Podcast
The Trawl
Hosted by Jemma Forte & Marina Purkiss · EN
Broadcaster, Jemma Forte, and political commentator, Marina Purkiss, scroll through Twitter so you don’t have to.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Trawl Meets: Carol Vorderman
Feb 15, 202400:57:35Tap to summarizeJemma and Marina were thrilled to speak with the leader of the opposition AKA Carol Vorderman.They talk corruption, boobs, bums and politics. A juicy Trawl for your delectation. Enjoy!Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 128: UnPop Cons, Holly Vallance & Gregg Wallace...
Feb 13, 202400:50:38Tap to summarizeGrab your popcorn, we're off to Pop Con...Jemma and Marina take you through the lowlights of the Popular Conservatism conference - the latest Tory splinter group headed up, unironically, by the most unpopular Conservative known to man, Liz Truss. After realizing they are both "left-wing extremists" in Truss's power-sodden mind, Jemma and Marina discuss how after the anti-elites Pop Con conference, 30 Conservatives gathered for cocktails at Rees-Mogg’s £5m Westminster townhouse, at 2pm, on a Tuesday, like we all do.Then it's move over Mike Graham - there's a new genius in town, and this one is the MP for Ashfield, 30p Lee who took to the stage to declare that coal is sustainable, just like concrete. Jemma and Marina explore the underlying beliefs that drives all conservatives, before putting to the test a crucial theory posed by James O'Brien: Would Jacob-Ress Mogg be taken seriously if the guff that fell from his mouth was delivered with a working-class accent? The results are 100% conclusive. Then it's onto THAT clip of Holly Vallance, in which the ex-soap and pop starlet declared lefty ideas to be "crappy". And that everyone starts off a lefty until they get houses or jobs - and then they move to the right. Or in Vallance's case, they marry a billionaire.Moving on, the ladies chat through a day in the life of MasterChef's, Gregg Wallace after an article he wrote for The Telegraph Magazine left a lot of us questioning his life choices...and then our own...and then also fancying a Harvester breakfast.The Trawl ends with some tips from the Daily Mail for how to fend off an XL bully if you find yourself under attack - really useful stuff, just remember not to leave the house without your spare carrier bag of attack meat. And Marina offers up her own eye-opening advice, which requires no props at all.To finish is a delightful pudding from Satirist Sue Harrison of Liz Truss - if she went to an improv class. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 127: Sunak's Gaffes
Feb 11, 202400:43:45Tap to summarizeWe'd bet you a £1000 you've heard about the bet between Sunak and Piers Morgan, only there's a cost of living crisis and we're not that crass. Yes, the Prime Minister of Britain actually thought it was appropriate to allow himself to be boxed in by Morgan to the point where he shook his hand on television, betting that he'd get a plane load of refugees into the air. A new low. His defence? I was taken by surprise. Marina and Jemma aren't entirely sure that's much comfort coming from the leader of the country. Then, to make a bad week even worse, Sunak makes a 'joke' in Parliament about Starmer not knowing what a woman is, on the day the mother of murdered trans girl Brianna Ghey is in the chamber. Despite how appalling this is, no apology has been made. Instead, MP after MP fall over themselves to defend, gaslight and double down. Warning - none of it is edifying but Jemma and Marina try to make sense of it and discuss why they think Sunak gets it so wrong time and time again. We finish off with a bit of corruption and a fantastic pudding from Munya Chawawa. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 126: Brexit Anniversary: Four years on.
Feb 9, 202400:44:26Tap to summarizeIn this ep Jemma and Marina are 'celebrating' the fourth anniversary of Brexit by listening to some old clips of people who were certain it would be marvellous. The Trawl ladies were tempted to exchange gifts but in order to stick to the theme, they'd have needed a ring which turns your finger green or a carriage clock that doesn't work. They particularly enjoyed the compare and contrast moment of the lead singer of Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, talking about how his industry wouldn't be affected back in 2018 vs him speaking now, in 2024 about how....his industry has been affected. Ah, hindsight's a wonderful thing though to be fair he probably had slightly more of a grasp on Brexit than the Love Islanders. Though only slightly.Still, at least he's not a politician who has championed something she said would be great for business who now says businesses need to suck it up ( not actual words). Cue Andrea Leadsom. Once Andrea has said the word so many times it no longer means anything, we turn to Jacob Rees Mogg to hear what he's up to on this glorious anniversary. In a quite extraordinary clip, hear him trying to tell a farmer about farming. (Spoiler the farmer isn't delighted with Brexit). Then, Marina and Jemma take a moment to ponder why the French rioted when they found out their retirement age was to increase by two years, whereas here, it's being said we'll have to work till we're 71 and no one's batted an eyelid. A glorious exchange between Matthew Wright and Ann Widdecombe is a wonderful palate cleanser before pudding by The Exploding Heads.Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 125: Lucy Frazer calls bias, we call bull...
Jan 28, 202400:40:45Tap to summarizeThe Tory bellendery is strong in this ep... First, we have the audacity of a Govt known for 'losing' its WhatsApps announcing its new Govt WhatsApp, followed by a series of car crash interviews that are almost painful to listen to - a pile-up if you like. Staring with... Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer, the little girl who cried bias. Or was it perception of bias? Or evidence of bias? Same Same. Jemma and Marina explore the possibility that the BBC may be bias, but arrive at a conclusion that is just a tad different to Lucy's. Next up for interviews they'd rather forget was Tory MP, Huw Merriman who has a perception that the BBC is bias because The News Quiz mocked Tory MPs and the Government - which ironically gives us even more reason to mock Tory MPs and the Government. And finally, it's guaranteed-to-go viral, Susan Hall, the Tory Mayoral candidate who does Sadiq Khan's campaigning for him. In another Nick Ferrari interview on LBC she is exposed for not knowing the stuff she is supposed to know about now, and then not really knowing the stuff that she supposedly once knew about - splendid stuff. The ladies touch upon that moment when Sunak laughed in the face of a woman asking him about the NHS and reminded us that he has less charisma and likeability that Mark Francois on a Tory rebellion day. Then it's into underrated tweets, followed by a pudding so powerful that it couldn't be left out. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeJRdniLDY1H90x_MMPQ_A Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 124: Steel yourself - we're off to Port Talbot
Jan 26, 202400:43:43Tap to summarizeJemma and Marina decide this episode is an 'eat your greens' type of ep because what's happened in Port Talbot certainly isn't funny. Around 3000 people are set to lose their jobs when the blast furnaces are closed so the tone is perhaps more serious than usual because the Trawl ladies really want to look at how it's got to this point. After all, Sunak gave Tata Steel £500 million to 'protect jobs', only it turns out he didn't get any assurances in return. Now, a community is decimated and we'll be the only country in the G20 not to be making steel. The majority of the media are blaming Net Zero so thank goodness for Byline TV and ex first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones who actually utters the 'B' word and explains why Brexit has caused this. It won't come as a huge surprise to find out that the people of Port Talbot voted Leave, but then they were targeted with Facebook ads which claimed in order to protect the steel industry that was what they needed to do. It's a sorry mess. Thank goodness for the Nicola Sturgeon WhatsApp online brouhaha. There are also some excellent under rated tweets to lighten the mood and, in Jemma's case, lower the tone. Pudding is from the magnificent Munya Chawawa and is Traitors themed. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeJRdniLDY1H90x_MMPQ_A Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 123: Sniggling - When 30p Lee became Hurty Lee
Jan 20, 202400:53:13Tap to summarizeAnother week of Tory psychodrama, another week of Tories making utter fools of themselves. It's hard to know where to start, so Jemma and Marina intro with a gem from Tory mayoral candidate, Susan Mason and her Essex nightclub howler.Then it's a quick chat about THAT YouGov poll - and how it was oh so perfectly timed to collide with the Rwanda vote. And my word...what a kerfuffle. All that noise, pressure, threats, resignations - all for the bill to pass with just 11 looney rebels prepared to stand firm. Trust Tory rebels to be too incompetent to rebel.Jemma and Marina savour the moment '30p Lee' became 'Hurty Lee' and invented a whole new word to describe the utter trauma of being...sniggled at. The ladies chat through the desperate lengths Sunak is going to in pursuit of his albatross Rwanda bill - including his magic trick, where from out of nowhere he is going to abracadabra up 150 judges. It would be rude not to include Therese Coffey's ruinous House of Commons moment regarding Rwanda, and then it's onto an observation of "Dodgy" Dave Cameron's Brexit admission on the Laura Kuenssberg show.To finish, Jemma shares some cheeky weather reports, Marina brings up the Royals - because apparently we are a nation reeling and worrying ourselves sick over how Prince William will manage bathtime, and you're in for a treat with a perfectly on theme 30p Pudding. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 122: A Very British Post Office Scandal
Jan 12, 202400:53:07Tap to summarizeWhy can’t every freeborn Briton burn his Christmas tree in his own hearth? Jemma and Marina ponder how this question, that is on precisely nobody's lips, was chosen by blovitaing bell Boris Johnson as the hill to die on for his £15k per column article in the Daily Mail. You've got to wonder if they're having buyer's remorse yet. Then brace yourselves, as it's onto our new Brexit benefit! Move aside pint of wine, because now we have shellfish in the Thames! Prawn cocktail a la Thames, anyone? Or perhaps a bit of Coquille St Craps? But the meat of this pod is dedicated to the utterly gut-wrenching Post Office scandal. The ladies discuss why this story has finally captured everyone's attention and how it is sadly symptomatic of a country where the rich and powerful can cheat and crush the little person.They discuss the gross gangster-style bullying and intimidation carried out by the Post Office and talk about the person who is really at fault here... Keir Starmer - apparently! Plus they pay homage to tireless campaigners of the cause like Priti Patel, or at least she made out she was, until a Community Note on X proved otherwise. After a delicious dose of fury from Ian Hislop as he schooled Tory MP Jake 'not very bright' Berry, the ladies move on to Kate Middleton's winning fashion formula, which is totally accessible for all - we just need to wait for H&M to start stocking diamond-encrusted tiaras, shields and tridents. Then it's onto underrated tweets and clips of the week, including a particularly cheeky Farage-flavoured one and a belter of a Post Office pudding from the wonderful satirist, Rosie Holt. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutube:https://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →The Trawl Meets: Jen Brister
Jan 10, 202401:07:02Tap to summarizeComedian and writer Jen Brister eschews X but is massive on Instagram where clips of her brilliant stand-up frequently go viral. Jemma and Marina love her so much, they've both been to seen her live so imagine their delight when they found out Jen, not only listens to The Trawl, but also can't stand the Tories. Inevitably, politics is at the forefront of their minds in this get together, but there's plenty of chat about parenthood and why it's OK to admit playgrounds are boring (for adults). Marina and Jemma enjoy playing clips of their Jen Brister highlights and it all makes for a very fun Trawl. Jen's new special: The Optimisthttps://800poundgorillamedia.com/products/jen-brister-the-optimistThank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ep 121: Sunak tries to be normal...
Jan 8, 202400:50:43Tap to summarizeIt's the first Trawl of 2024 and the ladies are back with a bang - or indeed, a massive bell!Jemma and Marina lament taking quite so long to record the first new year's Trawl. They expected the Tories to be less chaotic over the festive period and into the new year, but alas, they got that as wrong as a Patrick Minford economy prediction.There were many uncool yule moments, and many festive bells, but in this episode Jemma and Marina explore the lowlights of a man with more community notes than your local civic centre: Rishi Sunak. And the little weasel has been busy...First Rishi did Home Alone, then Rishi did Southampton FC, then Rishi did the oldest youth centre known to man - but what Rishi didn't do, was the truth. Sunak's 2023 lookback was interesting... In that it was a lookback on a 2023 that will have been familiar to absolutely no one, but worry not, as you'll be sure to find comedian Tilly Thorpe's version is far more on point. The ladies discuss the latest in global Britain, including Sunak opening the year with a tweet announcing the end of global Britain. Because stopping a Chinese student from bringing their mother to the UK is now delivering for the British people...Then it's onto the biggest bells of all - Gongs! Jemma and Marina lament a country where Sir Wetherspoon is now a thing and breakers of electoral law don't get banned from parliament, but instead embedded within it. They also wonder what cup size one must reach before their political opinions become irrelevant - this might be one for Lord Bailey of Paddington to answer. Underrated tweets include a fox hunting gem, all polished off with a tuneful treat from The Marsh Family regarding those peerages, with a sing named: “Does Truss not feel ashamed?” Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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