No Holds Barred Pod

Interim Non Episode Minisode — Labour Scrap ACOBA, the Nelk Boys and Lee Anderson Tries to Land Himself in Hot Water Due to Don being in Portugal and Starlink broadband being terrible, we've had to do a hastily recorded interim minisode so you don't miss us until we're able to put out a full EP on Monday. So, we've put together some bullet points of the homework you need to have finished by the ti...

PMQs Party & Trump — End of Term PMQs, the Defence of Motability and Trump's Crazed Meltdown Sal celebrated the end of PMQs with her own little party this week. Clips will follow, but the video is a must-watch. We chatted about Reform and their continuing lies … again. This week saw an outright attack on the disabled community, but we rallied and produced some stunning citizen defence. And...

Continuity Calamity — Sickfluencers, Reform Failures and [some] Wins for Labour This week our guest is Dr Rachel Morris, a wonderful journalist and writer of many amazing things. We spoke to Rachel about politics, Wales and some of her astonishing investigative work. See the links below for her work. Please check them out, you won’t be disappointed.  Other than that, as the episode name suggests,...

Unacceptable Politics — Welfare Bill, Glastonbury Faux-Outrage and Rachel Reeves As you may expect, Sal had some excoriating commentary on Labour's catastrof**k — the Welfare Bill, this week. Listen to our analysis of ineptitude. PMQs was interesting this week, sort of. We chat about the insane confected outrage over the more outspoken Glastonbury acts last weekend, and Reform are up to their...

Another long episode for you this week, but we had a lot to cover. As always, we have Sal's roundup of PMQs. Don did some more data analysis, this time into a Reform Deputy Council leader who is, let's say, a little workshy. We had a little mini interview with the inimitable Carol Hedges about the Assisted Dying Bill. That's toward the end of the episode, but is well worth listening to. More Refor...

This week, we talked about, as always, Reform — but this week Don has been busy with Freedom of Information Requests to see if their DOGE claims matched up to reality. Listen to hear the result. We also had the chance to talk to Gary Trowsdale, a charity campaigner and political commentator. The interview went short due to technical issues, but we'll get Gary back soon to follow up. You can hear D...

Unbelievably, we forgot to talk about some stuff yesterday. Mainly, the fact that an elected MP wrote to me on 𝕏 to ask for some advice. So, hey Richard Tice, here it is. https://x.com/donmcgowan/status/1932088499441717578 Thanks as always to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TheZombyPop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on 𝕏 for our theme tune. If you want to send us anything to read out, or a video/voice note about something you're passionate ab...

This week, Sal had an extended chat with Dr Jay Watts — a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and activist. They discussed a few things, but, for the most part, about the government's continued push to cut disability and welfare benefits. We talk about this every week, and will continue to do so, but it was incredible to have the input of an expert in the field. Thanks, Jay, please visit us again...

Part two of this week's episode. We decided to re-record the bits that were left out of yesterday's episode and also add a little bit of chat about the Trump/Musk mega cat fight, and to prove that we predicted Reform's demise before anyone else. This is Part Two of EP 08. We also chat a bit about LBC's reliance on certain callers and the Freedom Flotilla making its way to Gaza. Bon...

Sal is back! We've got our usual round up of PMQs, and then an awful lot of chat about Reform. Again. They just keep being stupid, so we have to keep talking about them. DOLGE lol. This is Part One of EP 08 as, for some reason, we lost Sal's audio and video on the record, so we decided to split it in two and follow up with a bonus Part Two, later today. Get this one down you and then come...

This week, due to the very sad passing of Sal's beloved Henry, we have an extra special guest host alongside Don. The inimitable, Supertanskiii joins us to chat about all things political. As always, we talk about politics and the reach of the far-right, Reform and Farage's latest grift. Don also gets a bit nerdy with some stats about Lucy Connolly and 'per capita' stats being weaponised by the ri...

In this episode of No Holds Barred, Sal and Don are joined by a very special guest. Esheru joins us to join in on our weekly ramble through the world of politics. Meandering seamlessly through the oxbow lakes of politics and arriving at the cut-off river of epigenetics. There's chat about Malcolm X, the Tates and social media and, as always, our weekly round up of PMQs. A virtual Smörgåsbord o...

Trigger Warning — we deal with some tough subjects in this episode, particularly during our chat about the assisted dying bill. In this episode of No Holds Barred, hosts Sal and Don delve into various political and social issues, including local concerns, critiques of political leaders, and the role of media in shaping narratives. They discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the implications of t...

On this week's episode, Sal & Don segue! Chat about the local election results, ineptitude of MPs and local government segues flawlessly into discussions on the new pope and Starmer's problematic trade deals. We've also got some squirrel whispering and the usual dose of banter. Quite the expedition! Only one link this week to the squirrel whisperer on Instagram, here . Thanks as al...

On this week's episode, Sal & Don, let's say … meander! Conversation moves seamlessly (!) between local elections, back pain, mental health and, for some reason, Darren Grimes again. There's an in depth look at Wes Streeting and the mental health crisis. Quite the adventure. Thanks as always to ⁠@TheZombyPop⁠ on 𝕏 for our theme tune. The article about NHS waiting lists is here , Ri...

This week is quite a diverse offering, with topics ranging from the exceptionally serious manipulation of PIP and benefits by the government, all the way through to Andrea Jenkyns and her Lincolnshire glory hole. Quite a ride! We've got our first Righteous Rant from special guest, Esheru — @esherukweku.bsky.social Thanks as always to @TheZombyPop on 𝕏 for our theme tune and @TheMeldrew | @Lewe...

Welcome to No Holds Barred.  DISCLAIMER — TECH FAIL! Don recorded with the wrong mic for this show, and so his audio is a bit ropey. That content is still great, though! This week, we chatted about the impact of disability on an entire family, prison sentencing, Reform and some badly informed discussion on the government's semi-nationalisation of British Steel. Every week, join Sal & Don for a...