Standard Issue Podcast

Think you know what a shed can do? Think again. The UK Men’s Shed Association (UKMSA) is an incredible movement of community spaces for men to connect, converse and create. Sheds combat loneliness and encourage men to talk shoulder to shoulder – such a great, straightforward and vital idea. And so Mickey got on the Zoom to David Meli, the charity’s Partnerships and Community Development Manager, and Men’s Shed ambassador Allan Clarke to find out the hows, whys and benefits of being a Shedder. All applications for your very own Allan to be sent via the Men’s Sheds’ website, please, which you’ll find at menssheds.org.uk.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 a cliche in theatre to say a play is more relevant than ever, but in the case of Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange, it's 100% true. A new version of it, starring Michael Balogun and Giles Terera is currently on at Northampton's Royal & Derngate Theatres and Hannah spoke to them about the show's themes of race, mental illness and truth, as well as the emotional rollercoaster of last year's National Theatre production of The Death of England: Delroy. They also chat about Hamilton - obviously - and the advice they'd give working-class youngsters about breaking into acting. Listener, she loved them.The interview Hannah refers to in this podcast can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvqngSupport 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

After writing a piece exposing the call-outs, draggings and pile-ons rife in the toxic world of YA Twitter, author Kat Rosenfield found herself a target. She talks to Hannah about speaking out, as well as her new novel No One Will Miss Her, and the joy of working with Stan Lee. Stan. Lee. Our resident music guru Liz Buckley is back to talk to Mick about why even if you're a middle-aged woman, it's more than okay to climb aboard the Billie Eilish juggernaut. There’s bullshit, batshit, and Peppa Pig in the Bush Telegraph. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen is wondering what Kim Kardashian and Dirty Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani have in common, and also joins the growing number of people asking #WhereIsPengShaui? And in Rated or Dated, we're donning our tinfoil hats and asking for Mother, as we watch 1986's The Mosquito Coast.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

Matt Forde is a comedian whose book, Politically Homeless, charts his progress from working for the Labour Party to disillusionment in the Corbyn years. He's also the host of the excellent podcast, The Political Party, and co-host, with Alice Levine, of British Scandal. Hannah talks to him about all of that, obviously, and a lot more besides, including the sort of personality it takes to fake your own death, drawing a cock and balls on a ballot paper, Mo Mowlam, and that time Hannah embarrassed herself in front of Armando Iannucci.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

Comedians Kiri Pritchard McLean and Nina Gilligan have launched Get Off! Live Comedy, an independent and confidential HR support service that deals with sexual harassment in live comedy. Hannah got on the Zoom to Kiri to talk about the whys and hows, and they also chat The Covid Arms, and hard-core bulldog clips. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen catches up with Tamara Taylor, former England Rugby captain and player-coach at Saracens Women, to chat about Empower Her, a new women in leadership initiative by the Saracens Foundation and Shawbrook Bank.And there’s bleak, bleak, and, well, more bleak as Mick and Hannah discuss this week’s news in the Bush Telegraph, and Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 masterpiece The Last Picture Show gets Rated or Dated. 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

Pro-feminist activist Chris Green founded the UK arm of the excellent White Ribbon campaign and, as he tells our Mick, has a lot more up his sleeve when it comes to being an excellent ally to women – and engaging more men to do the same. This is the second in our International Men’s Day 2021 series of interviews. Make sure you have a listen to Jen’s chat with comedian and author Dave Chawner about his experience of having anorexia, and eating disorder psychiatrist Dr Stephen Anderson, who is also a member of the board of trustees at Beat, the UK's eating disorder charity. And obviously, keep your eyes and ears peeled for more MANterviews in the November pipeline.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

How are we going to fill these long evenings? Suggestion one: telly. This month, we're talking Succession, What We Do In The Shadows, Close To Me, Stath Lets Flats, Squid Game, Dexter: New Blood, The Outlaws and Panorama: Why Do You Hate Me? Yes, that is a lot. 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

Zadie Smith taking on Chaucer? Big yes please. This week, Mickey is chatting to actor Clare Perkins about Smith's new play The Wife of Willesden, playing a woman with five husbands and meeting Christopher Walken. Hannah catches up with comedian and top woman Zoe Lyons, who tells us about living with alopecia and why she's decided to talk publicly about it. In Rated or Dated, we're wondering if we'd make it through dinner, as we watch 1996's The Last Supper. And there's sniggering ahoy in The Bush Telegraph, as we discuss THE big story from COP26.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 that time of year where we let some dudes talk, for a change. In the first part of our 2021 International Men's Day series, Jen chats to comedian and author Dave Chawner about his experience of having anorexia, as well as Dr Stephen Anderson, an eating disorder psychiatrist and member of the board of trustees at Beat, the Uk's eating disorder charity. They chat about what it's like to be a man suffering from an illness so typically associated with women, why eating disorders are on the rise in men, and why it's so important for those who are suffering to seek help. If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, help is available, and you can contact Beat 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk . While we've got you, Stephen is raising money for Beat by running the 2278 miles of Route 66 virtually, and has 853 left to go since starting in April. If you want to support him and support Beat, you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stephen-anderson23 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

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? HE'S HERE, PAL! Jen, Yosra and Mick recall teenage loins being aflame as, courtesy of Jen's pick, they watch Baz Lurhmann's 1996 take on the 424-year-old romantic tragedy and are reminded just how damn pretty Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes were as the star-crossed lovers. Obviously, Lurhmann gives big Bill a nod in the film's title, but how does his mangling of Sheakespeare's text, frenetic camerawork and extended MTV video vibes stand up 25 years on? Does the fish-tank scene still make us all woozy? And does anyone know what Mercutio's wanging on about in that Queen Mab speech? Find out. 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