Standard Issue Podcast

Hannah Arendt's most famous expression - the banality of evil - might be well quoted, but the woman herself is less widely known. Her time in the Gurs internment camp in France is the subject of a new play by Julia Pascal. Hannah talks to the playwright and director about life for women in camps, the importance of critical thinking and why Arendt's work is as vital as ever. 

* Tickets for The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 are here: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/the-banality-of-evil/

* Join the Standard Issue supporters' club here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems there’s scarcely a person alive, male or female, who doesn’t have some kind of hang-up about their hair. Whether we have too much, not enough, whether it’s the right colour or texture, we’re all obsessed and who can blame us? After all, human hair is fascinating, or at least that’s what author, educator and evolutionary biologist Judy Wearing

Jen chats to Judy about her new book Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair, why we’re all so preoccupied with our own foliage, and what exactly is the point of public hair?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning author Liz Hyder’s new book, The Teller of Tall Tales, is aimed at young adults but a total delight for grown-ups, too. Because we never grow out of stories: telling them and, well, being them. 

Mick chats to Liz about old-school folk and fairy tales with a modern sensibility, heavy awards, telling tales, second person narratives, the privilege of writing for the young adult audience and – of course – the power of stories.

The Teller of Tall Tales is published by Pushkin on October 22 and available for pre-order now.

As ever, there’s more chat for our £5 and above patreons here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brace yourself for a tension bellyache as Shane Meadows’ violence-smeared, working-class coming-of-age drama gets Rated or Dated. This Is England firmly marked out Meadows as the voice of working-class realism and introduced a host of brilliant British character actors to the screen. But 20 years on from its release, and more than 40 years on from its 1983 setting, is it still horribly, terrifyingly relevant? Mick, Jen and Hannah discuss.   

And here’s the gig we did back in 2018 with Vicky McClure.

On Apple.

On Spotify.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amelia Bullmore is about to star in Margaret Atwood's stage adaptation of her book The Penelopiad. So Hannah grabbed the chance to chat to the actress about The Odyssey and the price its women pay, as well as learning the guitar for Riot Women and, if you're a Standard Issue supporter, an early misunderstanding about the makeup bus. 

* Tickets for The Penelopiad are here: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/the-penelopiad/

* Find out the benefits of Standard Issue memberships here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paralympic athletes Tully Kearney and Melanie Woods are used to be recognised for their performance in the pool and on the track. And now they’re being recognised for their overall contributions to sport, with nominations in children’s charity Variety’s biannual Disability Sports Awards. Jen caught up with them to find out more about their careers, having mental fortitude, helping others get into sport, and what it’s like to be an “inspiration”.

Photo credit: Paralympics GB.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 12 years since Standard Issue was founded by the boss, Sarah Millican. To celebrate, and just for the ears of our Patreon supporters, we got together to get the party started with a shuffle through our Spotify playlists. 

This is a preview. To hear the whole podcast and enjoy the other many benefits of membership, click here:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Mickey takes a look at the case of the Cornell Seven, as well as what this year's PM, Andy Burnham, has planned for a better Britain. Which may happen. At some point. Meanwhile, Hannah's venturing back into the world of sport, and there's some dispute over which is the cutest of the world's most newly discovered species.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Cox’s biopic of punk-rock’s "ill-fated lovers" Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, was met with critical acclaim upon release and in the years that followed. But has it romanticised a relationship in which a woman wound up dead? Does it glamorise heroin? And in what other ways has it done poor Nancy dirty?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iranian-American author Laleh Khadivi’s latest novel, Female Life on Planet Earth, centres on a mid-life woman, Heti, who comes up against some new information about her recently dead mum that questions everything she thought she knew about her. Or does it? From there, Laleh explores how an individual woman can be a multitude of women, and the distinctively female ability to regenerate. 

She chats to Mick about motherhood, daughterhood, legacy, heritage, female voices, and how well we ever really know a person. 

Female Life on Planet Earth is published by Oneworld and out now. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices