Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Listen: Bristol Unpacked, with Labour councillor Kirsty Tait on the Just Transition and how best to spend £20m in Hartcliffe
Neil asks Hartcliffe and Withywood representative Kirsty Tait about the government money the neighbourhood is getting – and about the importance of putting working-class voices at the centre of climate conversations.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked – high sheriff Kalpna Woolf on connecting people through food and battling for boardroom diversity
Neil chats to Kalpna Woolf on her journey from west London migrant kid to BBC head of production, cookbook author and boardroom diversity advocate – as well asking what exactly a high sheriff gets up to.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with David Jubb of Citizens in Power – can citizens’ assemblies relight our democratic fires?
Neil sits down with David Jubb to talk citizens' assemblies: how do they work, why are they a better way of doing politics, and what's the new one he's helping run here in the West of England all about?
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with the BBC’s Pete Simson on the WECA mayoral election, making politics interesting and why snacks matter
Neil talks to Pete Simson, BBC Politics West editor, about the race to become the new mayor of the West of England Combined Authority and whether an upset in the 2025 election is likely after Arron Banks' entry.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with photographer Colin Moody on documenting the city, and the threats to its nightlife
In the first of a new season of Unpacked, Neil talks to Colin about his new book collaboration with Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley, celebrating Bristol's nightlife – and the challenges venues face in the post-Covid era.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked from the archive, with Green co-leader Carla Denyer on taking on Labour and tackling lazy views of her party
In our second raid on the Unpacked vaults, from 2021, Carla and Neil discuss overturning Green Party stereotypes, aiming for a kinder local politics and conquering the left-wing territory being vacated by Labour.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked from the archive, with the city’s comedy legend Jayde Adams on loss, laughter and local voices
Delving into the Unpacked vaults, Jayde and Neil discuss the politics of comedy, the power of grief, and the dearth of Bristolian accents in the media and on TV in this episode from 2022.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked with barrister Lucy Reed, on opening the secretive family courts to scrutiny
The family courts, which make orders for children to be taken into care, have long been a hidden world, but that's now changing. Neil talks to barrister and transparency campaigner Lucy about why this matters, and how the system needs to change.
Listen: Bristol Unpacked, with former Lord Mayor Paul Goggin on homelessness, mental health and the struggle for south Bristol votes
'It's been eventful', says Paul Goggin, of a life that has featured both rough sleeping and local politics. He joins Neil Maggs to talk housing, faith, and whether Labour should fear Reform in wards like Hartcliffe and Withywood.
