Standard Issue Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Why Laura Hall lay her head in water Jan 12, 2026

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Feeling bogged down by meetings and out of her depth at work, travel writer Laura Hall quit her job and embarked on a fresh challenge to get her life back on track. Her new book, The Year I Lay My Head in Water: Swimming Scandinavia in Search of a Better Life, documents the year that followed, spent cold-water swimming around Scandinavia. Jen chats to Laura about the book, the appeal of the sea, the insanity of cold-water swimming, and the absolute joy of taking on a daft challenge.

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Rated or Dated: Sexy Beast (2001) Jan 07, 2026

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Our weekly look at a film from the past is back for the New Year like a boulder about to smash into your swimming pool, as we watch Jonathan Glazer's debut: a one-last-job tale with a gangster who won't take no for an answer. No matter how many times he hears it. But does Sexy Beast still pass muster?

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Salima Saxton is a bad patient Jan 06, 2026

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Last year, actor, author, life coach and professional mad woman (she co-hosts the Women Are Mad podcast with psychotherapist Jennifer Cox) Salima Saxton got ill. Obviously she started a Substack about it and Bad Patient – in which she writes about being ill with raw honesty, humour, insight and on her own terms – was born. Salima chats to our Mick about illness: how we perceive it, how we talk about it, how we don’t have to meet other people’s expectations when dealing with it and how it can change our perspective on, well, everything. Also, bonus chat: tricky dads.

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Wendy Welpton wants you on the floor Jan 05, 2026

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An injury in her early 40s, and a long period of chronic pain that followed, made Wendy Welpton think about how she was moving. Now a movement coach, founder of Reclaim Movement, and a podcast host, she’s also written a book – Move Well For Life: Unlock The Life-Changing Power of Everyday Movement – aimed at getting others to do the same.

Jen chats to Wendy about why movement should trump exercise, why it’s so important for people in midlife to move more and move better, and why she really really wants you to get on the floor.

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Review of the Year 2025 Dec 31, 2025

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What's the best book we read this year? Or the best play we saw? We're talking about that, plus our favorite TV, events, sport, music, comedy and interviews of 2025, as we wave goodbye to a year that's been, well, how would we describe it?

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Rated or Dated: The Railway Children (1970) Dec 24, 2025

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Adventure, nostalgia, trains, Cribbens and three elderly children posher than a lobster in a cravat: HOW JOLLY! Lionel Jeffries’ period piece based on E Nesbit’s 1906 book is a wholesome slice of classic British cinema, but what will filthy commoners Mick, Hannah and Jen make of it? And how will it go down with our resident five year old?

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Bears, dogs and creative thinking with Jessica Swale Dec 22, 2025

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Jessica Swale is a busy woman, so Hannah was surprised to discover the writer and director did have the time for a chat about some of her latest projects. They cover getting the tone right for Paddington: The Musical, working with children and dogs in Amazon's new Christmas film Merv, and Jessica's new book aimed at making sure we can all have A Year of Creative Thinking.

Find out more about supporting Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

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Tanya Kirk is ghosting us Dec 19, 2025

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Working in the 17th century gothic library at St John's College puts Tanya Kirk in an ideal position to talk about book-based ghost stories. She's just edited the latest in a series of short story collections - The Haunted Library: Tales of Cursed Books and Forbidden Shelves - so Hannah got on the Zoom to chat about why old books are spooky, why Christmas is a rich source of ghost stories, and the white gloves myth.

Tanya's latest book is available here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-haunted-library/tanya-kirk/9780712355292

* You can support Standard Issue here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

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Rated or Dated: Mermaids (1990) Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

Richard Benjamin’s coming-of-age comedy-drama has a (sort of) dream cast, but how much will Jen, Hannah and Mick love central character Mrs Flax? Does the character even matter when she’s played by Cher? And can we get over a ropey age-gap and a real lack of DIY prep to allow Mermaids to shoop-shoop into our hearts?

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Padel-ing forward with Alex Brodie Dec 16, 2025

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Padel might well be one of the fastest growing sports in the world, right now, but what exactly is it? And how is it different to tennis, squash, or pickleball?

Jen wanted to find out more, so she got on the Zoom with Alex Brodie, PR and sponsorship manager at UK Padel, one of the UK’s leading tournament organisers in the sport, to chat about the who, what and where of the game – and why it’s so good for women and girls.

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