Standard Issue Podcast

After an eventful series four of everyone's favourite haunted house sitcom, Hannah catches up with two of its stars and co-writers, Jim Howick and Ben Willbond, to talk about sucking off Mary, dealing with grief, fan art, Christmas specials, There She Goes, working with Guillermo del Toro – and more. 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 this month's Outside The Box, we're asking all the important questions. Has The White Lotus set itself too high a bar? Will The English be the first Hugo Blick series Hannah likes? Why didn't anyone tell Jen The Devil's Hour was sci-fi? Does anyone want to watch Charles and Diana's marriage fail - again - in The Crown? And lastly, where are all the lads? (Well, that one's easy to answer, they're in SAS: Rogue Heroes.) Plus, there's a tiny Rated or Dated for you, as Mick reports back on watching Buffy in her 40s.More on Paris Syndrome here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndromeThat scene with Alex Ferns (mining in the altogether) in Chernobyl can be found, sadly, nowhere. 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

The cost of living is dominating conversations around the country, so, in this week's podcast, Jen chats to Helen Barnard, associate director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and director of research and policy at Pro Bono Economics, about assumptions made about poverty. Mick's chatting with Claudia Brewster, course leader of Graphic Design, Creative Advertising and Visual Communication at the University of Gloucestershire, and one of her second-year students, Siobhan Smith, about the posters they’ve been designing for the March for Freedom for Afghan Women and Girls taking place in London on Sunday 27 November. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's boycotting Qatar and in BT, Hannah's rounding up the results of the midterms in the US. And last, but oh so very much not least, we'll find out what's easier to look after, heroin or babies, as we watch 1987's Three Men And A Baby in Rated or Dated.* You can grab your March for Freedom posters here: https://marchforafghanwomenandgirls.com/* Helen Barnard's book can be bought here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788213971/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_F9YMB439145K46BBZEMB_3Support 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

This week in the Chops, we’re chatting depression, because – as we’re seemingly constantly told – it’s okay to not be okay and it’s good to talk. But what do those soundbites really mean and how helpful are they for people dealing with depressionNo stranger to the black dog, Mick got on the Zoom with Maddy Dilley, managing director of The Blurt Foundation, a brilliant social enterprise dedicated to helping those affected by depression and anxiety, to talk stigma, self-stigma, self-care, misconceptions, peer support and how Dougal can be there for Ted.If anything in this podcast makes you think you need help, then please get in touch with your GP. The sooner you see a doctor, the sooner you can be on the way to recovery. And do check out blurtitout.org, which has a wealth of information and resources – and people who genuinely give a shit.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

SIM Ep 788 Flicking #31: West Side Story (1961)Our Yosra Osman isn’t alone in loving 1961’s cinematic musical West Side Story, in which love-at-first-sighters Maria and Tony find themselves entangled in a bitter battle between rival gangs The Jets and The Sharks amid music from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.60+ years on, with a recent Steven Spielberg revival in the bag, is it a cinematic gem packed with bangers or a problematic white vision of racial unrest? Can a film be both? Will Hannah ever stop hanging out in underground car parks, making shapes and saying “cool!”? And why are she and Mick looking nervous? 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

“What’s going on inside our noggins?” is a question we are often terrified to ask, but neuroscientist and Standard Issue favourite Professor Sophie Scott is more than happy to delve right in. She chats to Hannah about "lady brains", the infinite wisdom of post-menopausal killer whales, how chromosomes affect the old grey matter, and her new book, The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen chats to Leonie Pryor, match official developer at the Rugby Football Union, about their #Inspire campaign, aimed to get more women into refereeing. Grab your hankies and hold on tight, as Hannah and Mick revisit Michael Winterbottom’s 1997 war drama, Welcome To Sarajevo. And in this week's Bush Telegraph, Mick has some interesting (*question mark*) Christmas list ideas. Prepare the underground cellar and light the dusty vagina candle!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

Medieval Britain can feel somewhat impenetrable, even for history fans, so thank goodness for Dr Amy Jeffs, writer of the best-seller Storyland and new book Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain. She chats to Hannah about the many ways of telling a story, the tie between the individual and the landscape, the weirdness of the Fens and finding hope in a time of hopelessness. 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

The expression "cat lady" comes with a lot of baggage, something writer and podcaster Dawn O'Porter couldn't understand. She talks to Jen about her new book Cat Lady, which challenges stereotypes around the love we have for our pets. They also chat complicated characters, the reality of living in LA, and the ongoing refugee crisis*.Imagine a women-only fitness space that encourages women to strength train with heavy weights and builds confidence as much as muscle. It’s real! StrongHer, in London’s Bethnal Green (but with excellent online options), exists thanks to Tig Hodson and Sam Prynn, who created a place they wanted to work out in. And it’s where our Mick flips tyres and chucks herself over walls. She borrowed Jenny Off The Blocks for a week to chat with Tig about strength training, listening to your cycle, and why the fear of getting ‘bulky’ is a nonsense.Lucas “Luke” Jackson clearly isn’t worried about a bit of bulk, as he stuffs 50 eggs down his gullet in one of cinema’s most iconic scenes. Yep, this week’s Rated or Dated is 1967 prison drama classic, Cool Hand Luke and unlikely inspiration for Hannah. And in the Bush Telegram, there’s bad at your job and then there’s Suella Braverman.  *You can donate to Choose Love here.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 Essex alone, around 1000 people – predominantly women – were accused of witchcraft between the 1500s to 1800s, as part of the now infamous English witch trials. As the jail where many of the accused were held, Colchester Castle played a key role, and so Colchester Museums have teamed up with the Museum of British Folklore and the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle to create an exhibition about the witch trials, and the people who fell victim to them.In this week’s Chops, Jen catches up with Mellany Robinson, projects manager of the British Museum of Folklore and co-curator of Wicked Spirits? Witchcraft and Magic at Colchester Castle. They chat about the historical context of the trials, the women who were accused, and why the witch trials remain worryingly relevant to contemporary society.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

Working a four-day week can benefit employees, businesses, the environment and the economy. That's according to Mariam Salman from The Four Day Week Campaign, so Hannah got on the Zoom with her to find out more. Ahead of the NFL match between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, Jen gets the lowdown on the match and indeed the sport, from Sky Sports presenter Hannah Wilkes. In Rated or Dated, 1992's Buffy The Vampire Slayer comes under the microscope, but can it escape constant comparison to the TV series? In Sexism of the Week, Mick's got news of another drama over a statue of - wait for it - a woman. And in the Bush Telegraph? Well, what can we say? Other than Steve Baker really is a c*nt.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