Standard Issue Podcast

After a rapturously received debut album, folk star Katherine Priddy had to tackle the infamous "difficult second album". In this podcast she talks to journalist Hazel Davis about The Pendulum Swing, her upcoming appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival, supporting Elbow, being judged by McFly, and what a folk way to die would be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in the 1970s, a group of Bristolian idealists dreamed of a nation stitched together by safe cycling paths, which would make us less reliant on our cars. They founded what would become Britain's 13,000 miles long National Cycle Network. Cycling journalist Laura Laker wondered what had gone right and, indeed, wrong, with a network once described by the CEO of the charity that runs it as “a bit crap”, and set off on an epic journey around the UK to find out more.That journey became the basis for her new book, Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network. Fellow cycling enthusiast Jen, caught up with Laura to talk about what inspired her journey, the magic of travelling by bike, and why all leaders of a country should go on a big old road trip before they sign up to the job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this month's Outside The Box, Hannah and Jen are talking about Rebus, Eric, Bodkin, Insomnia, Alaska Daily, The Gathering, Dark Matter and Bay of Fires. Plus, it turns out Hannah was right about Colin Farrell being a BEEEEEP in Sugar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world has gone election-crazy, but fortunately Hannah and Jen have mostly swerved it in this week’s Bush Telegraph. There’s some real human hardship to talk about, beyond poor ickle Rishi’s lack of Sky TV, as well as some mental imagery you’re likely never to forget around microplastics and human testicle samples.In sport, we’re looking at the European Athletics Championships, as well as saying a firm “fuck this shit” to the decision makers at Thornaby FC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Ellen Atlanta fell into a career in the beauty industry. Like many of us who subscribe to westernised beauty ideals and an online-culture, it was fine until it wasn’t. For Ellen, that was when she began to question whether or not she was part of the problem herself, and so began her work on her debut book, Pixel Flesh: How Toxic Beauty Culture Harms Women.In this episode, she chats to Jen about the book, a life spent online, the harmful standards women hold themselves up to and the increasingly dystopian nightmare of the cult of Kylie Jenner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fans of the Star Wars universe will no doubt recognise Ireland’s Denise Gough as steely Andor villain Dedra Meero. But it was back in 2015 that she was catapulted to stardom with her role as Emma in Duncan Macmillan’s existential addiction drama, People, Places & Things.Almost ten years on, People, Places & Things is back and so is Denise with a proper barnstormer of a performance in a play that’s funny, clever, vivid, devastating and one of the most emotionally intelligent takes on addiction, recovery and our notions of self our Mick’s ever seen.Denise is herself a former addict, so in this episode, she and Mick are talking about addiction, the dark humour of addicts, notions of self, that time psychiatrists had a fight in the foyer, and why it’s important to see women in roles like this.People, Places & Things runs until August 10 at Trafalgar Theatre. https://trafalgartheatre.com/shows/people-places-and-things/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fun times for football enthusiasts approach us, as the Euros kick off in Germany next week. Both England and Scotland are through to the tournament, with Scotland up first, against the host nation, before England take on Serbia – but how will the home nations fare?Jen caught up with Caoimhe O’Neill – journalist at The Athletic, Liverpool FC fan, and the proud owner of two Scotland shirts – to find out if football really is coming home, what it means to leave Marcus Rashford behind, what’s next for Jen's adoptive dad, Gareth Southgate, and who we should be looking out for in both squads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a week! Trump is guilty, Farage is milkshaked, Owen Jones is Owen Jones-ing and some of the four horses of the apocalypse are having a nice time in a field. At least concrete is still concrete. Mickey and Hannah manage to fit all this in and still find time for a horrific sexism of the week, in which we get to see how one judge's mind works and really don't like it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jen’s getting philosophical with high on drama, easy on the acting, ‘90s runaway hit, Speed. But can Mick and Hannah get on board? Der dum tsssssshhhhhh. Cue maniacal laughter, and a shedload of plot holes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Scattered, award-winning journalist and former child refugee Aamna Mohdin has written a warm, candid and surprisingly funny memoir about her family’s experiences fleeing the Somali civil war in the 1990s. She chats to our Mick about survivor’s guilt, people not 'migrants', the joys in interviewing your parents, and her relationship with Somalia today.Scattered is published by Bloomsbury, out on June 6 and available from all good bookshops. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices