Kate Muir’s name might not ring any immediate bells, but her documentaries with Davina McCall about the perimenopause, menopause and HRT made quite the stir. And rightly so, given they busted myths around HRT that have been stopping women asking for it for decades.

Mick got on the Zoom with the women’s health campaigner, documentary maker, journalist and author to talk about the menopause movement, healthcare’s reluctance to keep up, the ridiculous idea that middle age is boring, and Kate’s latest book, How to Have a Magnificent Midlife Crisis.

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Former model Jess Davies started campaigning around image-based sexual abuse after her own experience of it, and the realisation that so many other women she knew had been through the same. Off the back of this came a string of documentaries, including Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next for BBC Three, and now a book, No One Wants to See Your Dick: A Handbook For Survival in the Digital World. Jen catches up with Jess to talk about how very common these problems are, the blurring of on and offline lives, and the ticking time bomb of Only Fans.

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The most terrifying dystopias are within touching distance of now. And so it is with Alex Garland's Civil War, in which he uses imagined journalists chasing a story in an imagined civil war in an imagined future America to explore topics that resonate very loudly in the real world today. It’s a bleak, brutal and occasionally beautiful watch. But is it an important one? What’s its point? How good is Kirsten Dunst?!? And is two times too many times to see it? Hannah, Yosra and Mick discuss.

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How many kids is too many kids? Well, Boris Johnson and the UK Government are pretty divided on the issue. As well as covering the news of possible changes to the current two-child benefit cap, Hannah and Jen are talking about the horrific treatment of Nicola Packer, sexism and misogyny in the New South Wales police, and finally some good news about 20mph speed limits. Plus, there's joy for Charlton Athletic supporters, but sorrow for Mary Earps fans, in this week's Jenny Off The Blocks.

You can listen to Mick's chat with Terri White about the two-child benefit cap here.

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A kids’ film with genuine horror credentials? Don’t Look Now’s Nicolas Roeg directs Roald Dahl’s 1983 tale of one boy (mouse) and his grandma versus a whole coven (convention) of child-killing witches. And by witches, we mean middle-aged women who don’t meet society’s arbitrary beauty standards and wear sensible shoes. WHAT COULD IT MEAN? Mick, Hannah and Jen investigate.

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After leaving an abusive relationship, former GB Boxer turned entrepreneur Lesley Sackey found herself living in survival mode – until she realised some of the lessons she’d learned in the ring could prove useful in life. She went on to co-found Fight Forward, an initiative helping women to empower themselves after experiencing abuse, as well as the forthcoming AI-integrated platform Pillow, which aims to help women move forward after trauma. 

Jen catches up with Lesley to talk about her career in boxing, how her own experiences of abuse informed Fight Forward, and why boxing can help women recover after trauma.

You can find out more about Fight Forward, including signing

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Which Standard Issue presenter would survive an apocalypse? Just one of the many important questions Hannah and Mickey are asking in this week's Bush Telegraph. See also: Is America deporting legals? What next for Gaza? Why do the courts treat women so poorly? And what does any of this have to do with a Romanian model? So good job we no longer have to ask "what about China?".

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Alan Parker’s musical-drama exploded the careers of Irene Cara, Gene Anthony Ray and others, and – thanks to the hit TV series that followed – earned a reputation as a fluffy tale of leg warmers and sweatbands. But underneath the choreographed routines, will this warts-and-all depiction of life at the New York School of Performing Arts prove TOO MUCH for Jen and Mick? And what is a hot lunch, anyway?

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In an era where misinformation is rife and spreads at light speed, the role of experts in research is more critical than ever. And yet, historical underrepresentation and systemic biases have led to a lack of trust in research among women and marginalised groups. So how do researchers regain our trust? Why is inclusivity so important? And how can we all better engage in research to ensure it’s more equitable and representative moving forward? 

Mick put these questions to the excellent Dr Suze Kundu, nanochemist, science communicator and freelance journalist, and Research Community Engagement Consultant for NASA Science Explorer. That’s right, NASA. And true to data nerd form, Suze had answers.

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