COMEDY
Tommy, Hector & Laurita
Three stalwarts of Irish broadcasting hone their conversational chops in a henhouse down the back of Tommy Tiernan’s garden: the result is a wild ride that swings between sharp, honest commentary, performative braggadocio and some pretty solid jokes. Tiernan, a consummate preacher, directs the tone and cadence, bantering with his childhood friend Hector Ó hEochagáin on all manner of topics, while Laurita Blewitt keeps the whole thing grounded. Sort of.
My Therapist Ghosted Me
Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally are delightful, Daily Mail-enthralled dirt-dishers who cover the gamut from bestiality to Barbie, bringing a bawdy, raucous delight to everything they discuss. McNally plays the hungover, doesn’t-have-her-shit-together single friend, while Williams’s role is as harried mother, juggling three children, her reality-TV-star husband, Spenny, and a dizzying array of brand collabs and TV appearances. But it’s their razor-sharp repartee and glee in their friendship, as well as a heavy dose of self-awareness and a pocketful of zingers, that make this one worth a listen.
I’m Grand Mam
Two Cork men took a figary in 2019 and began recording their kitchen-table chats at their new London pad, invoking Alexa to play pop bangers to soundtrack their chosen thematic musings on growing up gay in Ireland, their feelings about the Irish language, money management, bullying and more. Four years in, and the two are in what they term their “author era”, with a book, 100 podcast episodes, live shows and a Late Late Show appearance under their belts. And they’re still as winning and joyous and genuine as they were before Apple put a spotlight on them.
HISTORY
Three Castles Burning
The Kimmage historian Brian Dillon takes deep dives into Dublin’s past in this ode to his city, part walking tour, part academic chronicle, in which he unearths many forgotten stories and mixes in archival audio as well as inviting guests to help bring the past to life. Named for the Dublin coat of arms, Three Castles Burning tells the gritty, true tales of a city of larger-than-life characters, bloody murders, uprisings and cultural ferment, and it’s fascinating in its scope and detail.
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The Rest Is History
The historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take us jauntily through any juncture in history, wearing their scholarship lightly as they enliven historical moments with salacious asides or dramatic re-enactments, and inviting esteemed guests to bring their expertise to particular subjects. Take a deep and surprisingly entertaining dive into, say, the First Afghan War or chew on an entire episode about James Bond or American witches or childbirth. Of note: the two finally took a long-awaited plunge into Irish history in recent episodes, smartly inviting guest Irish historians to help explain the awkward English bits.
NEWS
The Daily
Ah, the distinctive, lilting cadence of Michael Barbaro, whose voice soundtracks so many American mornings. Barbaro is host of the Daily, the New York Times’ smash hit of a podcast, a kind of Morning Ireland to at least a certain sector of the American public. Five days a week, and always about 20 minutes long, the Daily draws heavily on the New York Times’ editorial desk to unpack the biggest stories of the day, showcasing world-class reporting on a variety of topical subjects. Recent episodes ranged from Hunter Biden’s court reckoning to the Barbie movie’s feminist credentials to China’s economic rebound to the menopause. Think bite-sized context for the headlines of the day.
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Normal Gossip
At the current forefront of a long-standing campaign to reclaim gossip from the realm of the trivial or malicious stands Normal Gossip. Host Kelsey McKinney and producer Alex Sujon Laughlin lean into the drama of everyday life, showcasing in each episode a true-life story told in tantalising segments to their guests, whose job it is to comment on advisable courses of action or simply the bizarro premises put before them.
Redacted Lives
Essential listening for Irish people everywhere, Redacted Lives tells the staggering and brutal stories of those who were forced into mother-and-baby homes and those who began their lives there. Orla Ryan of the Journal interviews survivors, allowing them to tell their truths and confronting the report from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes with journalism that reveals its flaws and ultimate failure.
If Books Could Kill
What’s more enjoyable than two sharp minds cattily taking down popular “big ideas” books, sinking their claws into the kind of pop-psychology best-sellers that have become so widely read that many have entered the common lexicon? (Love languages, anyone?) Hosts Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri rub their hands together in glee and let it rip in what’s as much an education in the power of argument as it is a chance to revel in the squirming of so many modern-day snake-oil salesmen.
The Dublin Review
The podcast iteration of this long-standing quarterly serves to amplify the on-page serving of probing essays and wonderful fiction. Hear the likes of Kevin Barry, Niamh Campbell and Mark O’Connell read their works after answering questions for a little context from host Aingeala Flannery. It’s a measured beat in a frenetic world, a kind of magical audio story time with some of the greatest contemporary Irish writers.
The Louis Theroux Podcast
The celebrated BBC interviewer got his own Spotify deal, and the resulting podcast is more of what you’d expect: one-on-ones with celebrities various, steered through difficult waters by Theroux’s affable nature, keen mind and apparently genuine curiosity. Only Theroux can get Shania Twain to talk about her difficult childhood and in the next beat extol the virtues of her favourite expletives, while also matching Nick Cave’s philosophical play and absorbing Tan France’s verbal volleys.
The Irish Passport
Smart, funny, informed and informative, the Irish Passport podcast’s success lies in the hands of its hosts, who bring historical chops and journalistic rigour to the issues of the day. Tim McInerney is a Paris-based lecturer in British and Irish history while Naomi O’Leary is a journalist with this newspaper, each bringing their perspective and cerebral focus to topics ranging from deforestation to libel laws to the myth of Irish slavery.
TRUE CRIME
Bone Valley
The Pulitzer winner Gilbert King takes on the case of Leo Schofield in a true-crime story in which he argues – incredibly convincingly for this listener – that his subject has been wrongly imprisoned for murder. It’s a painstaking investigation into a long-cold case in which a young woman was murdered and her husband convicted of the crime and imprisoned for decades, despite the facts that no physical evidence ever connected him to the scene and that another man later confessed to the killing.
POLITICS
Pod Save America
In January 2017 Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president and, in no coincidence, Pod Save America first hit the airwaves. Formed by a huddle of one-time Obama speechwriters and aides, the pod became the left’s go-to analysis of the United States’ warped political landscape and helped provide a lifeline out of it with searing political commentary from knowledgeable and deliciously opinionated hosts and guests.
SELF-HELP
Where Should We Begin?
Esther Perel, the doyenne of psychotherapy blessed with a beguiling accent and all the right questions, is back with another season of Where Should We Begin? – it’s riveting listening. If you’re new to Perel, she’s made a name for herself as a sex and relationship guru through her book Mating in Captivity. This podcast stars Perel as therapist, introducing us to anonymous couples who are processing their relationship conflicts – infidelities, betrayal, sexlessness, grief – as our host unwraps the issues in her astute, illuminating fashion. Sign up for a delightful dose of a whole lotta other people’s problems.
FICTION
People Who Knew Me
If you need convincing that radio drama can be gripping, well produced and performed by a cast who can act your earbuds off, then set your dial to the BBC’s fantastic People Who Knew Me. Adapted from a novel of the same name, this 10-part radio series stars Rosamund Pike as a woman who used 9/11 as a cover to fake her own death, and Hugh Laurie as the fellow cancer patient she meets in treatment.
SPORT
After the Whistle
Who knew the surprise hit soccer podcast of the Women’s World Cup would come courtesy of a Ted Lasso actor – Brendan Hunt, to be specific, who plays the stoic Coach Beard – and the NBC commentator Rebecca Lowe, who is from England. (We know this because she says “bloomin’” a lot.) These two have ample audio chemistry and a pleasingly accessible approach to the beautiful game, with just enough knowledge dropped to keep even season-ticket holders happy.
