Bristol Unpacked

Nicola Beech has got a big portfolio at City Hall -  Strategic Planning, Resilience & Floods, plus representing St George Central. So how does she juggle the complexity with the pressures and controversies of political life? In this episode, Neil and Nicola dig into what it means to try to lead a city, and why it sometimes seems like developers are giving the council the run around. Hosted on...

While the Robins set their sights on promotion, James Edwards is working off the field to promote opportunities for the community in and around Bristol City FC, with the club’s community arm the Robins Foundation. But with the furore over Gary Lineker’s comments, what is the role of football in community and political life? Listen in with Neil and James as they discuss how the beautiful game can h...

Has Bristol’s local politics caught up with how many outsiders see the city: Full of cycling vegetarian activists? The Green Party are now the biggest group on the city council, and Emma Edwards the councillor for Bishopston and Ashley Down is charged with leading them through a tumultuous period as the city gears up to ditch the mayor and move to a committee system. The Greens are no strangers to...

Paul Simmons’ mugshot appeared on the front page of the Bristol Evening Post in 2004. Fast forward through many years in jail, crimes and devastating addiction Paul appeared on the front page in November 2022 for very different reasons. Having served 22 years in 20 prisons over various sentences since 17, the care leaver is now making a name for himself on social media. With daily videos on TikTok...

Depending on who you ask, Ketamine conjures up different images and associations. For Dr Ben Sessa, a leading authority and practitioner of psychedelic assisted therapy, it is a powerful aid to helping people suffering from trauma and addiction. Sessa is the co-founder of Awakn, a company leading the burgeoning movement to use powerful drugs for healing with a clinic in Bristol and internationally...

From Boris Johnson to Marvin Rees will Martin Booth the editor of Bristol 24/7 become one of a long line of journalists who enter political office?  Booth is in the running as an independent in the by-election for Hotwells and Harbourside ward. As editor of a local publication, what are Martin’s motivations and inspirations? Can anyone be really independent, including Bristol 24/7’s owners and sha...

Arriving to the UK in 1998 as a refugee from Somalia, Fuad Mahamed soon left behind a career as an engineer to work on his passion: Supporting people who, like himself, had newly arrived to the UK often fleeing war and oppression. Founded in 2008 in St Pauls, Ashley Community Housing (ACH) is a leading organisation on the integration and support of refugees and asylum seekers with offices in Brist...

Just Stop Oil protestors have been disrupting business as usual since April 2022. A Daily Mail columnist called them “a deranged criminal eco-terrorist cult”. But who are the people behind the headlines? Neil sits down with Dr Patrick Hart, a local GP who has been putting his career and liberty on the line through direct action protests, including the smashing and spray painting of a petrol statio...

Kerry McCarthy, the Labour MP for Bristol East, is the city’s longest serving representative in Westminster. Sometimes described as a ‘Brownite’ having been an ally of the former PM the last time Labour were in power, Kerry is now Shadow Minister for Climate Change. But is the party going far enough to confront the climate crisis? Can the Starmer’s ‘sensible centre ground’ coexist with the Left on...

From striking fear into the hearts of opponents with fearsome fast bowls to a gruesome career ending injury forcing retirement at 29, David ‘Syd’ Lawrence is a cricketing icon in Bristol and beyond. But it wasn’t all plain sailing in a sport known for its elitism for a self-described ‘tear-away kid’ of Black Caribbean heritage. Listen in with Neil and Syd as they discuss the trials and tribulation...

Reach PLC is one of the largest commercial publishers in the UK, which owns household brands like the Mirror and the Daily Star as well as the majority of local titles including Bristol Live, and pulls in millions in revenue. But 1,000 journalists employed by Reach PLC started striking yesterday (Wednesday) after rejecting a 3% pay rise. As reported by the Cable earlier this week , junior staff at...

When does bad behaviour get so serious that a young person should be permanently excluded from the mainstream school system? No More Exclusions , a campaign Lana co-founded, says never. For Lana, doing so is the result of a failed and often racist system. As an educator with decades of experience in Bristol and the region, Lana has a powerful vision that refuses to give up on any child. But what a...

Women’s football was banned by the Football Association in 1921. Lasting for 50 years, the grandees of the football establishment deemed the sport “quite unsuitable for females”. Now, teams such as Aimee Palmer’s Bristol City are seeing an explosion in interest and fans. With England’s Lionesses eyeing up victory at the ongoing Euros, Neil and Aimee chat about her difficult journey as a profession...

Suddenly everyone is talking about trade unions in the struggle over who will bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis. We speak to someone at the forefront of organising a local dispute between workers and employers, part of a wave of workplace unrest taking place across the country. Josh Connor is a local organiser for trade union Unison, and is supporting care workers to take strike action a...

Tom Morris says he has an “almost indecent passion” for Bristol Old Vic, the oldest theatre in continuous operation in the English speaking world. But how has the Kings Street institution evolved? Has it changed enough to justify huge amounts of public money and reach all communities with top quality art? Amid some fawning by Neil about Tom’s brother, Chris Morris, they chat about the simmering cu...

Opposition councillors say they have been shut out of scrutinising and making decisions, but Paul Hassan says the mayoral system has provided a focal point of leadership for the city as a whole to come together and solve common problems. Hassan came to Bristol in 1987 and doesn't remember the committee years fondly - and neither does he think May's vote will help address the deeper issues that Bri...

Nicola Bowden-Jones was at the heart of Bristol’s Labour Party for years, but is now at odds with the city’s Labour administration in a big way. Having resigned amid a dispute with the mayor, Bowden-Jones is now campaigning to scrap the role altogether on the basis that it is anti-democratic. Some say this is a personal vendetta against Marvin Rees, but Bowden-Jones says for the city to move forwa...

The city’s Labour administration says this referendum is an expensive distraction from the big issues the city faces. But have they brought it upon themselves? Opponents say the referendum is due to failure to engage with opposition councillors and a tendency to handpick who is involved in city governance, including too much influence of business. Ellie King, Labour’s cabinet member for Public Hea...

The Lib Dem councillor who ‘prides himself on being a thorn in the mayor’s side’ led the vote on securing the referendum on whether to scrap the mayor. Representing Hotwells and Harbourside, Alex Hartley has compared the mayoral system to a post-Soviet oligarchy. Is this ridiculous exaggeration by a party set to gain the most from an insider’s political dispute, or a fair comment on a lack of true...

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

The Railway Maritime and Transport trade union are no strangers to controversy, from winning massive pay rises for their members through sustained strike action, to an unapologetically socialist stance and recent accusations of being ‘Putin apologists’. But what role does an “industrially and politically militant union” play today? Neil speaks with RMT regional organiser and Bristolian Brendan Kel...

The city's longstanding and self-proclaimed satirical scandal sheet has a reputation for not holding back on attacking local politicians, along with the great and the good for alleged wrongdoing. But what is the story behind the anonymously produced publication? Once nominated for a Paul Foot award, is their approach of journalism mixed with what many see as relentless trolling relevant in a chang...

Nura Aabe as a mother and campaigner in the city's special needs crisis, and being Black and a Conservative. A mother of a son with autism, Nura Aabe has been a central figure in the struggle to secure better special educational needs support in the city - in schools, the council and the Somali community. As a former local candidate for the Conservatives, Neil and Nura also discuss politics and wh...

Dan Norris is Labour's elected Metro-Mayor for WECA, aka the West of England region. Norris is the second in the role, following the Conservative's Tim Bowles and brings experience as a minister in Blair's government. So what are his politics and policies now? And, with some simmering beef with other local leaders, how does he plan to manage the various challenges and conflicts with the aim of get...

The Gasheads have a new CEO. Tom Gorringe joined the club as commercial director in 2017 and says he is determined to drive the club forward and bring everyone along with him as CEO. But the club has some challenges on its hands, on and off the pitch. Including questions over a new stadium, Wael al-Qadi’s ownership and how the Rovers can embrace the modern game while keeping true to traditions. Li...