The Trawl

From baked potatoes to pension raids, it’s another rollercoaster week in the weird and woeful world of UK politics.

Jemma and Marina pay tribute to the glorious Pauline Collins, salute a life well lived, and then plunge straight into the nation’s latest highs and lows, including the latest (Not Prince) Andrew news. It involves a late night snack and what amounts to culinary catastrophe frankly. Somehow this s...

This week on The Trawl, Jemma Forte and Marina Purkiss are knee-deep in the latest wave of outrage from poppy politics to a BBC in apparent crisis.

As Remembrance Sunday came and went, the usual suspects found new ways to weaponise the poppy, turning a moment of reflection into yet another battle in the culture war. Jemma and Marina unpick the hypocrisy, the viral clips, and the veteran being used for clicks.

Then, it’s ...

It’s a week of whiplash on The Trawl. Marina and Jemma begin with words - literally - as they find the perfect Susie Dent–style term to capture the emotional chaos of the moment. From there, it’s a hard swerve into horrors too big to scroll past: Netanyahu’s meltdown over leaked footage from a detention centre, the ongoing genocide in Sudan, and why it's practically impossible to absorb it all.

But even in the darkness, the abs...

Marina and Jemma are riding a rare and glorious wave of optimism because on November 5th, New York City elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor. A progressive, principled, hope-restoring human who didn’t just beat the billionaire class - he trounced them. The internet rejoiced, Fox News melted down, and various billionaires were left clutching their pearls.

Marina and Jemma revel in the joy of seeing an actual adult take charg...

This week on The Trawl, Marina and Jemma wade through a week so grim it makes the John Lewis Christmas ad look like a cry for help.

From Rachel Reeves’ gloomy pre-budget spin to Nigel Farage’s bright idea that young people should earn less (apparently poverty builds character), the Trawl ladies cover it all. There’s a reality check on the cost of living, a brutal look at the online reaction to the LNER train stabb...

Nigel’s on strike because he's not getting enough questions at PMQ'S (widdums), Reform’s spending a lot of money on flags, and Trump’s throwing tariffs about whenever he has a tantrum. This week The Trawl is overflowing with fragile egos, bad maths and moral bankruptcy.

Marina and Jemma pick apart Nigel Farage’s latest pity party, Trump’s gold-plated meltdown over a Canadian ad, and the jaw-dropping Gaza “masterplan” that sounds...

It’s a proper shit sandwich this week, Trawlers — a little light snack, a heavy main course and a very hopeful bite to finish. Followed, of course, as ever by a delicious pudding.

This episode starts with bad news for snack lovers - Penguin bars are no longer technically chocolate (cheers, climate change). Then, Jemma and Marina bite into the grim meat of it all: the racism notch in British politics. From Refo...

This week on The Trawl, Jemma and Marina wade through a global cesspit of power, propaganda and, quite literally, poo.

From Donald Trump’s unhinged AI fantasy, featuring himself as a crowned Top Gun pilot dropping actual sewage on protesters, to the real-life horror of leaked GOP group chats filled with racist bile, America is plumbing new depths. Meanwhile, back in Blighty, Tesco’s being called out, M&S thinks it’s Harrods...

This Week on The Trawl it's winners and losers time... and Reform appear to be losing in a rather spectacular fashion. Marina and Jemma break down the implosion: Russian ties, disappearing councillors, and a Kent council Zoom meltdown that makes Jackie Weaver look like a stateswoman. Oh, and Nigel Farage’s partner? She’s now reportedly embroiled in a criminal probe over alleged EU fund fraud. Suddenly it's all looking a bit spicy.....

Jemma and Marina begin by playing tribute to the incomparable Diane Keaton, Hollywood icon and absolute legend, who sadly died on October 11th at the age of 79.

Then, the Trawl ladies dive headfirst into the political mayhem: there are some Zack Polanski clips to stir you up and news on how the Greens are seeing a surge in popularity and indeed the polls, which can only be attributed to his refreshing approach. His style of...

Trump really wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump didn’t get a Nobel Peace Prize. And we’re starting this week’s Trawl with that delicious fact.

From his ego-fuelled reaction to the prize going elsewhere, to his grotesque grandstanding in Israel and Egypt, it's all in this episode. Trump is centre stage of course, having engineered a ceasefire and subsequent deal which is now to be thrashed out by various leader...

Marina and Jemma were delighted to welcome the new leader of the Green Party onto the pod.

Will he consider a rebrand? Would he form a strategic alliance if it helped prevent a Reform government and how much ‘banquet balderdash’ would he tolerate from Trump if he was PM? Find out this and so much more in this latest instalment of The Trawl Meets. Enjoy!

Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTraw...

At time of record, the world is waiting to see if a peace deal in the Middle East has been achieved. Jemma and Marina hope with every bit of them it happens but also discuss what it might, or might not mean, in reality. Then they pay tribute to some remarkable women - Jilly Cooper, and Dr. Jane Goodall - trailblazers in their own right who entertained, inspired, and made the world better. They also touch on a very&nb...

This week, Marina’s on holiday and Jemma’s steering the ship so expect one or two Trawl anomalies to have slipped through the net and, honestly, what a week to be at the helm.

The Trawl ladies cover the horrific attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, Starmer's reaction, the subsequent mosque attack, and what happened to the flotillas carrying desperately needed aid that never made it through. Greta Thunberg proves, once a...

This week, Jemma and Marina are asking: what if politicians actually faced consequences? Not a cosy resignation, not a fat book deal, not a pity gig on GB News - but actual jail time. A girl can dream...

Sounds like science fiction if you live in Britain, but elsewhere in the world it’s apparently… a thing.

In Brazil, Bolsonaro just bagged 27 years in prison for trying to cling to power - proof that karma occasionally gets ou...

Jemma and Marina are back, rummaging through the week’s digital wreckage and pulling out the bits that made us laugh, rage, and despair in equal measure.

We start, bizarrely, with golf. Yes, golf. The Ryder Cup turned into a geopolitical soap opera, with Rory McIlroy flying the flag, throwing shade, and still finding time to get soppy about his wife. 

Then it’s on to the Labour Party conference, a rollercoaster of h...

In this episode of The Trawl, Jemma and Marina wade through a feed overflowing with madness - from world-shifting diplomacy to unhinged Trump theatrics.

Three nations, the UK, Canada, and Australia, finally recognized Palestinian statehood, prompting Netanyahu to double down on annexation and fury. Meanwhile, the US stands alone at the UN, vetoing yet another ceasefire resolution, a move Amnesty chillingly called a “greenlight f...

Trump’s in town and it’s every bit as grotesque as you’d imagine. From lavish royal dinners and tech-bro fawning, to unhinged speeches, salutes from GB News presenters, and Sadiq Khan becoming the scapegoat for everything wrong with Britain. Marina and Jemma pick apart the circus and wonder what Charles and Camilla must have made of it all. 

But the chaos doesn’t stop there: while Starmer is trying to contain the T...

This week on The Trawl, Jemma and Marina take aim at Keir Starmer’s increasingly head-scratching judgment. From brushing off genocide rulings to parachuting in Peter Mandelson (the man that keeps reappearing like old mildew), with his Epstein-adjacent connections. Meanwhile Donald Trump lands in the UK (awkward timing, given his own Epstein ties) to some not so kind welcomes, and the Royal Courts of Justice decide to jet-wash ...