A Question of Taste: Sinead Mooney, RTÉ Radio 1

Sinead Mooney presents Playback on RTÉ Radio 1

Sinead Mooney presents and produces Playback on Saturday mornings on RTÉ Radio 1. She has been working in radio for the past 16 years, and is originally from Mayo.

Best recent book you’ve read: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel was beautifully written and well paced. It is her final retelling of the rise of Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII and his final undoing at Henry’s hands.

It is enormous so in addition to being a great book, it’s handy for standing on to reach high shelves. I followed that up with a very different book – Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid which about class and race in contemporary New York.

Best recent film: Parasite by director Bong Joon-ho was like nothing I’d ever seen and really stayed with me. I saw it in the cinema which seems like a lovely dream these days.

Best recent gig you’ve seen: Weyes Blood at the Button Factory – a voice like honey, smart lyrics and she can rock a white suit. No mean feat.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old): I have an ancient iPod which I put on shuffle – everything from reggae to jazz, country and dance.

First ever piece of music that really moved you: Hearing Muddy Waters for the first time was extraordinary. Blondie, Kris Kristofferson and Abba were all on cassette tapes in the house growing up and remain favourites.

The best gig or show you’ve ever seen (if you had to pick one!): I think Bjork in 2013 at the Electric Picnic was spine-tingling. Also, a particularly fine session at the Willie Clancy Festival years ago will always stay with me – an accordion player on top of a table at two in the morning. Not to be beaten.

TV viewing: I love TV of all kinds and have a soft spot for medical dramas. I’m worryingly confident that I could crank open a chest and massage a beating heart should the situation arise just from my consumption of Grey’s Anatomy.

Radio listening: Radio 1 is on pretty much all day every day with very occasional forays into Lyric, 2FM and RnG. I have usually about three radios going at any one time in the house, as well as a portable radio.

Who are your favourite radio broadcasters of all time?

I worked on Arena with Sean Rocks for six very enjoyable years. He’s a man on top of his brief at all times and open to trying new ways of working which made my time there a lot of fun.

A Prairie Home Companion on NPR was a programme I listened to before I ever worked in radio. Garrison Keillor had the confidence to whisper – a great way to get the listener to lean a little closer.

You can portal back to any cultural event or music era – where, when, and why?

I like a bit of disco so the Seventies disco scene in New York – street parties and the birth of clubbing.

Unsung heroes: Artists of all disciplines – they create beauty and generally live on the clippings of tin.

You are queen of broadcasting for a day – what’s your first decree?

Talk radio is my bread and butter but more good music would make my day.