When 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, 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.

Universal 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.

How 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.

Bristol Temple Quarter is the biggest redevelopment the city has seen in at least a generation, and will transform a vast area around Temple Meads station, St Philips Marsh and the Dings beyond recognition.

Much of this has been untouched for decades, and while it’s mostly current or former industrial land, it also sits next-door to some of the city’s poorest communities around Lawrence Hill and Barton Hill.

This week on Bristol Unpacked, we talk to the woman overseeing the massive project. Lyn Garner is chair of the Temple Quarter partnership, which brings together the city council, Homes England, Network Rail, and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

So what impact will the Temple Quarter have on the lives of people in the city? What is it going to do for Bristol’s big issues – like housing, jobs, education and transport? And with the plans going big on words like equity and inclusivity, how can these kinds of schemes bring on board and deliver for the people most affected by them?

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.

Before starting this series, we held a roundtable discussion with experts in the field of youth justice. We spoke about serious violence among young people, the root causes of it, and how it's represented in the media.

Media outlets have lots to learn when it comes to rebuilding trust with the communities they serve, including young people. As does the criminal justice system, and the institutions there to protect children.

The language we use to describe issues like these is important. In this episode, we explore how newspapers frame incidents of serious youth violence, and the damaging impact of sensationalising stories.

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The murder of James Bulger in 1993 by two 10-year-old boys was an horrific act of violence that essentially led to a huge change in the country’s youth justice system: the abolition of the legal term doli incapax (meaning incapable of evil).

It meant that children as young as 10 were now deemed capable of committing crime – before then it was 14. Since this shift, England and Wales to this day has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the world.

In this episode we challenge the thinking that some children are simply ‘just evil’, and that horrific acts of violence aren’t the symptom of a wide and complex web of social problems that underpin them.

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After a spate of serious youth violence last year, a wide-ranging review was launched by the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership – a group of organisations including the city council and police. Researchers gathered information local services held about 10 young people who were involved in three different incidents – including those connected to the murders of three teenage boys, Max Dixon, Mason Rist and Darrian Williams. The review found that all of the young people involved were from communities that are minoritised in different ways. Similar issues were raised in every case: things like poverty, exclusion from school and special educational needs (SEN). In this episode, we trace Bristol young people’s journey on what’s become known as the school to prison pipeline – paying particular attention to the impact of suspensions, exclusions, ‘managed moves’, and a crisis in SEN provision.

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In early 2024, three teenage boys were fatally stabbed on Bristol’s streets within 18 days. It was a grim start to the new year – one that thrust the issue of serious youth violence in the city further into the spotlight. What followed was a very public response from Bristol’s institutions – the police, the city council – promising they are doing all they can to stop further violence. We followed this response closely: it’s something of a playbook – the crisis response to tragedies. The perpetrators of serious youth violence are often victims themselves, of failing systems of support that could have prevented needless loss of life. How can we stop it, if we don’t address its root causes?

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