When journalist Yuan Yang’s activist friend Sam joked about Yuan writing the news story if Sam was ever detained… and then disappeared, Yuan knew there was a bigger story to tell about modern China. Her new book, Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China, looks at modern China through the lives of four women in their 30s. 
She’s chatting to Mick about China’s communist lie, the fear of falling off ladders, pigs, parenting, and how the stories of these four brave idealist women in China’s new social order led to Yuan standing for Parliament here in the UK. 
Find out about China’s left-behind children, what happened to a magic pig, and more, by becoming a Standard Issue Patreon Champ or Legend at patreon.com/StandardIssue
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Yuan Yang explores the new China

By women. For women. About everything. Standard Issue is a podcast championing women's voices, and packed with interviews, news, film, opinion and humour.

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Hannah's in the market for a new favourite TV programme, so this week - along with Jen and Mick - they're auditioning Shogun, Shardlake, Renegade Nell, David Attenborough's Mammals, Sugar, Fallout and Palm Royale. Plus there's some chat about some of TV's more controversial offerings, Baby Reindeer and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
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Outside The Box #65

It’s Hannah and Mick on Bush Telegraph duty this Thursday 16 May. They’re talking about: the humanitarian crisis playing out in Sudan and why we’re not hearing enough about it; lummoxes, tosspots and numpties, and – separately but connected – the Tories’ ongoing desperate bumblefuckfest ahead of the general election (BUT WHEN IS IT?); the rise and enforced rest of the robots, and Northern Ireland scoring goals for women and girls all over the shop. 
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The Bush Telegraph: Ninnies and pillocks and barmpots, oh my!

Has Maggie Smith ever Maggie Smithed harder than in Tea with Mussolini? It's just one of Hannah's questions about Franco Zeffirelli's 1999 lady-fest, which Jen's picked despite her dad's apparent love for it. Other questions include, has Rated or Dated reached Cher saturation point? Is it ever okay to be pals with a dictator? And, from Mick: WTF is Dench doing?
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Rated or Dated: Tea with Mussolini (1999)

Author Francesca de Tores, who you may know better as Francesca Haig, was gripped when she happened upon the Wikipedia entry for 18th century pirate, Mary Read. A woman pirate? Damn straight, a woman pirate. And so began Saltblood, Francesa’s first work of historic fiction.
Jen caught up with her to chat all things Mary, and navigating the male-dominated waters of swashbuckling adventures.
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Salty adventures with Francesca de Tores

For three years, comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean has had a secret alter-ego as a foster parent. But now she’s out, and talking about everything about fostering life – from gusset to hairline – in her new tour show, Peacock. 
In this episode, she’s chatting to Mick about why she and her partner decided to foster, the processes involved, the joys gained, why your hair can never be too big, and what to do with those eight spare biros knocking around the kitchen.
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Yuan Yang explores the new China

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