Podcast Corner: Three new Irish shows to entertain and inform
Della Kilroy and Shane Creevy present The Truth Matters, A Guide to Misinformation.
Tralee-based couple Jane and Maurice O’Keeffe have compiled over 4,000 oral history recordings since 1995 under the name Irish Life & Lore. They explain that "the unique Irish voice, in all its depth, breadth, and intonation is a very precious resource. In our rapidly changing world of instant communication, the local accent as well as personal memories, stories and ideas become threatened, and once lost, cannot be reinstated."
They have released books over the years, including the 1916 Rising Oral History Collection, and in July 2020 set up the Irish Life & Lore Podcast.
There are some 40 episodes to date that cover topics ranging from the War of Independence and Michael Collins, featuring familial voices of the main protagonists, to the Wren boys, the golden age of Cork comedy, the story of Liebherr Cranes in Killarney, and most recently the 'Old Dublin Family Business' of Bewleys cafe.
The previous episode, 'The Landed Gentry of West Cork', concerned the first plantations of the 1580s and how some of the houses and families survived attacks by the IRA - or how they were rebuilt following burnings, like Timoleague House. It features voices from the likes of Kilbrittain's Glounavirane House, Coolmaine Castle, and Bantry House, all of whom offer up a fascinating insight into a particular strand of local history.
Following on from Pantisocracy, episodes of which you'll find in this podcast feed, Panti Bliss is breaking out of lockdown with The Panti Personals, comprising one-on-one interviews, the first season of which focusing on performers and singers.
She begins with Niall 'Bressie' Breslin, whose own show Where Is My Mind? is still flying high in the Spotify charts. Most people will know some part of the Bressie story - most interesting here is perhaps Panti and Bressie's shared issue of going by two names and finding a sense of identity.
A new four-parter from RTÉ, the first episode of which was posted on Monday, this series seeks to examine the differences between misinformation and disinformation and investigates how and why conspiracy theories spread so rapidly online and how people can disappear down a rabbit hole.
Hosted by journalist Della Kilroy and Shane Creevy of Kinzen (formerly Storyful colleagues), digital literacy experts explain the hows, whys, and solutions to the spread of misinformation. Coming up, the pair will talk with conspiracy theorists and those that run support groups for family members. It seems like a timely show.
