Standard Issue Podcast

When Queen Eleanor died, her husband - Edward I - ordered that 12 enormous crosses be built along the route her body had travelled back to London. Some survive today. Historian Alice Loxton decided to walk that route on the same days. Which sadly for her, was December. Alice tells Hannah about that journey and her new book Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England's Lost Queen, as well as history on the socials and the hidden stories on our own doorsteps.

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Jen gets a swift and thoroughly unexpected trip through US political rumours this week, as Hannah looks at the latest from across the Atlantic. Plus there's skorts, sports and women-only carriages. What more do you need?

Saturday Night Live on edited Trump speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SesRWE02PIU

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Another week, another one of film’s most villainous women: this time it’s deranged devotee Annie Wilkes, a role which bagged Kathy Bates an Oscar for mangling the feet, mind and spirit of novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan). Its credentials are impeccable, with a William Goldman screenplay based on Stephen King’s novel directed by Rob Reiner. But, ask Mick, Hannah and Jen, is that bitch crazy? Is she misunderstood? Or is she just a hell of a drug?

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Back in 2019, ultra runner Jasmin Paris made headlines when she smashed the Montane Spine Race, winning the 268-mile race in the depths of winter outright – while still breastfeeding. Her story was sold as an outlier – woman wins mixed race – but there are a lot of them about, particularly when it comes to ultra-endurance running, swimming and cycling. 

Ultra Women: The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport, penned by journalists and ultra runners Emma Wilkinson and Lily Canter, explores female endurance, from the first hunter-gatherers to modern athletes winning the toughest races outright, delving into the science, physiology and psychology that could give women the edge in ultras. Our Mick was FASCINATED. 

Ultra Women is out now, published by Canbury.

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More than two centuries since her execution, Marie Antoinette continues to influence fashion and culture, and is now the subject of a major new exhibition at the V&A South Kensington, Marie Antoinette Style.

Jen catches up with senior curator of the exhibition, Sarah Grant, to talk about the ill-fated former queen of France, why she still fascinates as a cultural icon, and if it's fair to compare her to Kim Kardashian.

Marie Antoinette Style is showing at the V&A South Kensington until March 2026, and you can find out more about V&A Academy courses here.

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There are a lot of spies in pop culture right now. This pleases Hannah immensely, so she jumped at the chance to get on the Zoom with Agnes O’Casey to talk about her role in upcoming play, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, based on John Le Carre's best-selling book. They chat about spies and why we're so fascinated with them, Agnes's role in another spy drama, Netflix’s Black Doves, and her great grandfather, legendary Irish playwright Sean O’Casey.

Tickets for Soho Place and the national tour are here: https://shorturl.at/samTg

More information on how to support us here: https://www.patreon.com/StandardIssue

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Bloody women. Is there anything they won’t ruin? Well, Mick and Jen take a stab at this week’s news, in which some institutions are too busy ruining themselves to notice: they’re looking at you the BBC and NHS Trusts. There’s also Spinderella, Stevens, and Jen very much NOT talking about Mary Earps in JOTB. Honest.

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You know, the one with the good guy versus the evil nurse. Or is it? One of many questions we'll be asking as we watch Miloš Forman's Oscar botherer, set on a ward in a mental health hospital.

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One of our firm favourites, poet Hollie McNish’s latest collection, Virgin, explores a six-letter word with outsized power. A power that should also be outdated, but is sadly not. 

It is, as you’d expect from Hollie, a brilliant collection, packed with humour, rage, beauty, heartbreak and hope. She and Mick chat about dangerous words, what ‘virgin’ means to girls and women (and why it shouldn’t), the perils of mashed potato and how to come to terms with the phrase “making love”.  

Virgin is published by Fleet and available in all good bookshops. Details of Hollie’s tour can be found at holliepoetry.com.

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Instagram is a right old pain in the proverbial when it comes to advertising, and our Jen has noticed she’s suddenly getting A LOT of ads targeted at peri/menopausal women. Nutritional supplements promise women everything from a peachy bum to a sound night’s sleep, but how much of it is actually true?

So she jumped on the Zoom with Ruth Tongue, nutritionist, pilates teacher and co-founder of employee wellness company Elevate, to find out how much protein we really need, if supplements are any good for us and why we’re always being sold a dream when it comes to our bodies. 

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