Dublin Inquirer Podcast

In this episode, Cal Folger Day talks to Martin Cook about her journey from playing classical music on the piano and sticking strictly to the sheet music, to writing her own songs and arranging verbatim pop operas – and she performs some of her songs for an audience at Marrowbone Books in the Coombe.   

Elizabeth Laprelle’s first singing partner was, she says, her mother Sandy Newlin. In this month’s Music at Marrowbone Books, Laprelle talks to Martin Cook about ballads and banjos, combining story-telling with music, and the influence of her hometown barber. “I’m a collector, not a composer,” she says, finding pleasure in songs that may not be new, but are new to her. Some are from the US’s southern music traditions, others from northern. Listen to the breadth of a collector’s repertoire, and you can see their personality, she says. This episode also includes snippets from Laprelle’s recent performance with Newlin at Marrowbone Books in the Coombe – with the songs they have collected.

Rachel Ní Chuinn swapped guitar for clarinet a few years ago, which she melds with live electronics into expressive sound. In this month’s Music at Marrowbone Books, the musician and sound artist – and member of the Dublin Laptop Orchestra – performs some of her improvisations. They build on themselves, reverberating, layer upon layer. Thinking about sound as a physical medium has led Ní Chuinn down all kinds of paths. From music exploring the afterglow static of the Big Bang, to works inspired by the acoustics of neolithic caves.

Sinéad and Catríona Kennedy often play Donegal-style traditional tunes, but sometimes they're originals. Where do those songs come from? It's like they're hanging in the air, in a space, waiting to be plucked, says Sinéad. "I feel like tunes are kind of around, and you happen upon them." In this month's Music at Marrowbone Books, the Kennedy Sisters chat with Martin Cook about the origins of their fiddle-playing, singing with neighbours  – and, of course, they play and sing a little too. 

Some of Danny Carroll's song-writing starts with an essay, he tells Martin Cook, in this month's Dublin music podcast. That's to get his thoughts straight. Then, he'll simmer that down into the snarky commentary on modern life that runs through the songs of Shrug Life.  You can hear him perform and talk about some of those tracks here and how his music has evolved to broadened – with tracks inspired by how political systems are reflected in mundane everyday choices, to living with anxiety.    

Supply & Demand is a four-episode podcast about Dublin’s housing crisis. In this final episode, we’re asking: why aren’t we building the right homes for people? Why aren’t they the right shape or size, why aren’t they in the right place, and why do they cost so much? To answer those questions, we’ll have to get down to the foundations of how housing works, so we’ll have to talk about land. Supply & Demand is a Dublin Inquirer podcast, produced and presented by Ian Maleney, with support from GoCar. 

In this latest episode of our Music at Marrowbone Books podcast, Consuelo Breschi and Lucie Azconaga of Varo talk about their journeys from Florence and Bordeaux to Ireland's trad music scene. And, alongside Belfast bouzouki player Frank Tate, they perform some traditional Irish tunes with "sensuous, harmonious" vocals and "mystical" countermelodies.

Supply & Demand is a podcast about Dublin’s housing crisis. Over the course of four episodes, we look at the history of housing in the capital, the recent growth of renting in the city, new pressures on the housing stock, and the stumbling blocks that slow down new construction. Finally, we look forward and ask, what will Dublin be like in twenty years’ time? In this episode, we look at short-term lets, and student accommodation. Supply & Demand is a Dublin Inquirer podcast, produced and presented by Ian Maleney, with support from GoCar. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays.

Supply & Demand is a podcast about Dublin’s housing crisis. Over the course of four episodes, we look at the history of housing in the capital, the recent growth of renting in the city, new pressures on the housing stock, and the stumbling blocks that slow down new construction. Finally, we look forward and ask, what will Dublin be like in twenty years’ time? Supply & Demand is a Dublin Inquirer podcast, produced and presented by Ian Maleney, with support from GoCar. This is episode 2. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays.

Supply & Demand is a podcast about Dublin’s housing crisis. Over the course of four episodes, we look at the history of housing in the capital, the recent growth of renting in the city, new pressures on the housing stock, and the stumbling blocks that slow down new construction. Finally, we look forward and ask, what will Dublin be like in twenty years’ time? Supply & Demand is a Dublin Inquirer podcast, produced and presented by Ian Maleney, with support from GoCar. This is episode 1. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays.

In this episode, Wicklow-born multi-instrumentalist and folk artist Anna Mieke plays some songs at the bookshop in The Coombe. And the musician and songwriter also chats with Martin Cook about the piano that always tempted her in her hallway, the different personalities of the instruments she plays, her many travels, and her love of Cork.

Singer and songwriter Bobby Aherne talks about the origins of his art-pop act, No Monster Club – and why you might spot him walking down the street and humming into his phone.

Dave Lordan staggers into Gatsby's "niteclub" in West Cork in search of a girl, and straight into an encounter with hell, in the sweaty and heart-thumping finale of this six-part podcast memoir. 

In this episode, you'll hear Richie's story. About picking mushies over Inchydoney Bay in 1993, about how he spent a summer on building sites in London, about how he later ended up in prison, and about how he died. This is the fifth episode in a six-episode podcast memoir by Dave Lordan, centred on a party in a bedsit in Dunmanway, West Cork in 1993, five teenagers who gathered there, and what became of each. Only one – Lordan – is left on this Earth in 2018. Catch new episodes of The Dead Friends each Wednesday from 26 September to 31 October 2018.

In this episode you'll hear about how a bully gave The Orange his nickname, and how he grew into it and embraced it at university, when he was warrior-tall and strong as a heifer, with a ginger crown and a love of ecstasy and mushrooms. And you'll learn how he dropped out and hit the road, and how the music ended for him. This is the fourth episode in a six-episode podcast memoir by Dave Lordan, centred on a party in a bedsit in Dunmanway, West Cork in 1993, five teenagers who gathered there, and what became of each. Only one – Lordan – is left on this Earth in 2018. Catch new episodes of The Dead Friends each Wednesday from 26 September to 31 October 2018.

Until recently, Dublin-born, Clare-raised Branwen Kavanagh was best know as half of Twin Headed Wolf – the other head being her twin sister Julie. These days, she is simply Branwen. She is soon to release a new record, which also features violinist Nicholas Cooper and clarinetist Deirdre O'Leary. In this podcast, she talks to Martin Cook about mixing art forms, striking out with this new project, and how she came to be playing a petrol can – and she plays some songs at Marrowbone Books in The Coombe.

In this episode you'll hear about faeries, the Virgin Mary's appearance in Inchydoney, "wrecking", how Dan McCarthy, as I will call him, had tresses and a goatee that made him look like a pirate or a musketeer, and how he died. This is the third episode in a six-episode podcast memoir by Dave Lordan, centred on a party in a bedsit in Dunmanway, West Cork in 1993, five teenagers who gathered there, and what became of each. Only one – Lordan – is left on this Earth in 2018. Catch new episodes of The Dead Friends each Wednesday from 26 September to 31 October 2018.

In this episode you'll learn what happened to Chill Out Timmy, hear about the trials and tribulations of a Curehead love affair, and encounter the curse of Edmund Spenser. This is the second episode in a six-episode podcast memoir by Dave Lordan, centred on a party in a bedsit in Dunmanway, West Cork in 1993, five teenagers who gathered there, and what became of each. Only one – Lordan – is left on this Earth in 2018. Catch new episodes of The Dead Friends each Wednesday from 26 September to 31 October 2018.

Five teenagers gather at a party in a bedsit in Dunmanway, West Cork during mushroom season in 1993. Only one – Dave Lordan – is left on this Earth in 2018. The other four youngsters have tragically passed. In this six-episode podcast memoir, Lordan will delve into each of the four dead friends' lives, and each of their deaths, in turn – before ending with a demon-haunted climax in Gatsby’s "niteclub". We'll be releasing a new episode of The Dead Friends each Wednesday from 26 September to 31 October 2018.

When talk turns to the health of Ireland's media, national publications and websites generally sop up much of the attention. But how are local and regional publications faring? Are we headed the same way as in the United Kingdom, where the number of regional journalists has halved in recent years? Or is the landscape sturdier here? And what, if anything, needs to change in the way we fund public interest local news? At one of the recent Banter talks at the Beatyard festival in Dún Laoghaire on 4 August, we got a panel together to talk about just that – and more. Hosted by Lois Kapila (Dublin Inquirer), the line-up included David Burke (editor, Tuam Herald), David Lynch (editor, Dundalk Democrat), and Stephanie Costello (Centre for Critical Media Literacy, DIT). 

The experimental folk singer was in Dublin recently to perform some of his songs at Marrowbone Books in The Coombe, including the popular "Hungover at Mass" and "No Snitch". Have a listen.

Listen to the Oxo Boys talk about the bands they've been in, the legacy of old-time music in the Liberties, and more – and play a few tunes.

Sheesham, Lotus and 'Son brought their banjo, fiddle, sousaphone and more to a corner of the Liberties for a recent session of old-time sounds, raucous tale-telling and a bit of clogging. In this month's podcast, Martin Cook talks to the Canadian trio about life on the road, the instruments they have made, and why they used to dress in sepia.

The singer shares his deep knowledge of traditional music with songs from his County Leitrim, and the tales behind them.

Sasha Hsuczyk's influences range from her first love – Irish traditional music – to the old Sacred Harp songbooks, to the country music of Kitty Wells. Ahead of her recent gig at Marrowbone Books in the Coombe, she spoke to Martin Cook about how a Los Angeles-born, Pennsylvania-based vegetable farmer became such an accomplished musician. Listen in below to their discussion, and her performance.    

First-time listeners to Myles Manley might be unsure whether they should laugh, weep, or squirm. Ahead of a recent session at Marrowbone Books in The Coombe, the quizzical singer talks to Martin Cook about his persona, the inspiration for his music videos, and more.

From the publication of hate speech and the promotion of hot-air controversialists, to the use of technology and social media to draw readers into an addictive diet of endless news consumption, are news organisations hurting their readers? At an event run by Dublin Inquirer, Banter and DIT’s Centre for Critical Media Literacy, a panel of experts discussed these issues and more. Have a listen.

Loah recently performed from her latest album to a chock-a-block crowd at Marrowbone Books in The Coombe. Listen to her speaking to Martin Cook ahead of the event, about dedicating herself to music, and collaborations, and what the immediate future looks like.

What's the solution to the affordable housing shortage in Dublin? What role should social housing play in solving this crisis? With our friends at Banter, we recently got together a panel of experts to discuss these and related questions: Debbie Mulhall, Community Development Worker in Dolphin House; Michelle Norris, Head of the School of the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice at UCD; Ali Grehan, Dublin City Architect; Hugh Brennan, CEO for Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance. Banter's Jim Carroll was the moderator for the evening. 

In this first episode of Music at Marrowbone Books, fiddle-player Danny Diamond performs at the Dublin bookshop (on 16 Nov. 2017), and chats with Martin Cook in his studio about his music and life. Diamond is a member of the Nordic/Irish band Slow Moving Clouds, and has also put out a series of acclaimed albums, including NORTH with Conor Caldwell in 2016, which was nominated for Irish Times Traditional Album of the Year and, more recently, Elbow Room. 

JC’s in Swords is Ireland’s largest independent supermarket, a much-loved north Dublin institution. But it’s besieged by budget competitors like Lidl, which has literally moved in next door. Recently, JC’s laid off 20 long-term employees. In this podcast from April 2016, Lorcan Archer sits down with the boss, Michael Savage, to ask why, and what the future holds for the company.

Why are the the Samuel Beckett and Tom Clarke bridges so far apart? a reader asked us. It makes for some long walks for pedestrians crossing the Liffey in the Docklands, he said. So we set off to find and answer for him, a journey which touched on the history of the Docklands, the ferryboat business, a pile of tripe, and plans for two new bridges.