Standard Issue Podcast

Powerhouse performances, intriguing aspect ratio and fidget-inducing discomfort: Yosra's pick of 2014's Mommy from wünderkind director Xavier Dolan is a fresh watch for Mick and Jen. What do they make of it? Who knew middle-age women given meaty storylines could have so much fun? And when did they last phone their parents?  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

In 2018, Professor Olivette Otele became the UK’s first black female history professor. 2018! She chats to Mick about missing stories, her book African Europeans, and the toppling of Edward Colston. Hannah catches up with writer Kerri Ni Dochartaigh to talk growing up in The Troubles, how nature can help your mental health and Kerri’s beautifully written debut, Thin Places.In Jenny Off The Blocks, ahead of next week’s Australian Open, Jen’s on the blower to Jo Durie, tennis pundit and former world number 5. And it’s an absolute treat of a Rated or Dated, as the team wonders “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK is Neil Diamond doing?" while watching 1981’s The Jazz Singer.Plus, in the Bush Telegraph, there’s grade-A bellendery, some class Russian accents, a ridiculously pricey bog brush and some important questions about eagles. 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

Cerys Matthews – singer, songwriter, author, broadcaster and indisputable champion of unusual sounds on the radio (hello yodelling!) – chats to journalist Hazel Davis about all manner of things in this week’s Sunday Chops. Wide-ranging topics include why Cerys isn’t a nurse, the lost opportunities of the pub, growing up singing, cuisine and where it comes from, and why you should always make time to poo. Oh, and they also talk about her new collaborative album, We Are From The Sun, a gorgeous, lyrical album in which ten poets read to shape-shifting arrangements from Cerys and Hidden Orchestra.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

There’s plenty to be making noise about at the moment, but activism can take many different forms, so in this week’s podzine, Hannah gets on the blower to comedian, writer and Standard Issue fave, Jenny Éclair, to chat about her new BBC show Craftivism: Making a Difference, and the power of picking up your pins and needles. Since January is the perfect time to curl up with a good book, Jen is chatting to author Susie Yang about her debut novel, White Ivy, an alternative immigrant narrative and brilliantly dark class critique. We’re feeling Priti vacant and generally pretty fucked off at the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the CPS’s handling of rape cases in the Bush Telegraph. In Jenny off the Blocks, Jen talks #ICare and the women’s rugby players calling out online abuse, and there’s some incongruous traffic-related violation as Rated or Dated tackles Rocky V.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

Political commentator, indefatigable activist and all-round top woman, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu is a familiar face fighting the anti-racism fight on TV screens, social media and now, um, Tik-Tok. Her book, This Is Why I Resist, is a powerful, passionate polemic against structural racism. In this Chops, she tells Mickey why she had to write it. They also talk about the problem of performative allyship, the insidiousness of structural racism, and why the angry black woman trope is so pernicious.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

January is a good time to try to get on top of your finances, so Hannah's been on the Zoom to author and podcaster Selina Flavius to talk about her new book Black Girl Finance and why we should all talk a bit more about money. There's a preview to this week's cracker of a Chops, as Mickey catches up up with political commentator and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu to talk about dismantling structural racism, the big problem of performative allyship, and handing Piers Morgan his arse on a plate. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's bidding a fond (ish) farewell to Phil Neville and we chat Grenfell Tower, the Irish Mother and Baby Homes Inquiry, and "flawed" Phil Spector in BT. Plus, grab your linen suit and try to remember where you left that fully-loaded bifter, because in Rated or Dated we're watching 1986's Pretty In Pink.  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

As America experiences its most contentious transfer of power in generations, Hannah chats to historian Mary Beard about why succession is always a fraught and dangerous time, how society deals with "the losers" and the latest series of her BBC show, Inside Culture. They also talk about the politics of how language evolves, how future historians are going to make sense of the wild times we're living through, and whether "the right side of history" actually exists.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

Covid is hitting cancer patients especially hard, and Professor Pat Price, chair of the charity Action Radiotherapy and founder of Radiotherapy4Life and the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign, talks to Jen about what that means in human terms, the state of the NHS, what can be done, and how the Catch Up With Cancer campaign can help.The miracle of science that is Dr Suze Kundu gets on the Zoom with Mick to talk vaccines, what’s happening in the world of STEM, how to tackle those home-school science lessons and – of course – how it's going for women and girls in science. Over on Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen’s explaining why those “business meetings in Dubai” have made for a bad week for the Women’s Super League, while in Rated or Dated, the team asks "What's with the kids today? Erm, sorry, in the ‘50s?" as they watch 1955 classic, Rebel Without A Cause. Plus, in the Bush Telegraph, there's all sorts of GOOD news. We shit you not.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

Since it's January, and you might be thinking about getting all Joe Wicks for the new year, Jen caught up with pilates expert, PT and founder of wellness brand Niix, Nicki Philips. They chatted about the new fitness app the brand has launched, how Covid has changed the fitness world, and why it just doesn’t matter if you want to eat that doughnut.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

Rev up your petrol lawnmower, clamber aboard and come on a journey of discovery as Yosra watches Mick's pick of 1999's The Straight Story for the very first time. Does she like it? Is Hannah happy to sit through it again? And what magic happens when Walt Disney, David Lynch and an old cowboy get together? 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