Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs brings you fascinating and challenging conversations from characters of all stripes on big topics facing the city and beyond. Sign up to the Cable’s newsletter and follow us on social media to listen in. Subscribe for new episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Presenter: Neil Maggs
Audio producer: George Colwey
Executive producer: Priyanka Raval
Illustration: Jazz Thompson
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.
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.
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.
'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.
Who are the boat-dwellers living around Bristol's harbour, and why have they been at loggerheads with Bristol City Council? Neil Maggs chats to Bristol Boaters' Community Association co-chair Amanda Sharman to find out.
What's behind Bristol's Green surge? How does it feel to be finally leading the city council? And does the party have any new ideas on the housing crisis? Join Neil Maggs as we get stuck into a brand-new season of Bristol Unpacked…
Growing support for the Green Party could well see them running the council beyond May's local elections, but are they ready to make the tricky transition from the main local opposition to being in charge?
The councillor of nearly 20 years discusses the Tories' miserable national polling, the millions of pounds of public money wasted by the council, and the cultural divides between Bristol's inner city and suburbs.
The experienced local councillor, who is a strong critic of Marvin Rees and the mayoral system, talks libraries, Bristol's failing bus services and her prediction that Labour will take a kicking after eight years in power.
Labour will be trying to hold onto power after eight years of running the city. Local leader Tom Renhard says the Greens, Labour's main competition, won't be able to step up and make big decisions.
Salma, a lawyer who spent her childhood in Gaza, shares the 'dystopian' experience of life under occupation and knowing your family are in a war zone, as well as discussing happier memories and pro-Palestinian activism in the UK.
