Standard Issue Podcast

Rough Patch is the name of award-winning food writer, author and veg grower Kathy Slack’s new book (out on February 6, but available for pre-order now), and it’s a warm mix of memoir, a love letter to growing your own, and recipes.It covers a year in Kathy’s life in which a brutal depression meant she left her high-flying city job and, eventually, found solace and purpose growing her own vegetables. She chats to Mick about depression, what advice to ignore and the joy of feeding yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panathlon Challenge is a charity aimed at giving young people with disabilities and special educational needs the opportunity to take part in competitive sport, and is chaired by Paralympic gold medalist, Liz Johnson.Jen chats to Liz about the charity, what skills kids can take from competitive sports into their adult lives, and the barriers young people with disabilities and special educational needs face in terms of accessing services to help develop those skills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her early 20s, Dawn Adams was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and told she probably wouldn't live long enough to worry about any impact the menopause might have on her condition. And so, when Dawn started perimenopause and noticed changes in her condition, she began to question what exactly medical professionals and researchers do know about it? As ever when it comes to women’s health, the answer was not a lot.Dawn's now involved in several research projects, and so Jen got the midwife and diabetes advocate on the phone to talk about autoimmune conditions, why we still don’t know enough about diabetes type 1, and how representative Steel Magnolias actually is.You can find out more information on Ulster University’s research project here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump's back in the White House, so what better time for a big quiz about what's real news and what Hannah has just made up? Good luck, Jen. Also, there's more on the Online Safety Act, the ceasefire in Gaza and women's prizes in sport. And in Jenny Off The Blocks, we're talking tennis, cricket and what's in that little jar they win in The Ashes. Plus, if you're a Standard Issue supporter, it's time for some more Sarah Millican's Light Relief. You're welcome! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They said it could never be done, but Tits Ahoy, Tits Akimbo and Tits McGee come together in Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 erotic drama/satirical masterpiece/car crash of nudity* and it’s more aggressively aggressive than is ever necessary. Showgirls bombed and took a critical spanking at the time, but 30 years on, opinion has softened. Well, some opinions. Do they include those of our Mick, Hannah and Jen? Find out.*delete as appropriate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Psychotherapist Jen Cox and life coach Salima Saxton, are best mates and co-hosts of the podcast Women Are Mad. Together they’ve created a space to show women that emotions are a superpower. And it has – as the name of their podcast suggests – a healthy focus on rage as a source of fuel and change. They chat to Mick about the power in sharing, the joy of rage, and why we need to let it out.  Women Are Mad is available wherever you get your podcasts and Jennifer’s book, Women Are Angry: Why Your Rage is Hiding and How to Let It Out, is available from all good bookshops. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is your New Year's resolution to stay in and watch more telly? Unlikely, but let us recommend some things to watch regardless. This time we're chatting about What We Do In The Shadows, 100 Years of Solitude, Playing Nice, Somebody Somewhere, SAS Rogue Heroes, Missing You and Dr Odyssey (OMFG!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryan Singer’s much lauded, twisty-turny, Oscar-winningclassic starring Kevin Spacey has us separating art from artist this week. Butis the art all that interesting? What is Pete Postlethwaite’s head-scratcher ofan accent? And when the surprise ending's all everyone talks about, how does itfare on a second watch? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiona MacKenzie is Standard Issue’s original ‘random angry woman’, a tag she gave herself when she first came on the pod to talk about her campaign, We Can’t Consent To This. Her work led to a change in the law and the scrapping of the ‘rough sex defence’. Fiona’s now exploring how Westminster can work better for women with The Other Half, a non-partisan think tank developing policy in women’s interests and spanning public life, justice, Mothers and Others. This includes assisted dying safeguards to protect the lives of vulnerable women, which, as the officially titled Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – more commonly known as the assisted dying bill – passes through Parliament, Fiona and Mick focus on in this interview.The Other Half wants to hear from women in order to move forward in helping create policy that considers and benefits women, so take five minutes to fill in a couple of the surveys you’ll find on the website. theotherhalf.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That great sporting rivalry the women’s Ashes got underway in Australia on Saturday. Jen caught up with two of England Cricket's finest, tournament debutant Ryana MacDonald Gay, and team stalwart Tammy Beaumont, to talk rivalry, excitement, and where the women’s game is at right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices