Standard Issue Podcast

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

Coralie Fargeat’s gonzo body horror comedy The Substance just bagged Demi Moore a Golden Globe and started a lot of conversations when it hit cinemas last year. Conversations in which the word “feminist” came up a lot. And so, for the first Flicking of 2025, Mick, Hannah and Yosra hold onto their boob vomit to talk ageing, bodies, ageing bodies, the relationship between younger and older self, and how they may never get over Dennis Quaid eating shrimp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New year, new news-storms, and grooming gangs have dominated2025’s early headlines. But, asks Mick, how much do the people “leading” thisdebate care about the working-class girls at the centre of the story and whatreally needs to shift for that to happen? Meanwhile, Jen’s chatting about thefoster care crisis, and some intriguing new fitness trends. In Sexism of theWeek, we’re wondering how great a tourist destination Afghanistan actuallyis, and there’s cricket and tennis in JOTB. And for our £5 and above Patreons,The Boss, aka Sarah Millican, is back with some Light Relief.You can listen to Mick's interview with KiriPritchard-McLean about becoming a foster parent, here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Boyle's debut film won awards for Ewan McGregor but is he really the star of the show? Did anyone want to see that much of Keith Allen? What's Boyle's problem with friendship? All the answers lie within. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new version of Oscar Wilde’s iconic play The Importance of Being Earnest is enjoying a sold-out run at the National Theatre. Jen caught up with its stars, Sharon D Clarke, Ronke Adekoluejo and Eliza Scanlen, to chat about the enduring appeal of the play, how they’re bringing it to a fresh audience, and accessibility of theatre in the UK.The run is now sold out except for Rush tickets, but you can catch it on NT Live from February 20. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a teenager, American comedian Spring Day was in a cult. Her latest show, Exvangelical, explains why she joined and why she left. She and Hannah chat about that and a lot more besides, including the differences in being disabled in the US and the UK.* Tickets for the Soho Theatre shows, on January 7 & 8, are here: https://sohotheatre.com/events/spring-day-exvangelical/#:~:text=As%20seen%20on%20BBC's%20Live,dark%20comedy%20for%20nice%20people.&text=Spring%20joined%20a%20Christian%20cult,think%20you%20heathens%20would%20understand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Money makes the world go round, and that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. So why do so many of us put our head in the sand when it comes to cash? And how do we get more fluent at the money talk?Our Mick definitely needs a little guidance where budgeting, saving and investing is concerned, so she got on the Zoom with financial literacy expert Wendy Grace. They’re chatting fears and anxiety around money, how we can change our relationship with it, when and how to get kids financially savvy, and why Wendy wants more young women to get passionate about pensions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices