Lady Margaret Beaufort was a major player in the War of The Roses and the mother of Henry VII. This week marks 580 years since her birth so Hannah's been on the Zoom with historian Nicola Tallis, author of Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch, to chat about Margaret's life, her legacy and why many people believe she's the greatest monarch we never had.

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Making babies for a chance to win cold, hard cash sounds like something out of a dystopian nightmare, but was something wealthy lawyer and high-level prankster/prick Charles Vance Millar planned for lols in Toronto, in the decade after his death in 1926. When our Hannah heard about Caroline Lea’s fictional retelling of the shockingly real-life Great Stork Derby in her latest novel Prize Women, she had to talk to her. They chat about Vance Millar, the women who got caught up in his dubious legacy and why the number of children women have is topical again.

Award-winning and best-selling author, and long-distance runner, Dr Rachel Hewitt was interested in the erasure of women from the history of sporting pursuits in the great outdoors, when a series of family bereavements made her question loss in the wider sense. She joins Jen to chat about In Her Nature: How Women Break Boundaries in the Great Outdoors, her new book, which examines grief, the things women lose - or rather are taken from them - just by virtue of their sex, and the women who blazed a trail in early outdoor sports. 

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Working-class poet and writer Natasha Carthew is Cornish. She grew up in a small village called Downderry, where the rockpools, beautiful beaches and hedgerows were as constant as the low wages, high property prices, lack of nearby resources and services, and the high rates of alcoholism, drug misuse, mental health crises and suicide. How’s that for a picture perfect postcard?

Rural poverty often gets lost amid the stats on urban poverty, so in her first non-fiction, Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience, amid recollections of her youth, Natasha investigates the state of poverty in rural places in general, and Cornwall in particular. 

In this Chops, Natasha chats to our Mick about the generational trauma of rural poverty, the othering of poor kids, and how careless tourists add to the problem. But it’s not all doom and gloom: Natasha is a huge champion of working-class voices and so they also talk about the power of resilience and writing, and the return of the excellent ClassFest in 2024.

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Good morning listeners! And in case we don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. Jim Carrey’s Truman Burbank is the star of this month’s Flicking, but maybe we’re all the subjects of Yosra’s pick: Peter Weir’s terrifyingly prescient 1998 drama/sci-fi/dystopia/horror, The Truman Show. How do Hannah and Mick feel about that? Find out. 

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Digital frustration affects most of us, which probably explains why comedian Stevie Martin's sketches went viral in lockdown. This week, Mickey catches up with her to talk about all sorts, including her new YouTube pilot, screen time, and how her bum is. Hannah's been on the Zoom with writer, actor and director Daniella Isaacs to chat out about her new BBC audio drama People Who Knew Me and why they both keep forgetting to take their earphones out. In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen's looking ahead to the French Open and in Rated or Dated, we've been watching 2003's Daddy Day Care, with mixed results. And in Sexism of The Week, someone's been reading the Daily Mail. Why Mickey? Why?!?

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Born of frustration around a lack of body literacy and taboos hindering progress in women's health and fitness, Baz Moffat, a coach and former GB rower, founded The Well HQ in 2021 with scientist Dr Emma Ross and GP Dr Bella Smith. They hoped to address the huge knowledge gap around how women’s bodies work and function, which hinders our ability to optimise performance and enjoyment in sports and fitness. Fast forward two years, with The Well going from strength to strength, they've published a new book, The Female Body Bible: A Revolution in Women’s Health and Fitness. Jen talks to Baz about her experiences as an elite athlete and coach, and the more than marginal gains to be made in women’s sport by a better understanding of women’s bodies, as well as addressing some of the myths doing the rounds around women’s participation in sport and fitness at different life stages.

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Now then, it’ll probably come as no surprise to you that we reckon 51% of the population deserve to get a bit more than the 1.8% of the grants awarded to charities in the women and girls sector. That the number is so low is new info uncovered by Rosa and its fresh research into the state of funding for women’s and girls’ organisations across the UK, so Mick got on the Zoom with Rosa’s CEO Rebecca Gill to find out more and organise a sky scream flashmob. 

Hannah’s been chatting with journalist and fellow podcaster Coco Khan, who’s just hit the podwaves as co-host of the new Pod Save the UK alongside comedian Nish Kumar. They’re talking politics and Politics and whether we’re always bound to catch a cold when America sneezes. 

Jen’s feeling a bit sheepish at the top of Jenny Off the Blocks, but makes up for it with some good news of double headers. And just how creepy can one, potentially Vaseline-smeared man be? Rated or Dated takes a look at 1993’s Indecent Proposal, and really? You couldn’t pay Mick and Hannah enough. Jen’s got her 50p ready though. 

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Messalina was the notorious third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. But is she also history's top shagger? Or its most maligned woman? Or, and hear us out, can she be both? Hannah got on the Zoom with historian Honor Cargill-Martin, author of new book, Messalina: A Story of Empire, Slander and Adultery, to learn more. They also find the time to fangirl about Mary Beard. Because they're only human.

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Our Mick is a big fan of strength training these days, and so she was delighted to jump on the Zoom with writer Rebecca F John to hear all about real-life Welsh strongwoman Kate Williams, aka Victorian music hall sensation, Vulcana. They talk strength, beauty, heroism, tragedy, Scotland Yard, Wales, and Rebecca’s new novel Vulcana, a fictional retelling of Kate's life.

Jen catches up with professional organiser Jenn Jordan to talk about the cathartic powers of decluttering, and the unexpected things one finds in a Ryvita box. And in Jenny Off The Blocks we look back at a HUGE weekend in women's sport.

This Is Spinal Tap quite rightly holds a special place in Hannah's heart – and Mick's. And the team all loved Christopher Guest's debut mockumentary, 1996's Waiting For Guffman. So what will they make of his 20-year-old foray into folk, A Mighty Wind? And how do you get a potato out of a paddywagon?

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Vicki Pepperdine is in some of our favourite comedies, so - of course - we leapt at the chance to have her on the podcast. Vicki chats to Hannah about playing Princess Anne in The Windsors, working with Julia Davis, their "filthy" podcast Dear Joan and Jericha, and why not enough people have watched Getting On. In Jenny Off the Blocks, Jen chats to Kelly Gordon, executive lead for Netball England’s NETBALLHer campaign, about sport for life and the barriers women face when it comes to sports participation. In Rated or Dated, we overpluck our eyebrows and crack open a Grolsch, because we're watching 1998's Sliding Doors. And Mick's got some batfish news in the Bush Telegraph, where we're also trying to untie an artistic gordian knot.

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