Our guest today is no stranger to the show. Back in 2020, Neil spoke with Helen Godwin when she was a Bristol City Councillor. A lot has changed since then. Not only has the Bristol mayoral role been abolished, but a new Labour government is in power, and Helen Godwin now holds one of the West Country's most important political positions: the Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority ( WECA ). In May, Helen won the election and has since been settling into her new role. We've brought her b...
Aug 11, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 14Ep. 11
Neil scored a conversation with Bristol's homegrown boxing legend, Lee Haskins . You might know him as a former world champion, but today, ten years on from that victory, the two catch up to talk shop about Lee's ongoing legacy. He now runs his own family gym, Round One Boxing , where he trains and teaches alongside a roster of other professional fighters. They talk family life; some of Lee's kids are following in his footsteps and stepping into the ring. Is that hard to watch as someone who's b...
Jul 28, 2025•57 min•Season 14Ep. 10
So, this is a bit of a break from the usual, but we figured the lessons we can learn from radicals 200 years ago are every bit as relevant as those from today. Isaac is back out exploring, and this time he's in a Hotwells building that was once ground zero for radical science and politics in England: The Pneumatic Institute. This place was a hotbed in the late 1700s, right around the time of The French Revolution. Joining Isaac is cultural historian Mike Jay , author of Free Radicals , who gets ...
Jul 21, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 14Ep. 9
Warning: Contains discussions about grooming gangs in the second half This week it’s another episode of Bristol Unpacked. Islam is back in the firing line of the culture wars, with a new legal definition being drafted by Labour, and the grooming gang scandal very much overlapping with far-right narratives about the religion. We wanted to hone in on this national issue, as it's one having a ripple effect in neighbourhoods across the nation, including in Bristol. Bristol Muslim Cultural Society Di...
Jul 14, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 14Ep. 8
[TRIGGER WARNING: Communism] This episode comes from our last live show where we had international super comrade, professor Jodi Dean , blessing us with a discussion focussed on Communism in the modern age. As an outwardly left wing academic residing in the U.S.A, Jodi is often at the sharp end of the discourse, and she eloquently describes the importance of building a solidarity movement in tough times. Jodi is clearly wedded to the old guard of revolutionary thought, and this chat dives into s...
Jul 07, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Join Neil Maggs alongside councillor for Hartcliffe and Withywood Kirsty Tate , to talk about class & climate justice in her community. Kirsty is the Climate Action Manager at Heart of BS13 , and is a co-author of The Just Transition Declaration which is all about ensuring climate policies are fair for everyone especially those most negatively impacted. This is particularly relevant in Bristol, where controversies like the Clean Air Zone and East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood have sparked d...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr•Season 14Ep. 7
Number one Potter fanboy (joking please no more libel) Ethan Shone gives us a whistle stop tour of the sketchy world of The Dark Arts, aka secretive political lobbying. How is Bristol MP Darren Jones connected to a globally influential organisation set up by MI6 operatives? Why has Starmer's Labour party been described by former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy as "the first private sector government in Labours history"? Who's pulling the strings and how has corporate capture become the overarc...
Jun 23, 2025•57 min•Ep. 16
We're going up north – or actually, the north is coming down south to Bristol. You've probably clocked by now that there's been a massive Northern Soul revival in the city, so we thought we'd unpack what it's all about. This week, Neil talks to Levanna McLean and her mum, Eve Arslett. It started when Levanna began doing Northern Soul dances during lockdown. Her mum filmed it, they pushed it out on socials and it blew up. They've featured everywhere: from BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour to the New Yor...
Jun 16, 2025•55 min•Season 14Ep. 6
Annie McGann aka The People's Lobbyist , graced us with her presence at the last PJDS live event to talk about her favourite topic, night-life. Her campaign group Save Bristol Nightlife has been pivotal in supporting the city's night-time economy, acting as a resource hub as well as a go-between for industry workers, Bristol City Council representatives, property developers and more. She calls it "interfering" but it would more commonly be called lobbying. Annie talks us through what led her to ...
Jun 09, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 15
This week we’ve got the next instalment of Bristol Unpacked for you. Neil managed to get a chat in with our new High Sheriff, Kalpna Woolf . Its one of those mysterious, archaic titles that somehow has stood the test of time, but as Kalpna details, is a world away from its original purpose of enforcing the monarch’s will and collecting taxes… Kalpna talks us through her upbringing as a first generation migrant kid in London and the life experiences which led her to this point, as an ambassador o...
Jun 02, 2025•58 min•Season 14Ep. 6
"Tommy Robinson's worst nightmare" is how Taj Ali described his experience at Uni. He came to town for PJDS live to talk about the past, present, and future of trade unionism and activism in the UK. Drawing from his time as an industrial correspondent and his upcoming book on British South Asian resistance, Taj connects the dots between working-class history, racial identity and common struggle. He manages to stay focussed on the love, care and solidarity that still exists in working class commu...
May 26, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 14
One year into his leadership of Bristol City Council, Green party councillor for Southville Tony Dyer sits down with Neil to talk about it. They touch on the Green Party's internal dynamics, financial hurdles, and the significant political changes occurring within the city, such as the appointment of the new West of England mayor, Labour's Helen Godwin. They unpack some key local issues from the past year, including the controversial East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood Scheme and budget constrai...
May 19, 2025•59 min•Season 14Ep. 4
The queue for the women's toilet was tiny at the Reform UK rally according to Sian Norris , our guest this week. She's a journalist who has used undercover reporting to lift the lid on on the rise of right-wing populism and misogyny, particularly in relation to reproductive rights. She's a Senior Reporter at openDemocracy and has written several books, most recently Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right attack on reproductive rights went global . Join us as we look into the moment to moment expe...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 14Ep. 5
With faith in democracy – and in particular in traditional political parties – at a low ebb, in the UK and elsewhere, this week Unpacked wrestles with whether citizens’ assemblies offer a chance to rekindle the public’s affection. Neil is joined by David Jubb, co-founder and co-director of Citizens In Power, which as its name suggests aims to enable citizens to lead decision-making and shape the future.Citizens’ assemblies offer a representative group of people the chance to deliberate on thorny...
May 05, 2025•59 min•Season 14Ep. 3
We sent Isaac to Cribbs Causeway to meet the organisers of a local iteration of the international protest movement dubbed Tesla Takedown. The movement has been calling for Tesla owners to sell up and boycott the company in response to owner Elon Musk's involvement in Donald Trump's extremist government. This week, Tesla announced record losses with sales dropping 71%. Can the Tesla Takedown movement claim this? And does this result mean Communism has officially been defeated? Isaac talks with or...
Apr 28, 2025•49 min•Season 14Ep. 4
In this instalment of Bristol Unpacked, Neil is joined by BBC Politics West editor Pete Simson to unpack the upcoming West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Mayoral election. Simson, a veteran political journalist, offers his expertise and breaks down key aspects of the election, discussing the major candidates, voter engagement strategies, and the complexities of local political dynamics here in Bristol. How do you cover local political content in an engaging way? And what might be the impac...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 14Ep. 3
Content warning: descriptions of violence and war "The belief in one's rights is more important than anything else. If I am confident about my rights, nothing will make me despair...When you resist an Israeli soldier by peaceful means, their weapons become irrelevant." - Iyad Burnat Iyad Burnat is a Palestinian activist involved in non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. He is the head of the Bil'in Popular Committee against the Wall , which has led weekly demonst...
Apr 14, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1
This week, we’re diving into Bristol’s vibrant nightlife. Neil talks with legendary Bristol photographer Colin Moody who has has been wide awake, capturing the city after dark in his latest project. Colin is no stranger to documenting Bristol’s characters; his previous photography books have brought the streets of Montpelier and Gloucester Road to life. Now, he’s turned his lens to the nightlife, working for the past five years (yes, even through lockdown) alongside Jasmine Yaba Ketibuah-foley. ...
Apr 07, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 14Ep. 1
Priyanka sits down to talk with Dr. Amelia Cussans from health justice campaign group Medact . The group recently released a report in collaboration with ACORN the union describing the evacuation of Barton House in 2023 as a mass traumatising event . Amelia and Priyanka discuss this report, its implications and some of the moving testimonies from residents contained within it. Barton house one year on Medact's report...
Mar 31, 2025•23 min•Season 14Ep. 2
This week we’re bringing you another episode from the Bristol Unpacked Archives; its Green party MP Carla Denyer who was interviewed by Neil in October 2021, just after her election as co-chair of The Green party and 3 years before her election to parliament as the MP for Bristol Central in 2024. How has she measured up against early commitments expressed in this interview? Check out her voting record and see for yourself. Original Copy - October 2021: Carla Denyer, an elected councillor in the ...
Mar 24, 2025•51 min•Season 13Ep. 10
Adam Quarshie, the latest addition to The Bristol Cable's core reporter team, takes the lead in conversation with Sean Morrison about his latest investigation into the trial of the so called Filton 18; a group of activists who broke into an arms factory in Bristol last year (2024). Sean's article: Filton 18: ‘The more you oppress people, the more they will rise’ Petition: Stop the use of counter-terrorism powers against pro-Palestine activists More on the topic: Inside Bristol's 'murder factory'...
Mar 17, 2025•20 min•Season 2Ep. 1
From the archive April 2022 "As the slap reverberates around the world we talk all things comedy with Jayde Adams - who went from working in Asda Bedminster to her own Amazon Prime Special. She just starred in a new BBC documentary following her move back to Bristol. Going deep about how the death of her sister made her so driven, are there red lines in comedy, and what it is like coming home."
Mar 10, 2025•55 min•Season 13Ep. 9
Producer George is having a week off and the team is busy planning the next batch of guests and an exciting development for the series... Mystery button
Mar 03, 2025•2 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Lucy Reed is a barrister in the family courts, where separating couples hammer out child custody arrangements and where, in one of the most severe decisions the state can take, orders are made to take children into care, separating them from their families. On 27 January, journalists were for the first time allowed, with some restrictions, to report from any family court across England and Wales. Why is this a big deal? And with the system under pressure, why do so many kids get taken into care,...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 13Ep. 8
As pro-Palestine marches began ‘shrinking’ last year, St Paul’s residents Matt and Sasha drew on their experiences community organising with the ACORN union to try a different way of influencing public opinion. Inspired by their neighbourhood’s history of mobilising against South African apartheid, they hit the streets to knock on doors and chat to shopkeepers, in a bid to make areas of Bristol no-go zones for Israeli produce. So what’s the reception been like, and what do they hope to achieve? ...
Feb 17, 2025•55 min•Season 2Ep. 12
From the archives - an update Today we bring you an episode from the archives with Dr Patrick Hart. Patrick took action in August 2022 to demand an end to new licences and consents for oil and gas projects in the UK, something which has subsequently become government policy. He disabled petrol pumps at an Esso garage on the M25 on the 24th August 2022. On August 24, 2022, he disabled petrol pumps at an Esso garage near the M25. He was found guilty of Criminal Damage in October 2024 and appeared ...
Feb 10, 2025•51 min•Season 13Ep. 7
Crypto is everywhere just now, after reinstalled President Trump’s recent pronouncements on the subject – including launching his own meme coin, which has soared in value. That’s great, because it gives PJDS a rare aura of being bang on the news agenda, as we sit down with Joshua Dávila, author of Blockchain Radicals, How Capitalism Ruined Crypto And How We Can Fix It. Join ‘crypto-naive’ Priyanka and Silk Road pilgrim Isaac as we ask whether these digital tools can be put to positive uses – and...
Feb 03, 2025•53 min•Season 13Ep. 6
It’s the coldest time of the year, and Bristol’s homelessness crisis is as bleak as ever. How does it feel to be out on the streets? This week, Neil puts the question to Paul Goggin, ex-Lord Mayor of Bristol, who went through a period of sleeping rough after a relationship breakdown. Goggin has also been open about his mental health struggles – does the UK need a different approach? And as Labour councillor for Hartcliffe and Withywood, does he fear the rise of the Reform Party? Listen in to fin...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 13Ep. 5
Gen Z listeners, do you actually know what a strike is? If not, we’ve got just the episode for you. PJDS this week features Bristol teacher Nik, National Education Union rep and co-host of the Requires Improvement podcast, who joins Isaac with his feet still freezing cold from standing on a picket line in January. So how does one go about organising workers? What is the point of industrial action – and what are the key ingredients to make it successful? Tune for an authentic union bro love-in… R...
Jan 20, 2025•58 min•Season 13Ep. 4
“I’m definitely not an activist,” says Jake Hanrahan at the start of this week’s episode, pushing back hard on People Just Do Something’s tagline of being about people who might identify as one. Either way, Jake, who founded grassroots conflict media organisation Popular Front, is a fascinating character. What led him in his twenties to decide to be a war reporter? What does he see as rotten in the state of modern journalism? And will he kick off at Priyanka for comparing him to “a gritty versio...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 3
