Sport Triggers MAGA, Mandelson's Makeover, and the Epstein Blackout

Marina Purkiss and Jemma Forte dive headfirst into the political absurdity of the past seven days and honestly? You couldn’t script it.First up: the US Congress hearing that left jaws on the floor. Attorney General Pam Bondi arrived armed with a massive binder and a promise of transparency and delivered… evasions. With Epstein survivors present in the room, the exchanges were tense, emotional, and deeply uncomfortable. The Trawl ladies unpack.Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to generate headlines for all the wrong reasons from tariff confusion to podium moments that raise more eyebrows than answers. Is this strategy, chaos, or something else entirely?Back home, Reform UK has decided that working from home is apparently the enemy of civilisation. Marina and Jemma look at the party’s push against remote working, the glaring inconsistencies, and why critics say the policy raises more questions than it answers.Plus: Jewish activists heckle Nigel Farage, Melanie Stansbury refuses to mince her words, and The Marsh Family deliver the pudding.Buckle up, Trawlers.Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we start with cursed Valentine’s poetry from...Greg Wallace and a rogue “dangler", before plunging straight into the political sewer. Rory Stewart decides that £94k counts as “low income”, Trump posts a racist video in the middle of the night and then immediately blows up his own press office’s cover story, and Labour descends into full‑blown chaos as Morgan McSweeney finally exits stage left.Marina and Jemma pick through the wreckage: Wes Streeting’s leaked war‑crimes admission, Mandelson’s potential fingerprints over Palantir, and a Labour Party so busy chasing Reform voters it’s forgotten its own base. It’s maddening, it’s bleakly funny, and it’s exactly why The Trawl exists - because someone has to sift through this BS. Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olympians dare to distance themselves from Trump, Bad Bunny turns the Super Bowl halftime show into a love-soaked middle finger, and Kid Rock delivers what may be the worst miming incident in broadcast history.Then it gets darker. Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network run a Super Bowl PSA demanding the truth while the US government, British media and political class continue to redact, deflect and downplay. Why are names still hidden? Why is the press treating this like an inconvenience rather than the biggest abuse-and-blackmail scandal in modern history? And why does Peter Mandelson get a soft-focus Sunday Times makeover like he’s the victim here?Jemma and Marina dig into the Epstein files, the media blackout, the aristocratic audacity of people bragging about their proximity to a convicted sex trafficker, and the jaw-dropping clips you have to hear to believe. Plus: Reform, Farage, Russia, Israel, the monarchy, Melania’s film getting absolutely savaged and a pudding that might be the only sane thing left.It’s rage, receipts and gallows humour — because apparently that’s where we are now.Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marina and Jemma wade through the moral swamp of Reform UK’s latest masterplan: cutting beer duty by keeping children in poverty - because according to them the nation’s biggest crisis is Dave paying £4.80 instead of £4.75 for his pint. Labour doesn’t escape the drag either, with Rachel Reeves floating the idea that only graduates should pay for their degrees - a policy so anti‑youth it might as well come with a free copy of the Daily Mail. Meanwhile, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick manage to accidentally vote to abolish the two‑child benefit cap after wandering into the wrong lobby. God help us if these people end up running the country. Farage continues to dodge debates like it’s an Olympic sport, all while his name keeps surfacing in the Epstein files. And across the pond, Trump tells a female reporter to “smile” when asked about a paedophile ring - because it's a smiley kind of subject, right? At least misogyny is the one thing he’s always consistent on.Plus: dating‑app despair, cortisol levels that should come with a health warning, and a perfect clip capturing the spiritual emptiness of people who proudly declare they’re “not political.”Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January nearly finished us off, and February hasn’t exactly come in with flowers. Marina is abandoned in the news‑cycle trenches while Jemma wafts around on a boat, and together they pick through the week’s mess: Marina’s run‑in with Reform, her viral roasting of Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the spectacular failure of the Melania documentary, Bezos’ suspiciously sculpted torso, and the grim, sprawling, still‑redacted Epstein file dump. There are tributes, tangents, tech meltdowns, and an unholy amount of swearing at wires. Chaotic, cathartic, and unmistakably The Trawl.Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For many, comedian and writer, Stewart Lee, is the GOAT so Jemma and Marina were thrilled to sit down with him to chat about the state of the world, how to deal with mad relatives, Brexit, Trump, how he fills his spare time and everything in between. Lee is described on Wikipedia as having an onstage persona that alternates between 'that of an outspoken left-wing hero and that of a depressed failure and champagne socialist who criticises his audience for not being intelligent enough to understand his jokes.' This is all like catnip to The Trawl so Marina and Jemma knew their meeting with the comedy legend would not disappoint. Spoiler, it didn't. This episode is sponsored by AG1 - the daily foundational nutrition support drink which helps you combat the winter season both mentally and physically. For a limited time, get a limited edition AG one Green Steel Tumblr plus five travel packs, and a welcome kit to get you started.That's all worth £80, but it's free when you sign up for a monthly subscription at drinkag1.com/thetrawlThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does Trump obsess over comedians?Why do authoritarian regimes always come for artists first?And why is laughing at fascists one of the oldest forms of resistance we’ve got?In this special edition of The Trawl, Marina and Jemma trace the dangerous present moment back through history from Charlie Chaplin and Marlene Dietrich to Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and the journalists refusing to blink. This is a furious, funny, chilling tribute to satire as a political weapon and to the people brave enough to use it.Laughing isn’t frivolous.It’s subversive.This episode is sponsored by AG1 - the daily foundational nutrition support drink which helps you combat the winter season both mentally and physically. For a limited time, get a limited edition AG one Green Steel Tumblr plus five travel packs, and a welcome kit to get you started.That's all worth £80, but it's free when you sign up for a monthly subscription at drinkag1.com/thetrawlThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marina and Jemma are trying very hard not to lose the actual plot while the world insists on setting it on fire.Trump U-turns on tariffs. He insults British troops. ICE kill an innocent man in the street and continue abducting children in broad daylight.Suella Braverman defects to Reform (yes, really).Andy Burnham makes his move.And democracy continues to wobble like a shopping trolley with one broken wheel.From Davos chaos and Greenland conspiracy theories, to Trump’s grotesque comments about UK soldiers, to the latest ICE killing and the growing use of immigration enforcement as political theatre, this episode trawls through a week where nothing feels normal and everything feels dangerous.There’s anger.There’s dark humour.There’s disbelief.There’s proper “sit in a circle and talk about our feelings” energy.Because when politics starts to feel unreal, the most dangerous thing you can do is get numb.This episode is sponsored by AG1 - the daily foundational nutrition support drink which helps you combat the winter season both mentally and physically. For a limited time, get a limited edition AG one Green Steel Tumblr plus five travel packs, and a welcome kit to get you started.That's all worth £80, but it's free when you sign up for a monthly subscription at drinkag1.com/thetrawlThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump wants Greenland and he's going to stamp his feet until he gets it. Jemma and Marina look back over a week which has included a lot of tariff threats, 'no comment' on military force, and a President who expects the rest of the world to just… nod along while he makes demands.Marina Purkiss and Jemma Forte wade through a truly unhinged news cycle: from Trump’s Greenland obsession and the fallout across Europe, to Britain discovering that rolling out the red carpet doesn’t actually stop you getting slapped with tariffs.They unpack:Why Greenland has suddenly become Trump’s favourite chew toyThe US tariff threats hitting the UK, Denmark and beyondStarmer’s awkward positionBritain’s alarming love affair with Palantir and Peter ThielThe surreal announcement of Trump’s self-appointed “Peace Board” (featuring some very familiar faces)Who’s finally standing up to Trump and who is embarrassingly getting on their kneesPlus: political backbone from Denmark, crowd chants in London, leaked clips, authoritarian vibes, tech bros, trade wars, and one musical number involving a Nazi that somehow makes everything feel slightly better.Doomscrolling so you don’t have to, because apparently we’re all collateral damage now.This episode is sponsored by AG1 - the daily foundational nutrition support drink which helps you combat the winter season both mentally and physically. For a limited time, get a limited edition AG one Green Steel Tumblr plus five travel packs, and a welcome kit to get you started.That's all worth £80, but it's free when you sign up for a monthly subscription at drinkag1.com/thetrawlThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Marina Purkiss and Jemma Forte are rifling through the internet’s sock drawer - separating facts from absolute tat, pairing up what still makes sense, and binning the stray underpants.Talking of stray underpants, Robert Jenrick and Andrew Rosindell are the latest Tories to defect to Reform. Before that however, the ladies start with the social media trend that is dragging us all back to 2016 (for better and worse), they ponder the psychological dangers of Dry January during late-stage capitalism, and enjoy some much-needed good news.Then it’s politics and time to examine Robert Jenrick’s dramatic lurch towards Reform UK, the growing problem of MPs switching parties without asking voters, and why it all feels a bit like “if I can’t be Prime Minister, I’ll burn the house down.” Along the way, Sky News, LBC callers, internet philosophers and professional bellends all make an appearance.And because no week is complete without a cultural skirmish, Jemma and Marina have to head chez Beckham where wedding dances, PR meltdowns and internet imaginations collide. Russell Kane speaks for a nation that is, frankly, quite tired.Receipts kept. Furniture scorched. Sock drawer sorted.To sign the campaign for By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party, head to: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737660This episode is sponsored by AG1 - the daily foundational nutrition support drink which helps you combat the winter season both mentally and physically. For a limited time, get a limited edition AG one Green Steel Tumblr plus five travel packs, and a welcome kit to get you started.That's all worth £80, but it's free when you sign up for a monthly subscription at drinkag1.com/thetrawlThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcastIf you’ve even mildly enjoyed The Trawl, you’ll love the unfiltered, no-holds-barred extras from Jemma & Marina over on Patreon, including:• Exclusive episodes of The Trawl Goss – where Jemma and Marina spill backstage gossip, dive into their personal lives, and often forget the mic is on• Early access to The Trawl Meets…• Glorious ad-free episodesPlus, there’s a bell-free community of over 3,300 legends sparking brilliant chat.And it’s your way to support the pod which the ladies pour their hearts, souls (and occasional anxiety) into. All for your listening pleasure and reassurance that through this geopolitical s**tstorm… you’re not alone.Come join the fun:https://www.patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.