Standard Issue Podcast

Always make sure you are in the right place for an audition. That's just some of what we learned from Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong and Simone Ibbett-Brown, who came into the studio to tell us about their new play, Shuck N Jive, which is based on their experiences of the theatre as actresses of colour. Jen got on the phone to civil rights legend, writer Nikki Giovanni, ahead of her event at the Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival on October 21. Also, it's Mental Health Awareness Week, so Gail Porter talks about her mental health experiences – and her fear of nuns, which isn't related. There's more screaming into the sky in the Bush Telegraph (obvs), Mick's got another Sexism of the Week for you (obvs) and there's athletics in Jenny Off The Blocks. Have at it.

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Back in August Jen met up with Malorie Blackman at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. They chatted about Malorie's new book Crossfire, the fifth instalment of her Noughts and Crosses series, why she loves writing for young adults, and what it's like to be loved by Stormzy.

Look out for a second helping of Chops today, in which Hannah has a natter with actor and co-writer of the new play Trojan Horse, Helen Monks.

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Helen Monks tells us about Trojan Horse, the award-winning play she co-created, which tells the story of the Trojan Horse scandal, and is about to go on a nationwide tour. She also chats tackling ingrained Islamophobia and the joys of multicultural Birmingham with our Hannah, who manages to almost get some Upstart Crow news out of her too. Tuck in!

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Was it worth the wait for Mindhunter? Is Unbelievable the most feminist TV we've seen yet? Why was Bojack cancelled? Who is the guy that's like the Hulk but red? We answer these and many more questions in this month's Outside The Box, where we're also talking Top Boy, Frayed and Brassic. 

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Abortion rights, Victorian-esque coal mines, dead dictators and dodgy CGI: this week’s podzine is quite the mix. 

Filmmaker Lucy D'Cruz tells Hannah and Jen all about the current situation regarding reproductive rights in Argentina and her new documentary My Body, Their Choice. (Get involved with the crowdfunder, here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/abortion-my-body-their-choice#/). Mick chats with author Liz Hyder about her brilliant debut fiction, Bearmouth, kids down coal mines, women with wings and that time a surgical procedure had a 300 per cent mortality rate.  

There’s Bullseye, bad politicians and BBC bullshit in the Bush Telegraph, still no time travel in Jenny Off The Blocks, and Mick’s on her own when it comes to sticking up for Total Recall in (the last) Dunleavy Does Dystopia. She’s never even been to Mars! 

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In the fifth and final instalment of our series on the menopause, Jen catches up with journalist Lucy Pasha-Robinson, who went through a temporary, medically induced menopause aged 25, as treatment for endometriosis. They chat about the physical and physiological impacts of experiencing symptoms of the menopause at such a young age, the lack of support for those experiencing early menopause, and why the Dickens there aren't more treatment pathways available to endometriosis patients.

This week's episode of the Standard Issue Podcast is sponsored by Blow Ltd. Standard Issue listeners can get £15 off a service by Blow by visiting Blowltd.com and using the code ISSUE15.  

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast.

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Vaginismus is not often talked about, not often recognised and not often understood, but the Vaginismus Network is on a mission to change that. Back in the summer, Mickey and Hannah met its co-founders Kat Wilson and Lisa Mackenzie to learn more about it, how it affects them and how they are helping bring other women with the condition together. 

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Top funny women Kemah Bob and the Scummy Mummies’ Helen Thorn and Ellie Gibson joined Mick and Hannah on stage at the Marlowe Comedy Festival in Canterbury to talk forgotten swimming costumes, racing vibrators, pillow privilege, wasp chocolate, the horror of Cats (the forthcoming film not the animal), evolving incompetence and all the beautiful colours of the rainbiv. Yeah, you heard us, rainbiv.

Thanks to Emma Corsham for all things tech, thanks to all at the Marlowe Comedy Festival and thanks to Helen, Ellie and Kemah.

Tickets for all our gigs are available via our website: www.standardissuepodcast.com. 

This week's episode of the Standard Issue Podcast is sponsored by Blow Ltd. Standard Issue listeners can get £15 off a service by Blow by visiting Blowltd.com and using the code ISSUE15.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast.

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Meg Mathews is the fourth Chops in our menopause series, as Mick finds out all about her website, megsmenopause.com. They talk about the loneliness menopause can bring if you don’t understand what’s going on, and how Meg's experiences made her want to make things easier for other women to recognise what's happening and thrive rather than survive. 

megsmenopause.com is a brilliant resource for any woman feeling like she’s at the start of the peri, deep into it, or even a good few years before it’s likely to happen – best to be well-armed, eh? (Yes.)

Meg's a little bit woo-woo, a whole lot of practical and absolutely no-nonsense talking when it comes to matters of the menopause. We loved her.

This week's episode of the Standard Issue Podcast is sponsored by Blow Ltd. Standard Issue listeners can get £15 off a service by Blow by visiting Blowltd.com and using the code ISSUE15.  

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast.

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This week Jen and Mick chat to comedian and writer Sara Pascoe about her wonderful new book, Sex, Power, Money. They talk about society's transactional view of sex, when pop songs used to empower young girls, and yucking someone else's yum, as well as all the other projects Sara has on the go right now.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast.

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