Standard Issue Podcast

With “cosy crime” making waves in the literary world right now, journalist Hazel Davis jumped on the Zoom to chat to writer Flic Everett about why we’re forgoing gritty reality, and her new series of novels. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen chats to Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, former Great British swimming champion and host of the Physical Capital podcast, about representation, mental health, and myth-busting. And in Rated or Dated, we’re feeling the rhythm and, indeed, the rhyme, as we watch 1993’s Cool Runnings. Meanwhile in the Bush Telegraph, Mick and Hannah take the dog’s ears out of their mouths for long enough to chat bloodsuckers aplenty, including grifters and bedbugs.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

Susannah Walker and Imogen Clark are the two (very excellent) women behind Make Space For Girls, and you may remember Mick had a chat with them a couple of years ago when the charity was just nine months old.Two years on and its campaign to make our parks and public spaces more friendly and accommodating for tween and teenaged girls continues apace, so Mick caught up with Susannah to talk about their recently released Parkwatch report, the fact that most parks have more facilities for dog waste than for teenage girls, and why we’re still in the situation where 90% of the facilities provided are about 90% used by the male 50% of the population. It’s not all doom, gloom and nowhere to go for girls, though: Susannah also has good news. Praise be!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

Indiana Jones: one of cinema’s greatest characters. It’s big talk from our Mick, who’s in charge of this month’s Flicking and has chosen her favourite (note: not the ‘best’) of the trilogy. Yes, trilogy; you read that right and we’ll be taking no further questions on this matter. 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a high energy, tall tale of derring-do, ancient knights, a big ol’ religious McGuffin and a father-son relationship in need of salvation, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford, Sean Connery and a chef’s kiss Denholm Elliott. But will some dubious casting, chauvinism and improbable luck at every turn be too much for Yosra and Hannah? Find out. Der-der-de-der…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

Private investigation isn't like it is on TV. Take that from Caitlin Davies, journalist, author and newly-minted PI, who's been on the Zoom with Mickey to talk about the history of women in the trade and her new book Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths. There's also some history (and science and comedy) in Kiri Pritchard-McLean's new Radio 4 Show The Best Medicine. She chats to Hannah about why she jumped at the chance to make it, as well as about sexual harassment and assaults in comedy. In Jenny Off the Blocks, Jen's chatting about Simone Biles, Panini stickers and more. And in BT, there's some good news about Nobel Prizes (and a lot of bad news about everything else). Which means you should at least be ready for Rated or Dated, in which we're watching Operation Market Rabbit, sorry, Watership Down. Sorry.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

Through her own experience of becoming a single parent, Zoe Desmond wanted to change the often isolated picture for people in similar situations. So she set up the Frolo app, aimed at helping to foster a community focussed on the joy of solo parenting, rather than the negative stereotypes often perpetuated by society and the media.It was through the app that Zoe met journalist Rebecca Cox, herself a single mother to a young child, who shared many of the same concerns as her and others in their community. So they decided to write a book about it, How To Be A Happy Single Parent, a practical handbook for anyone parenting alone, or thinking about doing so.This week they chat to Jen about their experiences, the shared experiences of single parents, how society could better support them, and thee joy to be found in bringing up a child on your own.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

What do you get the person who has everything? A home DNA testing kit seems to be the present du jour and in the UK alone, more than 4.7million of us have spit into a vial to find out more about our ancestry. Journalist Jenny Kleeman’s new BBC Sounds series, The Gift, explores what happens when technology, genealogy and identity collide, and our Mick got on the Zoom with her to chat crimes solved, sperm stolen, and why these kits’ popularity show no signs of waning. Because what could possibly go wrong?After a full six years of trying, it’s finally happened: the glorious Morven Christie is chatting to Hannah. They talk her new series, Payback (which starts tonight on ITV), The A-Word, leaving Twitter, and the effects, if any, of the #MeToo movement in telly. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen’s got her football on – there’s a lot of it about – from grassroots club Victoria Park to Nigeria’s Super Falcons. And all of those women are dealing with tomshittery. FFS.And how’s about some family-friendly child exploitation? You got it! In Rated or Dated, we watch 1968’s Oliver!. Will we be asking for more? How long is that song going on for? And does Mick actually know what ‘loveable’ means? Plus, there are gaps all over the shop in the Bush Telegraph. Mind them? We’re fecking livid about them.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

When journalist Moya Lothian-McLean was asked whether she’d be interested in exploring the truth about Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and what that means to and for modern Britons, she didn’t need asking twice. The resulting podcast, Human Resources, is a smart, nuanced, meticulously researched look at the realities and effects of the slave trade, the capitalist system it created, and how it’s indelibly shaped us all. With Human Resources’ third season underway, Mick got on the Zoom to Moya to talk about why it’s so important to distinguish between the US and the UK, the connections of race and class, women slave owners (who were more numerous than you’d think), why the political is so personal to so many of us on this matter, and why ever-smaller “identity” boxes with no connection to each other are not useful for a solid society.NB: At one point, Moya talks about Ireland and says, "I know it's not part of Britain...", which is true today – and that's what Moya is referring to – but it was under British rule when what Moya refers to happened. Human Resources is from Broccoli Productions and available from all good podcasts apps.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

Why is “sorry” so often the easiest word for women? It’s a question author and mental health campaigner Lucy Nichol found herself asking on a regular basis, and a topic she covers in her latest novel, No Worries If Not!. She and Mick chat about apologies, how empowered we really were back in the ‘90s, and what they'd like to see on a T-shirt. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Dr Carrie Dunn makes a welcome return to chat all things women’s football, the new WSL season, and her book Woman Up: Pitches Pay and Periods – the progress and potential of women’s football. In Rated or Dated, we ask – once again - how romantic is stalking? And has Hannah finally found something she hates more than Love Actually? We watch 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle. Plus, in the Bush Telegraph, we’re thankful for animals and, er, cornflakes. You heard.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

If you don't know a huge amount about the English Civil War, join the club. Also, perhaps get your hands on a copy of Francesca Peacock's excellent new book Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish. Hannah got on the Zoom with Francesca to learn about how the war affected Margaret's life, and what that life can tell us about marriage, infertility, literature, fashion and feminism in the 17th century. 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

It's September, the nights are drawing in and do we have some TV recommendations for you? Yes, we do. In this episode, we're chatting Winning Time*, The Woman in the Wall, Only Murders In The Building, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Painkiller and Beef. Since we recorded this, Winning Time has, indeed, been cancelled. *sobs*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