh Fringe until Aug 26 (except Aug 19), 12.10pm, Summerhall Demonstrat...
Aug 13, 2024•25 min
Anna Maria della Pieta. Chances are you’ve heard of Antonio Vivaldi, but you’ve never heard of Anna Maria or her fellow female orphans at the Ospedale della Pieta, which in 18th century Venice boasted the greatest orchestra in the world. Without these ridiculously talented girls and women, The Four Seasons might not exist. Harriet Constable’s debut historical fiction, The Instrumentalist, is the story of Anna Maria, Vivaldi’s favourite student and violin prodigy, shining a light on the women and...
Aug 12, 2024•25 min
Here at Standard Issue, we love the Olympics - because who doesn't? But we especially love the modern pentathlon, which got underway at this summer's Games on August 8 and continues until the final day of the Olympics on Sunday 11. Jen had the joy of chatting to Team GB modern pentathlete Kerenza Bryson just before she headed out to Paris. Kerenza’s hoping to add an Olympic medal to her haul from the European and World championships, so fingers crossed for that. In the meantime, you can hear Ker...
Aug 09, 2024•26 min
This week it’s Jen’s pick, ably assisted by Mick, who suggested 1984’s Rocky for kids, The Karate Kid. Why was she was so keen to rewatch that, we wonder. In unrelated news, how will Mick’s crush on Ralph Macchio have dated? How many times can she talk about The Karate Kid Part II? And how will this seminal film of Noonan's youth fare with Balboa fans, Jen and Hannah? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 07, 2024•32 min
Twenty-five years after making the final of So You Think You're Funny, Juliet Cowan has taken her first show to the Edinburgh Fringe. She talks to Hannah about taking the estrogen goggles off, the rashness of perimenopause, returning to comedy, and her successful acting career, which has included roles in This Life, Back To Life, Back to Black and Pulling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 06, 2024•26 min
US comedian Anna Akana’s tagline might as well be ‘hello darkness my old friend’, because she travels into some pretty dark places for her comedy. This included talking about the stalker who hounded her so much she gave up standup for years, her sister’s suicide 17 years ago, and that time her dad ran off to fight in Ukraine. In this episode, she chats to our Mick about making that shit funny, her commitment to expanding how we talk about taboo topics and mental health, and making her UK debut w...
Aug 05, 2024•24 min
Actor, playwright and civil celebrant Amy Conway's new one-woman show Catafalque opened at the Fringe last week and is soon to head off on a short tour of Scotland. In today's podcast, she's chatting to Hannah about funerals during Covid, the dilemmas celebrants can face and what it was like to write her own eulogy. Tickets for Catafalque at Summerhall are here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/catafalque Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 02, 2024•23 min
Mick and Jen are on Bush Telegraph duties this week and trying not to get seasick as they negotiate the choppy waters of the Seine, remaining buoyed by Flavor Flav’s unlikely appearance in a pool. Meanwhile, there may be tough times ahead for Rachel Reeves, horrors unfold on the streets of Southport, and one woman has tits galore right in her face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2024•30 min
Hannah's picked one of Jen's faves, so how's that going to pan out? This week, we're watching Ron Howard's comedy about raising kids, that comes with an all-star cast. Does Frank deserve redemption? Does Mickey like the change of pace for Rick Moranis? And is Dianne Wiest the best thing in it? Spoiler alert on that last one - she is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 30, 2024•31 min
London's East End has inspired hundreds of books, films, TV programmes and characters. Now, there's a new podcast dedicated to its history, courtesy of writer, actor, and broadcaster Sue Elliott-Nicholls and Immediate Theatre. The Hackney and Newham History Social Club tells stories of the lives of people from the two London boroughs, as well as many who travelled to London to make their lives there. Sue chats to Jen about the warm and wonderful stories coming out of what started as a lockdown p...
Jul 30, 2024•28 min
Susannah Walker is one of the co-founders of brilliant charity Make Space for Girls, which campaigns for parks and other public spaces to be as welcoming for teenage girls as they are for teenage boys. Because it has implications, not least the question ‘who do public spaces belong to?’ Spoiler: it ain’t women. And so, in Susannah’s new book, The Hard Way: Discovering the Women Who Walked Before Us, she examines women’s place in the countryside, walking ancient tracks, discovering some excellent...
Jul 29, 2024•22 min
Isa Guha, former cricketer, member of England’s World Cup winning team, and the first South Asian player to represent the country in the sport, has carved out a successful role for herself as a presenter since she retired from the game. Now, through her charity Take Her Lead, she wants to help other young women and girls to get a foothold in the male-dominated arena. She chatted to Jen about the charity, diversity in women’s sports teams, and life as a woman in sports broadcast media. Learn more...
Jul 26, 2024•22 min
Another roller coaster of a week, so strap in for the Bush Telegraph with Lembit Opik and ... no, away with you... with Hannah and Jen. This time they're talking about Hannah's new career as a freelance White House advisor and Jen's got Track & Trace PTSD. In Sexism of the Week, there's some horrifying figures on violence against women and in Jenny Off the Blocks, there's some questions about violence towards a horse. None of which is good. But there is also the modern pentathlon. There will alw...
Jul 25, 2024•34 min
How many women in this week’s Rated or Dated? ZERO WOMEN. Must be a Mickey pick, eh? Correct. But what a pick: 2004’s rockumentary classic/accidental comedy, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster from filmmakers Joe Berlinger and the late Bruce Sinofsky. And man, oh emotionally stunted man, does it raise a lot of questions about the human condition. And other questions, too. Such as, which Metallica did Jen fancy? And, how many times has Hannah accidentally seen them live? And, is that Mark Kermode? A...
Jul 24, 2024•38 min
There are currently 82,000 children in care in the UK. What's life like for them and how will growing up in care go on to affect their lives? Hannah's been on the Zoom with Rebekah Pierre, editor of an excellent new book, Free Loaves on Fridays: The Care System As Told By People Who Actually Get It, to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 23, 2024•26 min
Italian author Ilaria Bernardini is a big deal in her home country. And rightly so. Her latest novel in English, We Will Be Forest, was longlisted for Italy’s presitigious Strega Prize when it originally came out in 2018, and she’s received a tankload of plaudits for her works for the page and screen. In this episode, Mick’s chatting to Ilaria about the pain, hope and renewal of change, particularly in relationships and events that affect our physical health, the invisible lines that connect us ...
Jul 22, 2024•26 min
What’s this, not one but two older women with a lot to do? In the same film? There’s never been such times. Mick’s picked Nyad, the 2023 sports biopic from dream team Elizabeth Chai Vasarheluyi and Jimmy Chin about marathon swimmer Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim the 110 miles of open ocean from Cuba to Florida – in her 60s. But will Hannah and Yosra enjoy this tale of endurance and hubris? And did Annette Bening and Jodie Foster earn those Oscar nods? Find out! Learn more about your ad choices. V...
Jul 19, 2024•33 min
Assassination attempts, conspiracy theories and a MAGA Prince Harry costume. How can Hannah and Mickey cram all the drama of the US election into one BT? Well, they give it their best shot, no pun intended. And for Sexism of the Week, Mickey's been on the Zoom with journalist, broadcaster and author Terri White. Terri's podcast series, Finding Britain's Ghost Children, quite rightly scooped a whole load of awards and she has continued to bang the drum on how appalling the UK is when it comes to ...
Jul 18, 2024•55 min
This week it's Jen’s pick, and for reasons not even she can explain, she's chosen James Cameron's 1994 Arnie-fest, True Lies. But is Cameron telling tales of tough women, or toxic entitlement? How has Hannah found common ground with a horse? And why does Mick look like she's been crying? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 17, 2024•27 min
Artist Louise Bourgeois became a household name late on in her seven-decade long career, and is known best by many for her iconic spider sculptures. However, her body of work explores themes such as life cycles, nature, motherhood, and relationships. As part of its 20 Years of Compton Verney programme, the Warwickshire art gallery and stately home is showcasing Bourgeois’ work in a new exhibition Louise Bourgeois: Nature Study. Jen caught up with CEO of Compton Verney, Geraldine Collinge, to cha...
Jul 16, 2024•28 min
Best-selling crime author Lisa Jewell has written a book for Marvel. You heard us. So, our Hazel Davis got on the phone to find out more. They chat about Jessica Jones, killing off characters, a terrible first marriage, audiobooks, hoarding and a lot more besides. To hear the full interview, including Lisa talking about None Of This Is True, you can sign up to the Standard Issue membership scheme here: https://www.patreon.com/StandardIssue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...
Jul 15, 2024•23 min
The Secret Garden was a childhood favourite of Anna Himali Howard and Holly Robinson - and our Hannah, too - so she leapt on the Zoom to talk about their new stage adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel. They talk about the themes of disability and India, as well as staging a play at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre during the Great British Summer - whatever the weather. Tickets are on sale here; https://openairtheatre.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhb60BhClARIsABGGtw8gIaATFcs62_0f...
Jul 12, 2024•24 min
Jen and Mick are on Bush Telegraph duties this week, and boy, oh boy, are they giddy with optimism after Labour’s landslide victory in the 2024 General Election. That's rhetorical. And yet, as new PM Keir Starmer rings the changes, some things stay the same – hello sexism. Not that any of it is stopping Jobby the parrot having a lovely time. Meanwhile in sport, we’re chatting Wimbledon and misogyny, and definitely not sending any angry tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Jul 11, 2024•24 min
Hannah's been pretty upfront about how much she loved this film as a kid, but hang on, isn't it basically a musical about the rape of the Sabine women? Yes, yes, it is. But will the sheer toe-tapping nature of MGM's much-loved feast for the eyes, help Jen and Mick get over that terrible premise? No prizes for guessing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 09, 2024•25 min
The statistics around domestic violence in the UK and beyond are horrifying – and have been for a long time. When playwright Martha Loader heard about schemes to rehabilitate the perpetrators of abuse, she was inspired to write what became the winner of the 2022 Bruntwood prize for playwriting, Bindweed, which is at London's Arcola Theatre from July 9-13. Jen spoke to Martha about the issues explored in Bindweed, about the onus of solving the endemic problem of domestic abuse being firmly put on...
Jul 09, 2024•23 min
It’s been a while, but our resident music guru Liz Buckley is back. And she’s read Kathleen Hanna’s new autobiography, Rebel Girl. This has given her the perfect excuse to chat to our Mick about Hanna’s life and works so far, Bikini Kill and the band’s part in the riot grrrl movement that combined feminism, punk music, and politics, and why her gigs are great spaces for tits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 08, 2024•25 min
