Podcast Corner: Four shows presented by women
Journalist Katie Hannon hosts a live audience-centred current affairs programme where the public come face to face with those whose decisions impact directly on all our lives. Watch Mondays at 10.35pm on RTE One and RTE Player begining 30 January 2023. Listen to the Upfront Podcast on Thursdays on all platforms and Read the latest from Upfront on RTE.ie each weekend.
With some 160,000 followers on Instagram and 40,000 on TikTok, the bodybuilder and founder of the Furnace has switched attention to podcasting, where she hopes to broaden horizons and expand your understanding of the world. While working a ho-hum job a few years ago, she says on the opening episode that when she closed her eyes and imagined her dream life, “I was picturing my laptop on the beach”. The second episode is an interesting conversation with Grace Mannion, a bikini athlete and female body composition and prep coach, entitled ‘Is Bodybuilding Safe?’
Beginning as a blog of the same name, Young Offenders star Hilary Rose says Live Wild was about her personal journey of shaking off societal conventions and attempting to rewild herself. “Mostly I just reconnected back to my true self by immersing myself in nature,” she says.
The first season of the podcast finds Rose talking to stars and experts in their field, from Wim Hof instructor Níall Ó Murchú - aka Breathe with Niall - to force of nature Joanne McNally to her Young Offenders co-stars Alex Murphy and Chris Walley, who discuss their friendship, work ethic, and advice for aspiring actors. It features talk about making an unnamed film where there was no health and safety, and after a night out and a few drinks, the barman drove them home in the boot alongside some raw chicken.
Beginning almost a year ago, comedy writers Grace Edwards and Amy Aniobi wanted the Antidote to serve as a feelgood listen amid the interminable bad news of life. They share the culture that lights them up and activities that bring them joy, plus strategies they use to cope with these wild times. On recent episodes, they’ve talked about virtual reality fitness, astrology as art, and ‘hot girl walks’. What shines through most is their friendship, which was honed while working on the underrated show Insecure.
Alongside her RTÉ show, Katie Hannon fronts a podcast of the same name, explaining that “we are not confined to the audience that can come into the studio”. The podcast talks to “people we know that you’ll find interesting, and for added spice we bring along 20 random upfront questions and ask them to pick a number” - an adventure for all of us. Beginning in February, Hannon’s guests thus far have included Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham and former communications minister Denis Naughten.
