Standard Issue Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Sirin Kale on the Birth Keepers Feb 10, 2026

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New Guardian Investigates podcast The Birth Keepers, about controversial group The Free Birth Society, isthe product of a year-long investigation by award-winning journalist Sirin Kale and reporting partner Lucy Osborne. The two journalists explore links between The Free Birth Society and baby deaths around the world, and look at the role of influencers and the dangers of misinformation. Jen chats to Sirin about the podcast, birth choices, and why the state of maternity services in the US and UK is turning more and more women off medicalised birth settings.

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Eva Brookes was made in China Feb 09, 2026

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Born during the one-child rule, Eva Brookes knows almost nothing about her life before she was adopted by a British couple and raised in Essex. Hannah chats to Eva about her new BBC Sounds podcast Made in China, identity, Britishness and how it feels to discuss it, privately and publicly.
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Be Better at sustainability with Illana Adamson Feb 06, 2026

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Educator, science translator and sustainability queen Illana Adamson works with businesses and non-profits to introduce sustainability initiatives, actions and behaviours into their organisations – and all our lives. She’s a big proponent of if you can’t be perfect, just be better. And we need to be, or this human race is run.

Illana chats to our Mick about real action over greenwashing, why women are so important in the work ahead, and how Mother Nature will always come out on top.

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The Bush Telegraph: Anal explosions are the least of our worries Feb 05, 2026

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Who pays the highest price when respect is missing? That’s the inadvertent theme for Hannah and Mick as they tackle this week’s news. And it turns out there are plenty of people they’d both like to see with an unexploded WWI ordnance shoved where the sun don’t shine, including a lot of men in the Epstein Files, and a fair few MPs and Lords keen to get a dangerously faulty car on the road without an MOT. Take a deep breath and tuck in. Oh, and please do keep your historical artefacts where we can see them at all times.

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Rated or Dated: Loch Ness (1996) Feb 04, 2026

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What’s not to love about John Henderson’s 1996 family adventure, Loch Ness? Hannah, Mick, and Jen have no notes. Okay, they have a few. Like what kind of academic specialism has you hunting mythical creatures? What would a Habsburg prehistoric sea-beast look like? How hot is fixing a tap? And what's Rod Stewart's big beef?

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Going for Gold with Aimee Fuller and Vicky Gosling Feb 03, 2026

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If it’s escaped your attention that there’s a Winter Olympics getting underway at the end of the week, it might be because you think us Brits aren’t much cop at all that cold stuff. Think again, say former GB snowboarder turned TNT Sports pundit, Aimee Fuller, and Chief Exec of GB Snowsport, Vicky Gosling.

With the pair hoping for a huge uptick in Team GB’s fortunes at the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026, Jen caught up with them to chat about the remarkable turnaround in our British team’s fortunes since Beijing in 2022, whether or not it’s good to be an underdog, and the TNT Sports documentary She Who Dares.

You can watch 24/7 coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 on TNT Sports and Discovery+.

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The notorious TGT Feb 02, 2026

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As the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill appears to hit the rocks in the House of Lords, Hannah chats to one of the people questioning whether it is fit for purpose, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. The pioneering wheelchair racer tells us about her concerns about the disabled community, coercive control and patients with anorexia.

* The Standard Issue Substack can be found here: https://standardissuepodcast.substack.com/

Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

* And Not Dead Yet UK can be found here: https://www.notdeadyetuk.org/

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Outside The Box: January 2026 Jan 30, 2026

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What's coming to our TV screens in 2026? Find out in the year's first Outside The Box, as we talk about that, as well as why Hannah's cancelled her Netflix and what telly gems have made January a bit more bearable.

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Rated or Dated: Donnie Darko (2001) Jan 28, 2026

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From badly-timed cinema release to sleeper hit to cult favourite, Richard Kelly's debut film spawned careers, revivals and a Christmas number one. But has it stood the test of time (travel)?

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Thrills, spills and a strong female lead Jan 27, 2026

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Anna Maloney’s fast-paced new thriller The 10:12 is set onboard a hijacked train, and some passengers aren’t just going to sit back and do as they’re told. One in particular, Claire Fitzroy, a late mid-life arts teacher, ruffles feathers when she not only takes action, but takes charge.

Anna chats to Mick about how wildly recollections of events may differ, have-a-go heroes (and heroines), and why you should never underestimate a woman in her mid-life.

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