Standard Issue Podcast

Our resident music guru Liz Buckley is back – and she’s brought some pop legends with her. Since their genesis on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, the late Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh have become proper chart botherers, world record setters and terrible ghosthunters. Liz is IN. Can she convince Mickey to get onboard the Girls Aloud tour bus, or is it a (sexy) no, no, no from Noonan? 

Liz talks about The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, which you’ll find by clicking here

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Anyone could write a book for kids, right? Well, that does seem to be the prevailing view, so Hannah's been on the Zoom with Emma Reeves, writer and Chair of The Writers Guild of Great Britain, to find out why and how she writes for children, and why it's nowhere near as easy as everyone thinks.

* Emma's new play for kids, The Glass Slippers, is at The Lighthuse in Poole from December 7 until Christmas Eve. Find our more here: https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/the-glass-slippers/

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New BBC sitcom Only Child is about a man realising his dad isn't coping on his own, but at the same time, doesn't really want to be helped. Highly relatable content, right? Hannah chats to one of its stars, Greg McHugh, about that whole "circle of life" thing that comes with ageing parents, and working with one of his comedy idols, Gregor Fisher. They're also talking about Fresh Meat, Marvellous and Gary: Tank Commander. Because of course they are.

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Are monkeys about to rise up and rule over us? Hannah hopes so, but probably not. Which is a shame, because humans are doing an appalling job of it. This week we're talking about Marine Le Pen vs Paris prosecutors, Rachel Reeves vs Farmers and the Onion vs Infowars. And in Sexism of The Week, Mickey's asking what's gone wrong with Ask For Angela.

• You can hear Hannah's interview with Elizabeth Williamson about Sandy Hook and Alex Jones on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6e684K7XvKMXGMd4XGRift. Or on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sim-ep-769-chops-264-sandy-hook-tragedy-and-truth/id1080808404?i=1000579799779

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A stellar line-up of top women has drawn Jen to pick late-80s weepy Steel Magnolias. But will this film know what to do with its cast, or indeed know anything at all about women and their friendships? And is anyone prettier than Grandpappy’s duck on a Tuesday?

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What Nick Miller doesn’t know about football ain’t worth knowing. INTERNATIONAL MAN, football writer, author and – full disclosure – one of Mick’s all-time favourite humans, chats about his new book, Who Owns Football?, why the answer to that question increasingly matters to all of us, what Jilly Cooper's got right about the beautiful game, and how the women’s game is nailing it in all sorts of ways.

Who Owns Football? The Changing Face of Club Ownership is published by Bloomsbury and out now.

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The Dad Shift hit the headlines recently after a brilliant stunt, in which the campaign group attached dolls to statues of famous men across London. Why? To draw attention to the issue of men’s statutory paternity leave entitlement in the UK, which – spoiler alert! – is not good. In fact, it’s the worst in Europe, something the campaign group hopes to change.

Jen caught up with Alex Lloyd-Hunter, one of the group’s founders, to talk about why the system as it stands is hurting everyone, perceptions of gender roles when it comes to working and home lives, and whether or not men really do want an equal piece of the pie when it comes to childcare.

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A feel-good romantic comedy that doesn’t make women feel like shit? Say whaaaaaat? Yosra’s picked Raine Allen Miller’s playful feature directorial debut following a day (mostly) in the life of two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups and forging a connection. Is it the mind-changing rom-com Hannah’s been waiting for? Has it got Mick pining for Peckham? And is it possible for anyone to convincingly sing along with Terence Trent D’arby? Find out.

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It’s a mixed bag of news this week, as Mick and Jen take in: the results of the largest ever survey of rape and sexual assault survivors; the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury following the Church of England’s cover up of child abuse; Iraq slashing the age of consent to nine years old, and Yale’s new college course of Queen Bey. And in Jenny Off the Blocks, there’s good news, bad news, same-as-it-ever-was news, and big MOTD news.

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What is the message of Fight Club? Is all of it in Mickey's head? Might it be accidentally feminist? The answers to these unlikely questions (and many more) lie within...

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