Standard Issue Podcast

Well, we're talking about it - obviously - but as incidents of verbal and physical abuse against shop workers rockets, the media remains pretty quiet on the subject. Hannah's been on the phone to Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) to find out the human cost behind some pretty staggering statistics about how the country is treating this group of key workers. She chats to Tracy Gilbert, Scottish Deputy Divisional Officer, and Joanne Cairns, Deputy Head of Research, about what it's like to be on the frontline of the pandemic, what the Government needs to do to tackle the growing problem, how it's affecting women specifically and much more. 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

Salena Godden’s Mrs Death Misses Death is receiving rave reviews and has already been snapped up for film and telly by Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures, so we got Hazel Davis to talk to the poet, author, standup and activist about her oddly prescient debut novel. Meanwhile, Jen fired up the Zoom to chat with Amy Thomson, founder of the Moody Month app and author of Moody: A Woman's 21st Century Hormone Guide. There’s cake AND masturbation, so definitely put the kettle on. Over in Rated or Dated, Mick should absolutely be apologising for her attempts at a Scottish accent and Hannah’s trying to keep it all down as they watch 1996’s Trainspotting. Morally murky? Proper funny? Cool Britannia? All of the above? Ya fuckin’ dancer!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

Eighty years since The Blitz terrorised the British public, we find ourselves back in confusing, scary and dangerous times. In this week's Chops, Hannah chats to chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces and TV historian extraordinaire Lucy Worsley about her new documentary Blitz Spirit. They talk about people working on the frontline of the Home Front, what history can teach us about these strange times we live in now and whether our current experiences can help us understand the past a bit better. 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

Knowing what is or isn't going to give you a hangover is essential lockdown intel, so Mick gets busy herding delightful comedy cats and hosts of the Spit or Swallow podcast, Lou Conran and Sally-Anne Hayward, to find out more. Jen has a natter with Michelle Elman, life coach and author of new book The Joy of Being Selfish, about boundaries, why we need them and how to set them. In Jenny off the Blocks, Jen's talking sailing, specifically the Vendee Globe, completed by Pip Hare last week. Just how good a combo is domestic violence, absent eyelids and a glorious hat montage? Find out as this week’s Rated or Dated revisits Sleeping With The Enemy. Plus, in the Bush Telegraph, there's fun with percentages, a(nother) celebration of Stella Creasy, and a centuries-old debate about where women should be is still happening. Sigh.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

Mick chats to poet, performer and fellow northern bird Kate Fox about The Oscillations, Kate's wonderful new collection of poetry, full of joy, wry observations and humour, while tackling hard-hitting topics such as loss, trauma and the pandemic. They also talk attention spans, flux and flow, weak ties, dogs’ bums, neurodiversity, the occasional importance of labels, and larking about in the North Sea. 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 busy start to 2021 for Outside The Box and this month we're talking about It's A Sin, The Serpent, Lupin, Staged 2, The Investigation and A Perfect Planet. Plus Hannah's got some love for Alison Wright, Mickey's doing her best French accent and Jen takes us on a tour of ITV's best and worst police dramas. We didn't make her. 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

We've all been under a lot of pressure in the last year and anecdotal evidence suggests it's starting to take its toll on the nation's relationships. So, this week, Hannah got on the phone to Dee Holmes from Relate, to find out if work pressures, health concerns, financial worries, grief, childcare issues and close proximity is bonding us closer together or tearing us apart. Mickey's chatting to Rebecca Watson about little scratch, her debut novel, a formally inventive day-in-the-life of a slightly hungover woman. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's wondering if a top woman moving from managing women's football to men's football is good news for women in sport and Mick's off to Japan and Sutton Hoo in Sexism of the Week. And finally, in Rated or Dated, we very much are looking at you Robert, as we watch 1976's Taxi Driver and Hannah thinks she's identified Q. 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

The period in a woman's life between adolescence and menopause has no name, something journalist Nell Frizzell wanted to change when she set out to write The Panic Years, a hilarious and candid memoir about her experience of this time of flux. Jen caught up with Nell to chat about fertility, how we're not talking about it - or even bothering to research it - properly, and how all of the responsibility around it is foisted upon women. They also talk about the myths around male and female sexuality and the power dynamics it creates, and about the harrowing early days of parenthood.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

Powerhouse performances, intriguing aspect ratio and fidget-inducing discomfort: Yosra's pick of 2014's Mommy from wünderkind director Xavier Dolan is a fresh watch for Mick and Jen. What do they make of it? Who knew middle-age women given meaty storylines could have so much fun? And when did they last phone their parents?  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 2018, Professor Olivette Otele became the UK’s first black female history professor. 2018! She chats to Mick about missing stories, her book African Europeans, and the toppling of Edward Colston. Hannah catches up with writer Kerri Ni Dochartaigh to talk growing up in The Troubles, how nature can help your mental health and Kerri’s beautifully written debut, Thin Places.In Jenny Off The Blocks, ahead of next week’s Australian Open, Jen’s on the blower to Jo Durie, tennis pundit and former world number 5. And it’s an absolute treat of a Rated or Dated, as the team wonders “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK is Neil Diamond doing?" while watching 1981’s The Jazz Singer.Plus, in the Bush Telegraph, there’s grade-A bellendery, some class Russian accents, a ridiculously pricey bog brush and some important questions about eagles. 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