Fionntán & Friends

This is the last episode. Thanks for listening, friends.

POC interviewed me, asking why I made this podcast. And I told him.

POC talks about what he likes and dislikes in podcast and radio hosts. His pet peeves and his host heartthrobs. Hosts and shows discussed: The Tommy Tiernan Show – Wikipedia Ryan Tubridy – Wikipedia Fresh Air with Terry Gross – NPR Radiolab – WYNC Studios Talking Politics Podcast Ivan Yates’ rabid hosting may well have ruined Ireland’s final seven-way debate – Joe.ie Liveline with Joe Duffy – RTÉ Radio

Fan favourite Chris Hanney returns to the pod. This time discussing another one of his favourite liquids…Belgian beer! This was recorded during the depths of covid lockdown but fortunately I have edited out nearly all mention of the dreaded disease as we’re all fucken sick of hearing about it. Instead, you can listen to two non-Belgians drink and discuss Belgian beers. Our favourite beers, our first intro to Belgian bars, and why every Belgian needs a cellar. References Belgian beers – Ghentleman. Chris’s very old blog with all his posts on Belgian beering. It’s just lovely. Orval Beers – Wikipedia [Moeder Overste bier](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeder_Overste_(bier)) – Wikipedia (in het Nederlands!) “Get thee to a nunnery!” – Hamlet | Act 3, Scene 1 – shakespeare.mit.edu Trappist beer – Wikipedia Huyghe Brewery - Beers - makers of Delirium Tremens – Wikipedia Ninove – Wikipedia Duvel bottle opener – Achat Verres À Bière Westmalle Brewery - Products – Wikipedia Brouwerij Van Steenberge - makers of Augustijn Triple – Wikipedia Duvel Moortgat Brewery - Duvel – Wikipedia Chimay Brewery – Beers – Wikipedia Bosteels Brewery - Triple Karmeliet – Wikipedia Rochefort Brewery - Beers – Wikipedia Rocheforte 10 is 1.25 times the beer Rocheforte 8 will ever be! – Ghentleman 7 Things to Know About Drinking Beer in Belgium – Travelsewhere

This was one of those ramble chats that careens from topic to topic. Though mostly it’s about epic fails and particularly that Fentonnnn! video of the dog chasing deer in Richmond Park. Starts out upbeat but moves in to more of a lamentation on death (it’ll make sense when you listen). References The Naming of Cats by T.S. Eliot – Poets.org ‘Cats’ Movie Trailer: Why Do the Cats Have Human Breasts? – Vulture Epic Fail: Bad Art, Viral Fame, and the History of the Worst Thing Ever by Mark O’Connell – GoodReads So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson – GoodReads Spanish fresco restoration botched by amateur – BBC News Emanuel Santos’ busts of Ronaldo – Wikipedia Jesus Christ in Richmond Park: original upload – AKA the Fenton the dog video – Youtube

Well, this is the podcast I originally intended with Jordan before we went on our tangent about his new kid (Oliver’s doing great, btw). Jordan had a more standard left-of-centre political outlook on life but then in the past few years, he became more, I guess you could say, radicalised in his politics. He started reading a lot on leftist politics, views and history and thought they were cool and good. Now he’d say he’s a proper socialist, or at least believes in socialist principles and aims. And, may I say, he’s happier and better looking for it. Bouncier hair, a sparklier smile, a class act all the way. He lives in Rome and works for the UN so there’s lots of good stuff in this where he ties together what he’s learned with his life around him. Sounds a bit heavy but fear not, there’s some solid lols in there too. References There’s a wealth of reading here which Jordan sent on. Please check it out! Video: Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention – C-SPAN, YouTube Is Left Populism the Solution? – Anton Jäger and Arthur Borriello in Jacobin UN Charter (full text) – United Nations Two cheers for the post-political – Luke Savage Neoliberalism? Never Heard of It – Luke Savage in Jacobin Listen Liberal - Thomas Frank – “a scathing look at the standard-bearers of liberal politics — a book that asks: what’s the matter with Democrats?” The Book of Jobs – Maureen Tkacik in Reuters Death of a Yuppie Dream: The Rise and Fall of the Professional-Managerial Class – Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich Climate, Commonwealth, and the Green New Deal: A Conversation with Alyssa Battistoni and Jedediah Britton-Purdy – Los Angeles Review of Books Adam Curtis on real change – Clip from Chapo Trap House on Youtube

This is a short story I wrote and recorded about…God, I’d say it must be about 5 years ago now. Gave it a re-listen and I reckon it still holds up. So I thought I’d drop it on the old pod. It’s about me meeting a 17th-century, Irish king at the top of a hill. We chat about home, football and emigration before he flies off on a large, wooden goose. ლ(ಠ_ಠლ) References Looking back over it, I realised the episode is reference-heavy, so I’ve included a list of explainer footnotes for you to browse. James Wood’s (singular, not the alt-right actor) wonderful, deep essay and talk On Not Going Home. Can’t say I got all the literary references but it has many, many excellent analogies to mull over. That simile between the unresolved musical cadence and a non-returning emigrant is just perfect. Rudhraigh Ó’Domhnail was the last King of Tír Chonaill (now mostly Donegal) and fled along with the Earl of Tyrone when the British set out to arrest them. Rudhraigh did indeed take off from Swilly, stopping in Flanders along the way and saw out his days in Rome. He’s now buried in the church of San Pietro Montorio. McKenna’s Guest House was a real place and the lady who runs is indeed very sound. She’s called Hedda and this whole story was inspired by visiting her down in Manorhamilton, Leitrim and taking a stroll up to O’Donnell’s Rock, which is just outside the town. The goose is a nod to the Flight of the Wild Geese. The Aye We Can t-shirt was one proudly wore for the 2012 All-Ireland football final. “When this big ole goose gets up into the skies…” - this is adapted from a line in Brian Friel’s, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, which is probably one of my favourite things in any form. It’s about (yet another) O’Donnell emigrating from Donegal. The repeated fist-passing in the football commentary comes from Donegal’s somewhat turgid (but highly successful) style of play during the McGuinness era. “Sam’s For the Hills!” – a common refrain among Donegal supporters. “We’re in our first All-Ireland…” – from the chorus of Margo’s “Walking Tall in Donegal”. This song is burned in my brain ever since the run-up to the 1992 All-Ireland final. “’Tight’ is it? Aw, wild tight I bet. Wild tight and…” – this is just a string of Donegal-isms. Pronunciation of “á” still a source of much controversy down here in the lower-25 counties. “Due bicchieri…” – it was a lot of fun to try and speak Italian in a heavy Donegal accent. St. Bridget’s cross is sort of a reference to the cross in the O’Donnell crest. “In this sign you’ll conquer” – English translation of the O’Donnell motto “In hoc signo vinces”. Tír Chonaill Abú!

Alright, chuck! Our Miranda has come on down to talk to us about the nature of data. What is it? Where does it come from? Who made it? Why does the very word strike us dumbstruck and have us believe God himself has delivered us capital “F” Facts into our shitty Excel rows? We also talk about how middle-brow podcasts are providing us with a bad education. So smarten up dumdum and let Miranda pour creamy dollops of digital ethnography knowledge in your ear. Also! After listening to the edit, Miranda would like to add this very important point: “I am also slightly concerned I sound a bit like a flat earther who doesn’t believe in science. Can we also just state in the show notes that I do believe in science?” There you go. Loves the science, she does. Reading Context is not just a variable — the case for data ethnographies – Miranda’s blog post. Do read it! Data Before the Fact - David Rosenberg - Paper she mentions “Raw Data” Is an Oxymoron – Edited by Lisa Gitelman – Book which the Rosenberg paper is in How Thick Data changed Netflix – Antropología 2.0 Blog Chickens come home to roost – Urban Dictionary

JUST TO SAY the podcast episode was accidental. The baby was very much planned and welcomed by the parents. Ahem. Jordan is a long time pal of mine and we recorded a podcast on a different topic (coming soon!). But we were wrapping up and I started asking questions about his son who was due in about 10 days. And it turned out very nicely so I stuck it up here. We spent a weird amount of this just talking about how much cooler city kids are than us. Do parents just download their insecurities on their kids?? Yes. Yes they do. Oliver Cox was born on Nov 25th 2019 and he’s just great.

Was Edel the first girl in Ireland to wear a shell suit?

Bryan came over one evening and dropped these four improvised poems and it was truly magical.

Coffee! We all drink it, we all need it. What's a work day without it, eh? Chris Hanney talks about his workplace coffees, from supermarket instant hell to Outback pour-over heaven. Along the way, he discusses Italian espresso binges and the powdered horror of a Belgian Douwe Egberts machine. I recorded this a few years ago. Audio wise, it’s a bit patchy, but craic wise?? Fantastic. Too good to leave in the back arse of Dropbox gathering digital dust. Reading International Roast Coffee Powder – Product Review Australia Douwe Egberts Step Espresso Bar Bean to Cup Vending Machine – Belair Coffee

Canada! Isn’t it a multicultural paradise where people leave their doors unlocked and every morning citizens of all nations come together to share syrup-glazed pancakes?? Well, not so fast you lanyard-wearing lib! Seems under the surface all is not so well with our amicable Canuck friends in the great white north. I talked to the ever loveable and knowledgeable Josh D’Addario about Canada’s deeper problems. How did a country with a deeply troubling treatment of Native Americans and the environment come to be seen as a liberal Valhalla in the media? Is it all down to pretty-boy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or has washing with sweet maple syrup always been the Canadian way? Come for that, stay for the Drake-bashing. Reading and watching ‘Sunny ways my friends, sunny ways’: Lessons of Wilfrid Laurier not lost on Trudeau, 120 years later – National Post Skin-deep: The awkwardness of Justin Trudeau’s Haida tattoo – Maclean’s Missing and murdered Indigenous women – Wikipedia Saudi Arabia expects Canada to proceed with $15B arms deal, but there’s ‘no final decision’ – Global News Trudeaumania – Wikipedia Justin Trudeau vs. Patrick Brazeau, “Fight for the Cure” charity boxing match – YouTube Shad - Epilogue: Long Jawn – YouTube

Lei, Lei, what do you say? Actually, quite a lot of fun and interesting stuff about WeChat! I know almost zero about this insanely huge part of the world so I tend to ask Lei about it often. And well, being a data-dork my questions tend to be around apps and tech and such. So Lei was good enough to sit down and be recorded and do some explainers on the topic. Basic point is WeChat is humongous. Imagine if you rolled Instagram, What’s App, Facebook all in to one and then added payments. Yep. But we talked a bit about other Chinese apps too. Was fun. Reading WeChat hits one billion monthly users - are you one of them? - BBC News Pinduoduo: China’s hottest online shopping startup | South China Morning Post – South China Morning Post What Is Pinyin? – TutorMing Mandarin Learning Tips Blog “Pinyin is the Romanization of the Chinese characters based on their pronunciation. In Mandarin Chinese, the phrase “Pin Yin” literally translates into “spell sound.” In other words, spelling out Chinese phrases with letters from the English alphabet.”

I talked to the wonderfully named, and just wonderful person in general, Manish Lad about the finer points of running a well-balanced team. I worked with Manish in the BBC for almost two years and he was always the wise sensei when it came to treating colleagues as humans. So gathering his thoughts here was a real pleasure. Topics include: running good retros, maker schedules vs. manager schedules, who decides quality and, most importantly, having patience with the process and each other.