Standard Issue Podcast

A film about racial tensions, police violence and disaffected youth? And this might be dated, you say? OK, probably not, but join us anyway as we talk about one of France's most well-respected films, why it's funnier than you'd imagine, and its breakout star Vincent Cassel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When writer and director Sara Harrak got back into 5-a-side as an adult, she became obsessed, which led to her short film, Solers United. Starring Leah Harvey as Bills, it follows the trials and tribulations of a grassroots women's and non-binary team fighting for survival. Jen chats to Sara and Leah about community, gentrification, taking up more space, and the legend that is Dame Kelly Holmes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist, author and life-long athlete Bonnie Tsui is fascinated by muscle: how it looks; what it does, and how we think about it. Her curiosity led her to the meat of her new book, On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters, which explores the world of muscle from five different perspectives: strength; form; action; flexibility, and endurance. Jen chats to Bonnie about the nature and narrative of muscle, perceptions around strength, and taking a look under the proverbial bonnet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should Labour be addressing immigration? Should men be mammographers? Does anyone fancy being imprisoned in the Jorvik Viking Centre? Jen and Hannah attempt to answer these and many other important questions in today's podcast. Plus, in Jenny Off The Blocks, we're talking about ACL injuries and good news for Charlton Athletic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ridley Scott’s epic regeneration of the swords and sandals genre made megastars out of Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix and bagged a whole load of metal for the trophy cabinet, alongside a heap of box-office kerching. But 25 years on, does this tale of blood, brutality, bread, circuses and vengeance still thrill? Mick, Hannah and Jen share their thoughts. Unleash hell. Or just have a listen, your call.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feminist writer, campaigner, and one of Standard Issue’s firm favourites, Laura Bates’s latest non-fiction is called The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny. Anyone fretting about the good old age of sexism, fret ye not, because it is still alive and kicking and very much fuelling and influencing the new one. And it’s impossible to stress enough how critical a moment right now is: this isn’t futuristic, distant and improbable amplified version of the same old, same old, it’s already affecting women and girls, and minority groups. Our Mick chats to Laura about that, about the sheer scale of what’s happening, the regressive nature of breakneck “progress”, the problem with ‘outliers’, and about how men’s wants and wallets trump women’s rights and safety every time.  The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny is published by Simon & Schuster on May 15, but available for pre-order now. laurabates.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s game, set and love matches in our Yosra’s pick of 2024 films, as she, Mick and Hannah watch Luca Guadagnino’s sweaty tale of rivalry on and off the courts. Starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, it was a bit of a critics’ darling and a box-office champ. But does that mean a flying sausage for our three women? Or will they take issue with the plot, the characters, the tennis, the depiction of women (woman), and the Golden Globe-winning score? Ooh, it’s a mystery.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a whole load of ‘but why the feck isn’t that already happening?’ in Hannah and Mick’s look at the news this week, as they take in nudification apps (no thanks), fresh rules for the police (yes please), and new investigations at old mother and baby institutions in Ireland (finally). Still, good news comes in the shapes of Jon Bon Jovi, miniature dachshunds, and new shoes. Plus Sarah Millican's Light Relief for £5+ Patreon members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Amy Heckerling is known for films centred on the female experience, but how feminist is a film about a woman narrated by an actual man-baby? Or a single mum hell-bent on finding a dad for her young child? Jen, Mick and Hannah revisit 1990’s Look Who’s Talking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If an adult male grooms a teenage girl into a sexual relationship, we're increasingly likely to call it abuse. But reverse the sex of the perpetrator and victim and attitudes are very different. In her latest podcast, Lucky Boy, journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou investigates one such case. She chats to Hannah about why female abusers are judged less harshly and their victims are often not seen as victims at all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices