Standard Issue Podcast

Is too much screen time really the scourge of the under-twos? And exactly how excited should we be that the first ever female Labour Prime Minister is Andy Burnham, a man who isn’t even Prime Minister yet? Jen and Mick tackle these hot button questions and more in this week’s flirt with the news, which also includes another heinous rape trial, legitimately great news for young women, and Greg Cotswolds.

Here's that BBC news story on the men named in the Stockport rape trial: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv9er181lno

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No-one's going to argue that Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical doesn't have issues, but does it still have things to recommend it? Is Anna an early feminist? Does it contain a banger? Is The Small House of Uncle Thomas a masterpiece? And why was young Hannah so fascinated by Yul Brynner? 

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Working-class, feminist comedian Rachel Fairburn has long been a guaranteed good laugh on the comedy circuit, and a must-listen on All Killa No Filla, her smash hit true crime podcast with fellow standup Kiri Pritchard-McLean. 

Rachel’s new show, Vexy Beasts, moves her into the ‘character comedy’ bracket, as she introduces hairdresser Leanne, fighting for her salon’s life while spilling the T on her clients, in the fictional Manchester suburb of Harpurvale. Our Mick was keen to find out more.

Give Rachel a follow on Instagram, or visit her website for forthcoming gig details.

As ever, there is bonus natter for our £5 and above Patreons, which includes more class chat and a whole load of Blackpool love. 

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In her new book, Pleasure: The Reclamation of My Body, journalist and broadcaster Emma-Louise Boynton interrogates the societal forces that teach women to mistrust their bodies and perform rather than feel pleasure. Jen chats to Emma about Emma's own story, the impact of the male gaze and digital culture on women’s pleasure, why gendered ideas around sex and pleasure are doing us all a disservice, and about Emma's live event series and media platform, Sex Talks.

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Planning on spending the weekend on the sofa with all the fans pointed at you? Here are some suggestions on what you could watch at the same time. This month, we're talking about Two Weeks in August, The Four Seasons, Rivals, The Witness, The Burroughs, Widow's Bay, World War Two with Tom Hanks and what we make of World Cup coverage so far.

* Hannah's chatting about why she thinks The Pitt's Dr Robby is less than a hero on out Substack here: https://standardissuepodcast.substack.com/p/dr-robby-is-the-pits

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It’s feeling swampish in the UK this week, but spare a thought for the poor old Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool over in Washington DC. It seems Donald J Trump can think of nothing else. If the leader of the free world is distracted, the leader of the UK is... well, to be decided/Andy Burnham following Keir Starmer's resignation. There’s sexism live from the ITV kitchen, Hannah's found some elderly nuns hoping Scotland don’t come home too soon, and Jen's feeling cynical about Serena Williams in Jenny Off The Blocks.

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Steven Spielberg’s swashbuckling, whip-cracking, quip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones’s first adventure was beating the Nazis to the lost Ark of the Covenant. Will film picker Mick keep her big love for the film and its flawed hero under her fedora? Spoiler: NO! But what will Jen and Hannah have to say about the breakneck Oscar-nabbing adventure film that launched a thousand adventure films in its image? And also, George Lucas if you’re reading/listening: WTAF, man?

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Ever wondered why a female health campaigner writes ‘seggs’ instead of ‘sex’, or uses an emoji instead of a medical term? Turns out social media platforms are systematically censoring medically accurate content on topics such as menstruation, fertility and menopause – often misclassifying such content as “adult” material and limiting its reach. It goes further, with femtech entrepreneurs also finding themselves routinely censored. 

Enter the brilliant Clio Wood, co-founder of CensHERship, a research hub and campaign that has ending this sexist nonsense in its sights. Our Mick chats to Clio about exactly what’s happening, why it’s happening and how it’s having a negative effect on everything from women’s health outcomes to the global economy. 

Members of our Patreon £5 and above gang get some extra chat, including what Clio makes of the Government’s new Women’s Health Strategy. 

You can access that by visiting patreon.com/standardissue

And if you’re not already involved with our Substack, you can find that at standardissuepodcast.substack.com or sign up on our website, standardissuepodcast.com. 

And you can buy Clio and her team a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/censhership.

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As the saying goes, you never forget how to ride a bike. But how easy is it to teach a small person something you can’t remember not being able to do?

Following the UK launch of children’s bike brand Woom, Jen jumped on the Zoom with senior marketing manager Christina Pallanch to talk about modelling an active lifestyle for our girls, carving out time to stay active as a mum, and top tips for picking a bike and getting your youngster on it.

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Charming, melancholic, funny and ever-so British, Tim Key and Tom Basden’s tale of two men stuck in the past and on an island is Hannah’s pick for this month’s Flicking. How does Carey Mulligan fit in? Is Basden really that grubby? And why is Key making Mick and Yosra cry so much? 

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