Standard Issue Podcast

The news: a constant source of anxiety, rage and misery in our lives. It’s probably no coincidence then, says psychiatrist, and psychotherapist Dr Joanna Cheek, that rates of mental health problems are skyrocketing.

Jen chats to Joanna about her new book, It’s Not You, It’s The World: A Mental Health Survival Guide for Us All, why “triggers” are actually useful, the perils of living in a world we weren’t really designed for, and whether or not the younger generation really are just less hardy.

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Epic in scope and length, deliberately problematic characters, a very distinct aesthetic and a Jonny Greenwood score to give you the jitters: Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2025 award-bothering opus is Yosra’s pick for this month’s Flicking. But do Yosra, Hannah and Mick think Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor deserve the plaudits being heaped upon them? And how much white male gaze is too much white male gaze when it comes to the hyper-sexualisation of a Black female character? 
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The only living neurotic in New York? Woody Allen certainly seems to think himself so as the writer/director/star of this much-lauded comedy drama. Its Chekhovian title suggests this is a film about women, but IS IT THOUGH ask Mick, Hannah and Jen.
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New Guardian Investigates podcast The Birth Keepers, about controversial group The Free Birth Society, is the 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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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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