Standard Issue Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Harriet Constable on Anna Maria della Pieta: the orphan who made Vivaldi famous Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Anna Maria della Pieta. Chances are you’ve heard of Antonio Vivaldi, but you’ve never heard of Anna Maria or her fellow female orphans at the Ospedale della Pieta, which in 18th century Venice boasted the greatest orchestra in the world. Without these ridiculously talented girls and women, The Four Seasons might not exist.

Harriet Constable’s debut historical fiction, The Instrumentalist, is the story of Anna Maria, Vivaldi’s favourite student and violin prodigy, shining a light on the women and girls we should have been talking about for the last 300 years.

The Instrumentalist is published by Bloomsbury on August 15.

@HarriConstable – Instagram

@HConstable – X

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Bribing horses with Kerenza Bryson Aug 09, 2024

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Here at Standard Issue, we love the Olympics - because who doesn't? But we especially love the modern pentathlon, which got underway at this summer's Games on August 8 and continues until the final day of the Olympics on Sunday 11. Jen had the joy of chatting to Team GB modern pentathlete Kerenza Bryson just before she headed out to Paris. Kerenza’s hoping to add an Olympic medal to her haul from the European and World championships, so fingers crossed for that. In the meantime, you can hear Kerenza and Jen talking about being a woman of many talents, showcasing women’s sport, and getting the best out of a skittish horse. We've all been there.

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Rated or Dated – The Karate Kid (1984) Aug 07, 2024

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This week it’s Jen’s pick, ably assisted by Mick, who suggested 1984’s Rocky for kids, The Karate Kid. Why was she was so keen to rewatch that, we wonder. In unrelated news, how will Mick’s crush on Ralph Macchio have dated? How many times can she talk about The Karate Kid Part II? And how will this seminal film of Noonan's youth fare with Balboa fans, Jen and Hannah?

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Leave Juliet Cowan alone Aug 06, 2024

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Twenty-five years after making the final of So You Think You're Funny, Juliet Cowan has taken her first show to the Edinburgh Fringe. She talks to Hannah about taking the estrogen goggles off, the rashness of perimenopause, returning to comedy, and her successful acting career, which has included roles in This Life, Back To Life, Back to Black and Pulling.

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Anna Akana warns us It Gets Darker Aug 05, 2024

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US comedian Anna Akana’s tagline might as well be ‘hello darkness my old friend’, because she travels into some pretty dark places for her comedy. This included talking about the stalker who hounded her so much she gave up standup for years, her sister’s suicide 17 years ago, and that time her dad ran off to fight in Ukraine.

In this episode, she chats to our Mick about making that shit funny, her commitment to expanding how we talk about taboo topics and mental health, and making her UK debut with her aptly titled show, It Gets Darker, which you can catch at the Edinburgh Fringe and then London’s Leicester Square Theatre.

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Amy Conway invites you to a controversial funeral Aug 02, 2024

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Actor, playwright and civil celebrant Amy Conway's new one-woman show Catafalque opened at the Fringe last week and is soon to head off on a short tour of Scotland. In today's podcast, she's chatting to Hannah about funerals during Covid, the dilemmas celebrants can face and what it was like to write her own eulogy.

Tickets for Catafalque at Summerhall are here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/catafalque

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The Bush Telegraph: Choppy waters and gratuitous tits Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

Mick and Jen are on Bush Telegraph duties this week and trying not to get seasick as they negotiate the choppy waters of the Seine, remaining buoyed by Flavor Flav’s unlikely appearance in a pool. Meanwhile, there may be tough times ahead for Rachel Reeves, horrors unfold on the streets of Southport, and one woman has tits galore right in her face.

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Rated or Dated: Parenthood (1989) Jul 30, 2024

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Hannah's picked one of Jen's faves, so how's that going to pan out? This week, we're watching Ron Howard's comedy about raising kids, that comes with an all-star cast. Does Frank deserve redemption? Does Mickey like the change of pace for Rick Moranis? And is Dianne Wiest the best thing in it? Spoiler alert on that last one - she is.

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Sue Elliott-Nicholls’ History Social Club Jul 30, 2024

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London's East End has inspired hundreds of books, films, TV programmes and characters. Now, there's a new podcast dedicated to its history, courtesy of writer, actor, and broadcaster Sue Elliott-Nicholls and Immediate Theatre. The Hackney and Newham History Social Club tells stories of the lives of people from the two London boroughs, as well as many who travelled to London to make their lives there.

Sue chats to Jen about the warm and wonderful stories coming out of what started as a lockdown project, valuing our elders, and the changing face of the East End.

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Susannah Walker goes feral, walking The Hard Way Jul 29, 2024

Show notes

Susannah Walker is one of the co-founders of brilliant charity Make Space for Girls, which campaigns for parks and other public spaces to be as welcoming for teenage girls as they are for teenage boys. Because it has implications, not least the question ‘who do public spaces belong to?’ Spoiler: it ain’t women.

And so, in Susannah’s new book, The Hard Way: Discovering the Women Who Walked Before Us, she examines women’s place in the countryside, walking ancient tracks, discovering some excellent wild women sidelined by history, and going a bit feral herself. She’s chatting to Mick about all of this and more, in this Monday episode.

And if you’re Marlborough way, you can see Mick chatting to Sus

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