Writer and theatre-maker Rae Mainwaring was in her early 20s when she was diagnosed with Mutiple Sclerosis – MS as it's commonly known. All she knew of the autoimmune condition at the time was that every single representation she’d seen of it on TV was one of abject misery, which, ultimately, was not her experience of MS. Some years later, she wrote about her experiences in Bright Places, her Peggy Ramsay award-winning play and a deeply personal and authentic exploration of the condition.

Jen caught up with Rae ahead of a tour of Carbon Theatre’s production of Bright Places to talk about chronic illness, misunderstandings around MS, and getting into theatre later in life.

Bright Places is touring the UK until December 13

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There used to be a time when it was said you were better to seek medical treatment from your wife or your mother than from a doctor, because at least your wife or mother wouldn't kill you. And then it all changed. Hannah chats to Professor Karen Bloom Gevirtz about her book, The Apothecary's Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How It Became a Commodity, to find out more. 

The Apothecary's Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How It Became a Commodity is out to buy on November 7, 2024

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Big news in the world of "how can that STILL be going on?" as both the Tory leadership election and the US Election enter their final days. Who will lose? Maybe all of us. Meanwhile, bus fares are going up and so is minimum wage but won't these just cancel each other out? In Sexism of the Week, we continue to let the side down by not having enough babies. And speaking of the next generation, in that she's young enough to be your daughter, Jen's got words for a basketball legend in Jenny Off The Blocks.

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Wondering what medieval women did for us anyway? Or how we even know what they did, given back then only the monks could write? Then get yourself to the British Library's new exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words.

Jen caught up with the exhibition’s curator Ellie Jackson to find out how much we have in common with our medieval ancestors, and why they remain relevant to our lives today.

Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is showing at the British Library until March 2, 2025.

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Literary critic and feminist historian Joanna Scutts’s latest book, Firebrands, showcases 25 pioneering women writers you should have heard of – but probably haven’t. Why? Well, in this episode, Joanna’s chatting to our Mick about the whys, the whos, the what’s changed, what’s not changed and the trouble that kicks off when women start having ideas. 

Firebrands: 25 Pioneering Women to Ignite Your Reading Life is published by Duckworth and out now.

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Kate Summerscale’s bestselling narrative nonfiction The Suspicions of Mr Whicher was made into big telly, starring Peter Capaldi and unraveling a murder that took place in the 1860s. Her latest book is much more recent history, however, and in The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place, she revisits the crimes of John Reginald Halliday Christie, one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, putting flesh on the bones of his female victims and looking at the role played by the sensationalist media of the time.

She chats to Mick about all of the above, what Christie’s crimes said about Britain at the time, how much – if at all – anything’s changed, and why true crime is still such popular entertainment.

The Peepshow: The Murders at Rillington Place is published by Bloomsbury and out now.

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Mick and Jen are on news duty this week, talking cynical steps – or is it honourable intentions? – as social media companies try to get to grips with the Online Safety Act. Elsewhere, there are smiling faces aplenty outside Strangeways, as the Labour Government grapples with its inherited crumbling prison system. Thank the gods of whimsy that Paddington Bear is on hand to cheer us all up. Not Jen, though. He makes her cry. Also, there’s contraceptive chaos in Sexism of the Week, and some baffling sponsorship in Jenny Off the Blocks.

Meanwhile the boss, Sarah Millican, is back for our £5 and above Patreon subscribers, offering some light relief around the gendered use of language.

You can find the BPAS petition Mick talks about in this episode here.

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Is The Last Seduction your average "bitches be crazy" film? Why no more roles for Linda Fiorentino? Can anyone bear that much jazz? The answers to these and many more questions lay within.

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After the success of last year's Ghost Stories by Candlelight tour, HighTide Theatre is back with a new production – More... Ghost Stories by Candlelight – showcasing four up-and-coming writers, including Eloise Pennycott.

Jen chatted with the actor, writer and theatre maker about the production’s tour of the East of England - which is also showing at The Globe, starting on October 30 - as well as sustainable theatre, representation of deaf people in the arts, and why we love being scared.

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Life in plastic: is it fantastic… to watch? Greta Gerwig’s star-studded Barbie was one of THE big-hitters in cinema last year and, according to critics across the globe, wasn’t just pink and sparkly and fun, but came with a big ol' side of feminism. But did it, though? Did it? Hmmm. Mick, Hannah and Yosra will be the judge and jury of that. 

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Quadrophenia is a tale of young male angst and multiple wing mirrors, and is apparently the reason Jen's brother used to wear a cravat. But is it a case of style over substance? And is a game of "spot the young character actor" enough to keep us interested?

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