Episoder
-
Historian Hallie Rubenhold's non-fiction book The Five found the stories of the victims of Jack the Ripper underneath a whole pile of misogyny and myth-making. She's about to do the same for the women at the centre of the Crippen murder, with her book Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen. Hallie chats to Hannah about the wrongs done to Belle Elmore, by both her husband and history, and why most true crime sucks.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
At various points in her life, writer and walking enthusiast Annabel Streets has felt a pull towards certain landscapes and wondered if there was a reason for that. In her new book, The Walking Cure: Harness the Life-changing Power of Landscape to Heal, Energise and Inspire, she explores the restorative and healing powers of walking. Jen catches up with Annabel to talk about why we should all be getting outside, the mindblowing new findings about the different benefits of different landscapes, and the many things to love about wandering around a cemetery.
The Walking Cure is published by Tonic and is available now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Mangler du episoder?
-
Fiddler on the Roof could win big at this year's Oliviers, with 13 nods, including one for Best Actress for Lara Pulver. She's also about to hit our screens in Paramount's new drama MobLand. Lara chats to Hannah about all this, plus working with Helen Mirren, the cancellation of Maternal and how what the childminder walked in on really wasn't what it looked.
* You can listen to Jen's interview with Jackie Honess-Martin about Maternal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr5qeoaEwC8
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
There's fuckwittery, and there's whatever the hell is going on at the highest levels of government in America right now. In this week's BT, Hannah and Jen look at that whole horror show, the chances of another pandemic, a new GCSE, and the dearth of women in brewing. Plus there's rugby and tennis in Jenny Off The Blocks. And, perhaps most importantly, updates from Newport Pagnell's Facebook group.
The Atlantic mentioned is here: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie head up James Mangold’s biographical drama, based on Susanna Kaysen’s 1993 memoir about her time in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. It was a big deal on its release, so Mick, Hannah and Jen give it a watch to discover whether it’s an astute look at female mental health in a time when women’s rights and standards were very different or, to put it bluntly, dogshit, uninterrupted.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Women’s Six Nations got underway on Saturday, with England eyeing a whopping 29th title in the tournament. And so, Jen jumped on the Zoom to chat to the Red Roses’ top scorer of all time: Emily Scarratt. They're talking about how women’s rugby is doing in the UK and on a global stage, the forthcoming World Cup, and how to take the lows, as well as the highs, when you're a professional athlete.
Tickets for the Women's Six Nations are available online now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
What a month, indeed what a few days, of TV. Hannah's got some high praise for Severance, The White Lotus, Toxic Town and Adolescence, while Jen's been keeping it real with some ITV dramas. And a few BBC ones to boot. Tuck in!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
It’s a full basket of news from Hannah and Mick this week: oven-ready gammon joints, Streep-Short joy, a pre-tribunal win for some of the BBC’s female presenters, the Met Police covering itself in glory again, and – all together now! – relugolix/estradiol/norethisterone acetate for the endo win. Plus, extra sunshine for our £5+ patrons with Sarah Millican’s Light Relief.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Garry Marshall’s much beloved romcom made a leading lady of Julia Roberts, and an absolute shedload of cash at the box office. But how romantic and/or funny is sex work, drug addiction and controlling relationships? And would either Hannah or Jen be up for being kept as Richard Gere’s pet?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Investigative journalist and head of narrative at Stak, Nicky Anderson has been a ballet nut since she was a kid. And the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine? For many, it’s ballet at its pinnacle. But at what cost?
In her new seven-part podcast series, Dancing With Shadows, Nicky explores the history of the New York City Ballet and its influence, with a focus on the dark side of the company and the culture and legacy created and left by Balanchine.
Mick got her on the Zoom to talk about this deep dive into a sport-slash-art form renowned for demanding absolute sacrifice from its young, predominantly female, dancers and for being a very closed institution, how it shines a light on abuse sort of becoming par for the course, and the perils of genius.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
How do you solve a problem like two people who don't like musicals having to watch one of the world's best-loved musicals? Was it like brown paper packages tied up with string or just Do Re Mi Fa Soooo fucking long?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Roisin O’Donnell’s striking debut novel, Nesting, tackles some big issues: domestic abuse, coercive control and the housing crisis in Ireland. We follow protagonist Ciara’s spur of the moment decision to take her two young girls and flee her abusive husband – and the challenges she faces staying away. Roisín chats to our Mick about coercive control, strong women in impossible situations, and sparks of hope.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, the freephone, 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247. You are not alone.
Nesting is published by Scribner and out now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Jemima Rooper has been on our screens since the mid ‘90s, featuring in shows such as As If, Hex, and more recently The Split and Geek Girl. Now she’s at London's Park Theatre as Suzanne in one of France's favourite plays, Farewell Mr Haffman. Jen catches up with Jemima to talk about playing a Nazi, life as an actor from a young age, and being that tricky not young/not yet old age of our mid-40s.
Farewell Mr Haffmann is at Park Theatre, London, until April 12
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Hannah, Yosra and Mick are all big fans of Alice Lowe. But will that translate into loving Timestalker, which she wrote, directed and stars in? Does an excellent supporting cast (Tanya Reynolds, Jacob Anderson, Nick Frost and Aneurin Barnard) get enough to do? And will the fast cuts and repetition leave them confused or swooning? Find out!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
There has been some good news this week, if you squinted right. So we're saying "no thank you" to the White House bullies and "yes please" to big legal developments, potty training, the pursuit of happiness and teaching boys about positive masculinity. Plus, there's boxing news in Jenny Off The Blocks. You're welcome.
You can find out more about the Big Toile Project here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Margaret Atwood via Harold Pinter? Volker Schlöndorff’s 1990 adaptation of what’s become a feminist classic promises “a haunting tale of sexuality in a country gone wrong”. So there’s that for starters. Will Mick, Hannah and Jen get onboard with Schlöndorff’s vision of Gilead and what happens to the women living in it, or will they, like Pinter, find it all very tiring?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Imagine losing it in public, a video going viral and the whole world calling you a bad mother. That's what happens in playwright and actor Anna Morris's new play Son of A Bitch, now at Southwark Playhouse. Anna chats to Hannah about raging in public, viral videos, empathy, and the pressure on women to be mothers. Good mothers. Excellent mothers.
You can book tickets for Son of A Bitch here: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/son-of-a-bitch/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Like many new parents, Emily Callaci - writer and professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison - was amazed by the amount of housework that came with looking after small children. Her new book, Wages for Housework, is a history of the fascinating movement of the same name and explores how feminists before her have approached the dilemma of under-valued and unpaid work. Jen caught up with Emily to talk about the movement, why we could do with it making a comeback, and how different the world might look if essential work was valued differently.
Wages for Housework is available now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The women tricked into relationships with undercover police officers have spent a lot of years investigating and campaigning, largely unnoticed. Might a new ITV documentary about their stories finally get them the widespread support they deserve? Hannah chats to one of those women, Alison, and to Lucy Wilcox, the director of The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed to find out more.
* Hannah has previously interviewed Alison about her experiences of discovering her partner of eight years was a police spy. You can hear that interview, which also features Helen Steel, on Itunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sim-ep-744-chops-255-groomed-gaslighted-ghosted/id1080808404?i=1000568597088
* The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed starts on ITV and ITVX on Thursday 6 March.
* You can find out more about the Police Spies Out Of Lives campaign here: https://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Hannah and Mick are ingesting and spitting out the news this week, and you’ll perhaps be unsurprised to hear that Trump needs to do better, the BBC needs to do better, the Church of England needs to do better, and Justin Baldoni needs to do better. Still, there’s always the prospect of mice paramedics to bring some cheer. And, for our £5+ patrons, extra rodent content courtesy of Sarah Millican’s Light Relief.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices - Se mer
