Bristol Unpacked
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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- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 50 minutes
- Episodes
- 111
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
WECA Mayor Helen Godwin - redefining regional leadership and sorting out the buses
Our guest today is no stranger to the show. Back in 2020, Neil spoke with Helen Godwin when she was a Bristol City Councillor. A lot has changed since then. Not only has the Bristol mayoral role been…
Lee Haskins: The world champ boxer who never left Lockleaze
Neil scored a conversation with Bristol's homegrown boxing legend, Lee Haskins. You might know him as a former world champion, but today, ten years on from that victory, the two catch up to talk shop…
Mythbusting Islam & Islamophobia, with Rizwan Ahmed
Trigger Warning: Contains discussions about grooming gangs in the second half
This week it’s another episode of Bristol Unpacked. Islam is back in the firing line of the culture wars, with a new legal…
£20m for Hartcliffe: Kirsty Tait on climate change, class & community
Join Neil Maggs alongside councillor for Hartcliffe and Withywood Kirsty Tate, to talk about class & climate justice in her community.
Kirsty is the Climate Action Manager at Heart of BS13, and is a …
From Eastville to LA (via Wigan): Bristol Northern Soul Club
We're going up north – or actually, the north is coming down south to Bristol. You've probably clocked by now that there's been a massive Northern Soul revival in the city, so we thought we'd unpack …
Kalpna Woolf: From migrant kid in London to High Sheriff of Bristol
This week we’ve got the next instalment of Bristol Unpacked for you. Neil managed to get a chat in with our new High Sheriff, Kalpna Woolf. Its one of those mysterious, archaic titles that somehow ha…
A year of Green power in Bristol with council leader Tony Dyer
One year into his leadership of Bristol City Council, Green party councillor for Southville Tony Dyer sits down with Neil to talk about it. Is he a Noel type? or a Liam? or a Bonehead? (apparently th…
What is a citizens' assembly and how do they work?
With faith in democracy – and in particular in traditional political parties – at a low ebb, in the UK and elsewhere, this week Unpacked wrestles with whether citizens’ assemblies offer a chance to r…
Cider, jet skis and the WECA mayoral election: BBC journalist Pete Simson
In this instalment of Bristol Unpacked, Neil is joined by BBC Politics West editor Pete Simson to unpack the upcoming West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Mayoral election. Simson, a veteran pol…
Legendary Bristol photographer Colin Moody
This week, we’re diving into Bristol’s vibrant nightlife. Neil talks with legendary Bristol photographer Colin Moody who has has been wide awake, capturing the city after dark in his latest project.
C…
From the archive: Carla Denyer becomes Green party co-leader (2021)
This week we’re bringing you another episode from the Bristol Unpacked Archives; its Green party MP Carla Denyer who was interviewed by Neil in October 2021, just after her election as co-chair of Th…
From the archive: Jayde Adams, the slap, Bristolian accent, grief and coming home
From the archive
April 2022
"As the slap reverberates around the world we talk all things comedy with Jayde Adams - who went from working in Asda Bedminster to her own Amazon Prime Special. She just st…
Barrister Lucy Reed on opening up the secretive family courts
Lucy Reed is a barrister in the family courts, where separating couples hammer out child custody arrangements and where, in one of the most severe decisions the state can take, orders are made to tak…
Dr Patrick Hart: Just Stop Oil petrol station sabotage court case - From the archives
From the archives - an update
Today we bring you an episode from the archives with Dr Patrick Hart. Patrick took action in August 2022 to demand an end to new licences and consents for oil and gas pro…
Ex-Lord Mayor Paul Goggin talks homelessness and mental health
It’s the coldest time of the year, and Bristol’s homelessness crisis is as bleak as ever. How does it feel to be out on the streets? This week, Neil puts the question to Paul Goggin, ex-Lord Mayor of…
Amanda Sharman on leading the charge for boat dwellers' rights
Bristol is famous for being a maritime city, and its harbour – a vast area of water and historic docklands regenerated from dereliction since the 1990s – draws tourists from all over the world. But …
Samira Musse on community power and giving children confidence
When authorities make plans that affect people’s lives, what do they get wrong – and how can they do better at working with communities? What are the lessons here for the council in Bristol, as it co…
Barry Parsons on Green Party power in Bristol – and whether they can do anything about the housing crisis
A year on from the Barton House tower block evacuation, and six months after the Green Party became the largest party on Bristol City Council, what has changed as Bristol continues to grapple with a …
Bristol Unpacked Election Special - Emma Edwards // Green Party
Emma Edwards is the leader of Bristol Green Party who could well be in charge of the council for the first time after May's local elections. She chats to Neil about the Green's vision for doing polit…
Bristol Unpacked Election Special - Mark Weston // Conservative
Neil Maggs sits down with Mark Weston, who was first elected as a councillor nearly 20 years ago, and has led the local Tory party for a decade. On the eve of the local elections, they discuss the To…