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The Trawl
Trumps AI Slop, Falklands Threats & Midterm Meltdowns
Trump is renaming lakes, posting increasingly deranged AI images and apparently gearing up to declare the midterms rigged before they've even happened. Meanwhile, the US is reportedly threatening Britain over the Falklands, Trump's CIA director is making mysterious trips to Moscow, and democracy feels increasingly like it's being held together with Sellotape.
Then there's Israel and Gaza, where the rhetoric and imagery become ever more horrifying, Netanyahu gets a very frosty reception at the UN, and the UK promises a “comprehensive reset” of its Israel policy. Jemma and Marina also look at the devastating floods in Nepal, the climate crisis, the astonishingly low level of US aid and the depressing willingness of tech giants to bend to political power.
Plus: AI geese, Dolly Parton, a very adventurous boiler man, Tim Curry, and a load of Under Rateds.
It's another week where reality has apparently given up.
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409. How Much Is Integrity Worth? Sheeran's Backlash, Tom Watson's About-Turn & The Budget Headache
38:19||Ep. 409Ed Sheeran is crying on stage after the backlash over Macklemore being dropped from his tour, while Macklemore remains remarkably clear that this isn’t about him, or Ed. Marina and Jemma get into the row, the strange spectacle of a global superstar discovering the politics of Palestine in real time, and why having “FU money” might occasionally mean having the courage to say - no.Then there’s the rather extraordinary case of former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joining Palantir, the controversial US data company with major contracts across the British state. From fighting phone hacking and defending democracy to working for a company critics have accused of undermining it: what on earth happened there?We also get into the eternal question of who should pay for a country that needs more money: capital gains, wealth, land and the extraordinary phenomenon of people with hundreds of millions still insisting they’re being squeezed.Plus: the MPs apparently tackling the national emergency of our Eurovision entries, the wonderful late Bonnie Greer, Nigel Farage getting exactly the interview he deserves, and Andrew Tate discovering that prison guards may not be his biggest fans.And, as ever, some pudding to see you into the weekend.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
408. America's Losing It: Trump Silenced the Press. The Press Silenced Trump & Europe Stocks Up On Beans
46:29||Ep. 408It’s another beautifully normal week on Planet Trawl. Europe is quietly preparing for war, we’re being told to stock up on tins and Trump is threatening to annihilate Iran while simultaneously floating a peace deal. So that’s nice.Marina and Jemma discuss Trump’s increasingly bonkers attempts to control the press, a House of Representatives that has essentially buggered off until after the midterms, Fox News unexpectedly standing up for journalism, and JD Vance begging everyone to just give them a little more time. Meanwhile, America’s farmers and truckers are discovering that 'drill, baby, drill' isn’t quite as comforting when the petrol pump starts hurting.But there are rays of light. Trump’s approval rating is tanking, the media are beginning to push back, and Zohran Mamdani appears to have discovered the revolutionary concept of making competent politics look extremely attractive.So stock up on your chickpeas, put the kettle on and join another light, breezy episode of The Trawl. What could possibly go wrong?Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
407. The AI Apocalypse (Brought to You by the People Selling It)
46:43||Ep. 407Buckle up, Trawlers - the Trawl girls are finally doing the AI special they've been promising for two years but haven't got round to. Until now because the news has forced their hands. From Sam Altman and Elon Musk suddenly (suspiciously) calling for a "slowdown," to Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton leaving Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire lost for words, to an ex-Anthropic researcher quitting over fears AI could kill us all by the decade's end, Jemma and Marina ask the obvious question: is this genuine alarm, or a very convenient story for an industry that needs to justify its valuations? Plus: weapons in space, AI agents hacking servers they weren't supposed to touch, and why it might be Meghan Markle's fault after all (according to the Telegraph, obviously). They bring it back down to earth with your ick-list confessions, a royal wishlist for next week, and a verdict on Andrew Tate's latest courtroom performance. Heavy topics, delivered the only way they know how.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
406. Trump’s Cheques, Sydney’s Boobs & The FBI
41:51||Ep. 406Sydney Sweeney has bosoms, Trump has a $5,000 promise, and somehow the FBI is having a conversation about bestiality. So yes, it’s been another perfectly normal week on Planet Earth.In this Trawl, Marina and Jemma get stuck into Sydney Sweeney’s gambling ad and ask whether “my body, my choice” also means “please don’t criticise my choices”. Trump, meanwhile, is promising Americans $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms, because nothing says sound economic policy like a giant election-shaped cheque.The Trawl ladies also head stateside for Trump’s latest diplomatic contributions, the increasingly bonkers saga around Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC, the FBI’s bizarre new hiring standards, and a few glimmers of hope in the form of politicians who can actually string a sentence together.Plus Mitch McConnell gets the taxidermy treatment, the BBC gets another kicking, and underrated tweets are once again doing considerably more work than most governments.It’s bleak. It’s absurd. Thank God we can take the piss.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
405. Ed Sheeran's Lonely Apolitical Era & Reform's Crypto Bros
46:17||Ep. 405Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore for saying Free Palestine, and now the support acts have since been dropping Ed Sheeran. Turns out "apolitical" is a position, and it's not a popular one. Andy Burnham finally did something and slapped a trade ban on Israeli settlement goods and US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee is furious about it. Excellent work. An Israeli newspaper is reporting Netanyahu had an explicit warning before October 7th and sat on it. Jemma and Marina go through what that means and why it matters. Meanwhile, Reform have banked £72 million from two donors with very interesting backgrounds, so of course the BBC covered it like a charity gala. Worry not...Isabel Oakeshott has assured us billionaires want nothing in return. Sure, Isabel.Plus the week's most underrated tweets. Grab your pyjamas. This one's a lot.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
404. Is THIS Patriotism? Boy Burkas, Foreign Cash and RNLI Beef
48:29||Ep. 404This week, Marina and Jem start in America — where Trump calls 18 dead soldiers "small potatoes," posts AI-generated videos of himself beating world leaders with a hockey stick, and explains trade to a room of adults too scared to tell him he's wrong. Rinse, repeat, somehow getting worse.Then they come home to Blighty — where things are going brilliantly. Hundreds of men in matching black balaclavas staged two days of (NOT) spontaneous protests in Dover and Portsmouth, injuring police, blocking ferries, and terrifying British families trying to get into town. Arrests: none. Funny that — almost like if you'd been a blind OAP or a vicar protesting for peace, they'd have found the handcuffs. Also: a coachload of Pakistani cricketers gets surrounded by a brainless mob, the RNLI gets grief for not letting people drown, and Nick Ferrari has some thoughts. All recorded at 9:40pm on empty stomachs, and it shows.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
403. Reform's Rabid Conference & Trump's Fireman Fantasy
52:08||Ep. 403Trump reinvents 9/11 with himself as the hero, fireman-carried, fist in the air, saving the day from... four miles away. Meanwhile, it's all happening at the Reform conference, Farage lays out exactly how he'd neuter the House of Lords if it gets in his way, a woman protester gets her hair pulled and is hit with a crutch by livid OAPS and Robert Jenrick "resigns" from a job he doesn't have over a budget that doesn't exist. Plus: Zia Yousaf's dog-whistle campaign video, the finest vox pops democracy has to offer, and one man who is, unfortunately, very open to dating his cousin. It's a pretty crazy one with a lot of laughs. Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl Twitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast
402. SIZZLING SCANDAL 🔥 Reform's Big Fat Foreign Money Scandal (And Farage's Best Excuses Yet)
39:22||Ep. 402Jemma and Marina wade through the wreckage of Reform UK's worst week yet. A year-long undercover sting by investigative outfit Verbatim catches Nigel Farage's closest aides, head of policy James Orr and confidante Dan Jukes, on tape discussing how to secretly fund Reform's own polling through a fake American donor, all while a fictional $500,000 donation dangles in the background. Farage himself calls the scheme "amazing" and "bang for buck" on camera.Cue two sackings, a genuinely spectacular pile-up of excuses (entrapment! pub banter! "I wasn't listening"! they're just contractors!), and a late, jittery conference speech built on the same recycled security excuse Farage used to dodge the Clacton by-election.Plus: a genuinely wholesome voice note to restore your faith in dating apps (honest guv), and a deep, unnecessary dive into everyone's feelings about oysters.Corruption, contradictions, and crustaceans. Settle in, Trawlers.Join The Trawl's Facebook BRAND NEW Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590931382660Get your tickets for The Trawl Live from https://thetrawl.tix.to/ticketsThank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast