Bias, Bombings & Batshit Takes

The Trawl

Jemma Forte & Marina Purkiss

Politics, Government, News

4.7 • 867 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jemma and Marina are back in the scroll, picking apart the stories, headlines and takes that have everyone talking, pondering and shouting.

They get into growing frustration with the way global events are framed, and why some stories seem to get all the attention while others barely register. There’s a look at how international law is being talked about (and sometimes ignored), plus the narratives shaping coverage of Israel, Gaza and Lebanon.

Back on home turf, Nigel Farage and Reform are having a bit of a moment with a headline-grabbing stunt that’s raised more eyebrows than applause.

Elsewhere, there’s a chaotic night out involving politics on the dancefloor, a genuinely surprising story of someone leaving the English Defence League, and a reminder that even in the noise, small shifts in perspective can still happen.

It’s sharp, it’s funny, it’s occasionally exasperated but there’s enough to keep you thinking long after you’ve stopped scrolling.

Thank you for sharing and please do follow us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcast

Patreon

https://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawl

Twitter

https://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

If 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 episodes

Plus, 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

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just checking if you might consider voting for a form at all?
0:03.6	Absolutely not. No thanks. I'd rather run for the razor.
0:17.9	Hello and welcome to The Trawl where we scroll through social media to bring you the best, the worst and the most bat shit takes from the news, or at least as bad shit as we can stomach.
0:27.4	What's your name?
0:28.4	I'm Gemma Forte.
0:30.5	Trawled us and behind the scenes info there.
0:32.3	She had to do that intro three times.
0:34.6	Are you okay, Gemma?
0:35.6	Which never happens, does it? Usually it's one take,
0:38.5	one, you know, but that was, that was a struggle. Are you all right? I probably need to
0:43.7	need a coffee. Anyway, yeah. Okay, hold it, hold it now because we're recording. Right, and I'm
0:49.7	Marina Perkins. We are Saturday. It's Saturday. Yeah. Is the sunshine where you are? If it is, go outside,
0:57.5	go for a little walk, put be headphones in, listen to the troll, obviously, maybe wander to your
1:02.8	local little supermarket, but bypass the newsstand, for God's sake. Save your sanity because,
1:09.6	oh my gosh, the news, I'm just really sick of it. I'm so sick. It's just doing my head in. The emissions, the bias, the megaphoneing as opposed to actual reporting. But one, I guess, little consolation is that it's not just us getting annoyed. Here is, it's Benk on
1:29.4	Instagram with his clip entitled Lunch News with none of your views. Okay, we're back to the sorry.
1:36.3	Yeah, no, no, no, no, it's great. It's great. It's great. It's just great. Everything's great.
1:40.7	Great, great, great. Okay, great. Breaking news, BBC has uncovered another migrant story right in the nick of time,
1:48.8	just as people were beginning to care about this state of the world.
1:52.5	Now aside from pretending to be gay, they pretended to be victims of domestic abuse,
1:57.1	which reform voters clearly abhor.
2:05.0	In other words, meanwhile, still no news on the millions of people displaced in Gaza and Lebanon, thousands upon thousands murdered entire regions being
	...

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