

Standard Issue Podcast
Standard Issue
By women. For women. About everything. Standard Issue is a podcast championing women's voices, and packed with interviews, news, film, opinion and humour.For advertising enquiries, email sales@auddy.co
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 8, 2025 • 32min
Flicking #64: Sing Sing
Colman Domingo got an Oscar nod for his portrayal of John “Divine G” Whitfield in Greg Kwedar’s film based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts programme (RTA) at America’s Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison. Domingo is just one of a handful of professional actors starring alongside real-life alumni of RTA, a programme which gives them a sense of purpose and a close-knit group of friends. Yosra loved it when she saw it on its UK release last summer, but will Hannah and Mick feel the same? Could there even be tears in Dunleavyville? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 7, 2025 • 25min
Lou Butcher, the Topless Runner
Lou Butcher, better known as the Topless Runner, has been running marathons naked from the waist up since having two mastectomies after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She chats to our friend Hazel Davis about health anxiety, body confidence, the politics of being bare chested and her memoir, Going Topless.
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Aug 6, 2025 • 33min
Rated or Dated: Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)
A fictional mystery without a solution masquerading as a true story is Australia's best film, you say? We do. Well, Hannah does anyway. But what does Mickey make of Peter Weir's dreamy boarding school drama/horror on a first watch? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 1, 2025 • 26min
Childless by choice with Helen Taylor
Hannah is happily child-free so she was glad to grab some time with author Helen Taylor to chat about her new book Childless By Choice, which is part memoir, part cultural history. They talk about "crazy cat ladies", societal pressure, misconceptions and the pressing question of who is going to look after us when we get old.
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Jul 30, 2025 • 34min
Rated or Dated: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
It’s a big one this week, as Mick and Hannah watch possibly the most cult of cult films: Richard O’Brien’s stage show turned Jim Sharman’s screen show, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So many questions. Has there ever been a hotter Curry than Tim? How might the modern youth view it? Did Hannah sing along? And what’s Mr Peanutbutter’s favourite berry got to do with anything? We see you shiver with… you know.
Mick mentions a couple of interesting articles, which you’ll find here: https://www.them.us/story/yes-rocky-horror-picture-show-is-transphobic-transmisogynist
And indeed here: https://www.bigissue.com/culture/theatre/rocky-horror-at-50-a-place-for-the-marginalised/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 29, 2025 • 24min
Desiree Burch has The Golden Wrath
Comedian and storyteller, actress and broadcasting star, Desiree Burch is also a perimenopausal woman with plenty to say about it. Mick got on the Zoom to talk about Desiree’s new show, The Golden Wrath, as well as the ups, downs and big bag of goo that is a woman’s midlife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 25, 2025 • 27min
Zelda Perkins has assured they can’t buy our silence
In 2017, Zelda Perkins broke an NDA of more than 20 years to speak out against Harvey Weinstein. Since then, she’s tirelessly campaigned to end the misuse and abuse of NDAS – non-disclosure agreements – used to silence victims. Her campaigning included setting up Can’t Buy My Silence in 2021, and Mick chatted to her about that at the time.
Earlier this month, the Government announced it will ban NDAs designed to silence victims of workplace harassment and discrimination, a change that will be implemented through amendments to the Employment Rights Bill. A week later, the Lords passed it. This is a huge victory for Zelda – and the many brave people who have broken NDAs – after tireless campaigning, so obviously Mick got her back on the podcast to talk about the whats, whys, hows and what’s next.
For the full interview, get involved with our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/StandardIssue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 23, 2025 • 29min
Rated or Dated: Flatliners (1990)
Joel Schumacher’s sci-fi psychological horror exploring the boundaries between life, death and redemption was chock-a-block with early 1990s Hollywood's hottest property. But who gets redeemed and why? What happens when Bacon meets ham? And for the love of God, why won’t someone turn on a light?
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Jul 22, 2025 • 27min
Paula Radcliffe and Natasha Edwards on Staying Out There
In 2024, alongside Steph McCall and Olympic athlete Rose Harvey, Natasha Edwards co-founded BOLDLI running club, a response to safety concerns around women runners. Now, BOLDLI provides resources to help women gain the confidence to run when and where they want, and this year they’ve teamed up with the Altra Kielder Marathon to launch the Stay Out There: She Runs Free initiative.
Jen was tickled pink to catch up not only with Natasha but also with former world, European and Commonwealth champion, Paula Radcliffe –
you heard us! – who is also backing the initiative. They're talking about why groups like BOLDLI are so needed, life after competitive running, and that time a bloke tried to catch up with Paula.
You can find out more information about the Altra Kielder
Marathon here.
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Jul 21, 2025 • 25min
The writer from the North Country
Karis Kelly's award-winning play Consumed is about to tour the UK, so Hannah grabbed the chance to chat with the playwright about Northern Ireland in the arts, mother-daughter relationships, religion, superstition, OCD, trans-generational trauma, blood on stage and a lot more.
Tickets for Consumed can be bought here: https://painesplough.com/productions/consumed/
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