Standard Issue Podcast

Being a mum is great, but it can also be relentlessly challenging and impossibly difficult. Not to mention that from the day they're born, you know you'll eventually lose your children to adulthood.In her late 30s, writer and actress Michele Winstanley gave birth to a much-wanted child, and quickly realised that mumming wasn't the sugar-coated dream she'd been sold. And so she wrote a play about her own experiences and those of others at different stages of their motherhood journey. A decade on, Broken Water is now playing at the Arcola Theatre. Our Jen caught up with Michele and director Nicola Samer to talk about the highs and lows of being a mum, the losses we incur along the way, and, when it comes to representations of motherhood, how much (or little) has changed in the last ten years.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

Sort of. This week, Jen's been on the satellite phone to bone fide polar adventurer Harpreet ‘Preet’ Chandi. Preet recently broke a third World Record, becoming the world’s fastest woman to complete a solo unsupported ski expedition to the South Pole. She chats to Jen about the how and why, accepting failure when it comes, becoming a role model and looking after your mental health. Speaking of which, Mickey's been on the Zoom with our resident psychotherapist Jane Watson to talk about "the overwhelm", how to spot it and what to do if it's not as simple as "have you tried removing stress from your life?" In BT, Hannah has a smorgasbord of vaccination news, while in SOTW, we look at #OppenOscarBarbieHeimerHistoryIsForMenKenGoslingGerwigGate. And in Rated or Dated, we ask "is this the reason there are so few statues of women?" as we watch 1974's The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.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

Are we addicted to our phones? Are they bad for our mental health? Are they changing the way we behave? Hannah gets the answers to these and many more questions from neuroscientist Dr Faye Begeti, otherwise known as the Brain Doctor, whose new book The Phone Fix: The Brain-Focused Guide to Building Healthy Digital Habits and Breaking Bad Ones is out on February 1.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

Stand up Laura Smyth came to comedy later in life and with a whole load of experiences, including cancer, under her belt. People are lapping it up, and tickets to her debut tour show, Living My Best Life, are selling like hot cakes. Mmm, hot cakes. Laura chats to our Hannah about wide-ranging appeal, the big C and maintaining a sense of self. Mick’s been on the Zoom to America, chatting to author Kiley Reid, whose debut novel, Such a Fun Age, which had race relations as its focal point, was a much-hyped international bestseller longlisted for the Booker Prize. No pressure for the follow-up then, eh? They’re talking money, shame and Come and Get It, Kiley’s sophomore novel, set on a college campus.There’s more Stateside school time as Jen’s Rated or Dated pick of 1999’s She’s All That, unsurprisingly goes down like a lead balloon. Mmm, lead balloons. Not least with Jen. Still, she’s better news of a football, rugby and boxing nature in Jenny Off the Blocks. Plus, there’s a rush of good news (although some is definitely broccoli in disguise) in this week’s Bush Telegraph.Laura Smyth will be on tour with brand new show Living My Best Life from April this year, tickets are available from https://laurasmyth.com 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 ever a subject demanded a bit more of our time, it’s what’s happening to women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Zahra Nader, editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a brilliant, women-led investigative newsroom, covering the human rights crisis in Afghanistan with a focus on women, is well-placed to tell our Mick what’s really happening on the ground in Afghanistan. Despite the risk to the safety of those involved, since its genesis in August 2022, Zan Times has reported on the rise of child marriage, the impossible choices that women health workers face, the rise of female suicide, femicide and domestic violence, how women journalists continue to fight, and how humanitarian aid is not reaching the most vulnerable, bringing attention to distressing issues that affect women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Zahra also talks about how letting the Taliban get away with this treatment of women isn’t just bad for women in Afghanistan, it sets a precedent that’s bad for all women. But it’s only women, eh? Maybe that’s why the world seems to have forgotten about this particular, HUGE, human rights issue. 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 cold out, although inexplicably sunny in Hannah's lounge, so let's all stay in and watch some telly. This month, we're talking about Julia, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Slow Horses, Fool Me Once, True Detective: Night Country, Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster, and the final ever episode of Ghosts. Tuck in! 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

Designer Harriet Saywood-Bellisario talks about sustainable fashion, Eurosport presenter Rachel Stringer covers the Australian Open, and the hosts critique 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' in this diverse and entertaining episode.

Frida Kahlo and Jean-Michel Basquiat are huge names from the world of art, but what must it have been like to hang out and grow up in their worlds? Author and poet Jennifer Clement knows all about it and has written about her fascinating life in new book, Promised Party: Kahlo, Basquiat & Me.In the memoir, Jennifer writes about her upbringing in a bohemian community in 1960s and 70s Mexico City, before moving to New York City as a dancer in the late 70s, and living through the counterculture scene of the 1980s. She chats to tocayo Jen, about her experiences, story-telling, posthumous fame, and the work she’s undertaken as PEN International’s ONLY woman president, to make sure women’s voices are heard, and celebrated.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

Mama’s got a brand new bag! And by “Mama”, we mean Flicking. This year, instead of watching firm favourites from their pasts, Hannah, Yosra and Mickey are giving their thoughts on films released in 2023. And what an absolute classic to start with: Cocaine Bear. Elizabeth Banks’ 1980s-set creature feature, in which a massive black bear eats a whole load of cocaine and goes full carnage. It’s the magnificent Ray Liotta’s Swansong and he’s joined by a cast of dreams – and an apex predator off her furry tits on coke. But does it live up to the hype and that title? (Guess who chose it. Guess who was the only one of them to see it at the cinema. Go on. Bet you can’t…)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

Yes, we do keep banging on about medical misogyny and you'll get no apologies from us. On that note, Mickey's been on the Zoom with journalist Sarah Graham, who specialises in writing about women’s health, to talk about her excellent book, Rebel Bodies: A Guide to the Gender Health Gap Revolution. Hannah's chatting to Lonely Planet writer Jade Bremner about how to do a bucket list holiday on a budget. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's excited about the return of Emma Raducanu. In BT, we're banging on about electricity meters, plagiarism and hot flushes. And there's cold flushes aplenty in Rated or Dated, as well as useful info on how much a broken leg can hamper a nice walk in the mountains, as we watch 2003/4's Touching The Void. 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