Standard Issue Podcast

Relentless silliness, sight gags, wordplay and sheer chaotic comedic energy? Too right it was Mick’s pick for Flicking this month. And so she and Yosra are chatting about last year’s The Naked Gun reboot, in which Liam Neeson steps into Leslie Nielsen’s shoes as gumshoe lieutenant Frank Drebin… Jr. But is there still a place for old-school comedy in today’s film landscape, or is it more about nostalgia than keeping the genre alive?
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Where does the word 'whore' come from? In this week’s Bush Telegraph, Mick’s wondering if Saturday Night Live guest host Shane Gillis knows (no), cares (no) or has any comedy chops whatsoever (no). For Jen, it’s medical misogyny o'clock again, with new research suggesting autoimmune conditions are, in fact, not just in our pretty little heads. Plus, there’s good news for victims in rape cases, bold Brexit overtures on Burnham's Venga bus, a terrifying new Press Secretary in the White House, and football and track cycling in Jenny off the Blocks.

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Hannah Arendt's most famous expression - the banality of evil - might be well quoted, but the woman herself is less widely known. Her time in the Gurs internment camp in France is the subject of a new play by Julia Pascal. Hannah talks to the playwright and director about life for women in camps, the importance of critical thinking and why Arendt's work is as vital as ever.

* Tickets for The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 are here: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/the-banality-of-evil/

* Join the Standard Issue supporters' club here: Standard Issue Podcast | creating a magazine for ears, by women for women | Patreon

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It seems there’s scarcely a person alive, male or female, who doesn’t have some kind of hang-up about their hair. Whether we have too much, not enough, whether it’s the right colour or texture, we’re all obsessed and who can blame us? After all, human hair is fascinating, or at least that’s what author, educator and evolutionary biologist Judy Wearing
thinks.

Jen chats to Judy about her new book Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair, why we’re all so preoccupied with our own foliage, and what exactly is the point of public hair?

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Award-winning author Liz Hyder’s new book, The Teller of Tall Tales, is aimed at young adults but a total delight for grown-ups, too. Because we never grow out of stories: telling them and, well, being them.

Mick chats to Liz about old-school folk and fairy tales with a modern sensibility, heavy awards, telling tales, second person narratives, the privilege of writing for the young adult audience and – of course – the power of stories.

The Teller of Tall Tales is published by Pushkin on October 22 and available for pre-order now.

As ever, there’s more chat for our £5 and above patreons here.
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