Standard Issue Podcast
by 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 [email protected] 43c9217e82c512ab6f4cfce3bce67e94deeee4dc
Episodes
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Roleplay and shenanigans with Hannah Reilly
After her debut Edinburgh show sold out, writer and performer Hannah Reilly has brought it to the Soho Theatre. Roleplay is a darkly funny and disturbing look at influencer culture, the commodification of feminism, male violence against women and girls and much more besides. Jen jumped on the…
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The Bush Telegraph: All bets are on!
It’s well done US electorate, who gave Trump’s Republicans a thorough drubbing in the midterms. All eyes on the Democrats: the 2028 presidential race starts now. Still behind the times are the UK’s justice system: Mick and Jen are looking at you, Ian Winter KC, and you, *spins chair* former...
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Rated or Dated: Brassed Off (1996)
Is Mark Herman's tale of a struggling mining community unappreciated? Does it give women a short shift? Does everyone love Pete Postlethwaite? And who is blowing their own *checks notes* Tom Jones? Make yourself a cup of tea, pull up a tuba and find out.
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A Call to Art, with Karen Livingstone
As a major new exhibition - A Call To Art: William Morris and The Pre-Raphaelites - opens at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum, Hannah went to take a look and met the museum's deputy director (Masterplan, Exhibitions and Design), Karen Livingstone. They chat about the contrast between Morris's...
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Kiri Pritchard-McLean: the joshing josgin
Kiri Pritchard-McLean is one of standup’s most sparkling stars. She’s also a vegan farmer, and Kiri’s Farm, her new five-part series for Radio 4, is a total delight, following Kiri and her brother Ali’s journey transforming their land into a permaculture farm. In this episode, Mick finds out…
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The Bush Telegraph: The sullied toilet cubicles of our minds
Is Nicki Minaj about to take over press briefings in the White House? Can a wind-up radio be enough to see us through the impending apocalypse, and just how impending is it? And will we ever get to the end of this row of messy toilet cubicles? Questions Hannah and Jen attempt to answer in this...
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Rated or Dated: Carrie (1976)
It’s Hallowe’en, so Mick’s picked a film considered a classic of the horror genre. But has Brian De Palma’s take on Stephen King’s debut novel stood the test of 50 whole years? Who’s most hysterical: the women in the film or the men who made it? How many tits is too many tits? Why doesn’t every...
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Jodie Reed and the Home-Start heroes
Parenting is, and always has been, a tough gig. With the rising cost of living, the breakdown of communities and a whole new digital world to navigate for both kids and parents, charities like Home-Start, provide vital support to struggling parents from all walks of life. Jen caught up with...
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Outside The Box October '26
In this month's round-up of the best and worst TV, we're watching Slow Horses, Blue Lights, WAR, Below, Winter and The Reluctant Vampire. You are welcome.
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Rated or Dated: Dragonheart (1996)
Jen's picked Rob Cohen’s family fantasy adventure starring Dennis Quaid as a disillusioned knight and Sean Connery as a good-hearted dragon, which was ahead of its time in terms of visual effects. But what about its treatment of women? Will Hannah approve of its interpretation of history? And why...
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Wolf mother Natalie Lagstrom on wolfie family
You know the idea of an alpha wolf, dominating the pack and OBVIOUSLY male... Total wolfshit, mate. Wolves are matrilineal families who work, play and love together a lot like humans. Our Mick was delighted to learn even more about wolves in this chat with Natalie Lagstrom, owner, head…
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Helen Thorn is always carrying tissues
Next year, our Jen is running the London Marathon for the Samaritans. It's her second time round the 26.2 mile block, although some 18 years after her first one, her knees ain't what they used to be. And who better to talk to about knees, Vaseline, always having tissues to hand, and finding joy…
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Flicking #78: The Naked Gun
Relentless silliness, sight gags, wordplay and sheer chaotic comedic energy? Too right it was Mick’s pick for Flicking this month. And so she and Yosra are chatting about last year’s The Naked Gun reboot, in which Liam Neeson steps into Leslie Nielsen’s shoes as gumshoe lieutenant Frank Drebin……
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The Bush Telegraph: Freed from desire
Where does the word 'whore' come from? In this week’s Bush Telegraph, Mick’s wondering if Saturday Night Live guest host Shane Gillis knows (no), cares (no) or has any comedy chops whatsoever (no). For Jen, it’s medical misogyny o'clock again, with new research suggesting autoimmune conditions…
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The Banality of Evil, with Julia Pascal
Hannah Arendt's most famous expression - the banality of evil - might be well quoted, but the woman herself is less widely known. Her time in the Gurs internment camp in France is the subject of a new play by Julia Pascal. Hannah talks to the playwright and director about life for women in camps,...
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What’s the point of pubes? asks Judy Wearing
It seems there’s scarcely a person alive, male or female, who doesn’t have some kind of hang-up about their hair. Whether we have too much, not enough, whether it’s the right colour or texture, we’re all obsessed and who can blame us? After all, human hair is fascinating, or at least that’s what...
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Liz Hyder is a teller of tall tales
Award-winning author Liz Hyder’s new book, The Teller of Tall Tales, is aimed at young adults but a total delight for grown-ups, too. Because we never grow out of stories: telling them and, well, being them. Mick chats to Liz about old-school folk and fairy tales with a modern sensibility, heavy...
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Rated or Dated: This Is England (2006)
Brace yourself for a tension bellyache as Shane Meadows’ violence-smeared, working-class coming-of-age drama gets Rated or Dated. This Is England firmly marked out Meadows as the voice of working-class realism and introduced a host of brilliant British character actors to the screen. But 20 years...
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Anything to add, Penelope?
Amelia Bullmore is about to star in Margaret Atwood's stage adaptation of her book The Penelopiad. So Hannah grabbed the chance to chat to the actress about The Odyssey and the price its women pay, as well as learning the guitar for Riot Women and, if you're a Standard Issue supporter, an early...
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Tully Kearney and Melanie Woods are variously excellent
Paralympic athletes Tully Kearney and Melanie Woods are used to be recognised for their performance in the pool and on the track. And now they’re being recognised for their overall contributions to sport, with nominations in children’s charity Variety’s biannual Disability Sports Awards. Jen…
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Standard Issue Birthday Podcast (PREVIEW)
It's 12 years since Standard Issue was founded by the boss, Sarah Millican. To celebrate, and just for the ears of our Patreon supporters, we got together to get the party started with a shuffle through our Spotify playlists. This is a preview. To hear the whole podcast and enjoy the other many...
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The Bush Telegraph: She said, they said
This week Mickey takes a look at the case of the Cornell Seven, as well as what this year's PM, Andy Burnham, has planned for a better Britain. Which may happen. At some point. Meanwhile, Hannah's venturing back into the world of sport, and there's some dispute over which is the cutest of the...
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Rated or Dated: Sid and Nancy (1986)
Alex Cox’s biopic of punk-rock’s "ill-fated lovers" Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, was met with critical acclaim upon release and in the years that followed. But has it romanticised a relationship in which a woman wound up dead? Does it glamorise heroin? And…
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Laleh Khadivi explores Female Life on Planet Earth
Iranian-American author Laleh Khadivi’s latest novel, Female Life on Planet Earth, centres on a mid-life woman, Heti, who comes up against some new information about her recently dead mum that questions everything she thought she knew about her. Or does it? From there, Laleh explores how an...
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Grace Harper Brighouse on Dependence
In 2013 director Grace Harper Brighouse began work on a film about her dad Richard’s dying dog, in a bid to heal their fractured relationship. Over the course of filming, tragic events unfolded within the family, changing the nature of the film and the discussion about Richard’s long-standing…
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Outside The Box September 2026
In this month's Outside The Box, Jen and Hannah have been busying themselves watching Slow Horses, Youth, The Blame and Vigil, plus they look forward to the annual Autumn Drama Drop.
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Rated or Dated: The Fisher King (1991)
A romance/fantasy/drama/comedy, there's a lot going on in Terry Gilliam's New York-set classic. But does the story of grief, guilt and forgiveness still have something to say today? Hannah and Jen tuck in.
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Diane Page on whether the rainbow is enuf
A hugely important work when it first ran on Broadway, it’s taken 50 years for Ntozake Shange’s seminal choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf to get a major revival in the UK. Overseeing that is director Diane Page, who’s brought it to The Yard…
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A deeper look at Beryl Cook
Painter Beryl Cook divided the art world when she burst into the public consciousness in 1976. This year, she would have celebrated her 100th birthday, so Hannah grabbed some time with Hilary Bracegirdle, writer of new biography, Beryl Cook: Life and Art, and Teresa Cook, Beryl’s daughter-in-law,...
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The Bush Telegraph: Influence and effluence
This week, Hannah and Jen are talking about a Hyrox horror, Carers UK's new report, unrest in the countryside, a drug hoping to stave off Alzheimer's, bad behaviour at Flushing Meadows (no pun intended) and, inevitably, Sydney Sweeney's tits.
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Flicking #77: Weapons
2025 was a big year for horror, with the genre not only having some big releases, but also taking home some big awards. Including an Oscar for Amy Madigan for her role in Zach Cregger’s supernatural mystery horror, about a community left questioning WTF is going on when all but one child from the...
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Dr Siggie Cohen on being the parent
Many parents are moving away from the more authoritarian ideas of previous generations. But is it possible so-called “gentle parenting” has passed the point of being useful? Dr Siggie Cohen, a leading child development specialist, Instagram sensation, and author of new book You Are the Parent:...
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Jane Hill has spunk in her eyes
September is Gynecological Cancers Awareness Month, so Hannah took the chance to catch up with our friend Jane Hill, a writer and comedian who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year. Jane’s Substack, Have You Got Somebody With You?, has been chronicling her experiences, so they chat about...
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The Bush Telegraph: News hullabalooboohoos
Spider bites, violent pensioners, a Bill about dying that refuses to die, some appalling headline writing, and bonnes nouvelles de France – Mick and Hannah have braved this week’s news (and the garden), so you don’t have to. Here’s Mick’s chat with Alessia Camoirano about Britain’s Forgotten…
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Alessia Camoirano uncovers Britain’s Forgotten Girls
Across Britain, young girls from all demographics are being groomed, trafficked and sexually exploited by drug gangs. Authorities have been warned repeatedly about what’s happening to these girls, often known as ‘gift girls’, and yet the same failures continue. In Britain’s Forgotten Girls, a...
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Rated or Dated: Bandidas (2006)
Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz star in Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s "Western" "action" “comedy”, but what will the script by *eyeroll* Luc Besson have them do in this tale of two unlikely bank robbers? How empowering is wet brawling? How many times will Jen, Hannah and Mick say “tits” in...
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Louisa Treger on Ruth Ellis’s Fatal Love
Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be executed in England, back in 1955, sparking public outcry and becoming a catalyst for huge change in the justice system. Like many, author Louisa Treger had always been fascinated by the story of Ellis’s life and death, which became the subject of her new…
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Rated or Dated: Idiocracy (2006)
When Mike Judge showed us a vision of America in the future, nobody thought the future would arrive so soon. Did the social satire predict the rise of Trump? Can a film about dumb people ever really be clever? And what's the worst thing to have taped to your car bonnet?
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Suze Kundu eclipses the bad news with the good
It’s a podcast of positivity, as our Mick has one of her regular catch ups with NASA’s Suze Kundu. They’re covering all sorts of topics, starting of course, with the recent eclipse and why its study is so important. Then there’s the new discovery that menstrual blood is basically magical,...
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The Suffrage Detective investigates
Elizabeth Crawford picked up her nickname after decades of work uncovering rare books and collectables related to the suffrage movement. She chats to Hannah about her latest book, The British Women's Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects, lesser known historical heroines, and how merchandising helped...
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Rated or Dated: AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
It’s the Spielberg-Kubrick vision of the future no one was sure about at the time, but later got some pretty big acclaim. 2001’s AI: Artificial Intelligence remains a Marmite movie, so how will Hannah and Mick feel about this Pinocchio story of a robot who wants to be a real boy? Where can we get...
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At home with Vanessa Feltz – literally
As the star of daytime TV, radio and podcasts for more than 30 years, there’s not much we don’t think we already know about Vanessa Feltz. But there's always more to learn, so now she’s back on our screens with At Home with Vanessa, a new YouTube show filmed in her actual home, with her actual...
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Outside The Box August 2026
In this month's round-up of some of the best and not-so-best things on TV, we're talking about Furious, Possession, Evolution, My Brilliant Career, 100 Years of Solitude, Station 11 and the return of Ted Lasso.
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The Bush Telegraph: All aboard the bus to Wetwang!
This week, Hannah and Mickey look at some of the week's best and worst stories, including major finds by archeologists, the scandal that continues to engulf Cambridge University, free travel for disabled people in England, and the ongoing "early release" crisis.
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Rated or Dated: The Others (2001)
Alejandro Amenábar’s creepy AF tale of grief and darkness in post-war Jersey cleared a path for the return of old-school horror. But does it stand up when you already know the twist? Is there a fate worse than Keith Allen in your upstairs? And will we ever stop inflicting Nicole Kidman on poor...
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Susan Calman is not going on a sex cruise
It’s been a while since comedian Susan Calman went on tour: 10 years, in fact. Her brand new show, Tall Tales, kicks off in September, and promises stories, big laughs, a dose of peri rage, and – possibly – some dancing. Mick got on the Zoom with Susan to talk comedy, weights, cats, anxiety…
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Anna Holmes turns the negative into a positive
When it comes to saying no, journalist and author Anna Holmes has form. Back in 2007, she founded feminist website Jezebel, which at the time was a big old flip of the bird to traditional women’s media, and went on to change the entire media landscape. In her new book, The Power of No: A...
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Flicking #76: Sorry, Baby
Eva Victor’s lauded auterial debut about a bad thing that happens to a young woman called Agnes and how she feels and deals in the aftermath, is Yosra’s pick for this month. Billed pretty much everywhere as a black comedy, will Mick and Hannah do any laughing? Is Victor’s telling of trauma...
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The Bush Telegraph: A whole lot of maths
This week’s apocalypse is brought to you by Mick and Jen. They’re chatting about the early release of prisoners, which may require more nuance than ‘from October’, the rise and risks of pervert specs, some lovely cash news for women who invest, and why Jen is sat in a puddle staring at the sun....
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Rated or Dated: The Go-Between (1971)
We escape a red hot summer to visit, checks notes, another red hot summer in Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter's adaptation of LP Hartley's novel. There's big hair, wild hats, Alan Bates - swoons! - future British sitcom stars and crippling social conventions. What could possibly go wrong?
About this show
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 [email protected]
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