Standard Issue Podcast

ITV crime drama The Tower is back on our screens for a second series, presenting our Hannah with an excellent opportunity to jump on the Zoom with Gemma Whelan, who plays DS Sarah Collins. They chat about the reputation of the Met, telling women’s stories, Gentleman Jack, Upstart Crow and what exactly Gemma was doing with that fox.

Jen's chatting to poet Maggie Smith about how when her career took off, her marriage declined, something she charts in her gorgeous new memoir, You could Make This Place Beautiful. They're also talking mumming, wifeing, and the division of labour.

In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen’s talking about the US Open, among other things. And get your strategically placed Chelsea buns out for the lads, as the team revisit 2003’s Calendar Girls. Plus, in the Bush Telegraph*, Britain’s schools are crumbling, but won’t somebody think of Gillian Keegan? Yeah, not even Mick's got the sarcasm levels to sell that one.

*If you want to read the story Hannah references in BT about parental alienation, you can do so here.

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Back on February 14 this year, Mickey and Hannah were joined by actor and one-woman cat herd Pauline McLynn and journalist, political commentator and comedian Ayesha Hazarika.

Now then, there’s some stuff in here that is clearly just jokes and lols – we absolutely do not endorse alcoholism or stalking. But hopefully you already knew that. And it’s very much worth remembering this was recorded back in February before we were officially in a global pandemic,

And so, please get ready for topics including the turn of a man’s ankle, Riverdance, some genuinely excellent advice, and Hannah’s shit, mud-covered, fully nude birthday. Among many other marvellous tangents.

We recorded this in front of a live audience at King’s Place in London, so thanks to them, thanks to Emma Corsham for all things tech, and thanks to our lovely audience. They had a great time. And when we can host live gigs again, you should come along and have a great time, too.

Oh, just one more thing: is Pauline the Nigel Farage of this panel? Tweet us: @StandardIssueUK

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Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and a very young Lukas Haas star in Peter Weir’s understated action movie, in which a young Amish boy witnesses the murder of a police officer and only one man can solve the crime. Ford, it’s Harrison Ford.

But what do Jen and Mick make of a less swaggering hero? Should Kelly McGillis have got her tits out? What does the film (maybe) say about gun control? And why can’t Jen recognise people in films?

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Author Francesca de Tores, who you may know better as Francesca Haig, was gripped when she happened upon the Wikipedia entry for 18th century pirate, Mary Read. A woman pirate? Damn straight, a woman pirate. And so began Saltblood, Francesa’s first work of historic fiction.

Jen caught up with her to chat all things Mary, and navigating the male-dominated waters of swashbuckling adventures.

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When we talk about the politics of motherhood, it's often around isolated topics, such as the cost of childcare. But, in her new book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood, academic and writer Helen Charman argues that this isn’t enough to understand the inherently political act of mothering.

Jen chats to Helen about bodily autonomy, the paradoxes around our understanding of motherhood, why we should all be interested in mothering, and why Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t have much liked Jen.

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