Standard Issue Podcast

England in a World Cup semi-final, a Brit in the semis at Wimbledon and Unions Jacks all over the F1 drivers' table, that's a busy few weeks of sport. In a special episode, Jen and Hannah talk about what's going well and what's not, as well as hydration breaks, VAR and other World Cup dramas.

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This fish-out-of-water comedy-cum-bubblegum “feminist” smash, starring Reece Witherspoon as pink-loving sorority princess Elle Woods, made a killing at the box office, spawned a whole Legally Blonde world, and inspired girls to go to law school. But 25 years on will it make Mick, Hannah and Jen bend… or SNAP? 

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Eleanor Drage is one of the UK’s leading AI ethicists and gender studies researchers, working at the University of Cambridge. Her first book, What If We Got AI Right? How to stop catastrophising and build an ethical future, is released this week, so Hannah grabbed the chance to find out more.

* You can pre-order Eleanor's book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-if-we-got-ai-right/eleanor-drage/9781805225447

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In her short lifetime of just 47 years, Frida Kahlo was a relatively little-known artist. Now, she's a global icon. And while her actual work is hard to come by, her image is not. 

Tate Modern's Frida: The Making of an Icon explores how Kahlo's iconic status came to be and her enduring influence on generations of younger artists. 

Co-curator Beatriz Garcia-Velasco, talks to Jen about the exhibition, Kahlo's life and work, and the way in which she's been adopted as a cultural icon in feminist, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities.

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Nicky Denson-Elliott knows that a high tide lifts all boats. She first came to our Mick’s attention because of her current campaign to replace ‘hysterectomy’ with ‘uterectomy’ in NHS patient materials (you can sign the petition here), but it quickly became apparent how many different projects Nicky's got going in order to raise that tide for all boats. And by boats, we mean women. 

In this episode, Mick chats to Nicky about bigging up women, medical language rooted in misogyny, a documentary she’s got in the pipeline, tackling internal misogyny and much more.

£5 and above Patreons can have even more so much more. Join here. 

Check out The Wilder Collective, Nicky’s excellent community for female founders and freelancers, and indeed her podcast Women’s Business, here.

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Mickey and Hannah bring you a veritable rogues gallery this week: Farage, Trump, Infantino, a vigilante cat shaver. Shall we go on a 2,400-mile rowing trip to get away from it? Sure. But don't forget to pack your vaginal oestrogen!

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Hollywood giant John Huston directs Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and – wait – Pelé, in this sports-war drama, reimagining the 1942 “Death Match”. But how bad can a prisoner of war camp be when all you have to do is dick around playing football? How solid is the history? And can you really do that with a sub?

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Author Rebecca Wait makes a return visit to the podcast to chat to Hannah about her latest book Havoc, a dark comedy about a mystery illness that breaks out at a girls' boarding school in 1984. They chat about Cold War anxiety, hysteria and, of course, Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Grab a copy of Havoc here

Or Suzanne O'Sullivan's The Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories of Mystery Illness here

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This summer marks the 19th year of the Arcola Theatre’s seminal Grimeborn festival, a season of new and reworked operas.

Jen chats to the Arcola’s executive director, Leyla Nazli and Lisa Logan,

The Grimeborn Opera Festival runs from 15 July to 5 September at the

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After her first book - Ashes to Admin - was published, a lot of people got in touch with Evie King to tell her they'd been inspired to get plans in place for the end of their lives. If that's what she could achieve without trying, she thought, why not write a book to help people through the whole process? Hannah chats to Evie about Get Ahead of Being Dead, wills, funerals and why the hard conversations are always worth it.

You can buy Ashes to Admin here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ashes-to-admin/evie-king/9781915306302

And Get Ahead of Being Dead here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/get-ahead-of-being-dead/evie-king/9781804193785

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