GunPlot, The Witness, Joanne McNally: The best new Irish podcasts of the year
Some of the highlights of Ireland's podcasting scene this year
Former Irish Examiner columnist Caroline O’Donoghue has pivoted from a show about popular (often derided) fiction to, first, a rewatch series with Dolly Alderton of Sex and the City and, subsequently, a show about guests’ favourite slices of culture. Author Seamus O’Reilly makes the argument for Grease 2, Juno Dawson talks the talk on America’s Next Top Model, while linguist Amanda Montell likes the word ‘like’.
Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally will make you laugh out loud incessantly as they riff on myriad subjects. A guaranteed mood boost.
Alongside his alluring music show Make Me an Island, Donal Dineen has gone in depth with four creatives for We Are The Makers. Eighteen hours of interviews with photographer Eamonn Doyle is boiled down to nearly two hours of essential chat. Other subjects include choreographer Liz Roche, visual artist Isabel Nolan, and Denise Chaila and filmmaker Brian Cross.
Following the critically acclaimed series The Nobody Zone, the Doc on One team seek to explain, in nine episodes, the arms crisis of 1970. With permission to air audio from inside the courtroom of the arms trial, it is meticulous and features a sweeping soundscape.
It’s nice to just listen in to experts chatting about their specialist topic, and that’s exactly what we get here as Ricky Whelan and Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland talk seagulls, curlews, buzzards, and landscapes. A simple idea well executed.
There are no tricks or true crime cliches in this 10-part series - Joey O’Callaghan’s life story doesn’t need embellishment. He tells, in chronological order, how he became embroiled with Dublin drugs kingpin Brian ‘The Milkman’ Kenny, how he came to testify against him, and the fear within the State’s witness protection programme.
An affecting eight episodes as James O’Hagan chats with older members of the LGBT+ community about their life experiences. Some of the names, such as Eilish O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys), may be familiar, but these are all brave stories of self-discovery made in an Ireland of the not-too-distant past. You will want to stand up and applaud each person after their episode.
The male equivalent to My Therapist Ghosted Me, perhaps, as comedians Darren Conway and Joe McGucken talk shite (their words). Thankfully they’re funny enough to get away with it.
A music podcast about iconic Irish albums. Paul McDermott is the wisened guide as he reflects, with respective members of each act, on albums such as Heartworm by Whipping Boy (just why weren’t they bigger!?), Viva Dead Ponies by Fatima Mansions, and Revelino’s 1994 self-titled debut.
We’ll claim this as Irish since Nicola Coughlan is the co-creator and star, as this radio play takes aim at as many Irish cliches as possible. Riotously, ridiculously funny.
