Podcast
Bristol Unpacked
Hosted by The Bristol Cable · ENGLISH
Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs brings you fascinating and challenging conversations from characters of all stripes on big topics facing the city and beyond.
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124episodes
Episodes
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Ben Carpenter: what should youth services look like?
1w ago00:59:53Tap to summarizeIn December the government announced plans to invest £500m in the country’s youth services – which were gutted during austerity – and create 50 major new and revitalised youth hubs – including at Docklands in St Paul’s. Shockingly this is the first time there has been a national youth strategy in a couple of decades. Our guest today is a man who – like your host Neil – has a long history of working with young people. He’s the outspoken Ben Carpenter, founder and CEO of local youth and community organisation Grassroot Communities.The pair reflect on the state of youth services, and whether the government’s plans go far enough. We get into the massive new Youth Zone opening in south Bristol this month – what are the pros and cons of these kinds of places? And with young people facing massive challenges from financial insecurity to online harms to knife crime, we ask what services should be there for them in an ideal world. Enjoy…The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Paul Smith: spending £20m and not betraying Hartcliffe
3w ago01:02:55Tap to summarizeThis week we welcome back to Unpacked Paul Smith. Last time we had him on the show, in 2020, he was in the local news every week as the councillor in charge of Bristol's housing. For most of the last six years he's been out of the public spotlight, but in the last few weeks has been selected to help locals decide how to spend millions of pounds of government money in the place he grew up – Hartcliffe. While he's not lived there for more than 25 years, it’s a place he remains passionate about – enough to have written a book, Hartcliffe Betrayed, about how the neighbourhood has been failed by people in power, ever since it was planned after the Second World War.Paul, himself a former local Labour councillor for Hartcliffe, and more recently the CEO of a housing association, now finds himself trying to ensure Hartcliffe doesn’t get betrayed again. The programme he'll be leading, Pride in Place, will see £20m invested in the area over 10 years.So why is Paul the right man for the job? How will he ensure that local people get a proper say in how that money – less than it sounds – is put to work? And what would success look like? Sit down and find out, in a hard-hitting and sometimes humorous edition of Bristol Unpacked…The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Yassin Mohamud: Bristol's first Somali lord mayor
May 1100:49:33Tap to summarizeWelcome back after a short break to Bristol Unpacked, and the start of our new season running through until summer. For the first episode we welcome Yassin Mohamud, a Green councillor for Lawrence Hill, the ward that includes Barton Hill, which as well as sitting within the controversion East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood scheme was the scene of the disastrous Barton House tower block evacuation in 2023. It's a busy, diverse inner-city area where there is always plenty to keep local politicians on their toes. In the week this episode goes live Yassin will be sworn in as Bristol’s Lord Mayor – the first in our city to come from the Somali community. While it’s mostly a ceremonial role, he’s pledged to use to bring people back together and ensure everyone feels listened to. We’re keen to hear more about how his background in community work and dealing with difficult issues might help him do that. We’ll also get into the importance of his identity, and how his new platform can help challenge anti-immigrant attitudes – which were amplified last year by Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate Arron Banks, who accused Bristol’s Somalis of being at the forefront of crime. Hope you enjoy, we'll be back again in two weeks. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Lewis Wedlock: towards a positive masculinity
Apr 1301:01:52Tap to summarizeThis week we welcome Lewis Wedlock to discuss his work as a ‘masculinities educator’ with young people in schools in Bristol and across the country. In our age of controversial 'hypermasculine' online influencers – perhaps most famously, Andrew Tate – this can be an eye-opening experience, to put it mildly. Of course the ‘manosphere’ of which Tate is part has broken massively into the wider consciousness recently. Last year the hard-hitting Netflix drama Adolescence went viral, followed just a few weeks ago by Louis Theroux’ documentary Inside the Manosphere. Many people – including Lewis – questioned whether that film should have done more to challenge the men making a fortune out of packaging idealised, unobtainable and sometimes toxic versions of masculinity on social media and podcasts. People outside of that world – and especially parents of boys – can find it both terrifying and bewildering, in terms of its appeal. So this week we’re seeking to get into why it’s so attractive and what its impact is. We’ll ask be exploring what Lewis – who has a book out, called Masculinity in Schools – believes a more positive vision of masculinity can look like. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Kerri Matthews: what happens when parents go to prison?
Mar 3000:59:40Tap to summarizeWhat happens to families when a parent ends up in prison? That’s the question we’re getting into this week on Unpacked with Kerri Matthews, a director of Bristol's EveryFamily charity.Over more than a decade EveryFamily, which started as a SureStart children's centre, has developed specialist services working with families where a parent is in prison – something Kerri, a mum herself, has been at the heart of. It leads on supporting families affected by parental offending across South Gloucestershire, Somerset and, via a contract with Avon and Somerset Police, Bristol.So what is the impact on a child when their parent is jailed – something that’s been likened to a bereavement? What’s it like working with mums and dads to open up about their own feelings and relationships – and parenting – in the tough environment of a prison? And looking at the big picture, what needs to change in how we work with children and families, to give people the best chances in life? Neil and Kerri get into all this and more, in this week’s Bristol Unpacked – hope you enjoy.The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Heather Williams: trauma, community and healing in south Bristol
Mar 1601:02:42Tap to summarizeThis week Unpacked gets into the difficult topic of trauma: what is it, who does it effect and how does it manifest?Our guest is someone who speaks wisely both from a personal and professional perspective, on how trauma, passing through generations, can affect not just individuals but entire communities.Heather Williams is CEO of Knowle West Park, and has spearheaded the organisation through a turbulent time in the south Bristol estate in the aftermath of the tragic murders of young boys Max Dixon and Mason Rist. Coming from across the local postcode divide as a longtime Hartcliffe resident, Heather’s approach has been informed by her own 30-year personal journey to break the chains of abuse she experienced as a child. Bringing up her daughter as a young single mother, she became the first member of her family to go to university before moving into community work and then becoming the leader of a local organisation doing vital work around health in its widest sense. In another essential episode, she and Neil get deep into questions of harm, healing, and how people can be empowered to lead their own communities and tell their own stories. Enjoy. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Edson Burton: what is culture and who does it belong to?
Mar 201:04:04Tap to summarizeDr Edson Burton wears many different hats, both figuratively and literally. He’s a writer, performer, historian, poet, well-dressed man about town, and – as you’ll know if you follow his social channels – physical training enthusiast. So who better to wade into one of the thorniest issues of the day: what is our culture, and who does it belong to? In a freewheeling chat with Neil, Edson speaks about his personal experience of moving between worlds: working-class Bedford roots to academic institutions; Radio 4 to grassroots venues; poetry to dancefloors. Rather than “cutting himself off” from any part of his life, he describes identity as something we carry — and something that keeps evolving.That applies not only to individuals but also Bristol, and to the wider UK as it wrestles with economic and political changes, the temptation of populism and questions over who we even are as a nation now. With our city vying to become UK City of Culture in 2029, Edson and Neil explore how culture can people can get out of their silos and find the things that unite us. It’s an epic chat that Neil admits he'd have happily carried on for another few hours – enjoy. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Joe Joyce: rugby, resilience and returning to the West Country
Feb 1600:56:36Tap to summarizeWhen you’re known as the ‘King of Southmead’, how does it feel to be copping abuse on social media from the good people of Bristol?That’s the situation that former longtime Bristol Bears lock Joe Joyce, who grew up on the north Bristol estate, has faced this year after it was announced he will return to play rugby in the West Country – for rivals Gloucester. This week, with the Six Nations well underway, Bristol Unpacked is taking one of its periodic forays into the world of sport as Neil – himself a former sports journalist – sits down with Joe to discuss his return from Connacht in Ireland, as he enters the autumn of his career.What’s it like as a 32-year-old elite sportsperson to confront the fact that your playing days are numbered? What is Joe planning to do next? And how has rugby changed since he got his breakthrough – both in terms of its ties to the public school system and its famous association with hard drinking? Find out on the latest Unpacked – hope you enjoy.The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Ani Townsend: art, inequality and the case for universal basic income
Feb 201:03:05Tap to summarizeUniversal basic income means the state providing citizens with a bare-bones income that allows them to survive and keep a roof over their head. It’s an idea that’s been kicking around for decades. But with AI threatening people’s jobs and many arguing the benefits system is not fit for purpose, it’s seeing renewed interest and Bristol councillors passed a motion calling on the council to ask government for a trial here. This would focus on people in the creative sector – an area that’s getting plenty of attention as Bristol bids to be the 2029 UK City of Culture. This week, we’re speaking to the Green politician who put forward that motion, Ani Townsend who represents the Bristol Central ward and has worked for decades as a costume designer and milliner (hat maker).So why does it makes sense to give people free money? Why can supporting the arts sector help address class inequalities? And with the Greens riding high in polls, is leader Zack Polanski’s brand of ‘eco-populism’ is what the left needs in the age of Reform?The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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Clare Moody: policing, power and a political cancellation
Jan 1900:58:12Tap to summarizeHow does the Labour politician who oversees policing in Avon and Somerset feel about being cancelled by her own party after less than 18 months in office? This week we’re talking to Clare Moody, Avon & Somerset’s police and crime commissioner (PCC), who beat her Conservative predecessor Mark Shelford by 5,000 votes in 2024, albeit on a low turnout of 23%. In November, as we were finalising the guest booking, policing minister Sarah Jones announced that the Starmer government would be scrapping PCCs, which were set up under the Tories in the 2010s, with a statement calling the role a "failed experiment". The Police Federation, which represents the rank and file, backed the move.In this first Unpacked of 2026, Neil asks Moody about whether her job still matters, and what comes next, about the state of policing nationally and here in Bristol, and about what forces need to do to regain the trust of communities they serve. Enjoy. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.
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