Podcasts about Niall

Aston Villa have endured a disastrous start to the season on and off the pitch. Losing 4-0 to Brighton on the opening day was bad enough, but now star striker Ollie Watkins and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez are set to leave the club, with replacements needing to be rushed through the door before the transfer window closes. Niall and Marley dissect what's happening at Villa Park and whether this is just the way things are with PSR pressures in the modern day game. SUBSCRIBE NOW: ⁠https://footballsocialdaily.supportingcast.fm/⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/fsdpod?igsh=MjQ5d29veGdoMmZ4&utm_source=qr⁠  X: ⁠Football Social Daily (@FSDPod) on X⁠  TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@footballsocialdaily⁠  Telegram Group: ⁠Football Social Daily - Chat, Podcast and Match Discussion⁠ Merch Store: ⁠FootballSocialDaily - Etsy UK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we're joined by good friends and fellow Sonar Network podcasters Niall and Dain from the F*ck Buddies podcast to talk about the society of insidious evil losers known as the Manosphere.Check out the F*ck Buddies and give them a listen!Follow us on Instagram!Submit your topics and vote on others on our subreddit!Get even more content from us on Patreon!Proudly part of The Sonar Network! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark and Niall discuss the 1998 disaster film Deep Impact. Directed by Mimi Leder and starring Morgan Freeman, Téa Leoni, Robert Duvall and a deadly comet, the movie focuses on what happens when a massive wave attempts to catch Elijah Wood. In this episode, they also talk about disaster films, huge waves, and ensemble casts. Enjoy!

Sinéad and Niall welcome The 42's football correspondent David Sneyd to the show to reflect on arguably the biggest Irish transfer in years.With Parrott in line to make his Real Betis debut tonight, David charts the Dubliner's path from Belvedere to Seville, and breaks down some of the key reasons why Betis won the race for the Irish star ahead of competition in England and beyond.Davd is also on hand to answer some of Sinéad and Niall's most pressing questions.Where will the Irishman fit into former Manchester CIty and Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini's plans? How will he adapt to the step-up in quality from the Eredivisie to La Liga? And perhaps most importantly, what would represent a successful debut season in Spain for the 24-year-old?There's also time to zoom out and take a broader look at the future of the Irish national team, the importance of sports psychology and the implications of Brexit for young players looking to reach the highest level. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new campaign is almost upon us, so as is FSD tradition, we stick our necks on the chopping block and make our predictions for the 2026/27 Premier League season! Who will win the title, who makes Champions League, and which manager will be first to go? Niall, Joel and Marley look into the crystal ball... SUBSCRIBE NOW: ⁠https://footballsocialdaily.supportingcast.fm/⁠NEW: Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/fsdpod?igsh=MjQ5d29veGdoMmZ4&utm_source=qr⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/FSDPod⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@footballsocialdaily⁠ Telegram Group: ⁠https://t.me/FootballSocialMerch Store: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FootballSocialDaily Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Track List: Hobbs UK – Addicted Love {spacedisco cdr} Marc Cotterell - My Love for You (Plastik Vocal Mix) {dafia} Loddj - I've Got The Music (Feel Much Better Mix) {good custard} KPD & HP Vince - Let Me Take You Back (Extended) {groove culture deep} Platform Play : Zetbee – The Right Way (Extended Mix) {low lux cdr} Steven Sugar Harding & Ferdinand Feller - Thinking Of You (Classic Extended Mix) {let there be house cdr} The Sexy 3: Tracksuit Society - Right Here, Right Now (Rocco Rodamaal Classic Mix) {blockhead recordings} Jonny Montana & Yorkee ft Maya Johnson - Love Has A Way {camio recordings} Masters At Work ft India - I Can't Get No Sleep (Audiowhores Remix) {cdr} True Spirit - Our House (Extended Mix){groove resistance cdr} 40 Thieves ft Qzen - Don't Turn It Off (Dam Swindle Remix) {permanent vaction} DJ Passion Exclusive Guestmix : DJ Passion, George Jackson & Sheree Hicks - I Need To Know {groove odyssey} Ethan Gray & Andre Espeut - Give Me Time {sultra} Jay Vegas - Don't Go Away (Mattei & Omich Remix) {hot stuff} DJ Fudge - When The Rhythm Talks {tinted} Random Soul - Lay It On The Line (Jay Vegas Remix) {random soul recordings} Weiss ft Byron Stingily - Love You {fools paradise} Bad Bambino, DJ Passion & Mack The Knife - Be With You {tasty recordings} Michael Gray & Barbara Tucker - I Get Lifted {fool's paradise} The Rewind Selector : Connie Harvey – Thank You Lord (Jazz n Groove Graced Out Dub) {soulfuric} (2004) Jamie Lewis ft Michelle Weeks – Be Thankful (Jazz n Groove Vocal Mix) {purple music} (2006) Cleptomaniacs – Time Out For Love (2001 Mix) {fluential} (2000) Kim English - Higher Things (Jazz-N-Groove Prime Time Club Mix) {nervous} (2000)

Where were you at 7pm on Friday? Wherever you were, it's likely you heard a loud alert activated on millions of mobile phones.It was the biggest use yet of the government's emergency alert system, warning of the dangers posed by wildfires across England and Wales.Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the use of the measure, encouraging the public to take it seriously. But was it more red herring than red alert?Should the system only be used if there is an imminent threat to life? Did it expose vulnerable people to potentially more danger? And what does it tell us about the way the Burnham government communicates?Niall is joined by Jo Tanner, a former adviser to Boris Johnson and now a director at PR firm Rud Pedersen.

It's time for The Health Reset! Where an expert joins to answer any of your health-related questions.This week, Andrea is joined by Dr Niall Breen from the Portmarnock GP Clinic to answer your medical questions!

In this episode, Niall speaks with Dr. Marjorie Woollacott, Professor Emerita of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon and former President of the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences. After more than 30 years of NIH-funded research on motor control, balance, and rehabilitation, a profound meditation experience led her to question her understanding of consciousness and reality. In this conversation, they explore: — Why Dr. Woollacott's research with nonverbal autistic children is raising questions about telepathic abilities — How the brain may act as a filter that limits our perception of a much larger reality — The scientific evidence for reincarnation from researchers including Ian Stevenson and Jim Tucker — What synchronicities may reveal about the interconnected nature of consciousness — Why pursuing a parallel line of research allowed Dr. Woollacott to study consciousness while building her academic career You can learn more about Dr. Woollacott's work at https://marjoriewoollacott.com. --- Marjorie Woollacott, Ph.D., is an Emeritus Professor of Human Physiology at the University of Oregon and a renowned neuroscientist specializing in human movement, attention, meditation, and consciousness. She has received more than $7.2 million in research funding and has conducted research in child development, aging, rehabilitation, meditation, tai chi, balance, and attentional abilities. Woollacott has published over 200 scientific articles and authored or co-edited eight books, including the widely used textbook Motor Control: Translating Research into Clinical Practice. She is Research Director of the International Association of Near-Death Studies and President of the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences. Her book Infinite Awareness explores the relationship between neuroscience, consciousness, and spiritual experiences, reflecting her work at the intersection of scientific research and questions about the nature of the mind. --- Interview Links: — Dr. Woollacott's website: marjoriewoollacott.com — Dr. Woollacott's books: https://marjoriewoollacott.com/books/ — Dr. Woollacott's events: https://marjoriewoollacott.com/events/

The Féile and the FleadhFollowing on from Tradfest - well done Dónal and everyone  involved- Féile and  the Fleadh were mighty. Sixteen days of Féile An Phobail, seperate but running parallel with a week of the first Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to be held in Belfast. An estimated one million plus Fleadh hoppers  meandered their way through Belfast soaking up the music, the craic and the joyful atmosphere as musicians and dancers playing their hearts out on streets and in pubs and music venues. Well done to all involved in organising this marvellous event. From Comhaltas first of all and all the musicans and dancers to Belfast City Council to the Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald who gave £1 million in funding in support of the Fleadh, to all of the business owners who opened their doors and provided the services that the crowds needed and enjoyed. Well done also to the media. The local broadcast radio and television made a special effort, as did TG4. Together they broadcast hours of happy smiling people appreciating the Fleadh, listening to the music and watching the dancers. And not forgetting Niall and Bronagh McClean,and Ards Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE), the host branch for the Fleadh. This fleadh was six years in the making but it paid off – big time. Not least in its social and societal benefits. I spent some time each day at the competitions in the Waterfront Hall. The standard of the music was amazing. Over 5,000 musicians from over 20 countries participated. That included a number of bands from the Unionist and Loyalist tradition. Fair play to them. They were warmly welcomed by enthusiastic crowds.The Little Lost Bird and the Blue ButterflyAmong the art exhibitions was one by John B Vallely. JB is a renowned artist from Armagh City and a traditional musician and s great champion of the Uilleann pipes. He has been painting for over 70 years and his exhibition for Féile focussed on the loss of innocence; on the children killed at Wounded Knee by the US army in 1890 and the current Israeli genocide in Gaza in which tens of thousands of Palestinian children have been murdered. Two images stand out in his remarkable exhibition. One is of a blue bird dedicated to Zintkála Nuni – the Little Lost Bird. It is symbolic of a baby girl who was found strapped to her murdered mother's back four days after the massacre at Wounded Knee. She had survived four days in the snow. Her name was not known so she was named Zintkála Nuni – the Little Lost Bird.Wildfires and Climate ChangeIt has been a summer thus far that tens of thousands of people in Europe and North America will remember for a long time to come. Climate change has exploded in a series of enormous and dangerous wildfires that have left devastation in their wake. Day after day the media is full of images of forests and farm land destroyed, homes in ruins and families living in makeshift shelters. From Spain to Greece and across Canada and the USA the land burns as a result of prolonged heatwaves and droughts.Of course, there are still those who boohoo even the notion of climate change. But the evidence today is overwhelming and it's not new. As far back as the 1970s I recall warnings about the impact of pollution on the environment. In 1988 the United Nations established two UN agencies focussed on climate change - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) along with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 

As envelopes were ripped open up and down the country, university vice-chancellors were as eager to find out the results as hundreds of thousands of anxious students.So, a record number of undergraduates heading to campus this autumn might seem like good news for the higher education sector.But do frozen tuition frees, rising costs, and reduced investment for universities tell a different story?And with the prime minister encouraging more teenagers to take up vocational training, what does the future look like for universities?Niall Paterson is joined by Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

At 24 years old, Niall Donnan has built his work around something remarkably simple: human connection. From asking strangers for hugs to using social media to support people who need help, his mission begins with the belief that a small act of genuine connection can matter far more than we realise.But that mission was born from loss.During COVID restrictions, Niall visited his granny to deliver cigarettes she had asked him to collect. He sanitised the packet, left it outside and spoke to her from a distance rather than going inside. As he returned to his car, she told him she loved him. Niall drove away.She died suddenly the following evening.It meant that an interaction defined by distance, sanitisation and a hurried goodbye became the final time he ever saw somebody with whom he had shared so much of his childhood.That experience gave Niall a question he continues to ask himself and others:What would you do if you had one hour left to live?Most people do not describe achievement, status or possessions. They imagine sitting beside somebody they love.So if that is where we would choose to spend our final hour, why don't we spend more of our ordinary hours doing the same?We explore Niall's journey from feeling directionless at 18, through periods of sadness and anxiety, to finding purpose through service. We discuss the difference between having followers and having influence, why Niall chooses to use social media to create something positive, the stories of people he has met through his work and why strangers can sometimes reveal their humanity to one another in extraordinary ways.Those with ears, let them hear.Always love,RyanConnect with Niall Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niall.donnan/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/niall.donnan.3/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nialldonnanGo Fund Me Page: https://www.gofundme.com/u/c7ec636f-94a3-43c9-b87a-566ebdae807bConnect with Always Better Than YesterdayWebsite: https://abty.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysbetterthanyesterdayuk/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/abty/Join our mailing list: https://abty.co.uk/contactExplore ABTY coaching: https://abty.co.uk/coachingPlease email questions and reflections to: podcast@abty.co.ukChapters:00:00 – Meet Niall Donnan01:56 – Finding Purpose Through the Path02:48 – Life Without a Dream at 1804:46 – The Experience That Changed Everything05:30 – Niall's Final Visit to His Granny08:11 – What If You Had One Hour Left?09:00 – Ryan Reflects on Losing His Nan10:00 – Grief, Sadness and Finding Direction12:49 – Using Social Media for Good13:03 – What Do You Influence?14:03 – The People Behind the Videos16:46 – Why Niall Hugs Strangers18:01 – Escaping the Need to Conform20:00 – Loving People Without Controlling Them24:07 – The Privilege of Being Seen and Heard25:01 – When People Have Nobody27:02 – Has Convenience Made Us Disconnected?30:05 – We Connect at the Edges32:03 – Challenging the Stories We Inherit35:04 – Turning Attention Into Help36:01 – Helping Susie and Bob38:02 – You Don't Need Enormous Resources39:07 – Rebuilding Community Through Love41:04 – Getting Support to Grow the Mission43:44 – What Would Niall's Granny Say Now?44:11 – What Did Her Hug Feel Like?45:05 – Signs, Synchronicity and Stoke City47:12 – The Heartprint of a Hug47:57 – Return to the Final-Hour Question49:00 – Simplicity Wins51:11 – Football and Finding Joy in the Moment52:08 – Connect With Niall52:54 – Your Action: Send the Message#NiallDonnan #HumanConnection #GoFundMe

You do the crime, you do the time… or a third of it if you're part of the early release scheme.The move has been controversial since it was first introduced two years ago - but public anger has been reignited over the scheduled release of two men convicted of killing PC Andrew Harper.Prime Minister Andy Burnham is now under huge pressure to ensure they remain behind bars - but is there anything he can actually do? And why was this scheme introduced in the first place?Niall Paterson is joined by home affairs commentator and former adviser to Yvette Cooper, Danny Shaw.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.ukFor more from our Insider podcasts such as Electoral Dysfunction – including ad-free listening, exclusive bonus episodes, and much more – become a Sky News Insider.Find out more and subscribe at https://skynews.com/electoraldysfunction

On Hurling Chat this week, Joe Hession joins Niall and Sean to look back at the weekend Hurling action in the Senior and Premier Intermediate championships. There was no shortage of shocks! 3 out of the 2025 County Senior Semi Finalists taste defeat County champions Loughrea overturned by Tommie Larkins Athenry, Liam Mellows, Clarinbridge & St Thomas all start in style 6 out of the 8 2025 Senior B teams win in new Premier Intermediate Championship Notable wins for Meelick Eyrecourt, Skehana Mountbellew Moylough & Tynagh Abbey Duniry   

In this special milestone episode, we turn the tables on our very own host, Gary Gamp. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of  Smart/Tasking —the boutique business consultancy Gary co-founded with Niall Anderson—George Clode sits down with both co-founders to dissect what it really takes to build an enduring B2B business.Gary and Niall pull back the curtain on their decade-long journey. They discuss how they broke the traditional consulting model by focusing on execution and outcomes rather than just giving advice, how they have kept their co-founder relationship strong over a 25-year working history, and the tough business pivots they had to make along the way.From the realities of "active" consulting to navigating a massive post-COVID restructure, this episode is a raw, practical masterclass in entrepreneurial resilience. Plus, Gary and Niall share the three core pillars required to survive ten years of market changes, and explain why the rise of AI means we must focus on "assistive intelligence" rather than complete automation.Key takeaways from this episode:Outcome Over Activity: Customers don't buy features; they buy results. Building a lasting business means being ruthlessly obsessed with delivering the ultimate outcome, rather than just tracking hours or compiling reports.The Power of Reflective Learning: Those who are reflective learn faster. To survive market shifts, a business must constantly look back at what went well, what could be improved, and make proactive, conscious decisions to pivot.Aligning the Value Stack: A successful partnership or team relies on shared values. You must be prepared to challenge one another without taking it personally, and be selective enough to walk away from clients or associates who don't fit your core culture.AI as an Assistive Motor: Don't treat AI as a magic bullet. Fix your data and process foundations first, then use AI as "assistive intelligence" to automate the mundane so your people can focus on human-centric strategy and relationship building.Send us Fan MailLinks & references: https://www.thecompanydoctor.com/Gary Gamp: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garygampGeorge Clode: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeclodeGary's new book, Career Catalyst - available online now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Career-Catalyst-Secret-Skills-School-ebook/dp/B0DFYVG6XY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

In what might feel like a rare break from sunshine, the UK is preparing itself for the most spectacular solar eclipse in a generation. The cosmic phenomenon occurs when the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun, meaning the country will be slowly plunged into darkness. So, how can you watch safely? What is it about an eclipse that fascinates us? And with the Perseid meteor shower also taking place, what other celestial wonders might you witness if you make a habit of gazing up at the night sky? Niall Paterson is joined by Dr Jenifer Millard, co-presenter of the Awesome Astronomy podcast. To find your nearest eclipse event, click here. Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

This week, we review Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), George Lucas's epic space opera sci-fi adventure set in the heart of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, and Natalie Portman star as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala in a story that explores forbidden love, political betrayal, and the galaxy's descent into all-out war. With a secret clone army, a sinister separatist movement led by Christopher Lee's Count Dooku, and a young Jedi sliding dangerously toward the dark side, this film raises intriguing questions about whether destiny is written in the stars — or forged by our own choices.Is the Force strong with this one, or does the chemistry fall flatter than Kamino's ocean floor? Listen on to find out!Join Colin & Niall as we embrace the weird, the wonderful, and the downright awful of cinema!Contact us: itwasamoviepodcast@gmail.comSpotify: It was a movie..Spotify pageFollow, rate & review us here:https://linktr.ee/itwasamovieYoutube: It was a movie channel...Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itwasamovieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/itwasamoviepodcast/X: https://x.com/itwasamoviepodTikTok clips & highlights: https://www.tiktok.com/@itwasamoviepodSee all our ratings & reviews: Google SpreadsheetIMDb List: IMDb | Letterboxd: Letterboxd

Some leaders have gone to extreme measures to save their jobs - but is allowing a deadly war to rage on indefinitely a step too far?That is what many believe Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing after he rejected Donald Trump's 15-point peace plan for Gaza.The proposal was designed to end more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas - so why has Netanyahu rejected it? And can there ever be peace in Gaza with him in power?Niall Paterson is joined by Middle East expert Dr H. A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

A live recording from The Big Romance about a 2008 Sub Pop-released classic album of the 2000s. Listen on Apple | Android | Patreon | Pocketcasts | CastBox | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed | Podlink Step into a world of misty melodies and cavernous echoes with Seattle band Fleet Foxes' landmark debut – a defining record of the late-2000s indie folk revival. Led by Robin Pecknold, the album blends the lush, pastoral harmonies of the 1960s with a haunting baroque-pop sensibility and lyrical themes rooted in nature, tradition, and introspection. Like the Bruegel painting on its cover, every track reveals a dense, beautiful world that evokes a timeless – almost mythic Americana sound. This podcast episode is a live recording from our listening party in The Big Romance in April, with guest journalist and Fleet Foxes fan Aoife Barry. Our next Listening Party is Smashing Pumpkins later this month and it's sold out. Listen Closely: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008) A Nialler9 listening party, hosted by Niall Byrne with guest Aoife Barry. Before the album Niall: Hello everyone, how are you? Welcome to the Listen Closely album listening party. I'm Niall, and this is Aoife Barry. Aoife: Hello. Niall: We're here tonight because Aoife picked this album, as she has before. You picked Jeff Buckley last year. Aoife: Yeah, and we ended up doing three of them. Niall: We did, we went to Cork. We did two here and then we went to Cork to talk about Jeff Buckley. And you were at the My Bloody Valentine listening party last year as well, back in October. Aoife: It must have been October, yeah. Niall: Well, obviously we're here for a very different album tonight: Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes, from 2008. As you heard there, we played a bit of the Sun Giant EP by the band, which came out a few months before this album, because we want to give the album its full due. They're a little different, and we'll talk about that. But yeah, you picked the record. Aoife: I did. I obviously must like it. And it's such an incredible record. Is there anybody here who hasn't heard it? That's really exciting, if so. I'm excited for you to hear it. You got a sneak peek there of what the vibe is going to be. I picked it because I love this record, but I also had a funny story about how I first heard them. Back in 2008, when this record came out, I'd read about this band called Fleet Foxes in a music magazine. I don't even think I'd heard a song yet, this is back in the day. And I was on holidays in Berlin, and in the tiny little hostel we were staying in, they had a sign up on the wall: "Who's playing tonight? Fleet Foxes, Café Zapata." I said to my boyfriend, "I think that's a band I read about in the magazine, will we go see them?" And he was like, "Grand." So we went, and they were unbelievable. It was so good. Beach House were supporting them. So it was 2008 smacking you in the face. Niall: Come on. Aoife: And I took photos, which I found. I have photos. Artifacts. One is terrible, the other one's not so terrible, taken on one of those little Canon digital cameras. And I still have the ticket, I kept the ticket, I'm one of those hoarders who keeps all their gig tickets. But it was so good: the venue they played in had a dragon that breathed fire out every fifteen minutes. Niall: So they'd be playing and this dragon… Aoife: I'm not even exaggerating. Fire would just shoot out of this mechanical dragon. It was so Berlin. And Fleet Foxes were so stunning, and Beach House were so stunning. I love Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, I love all those harmony vibes, I wish I was born in the seventies, sadly I was not. So I fell in love with them immediately, and I've been a big fan ever since. Although I'll say I probably dipped a little bit around the Crack-Up era, their third album, but then I saw them when Shore came out, their most recent album, and fell right back in love with them. Niall: We're going to talk about all the albums that come afterwards, but we'll start with this one, because this is presumably your favourite, or one of them. Aoife: Shore is up there as well for me, but yeah. Niall: So what was it about Fleet Foxes at the time? For context: in 2008 there was quite a lot of this kind of music around. We previously did Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago as a listening party, and the funny thing, which I only found out when we did this, is that they have the same origin story in a way. Both songwriters went to a cabin in the woods to pour their heart out and write the songs. Aoife: I think Justin Vernon just got there first in terms of the marketing. Niall: So they must have pulled back on talking about it too much, because it's basically the same thing. They never really talked about Robin Pecknold's writing process in those terms. Aoife: For Emma was such a massive moment, everybody was obsessed with this guy who broke up with a girl and went to a cabin and wrote a record about it. It was the ur indie-folk album. Niall: What was really appealing about Fleet Foxes is that they were so young, between about twenty-two and twenty-seven, and Robin Pecknold was twenty-one when he wrote the record. Which is frankly offensive, you shouldn't be allowed to be so talented at twenty-one. Aoife: I know. And they were clearly these people from Seattle, which we associate with grunge, and then it becomes this place where they're bringing out all the pastoral, outdoorsy, mountain-and-sea vibes of the Washington area. They're obviously really influenced by the seventies too, by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, by Laurel Canyon, but also by Appalachian folk. There's a real purity to what they're doing. The harmonies are unbelievable, there's even a bit of a gospel feeling. So these young guys made this album that was being called an iconic American record on release. The Guardian called it a landmark American album, something like that. And that's special, because you don't get that many records immediately being called landmark. Niall: It was a very exciting time for music around then. I actually brought some records. We mentioned Beach House and Teen Dream earlier, that's a bit later, 2010. I wanted to do a listening party for that at some point, that'd be good craic. Around that time you had Animal Collective and Panda Bear, Person Pitch was right there, that was the apex for that very experimental scene. A few years later we had Sufjan, our very first listening party. And Bon Iver, of course. There's also stuff like Neutral Milk Hotel very much of that vibe. Aoife: I've noticed people covering Neutral Milk Hotel more now. Niall: I think when we got to it, it was on its second go-round, and now it's getting a third, which is great. It's a great record. So, the band were from Seattle, they had a bit of the scruffy flannel-shirt look, but obviously didn't sound like that. The album was written in the woods, in the cabin, brought to the band, and recorded with Phil Ek. Aoife: Who did a lot of stuff with Built to Spill. Niall: Yeah, and he worked with The Shins, and Modest Mouse, a really long history. Aoife: Are The Shins from Seattle as well? Niall: I think they might be. Band of Horses is another one. So they recorded it themselves with Phil Ek, paid for it all themselves, and then the local major independent label Sub Pop came calling. Obviously known for a lot of grunge traditionally, but they'd clearly been releasing this kind of music around then too, The Shins had been on the label for a few years, Band of Horses. When it came to it, they signed to Sub Pop. Apparently there was a bidding war. Aoife: They'd become quite popular on MySpace. Anybody remember MySpace? Every time I do one of these I feel older and older, mentioning the top eight, the randomers you'd put in your top eight. Word could spread quite quickly once you got popular on MySpace. Niall: What I thought was really interesting, that I discovered when I was researching, is that recording the album was actually a total pain for them. They didn't have much money, so they ended up recording a lot of it in their houses, or in Robin Pecknold's family home. And he re-did all the vocals right before they mastered the record, because he'd been sick during the initial sessions and his voice wasn't in great shape. They recorded it all in one go, scrapped that, did another version, and kept moving the running order around. I'm always fascinated by albums where the creation was a total pain and they had no idea it would even work out. Robin Pecknold actually said, "I hope nobody cares about this album, because I just want to move on to the next one." And then it becomes this iconic record. Aoife: Isn't every artist sick of their album by the time it's done? You're like, "my paintings." Yeah. Niall: 2008 was an interesting time for it to land. The album draws on the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, Fairport Convention, Judee Sill, very much old-timey or sixties folk and pastoral stuff. And in 2008 there's a financial crash. The album was worked on before that, but it was released into that environment, and a lot of this music seemed to catch. When things go bad, we retreat, we dream, we listen to music that's maybe the opposite of what we're feeling. There was a gentleness, an unhurriedness to it that resonated. Aoife: Grizzly Bear is another band from that time. When Jay-Z and Beyoncé went to see Grizzly Bear in Brooklyn, that was kind of where all the indie music peaked. Niall: And the other part of it, which I was involved in, was the MP3 blogs, that's where you'd hear this music. Especially the American and Canadian stuff, no one was promoting it over here yet, so you'd be months ahead. You'd hear Fleet Foxes in these MP3 formats. That was a mad period, it showed how the internet could collapse geography, a song could spread really quickly on the blogs. And in an American context, this came out post-Bush, with the Obama era coming in, a more hopeful tone. You had the Lehman Brothers crash, these global pressures, and then these hopeful times too. It's interesting to wonder whether these albums are a reaction to it, or whether they appeal to us because we want nice, happy things. I feel like Fleet Foxes have so much emotional depth: there's yearning, sadness, hope, nostalgia. Aoife: I loved Yellow House by Grizzly Bear, their first record, a complex, complicated, almost jazzy thing that sounded beautiful but had a lot going on. We weren't going for simplistic music, but we wanted music that gave us depth and beauty. Is art a solution to the world collapsing? Niall: We could be answering that in 2026. We live in a cursed timeline, as I keep saying. That's all I'm going to say. But what else happened in 2008 in the wider circle of music? Portishead returned with Third. TV on the Radio released Dear Science. MGMT released Oracular Spectacular, 'Kids' and all that. Cut Copy released In Ghost Colours, Indie Sleaze night on Saturday, folks, come on. Kanye put out 808s & Heartbreak, that was November that year. Rihanna was at the peak of her powers. Aoife: Katy Perry appeared that year. And 'American Boy'. Niall: 'American Boy', still one of the best pop songs, fire. Iron & Wine was the other one I forgot to mention. So it was a really vibrant, varied year. As you heard, there's the Sun Giant EP too. Aoife: The thing about that is it came out before the album, but was recorded after. The album was done, in the bag. Niall: They decided to go into the studio and record Sun Giant, a collection of songs intended to sell on tour. It ended up being quite popular, and for a lot of people it was their first time discovering Fleet Foxes. Aoife: It wasn't like The Coronas' 'San Diego Song', their summer-holiday anthem, or anything like that. But it came out before the album, and then the album arrives. Niall: So what was the reaction at the time? Was it immediate? Aoife: Things happened really quickly. In January that year they got all the MySpace attention, and by June the album was coming out. Really, really quick. There was so much chatter about them, which is partly why I'd seen the name, and a music blog like yours would have seen it too, and known they were one of the big bands. In a way that's harder now. Niall: These days you see bands like Geese getting a lot of attention because they use companies that help them go viral. You didn't really have that then. Now you'd dress yourself up in some gimmick, polka dots, whatever, and go viral all over the internet for it. I couldn't imagine these lads doing that. Aoife: No. But maybe in a way they were cosplaying living in the forest, on the Puget Sound. Niall: Anyway, when the album came out, people loved them, and it really hit it off. Because they sound so seventies, your parents would love the records and you'd love the records. There's almost a lullaby quality to the folk stuff too. The music is applicable to anybody of any generation, and there's something lovely about nostalgic music that reminds you of a better time. To finish on that point: I think there's something very mysterious about Fleet Foxes, they feel out of time. They're these young, scruffy lads with the beards, but there's a mystery to them. They didn't come across as the hipster end of things, they weren't leaning into anything. They were presented as the kind of band that wouldn't have had phones, would have lived off-grid, which is funny because they were a MySpace band. They're the most un-MySpace band you can imagine. Surprise people, do something a bit different, don't be exactly what people want you to be, and they'll love you for it. And then your songs are unbelievable too, soaring and stunning. Can we talk for a second about the cover? It's an original painting from 1559 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish Proverbs. It depicts a densely populated Flemish village scene illustrating 126 folk proverbs. There's a lot there. Some on this side are cut off, but for example, this woman here, she's putting the blue cloak on her husband, meaning she deceives him. This guy is casting roses before swine, wasting effort on the unworthy. And right at the top there's a man running through a field with his arse on fire, chasing pigs, "he who eats fire craps sparks," do not be surprised at the outcome if you attempt a dangerous venture. There are 126 of those. Aoife: The interesting thing is that the band managed to get permission to use it. Really unusual to be allowed use it as commercial artwork. Niall: And apparently the museum that holds the artwork were delighted. A lot of stars aligned for them. It's an iconic cover because it's so different from what anybody else was doing, clearly of a particular period, and it has that Where's Wally quality. I have a quote about it. Robin said: "We were trying to figure out what we wanted to do, and my brother had been working some stuff out, when I saw this Bruegel painting in a book my girlfriend had. I liked that it had a really intriguing meaning, there's a story to each little scene, which felt fitting for the record. It was dense but unified, not a collage. It has a Where's Waldo quality, something you could look at for a long time on a vinyl sleeve and keep finding new little things. It was very easy to get the museum in Berlin that has it to say yes, they were super excited the band wanted to use it, and put it in their newsletter. When you open it up, on the inside there's a Paisley pattern traced from the back of a book that Skyler's mum got me. We wanted two very different feelings." So, what to look out for when we press play very shortly? Aoife: When I was going back to this, I had it in my head that every song was one of these big songs, because there are so many big moments. But actually there are two tracks that are pretty much acoustic, so it's interesting to notice how they go from the big sound to the small. And for me they're a real emotion-and-feeling band, so notice how you feel listening to it. I always feel this swell of emotion with Fleet Foxes, I was walking down the road listening to Shore and I was like, my God. So lean back and feel into the emotions they're bringing you. And listen to the lyrics if you can make them out, because they're so out of time, all about pack horses and this amazing imagery. Robin Pecknold said he didn't write about a lot of personal stuff because he didn't have enough life experience yet, so instead he wrote these beautifully poetic narratives about pastoral and rural life. So I'd say the lyrics and the feelings are the two things. Niall: Track two, 'White Winter Hymnal', is probably the biggest one, watch out for that. And a few other people thanked and cited as influences, for some extra context: Brian Wilson, Joanna Newsom, Bob Dylan, Noah Lennox and all the lads from Animal Collective, Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson of The Band, Blitzen Trapper, who they toured with at the time and who were bigger than them then. For some reason Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are listed together, which is fair enough. Marvin Gaye, Damien Jurado, Paul Simon and John Lennon listed together. Townes Van Zandt, a legend. Vashti Bunyan, and Van Morrison. There's a nice quote from Robin Pecknold I'll read afterwards. Let's just open it up and listen. I'll play it at full volume, it's about thirty-nine minutes, two sides. Close your eyes, whatever you want to do, vibe away in your own way. [The album plays: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes, 39 minutes.] After the album Niall: It's quite an economical album, isn't it? It doesn't stick around long, thirty-nine minutes. Aoife: I like an economical album. It's also one of the first fairly short records we've done here. Niall: That's part of why I was thinking about Sun Giant in that context too. I'm going to read a bit from the liner notes, because for an album that's very much about feelings, with only a few direct songs, some of what's written here is interesting: "My first memory has always been of me and my mom on a cold grey day down at some beach in Washington, along the Puget Sound somewhere near Seattle. I would be around two or three years old, and we were with a friend of mine from the neighbourhood and his mom, walking among the driftwood looking for crabs. Even now I can remember the smell and temperature of the air, the feeling of the sand and the swaying tall grass. I can even remember looking over at my friend and how his face looked when he smiled back at me. Another memory I'll sometimes recall as my first is dressing up in the dead of summer as Jack London, with tennis rackets on my feet and wearing my dad's hiking pack, after seeing Disney's terrible version of White Fang. Or the memory of stealing my neighbour's Big Wheel and riding it halfway down the block before getting caught and having to turn around defeated. Or wearing a fireman's outfit while washing my parents' car, or eating an orange popsicle from the ice cream truck. These have always been some of my most distinct and persistent memories of childhood. So it came as a disappointment when, one day as a teenager, I opened up a photo album and found pictures of each and every one of these memories. I didn't have a single memory that didn't belong to, or somehow grow from, those pictures my parents had. I guess I've seen all these photographs at some point, forgotten they were just photographs, and over time made them into my most tangible memories. That's scary to me in a way. This leads me to something weird about the power music has: its transportability. Any time I hear a song or record that meant a lot to me at a certain moment, I'm instantly taken back to that place in full detail. Whenever I hear 'Feel Flows' by the Beach Boys, I'm taken straight to the back of my parents' car on the way to my grandparents' place, with Surf's Up in my Walkman and the Cascade Mountains going by in the window. Any song off Radiohead's Kid A brings back the airport near Seattle, from when we were on the way to Colorado for a wedding and Kid A was the only record I brought or wanted to bring. 'Crayon Angels' by Judee Sill is the whole winter of last year. And Brian Wilson's solo version of 'Surf's Up' takes me back to driving my parents' car around town alone at sixteen, windows down at night. I can't ascribe exact memories to songs by The Microphones, Joni Mitchell, Built to Spill, Dungen, Harry Nilsson and so many others, and it's a form of recall I can actually trust, there's no visual element to complicate things, no chance of a planted memory that wasn't actually supposed to be there. Maybe I should be concerned that I'm alone in almost all of these memories, but I guess I was just a private kid, and music was a private experience for me. Music activates a certain mental freedom in a way nothing else can, and that is so empowering. You can call it escapism if you like, but I see it as connecting to a deeper human feeling than the one found in the day-to-day world." Aoife: That's lovely. It's a nice addendum. And he was only twenty-one. Niall: For some reason it's signed "Warren Gamaliel Bancroft Winnipeg Harding," Warren G. Harding being the 29th president of the United States. I don't know why, he thought it was funny. Dated April 6th, 2008, Chicago, Illinois. So, any particular highlights, anything that stood out? Aoife: I was reminded how much I love 'Blue Ridge Mountains', the second-to-last song. I just love those four- and five-part harmonies so much. There's something that really gets me about beautiful harmonies stacked on each other that sound so natural. My dad was really into Neil Young and all of that era, my mum's really into Simon & Garfunkel, so I feel like I came out of the womb going, this is the music I love. Niall: There was another one I meant to mention. Aoife: I'm really bad at remembering song names, which isn't great for an arts journalist. They go in one ear and out the other. Niall: 'He Doesn't Know Why'. Aoife: That was it. I always forget the name of that one, and it's an absolute banger. It's quite a direct song, the last one on the first side. Niall: He mentions his brother Sean in 'Blue Ridge Mountains', which is interesting. And Oliver James is his younger brother, that's the last song. Aoife: His sister is Aja, after the Steely Dan album. The parents were really into them. Niall: It holds up so well. The harmonies and vocals sound incredible, there are those beautiful little flourishes, a flute on one of the tracks, the guitar is stunning, lovely little bass lines. I love the way Robin Pecknold and the band hear music. There's a really good Song Exploder episode with him talking about a song from Crack-Up, and the way he thinks about translating his thoughts and emotions into music is so illuminating. He has a beautiful melodic flow that's really similar to the flow of water and nature. There are so many nature references, it's almost parody there are so many. Aoife: You could do a Portlandia sketch about it. "Power of nature, man." "Come down from the mountain, you've been gone too long." Niall: In terms of the line-up: alongside Robin Pecknold on vocals there was Skyler Skjelset on lead guitar, his best friend from Nathan Hale High School, later joined by Casey Wescott, Christian Wargo on bass, and Nicholas Peterson on drums, who left after this album. Aoife: And who came in as the drummer? Niall: A man who's been a main character in one of these listening parties himself: Josh Tillman, Father John Misty, played drums with them. Aoife: For how long? Niall: Only a year or two, pretty short. As I said, main character, he was making his own record. Any Father John Misty fans? He writes really good songs and he's handsome, so we all love him, but he's also a bit of a pain, and he didn't get on very well with Robin Pecknold, which isn't surprising. When I was looking back at the Pitchfork interview they did in 2008, a few months after the album came out, it was a big joint interview with Robin and Josh Tillman, and Tillman is answering the questions at the start. That's confidence. Do you want to hear a quote from what Robin Pecknold said? I've written it in my little notebook, so old-school, that's the only way I remember these things. In a 2020 Reddit AMA, Pecknold said that on that tour, the Helplessness Blues tour, Tillman was supposed to bring out his own record, but his label said he could only release it after the tour. So he was on tour thinking, "I want to bring out my own record, I'm tired of Fleet Foxes." Pecknold said he "had to endure being around a lot of substance abuse, sabotaged shows, general ill treatment and shit-talking, all while paying him for songs he didn't have anything to do with. It sucked." And then Tillman left the band. Whereas in that Pitchfork interview he'd said, "I love playing in this band, these are all my friends, I'm having the best time, I'm sorry if that's a corny quote, but that's the best thing about this experience right now." Aoife: So he was lying through his teeth. I think he's the kind of person who really has to be a solo artist, too iconic a personality. You wouldn't want to wrangle him out of bed to get to the next show. Niall: Too big a price. You mentioned Pitchfork, the album was number one on their end-of-year list in 2008, and they listed Sun Giant alongside it, breaking the traditional conventions of end-of-year lists. What they said was: listing Fleet Foxes' debut album and EP together may be awkward, but it just feels right, they're two sides of a coin that equally express the band's mastery, "a catch-all Americana that takes a wide slice of our popular music spectrum and pulls it through a reverse prism to create a gorgeous and focused sound of the band's own. The threads of Brian Wilson's coastal pop, Appalachian folk, modern indie rock, Grateful Dead jams and other influences are masterfully synthesised in the band's harmonies." Robin Pecknold's sense of dynamics, they said, flows like a river, wild and free but logical, filling what needs to be filled and moving on. I swear I didn't rip that off Pitchfork, I came up with something similar on my own. Aoife: Very good. Niall: It was Uncut's album of the year too. But more than anything, and this is a strange accolade, the album was ranked number 36 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest stoner albums. Aoife: I don't think Robin Pecknold was a stoner. It doesn't really fit. He's a reader. Niall: So what came after? Helplessness Blues, which is really difficult to say, in 2011, then Crack-Up in 2017, then Shore in 2020. Big long gaps, some personnel changes. And Robin Pecknold, as we've established, is a very literary guy, he went to Columbia to do an undergrad in English literature, because he'd left high school early and gone to a community college, and he really wanted that college experience. So that was part of the break. He's also had difficult times, he's spoken about mental health issues and suicidal ideation, many tough experiences that contributed to the gaps too. They haven't released anything since 2020, and he does a lot of cover events. There are two live records. He's actually playing a gig tonight, I think, where he covers Judee Sill. Any Judee Sill fans? Aoife: Oh my gosh, she's amazing. Nobody ever knows Judee Sill. If you listen to anything, listen to Heart Food, it's iconic. He loves her, mentions her on this record. She's the one who does 'The Kiss', people might have seen her perform it on the Old Grey Whistle Test, it's on YouTube. She had a really tragic life. Niall: One of those I've been meaning to listen to properly for years. She only has two records, so it's easy to get into. There's a documentary about her as well, which I haven't seen. Aoife: She's one of those ill-fated seventies musicians, really religious imagery, did a lot of drugs, really interesting. Niall: Did you get to see them again after your first foray in Berlin? Aoife: I saw them when they toured, though it's really bad when you can't remember what you were doing in the 2010s. Niall: Did anybody see them at that Dublin gig, the outdoor one in 2022? Wasn't it amazing. They've played here a fair bit: Vicar Street in 2008, Electric Picnic 2009, The Marquee in Cork 2011, the Iveagh Gardens in 2017. I don't know if I've missed any, maybe you can tell me. So if you were to pick, is there any further listening or reading you'd suggest to somebody, not necessarily Fleet Foxes? Aoife: Some of it is obvious. As I said, I'd definitely check out Judee Sill, because if you really like Fleet Foxes you'd really vibe with her. And he mentions Harry Nilsson, also unbelievable, more well known than Judee Sill, did the cover of 'Everybody's Talkin''. I'd also mention a guy people would have known at one point but isn't very well known now: Richard Swift. He sadly passed away a couple of years ago. He was friends with Robin Pecknold, a hugely talented musician who struggled with addiction. He has an amazing double album from around 2005 or 2006 that's brilliant, and a record called The Hex, which is referenced on 'Sunblind' on Shore, that's the song where Robin name-checks a lot of musicians he loves, like Elliott Smith, David Berman and Richard Swift. It's such a beautiful record for finding new people to listen to, and it's lovely to hear a musician pay tribute to musicians he loves. The imagery is him talking about this beautiful day where he'll go for a swim and listen to all these beautiful bands, an ecstatic kind of song. So check out all of those records, but Richard Swift deserves more fans, and The Hex is really, really good. Niall: Good shout. What we'll do now is play a tune, and then maybe give Sun Giant another go if you want to stick around. Our next listening party is on the 27th of May, and it's an indie-rock album very close to my heart: Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People. I've been wanting to do this one on record for a long time. They're playing here later in the year, but I want to give this record its flowers, it's incredible. My niece has just turned seventeen and I bought her a copy, because it's an anthemic record for a seventeen-year-old. I can't believe that band are still going, which is kind of mad, but it's hard to underline what Broken Social Scene meant to a certain segment of indie. Aoife: And there's four hundred of them on stage. They're from Canada, and we were all like, my God, these people are the best. Niall: For me it's the MP3 times again, we'll talk about this next month. I heard about them through the music blogs, and then I got to see them in the Button Factory, which was the Temple Bar Music Centre at the time. It was one of the first things I ever wrote about, back in 2005. A transcendental experience. Aoife: They're so good live. Niall: I once DJ'd in Galway after one of their gigs, and one of the members of the band, I'll leave him nameless, came over and turned off the decks while I was DJing. Aoife: On purpose? Niall: He was that drunk. I can't remember what I was playing, but I was like, great, DJing after Broken Social Scene and then a band member ruins it. I don't think he liked it. No, I think he was just really drunk and thought it was funny. Thumbs down to him. In a way it's surprising a man like that has managed to persist in a band with so many members. Anyway, I digress. We'll talk about it next month, May 27th. Aoife: I cannot wait. I've been listening to it a lot lately again, it's fantastic. Niall: Thank you for being here. Let's play a bit of this and see what happens. Thanks for being here, appreciate it.

Artificial intelligence is already changing how we work, communicate and find information. But could its biggest impact be on science? Demis Hassabis is one of the most influential figures in AI. An artificial intelligence researcher and entrepreneur, he is the co-founder of Google DeepMind, having recently stepped down as chief executive to become the company's chair and chief scientist at its parent company Alphabet. His is also co-founder and CEO of Isomorphic Labs, and an AI adviser to the UK government. DeepMind has used AI to predict the structure of proteins, a breakthrough that helped Hassabis win a Nobel Prize and could accelerate the development of new medicines. And the ambition goes much further: using AI to tackle some of the biggest unanswered questions in biology, physics and beyond. Niall Paterson speaks to Sebastian Mallaby, journalist and author of The Infinity Machine, about the extraordinary ambition behind DeepMind, why its approach to AI is different from some of its Silicon Valley rivals, and whether the technology could ultimately become the world's smartest scientist. Have you got a question for Niall? Email us at: why@sky.uk. You can also watch This Is Why on YouTube.

In this episode, Niall speaks with Liam McClintock, a Yale graduate, former Buddhist monk, and founder of FitMind, a meditation training platform that helps people move beyond stress reduction into deeper states of awareness and well-being. After leaving a career in finance, Liam spent three years training in monasteries across Asia, studying under Bhante Vimalaramsi and learning advanced meditation practices, including jhana states and forgiveness meditation. He recently published his first book, “FitMind”, which brings together neuroscience and contemplative practice in practical tools for everyday life. In this conversation, they explore: — Why happiness supports meditation, not the other way around — How predictive processing theory helps explain why meditation reduces suffering — The neuroscience of jhana states and their role in reshaping the mind — A forgiveness practice for letting go of emotional baggage — The four-step framework for training attention: recognize, release, relish, and remain You can learn more about Liam's work at fitmind.org. --- Liam is the founder of FitMind, a mental fitness training platform that provides evidence-based programmes for individuals and organisations, including Uber. After studying history at Yale University and briefly working in finance, he left his career in 2018 to become a certified yoga and meditation teacher in Bali. His interest in the mind grew from a childhood diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), leading him to explore psychology, lucid dreaming, and a wide range of contemplative traditions. His training has included Theravada Buddhism in India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia; Indigenous shamanism in Peru and Mexico; Boabom, an ancient Tibetan martial art, in Chile; Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga in Indonesia and Nepal; Tibetan Buddhist practices in Bhutan; and Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Qi Gong, and other contemplative disciplines in the United States. Liam later completed a Master of Science in Applied Neuroscience at King's College London, where his dissertation examined the neural correlates of advanced nondual meditation. Liam has since become a Buddhist monk to deepen his meditation practice and has participated in consciousness research at Harvard University. He has also advised on advanced meditation training for Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Drawing on both scientific research and first-hand contemplative experience, Liam's work bridges neuroscience and ancient wisdom traditions to help people cultivate greater mental fitness, resilience, and wellbeing. He believes that making mental fitness an accessible and enjoyable part of everyday life has the potential to improve both individual lives and society as a whole. --- Interview Links: — Liam's website: https://fitmind.org — Liam's book: https://amzn.to/3RJGOum — Fitmind Courses: https://fitmind.org/module — Fitmind Podcast: https://fitmind.org/learn

UEFA has said it is not lifting its boycott of the World Cup after FIFA president Gianni Infantino held a crisis meeting in Morocco. This appears to be in defiance of the letter issued by FIFA at the end of the meeting, which said it would "no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity".The letter said Infantino had continued to have the support of everyone who attended the meeting, but some of FIFA's management team who had been critical of him were not there.For now, he seems determined to hang on to power, but with UEFA also not backing down, is his position still under threat?Mhari Aurora is joined by Rob Harris, Sky News' sports correspondent, to discuss what happens next.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

After realising we were in the same quarantine facility online Mizuka reached out and connected with our WhatsApp group and Adrie on Instagram where they were following each others Stories from opposite buildings. After chatting for several days online Niall and Adrie finally met Mizuka in person, at a distance, on one of our walks.Born and raised in Saigon, with her parents still living here, Mizuka made the difficult decision to return to Vietnam from her final year of studies in the U.S. to be with her parents before she was locked out of Vietnam. Or her parents were locked out of the U.S.Her story is one of many similar yet unique stories around the world about how the rapid escalation of Covid-19 affected people. "Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast! Book your free tour of Saigon Podcast Studio! Support the show

Tá Ollscoil Uladh ag glacadh le hiarratais san am i láthair don Dioplóma Iarchéime nó MA san Aistriúchán agus i Scileanna Gairmiúla Teanga. Fuair Aodh Máirtín Ó Fearraigh an deis labhairt leis an Dr Niall Comer faoin chúrsa le gairid agus chuir sé ceist air ar tús caidé a bheas i gceist leis an chúrsa.

The 33-year-old star has announced that she is taking a break from public life due to “endless scrutiny”. In recent years her weight and health have been the subject of much speculation and concern.Grande has endured a series of traumatic events. In 2017 a suicide bomber killed 22 people at her Manchester Arena show, and in 2018 her musical collaborator and ex-boyfriend Mac Miller died of an accidental overdose. Her latest music video Petal - in which she takes a chainsaw to her critics - sparked controversy as she looks visibly underweight.But what's the balance between ghoulish voyeurism and concern? And does she have a responsibility to her young impressionable fans? Mhari Aurora is joined by journalist and author of Toxic: Women, Fame And The Noughties, Sarah Ditum.If you or someone you know needs support with disordered eating, you can contact Beat, the eating disorder charity, via their website beateatingdisorders.org.uk. Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

This week, we review Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), George Lucas's long-awaited return to the director's chair and the epic sci-fi space opera prequel that launched the Skywalker Saga's origin story. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor star as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi in a story that explores destiny, political corruption, and the seductive pull of the dark side. With a young slave boy named Anakin Skywalker caught at the centre of a galactic trade dispute — and the mysterious Sith emerging from the shadows — this film raises intriguing questions about whether chosen ones are born or made.Is the Force strong with this one, or is it all just midi-chlorian nonsense? Listen on to find out!Join Colin & Niall as we embrace the weird, the wonderful, and the downright awful of cinema!Contact us: itwasamoviepodcast@gmail.comSpotify: It was a movie..Spotify pageFollow, rate & review us here:https://linktr.ee/itwasamovieYoutube: It was a movie channel...Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itwasamovieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/itwasamoviepodcast/X: https://x.com/itwasamoviepodTikTok clips & highlights: https://www.tiktok.com/@itwasamoviepodSee all our ratings & reviews: Google SpreadsheetIMDb List: IMDb | Letterboxd: Letterboxd

Nigel Farage has held his first press conference in months as he launched his party's new policy to tackle small boat arrivals, if it formed the next government.It would see the Royal Navy intercepting boats carrying migrants and return them "under escort" to France or Belgium.Reform's opponents have branded the plan unworkable, with the Tories saying the policy is not credible. But with Nigel Farage's approval rating collapsing by 10 points in a fortnight, and Reform UK losing ground in recent elections to Labour and Restore, will this announcement help win back Reform's lost voters? Or is it more about distracting people from talking about Farage's finances?Mhari Aurora is joined by Alain Tolhurst, chief reporter at Politics Home, to discuss how significant this policy announcement is.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Listen to Stuff Matters and subscribe for members-only contentYou'll never think about a banana or look at your airpods in the same way after listening to this episode.It's the podcast crossover the world has been waiting for. Niall Paterson sits down with Sky's data and economics editor Ed Conway to discuss his six-part podcast Stuff Matters.The premise of the show is simple - Ed takes an everyday object before diving down a rabbit hole to explore what it tells us about the forces shaping our world.So - how did a banana trigger a CIA-backed coup? What do LED lights tell us about the future of humanity? Listen to this episode of This Is Why... and then listen to Stuff Matters.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Niall talks on the sad passing of legendry Irish singer / songwriter Glen Hansard.

Adrie, and roommate Anastasia, discuss what life in quarantine is like with host and fellow quarantee Niall.Anastasia, originally from the Ukraine, has lived in Saigon for 5 years working in sales for a major hotel chain.Her company sent her on an ill-fated dream trip to Australia for work on March 15th, 3 days after the pandemic was declared. As a result most of her business meetings went online and were then cancelled leaving her no reason to be in Australia and as borders closed every reason to get back to Vietnam as soon as possible. Flying on the same flight from Sydney as Niall and Adrie she found herself on the same problem at the Vietnamese border of being moment away from being sent back to Australia, a country she has no ties to. Before luckily being allowed in at midnight and sent to quarantine with a group of foreigners who'd never met before. There she paired up with Niall and Adrie, wanting to be with the only other female in the group.Listen to more details about her story and what life has been like in quarantine for the three new friends. -------------------Theme music composed by Lewis Wright.Main Cover Art designed by Niall Mackay and Le Nguyen.Episode art designed by Niall Mackay."Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast!Book your free tour of Saigon Podcast Studio!Support the show"Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast! Book your free tour of Saigon Podcast Studio! Support the show

Bhí cruinniú ag Uachtarán Zelensky na hUcráine agus cruinniú ag Príomh Aire Iosrael Benjamin Netanyahu leis an Uachtarán Trump sa Teach Bán inné.

Niall is perfectly Safe. Bonus points to any listeners who can hear the new kitten running around in my outro background. He's a rambunctious fellow! Comments? Join our discord at https://discord.gg/mqbYZSxZHc. Email us at vaultveritas@gmail.com.

Niall Dennehy's first bank account was opened in 1987, when his mother walked him ten metres from their front door to the credit union in Ballydesmond, Co. Cork — a branch named for Nora Herlihy, the local schoolteacher who helped found the Irish credit union movement. He still gets the statement every month. Nearly four decades on, having co-founded blockchain company AID:Tech and gone through Techstars, he's a father of four in Dublin building NestiFi: an AI-powered platform that lets whole families, wherever they've scattered, invest together in a child's future.In this conversation, we get into:The 1987 credit union account Niall still gets statements for, and how it became the blueprint for NestiFiWhy the cash-stuffed-envelope economy shortchanges kids, and how a tap in the family WhatsApp chat can put relatives anywhere in the world into a child's investment accountThe tax reliefs most Irish parents have never heard of, including the small gift exemption worth up to €108,000 per child over 18 years from parents aloneTrump accounts in the US, and Niall's lobbying push to get the Irish government to seed every newborn's account the same wayWhat 1–2% in annual fees quietly does to 30 years of compounding, and why credit unions are best placed to win back the next generation from Revolut and RobinhoodIf you're a parent, a grandparent, or anyone thinking about the next generation's financial future, this episode is a practical look at how families can start compounding early.$84 trillion is expected to change hands in the US over the next 20 years; roughly €3.5 trillion in Europe by 2030 (figures Niall cites on tape).$2,500 seeded at birth plus $75/month from the wider family ≈ $40,000 by age 18 and $106,871 by age 30 (NestiFi's illustration; assumes a 7.35% average annual return compounded monthly).Niall Dennehy is the CEO and co-founder of NestiFi. Originally from Ballydesmond, Co. Cork, he co-founded AID:Tech, the blockchain company that delivered international aid transparently through digital identity, and went through Techstars in 2016. His earlier career spanned publishing, education and fintech, including roles with HP, Ericsson, LG Mobile, AIB and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He lives in Dublin with his wife and four children — the original test users for NestiFi. [Confirm bio with Niall — drafted from the recording and public sources; no formal bio provided.]NestiFi is a Dublin-headquartered, AI-powered family wealth platform that financial institutions deploy under their own brand. It lets parents, grandparents and relatives anywhere in the world contribute to a child's investment account from a link in the messaging apps families already use, with an AI advisor (“Seb”) and gamified financial literacy built in. A B2B2C play targeting credit unions and community banks on both sides of the Atlantic, NestiFi is backed by Enterprise Ireland as a High Potential Start-Up, closed a 108% oversubscribed crowdfunding round on Spark Venture Funding in July 2026, and has announced a partnership with Vyrdia, a credit union service organization whose network spans more than 30 US credit unions with $6.5 billion in combined assets.Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.comKey StatsAbout Niall DennehyAbout NestiFi

Tá Meiriceá tosaigh ag gearradh dleachtanna nua trádala ar os cionn trí scór dream a bhíonn ag trádáil leo, mar gheall a dúradh go bhfuil imní go bhfuil siad ag caitheamh go dona lena gcuid oibrithe.

In this weeks exclusive episode... We discuss track cars and track days (again) Bulge has a job update. Niall's daily is a little broken. Jon has a very unfortunate update. Thank you so much for your support. It genuinely means the world to us.We now have a website, you can find all our merch on it! We do have more products coming soon! Head over to http://www.lemonadelifestyle.co.ukWe release an episode every fortnight.Follow us on all the socials...https://linktr.ee/lemonlifeautopodIt's time to pay the Bill.

Less than two years ago, Louise Haigh resigned from government under a cloud. Today, she's back at the heart of power as Andy Burnham's first secretary of state, and one of the most influential figures in Westminster. Niall Paterson is joined by Bloomberg journalist Rosa Prince to trace Ms Haigh's journey from Sheffield to the Cabinet Office. They discuss the conviction that derailed her career, her role in Mr Burnham's rise to Number 10, and why those who know her see her as much more than the "Red Lou" label. They also ask what kind of politician she really is, and whether the woman many now describe as the power behind the prime minister could one day become a leader in her own right. Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show: why@sky.uk

This is a special episode, maybe mini-season, of Seven Million Bikes direct from quarantine in Saigon. This was recorded on a phone recorder and I don't have a laptop for edits so it's a live interview with my wife, Adrie Mackay.Adrie and I left Vietnam on March 9th for what was meant to be three weddings in three weeks on three continents; going to New Zealand, then the USA then back to Vietnam for the final wedding. Weighing up the risks of the coronavirus we decided to start out trip, but almost immediately those plans changed as things developed rapidly in the world. And continued to change daily, then hourly, then almost by the minute as we tried to get back to Vietnam as soon as we could before the borders closed and we were stranded in New Zealand. In hindsight we should have listened to those red flags and stayed in Vietnam.Adrie tells the story of how we got back into Vietnam, barely, and why we are in quarantine after the most anxiety inducing and stressful period of our lives together. We feel ridiculously lucky that we made it into Vietnam at literally the 11th hour before the border effectively shut at midnight to foreigners.******Adrie and the presenter of Seven Million Bikes, Niall have been married for nearly 7 years, living in Vietnam for 4 of those, calling this country home. They have a beautiful French Bulldog called Biscuit who is waiting for them to get out of quarantine at her best friends house. -------------------Theme music composed by Lewis Wright.Main Cover Art designed by Niall Mackay and Le Nguyen.Episode art designed by Niall Mackay."Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast!Book your free tour of Saigon Podcast Studio!Support the show"Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast! Book your free tour of Saigon Podcast Studio! Support the show

120 super-rich people have signed an open letter calling for higher taxes on the richest in society.They say taxing wealth more fairly could help reduce inequality, support public infrastructure and help small businesses. And point out that there are 50 families with more wealth than half of all British people. Critics, though, argue it could drive wealth overseas and damage economic growth.So, what exactly are they proposing? And is there ever likely to be a wealth tax in the UK?Niall Paterson is joined by Julia Davies, a founding member of Patriotic Millionaires UKHave you got a question for Niall? Email the show – why@sky.uk

A 2023 book collects accounts of shapeshifting strangers, reptilian visitors, and living doubles, arguing the aliens John Carpenter put on screen may have been walking among us all along.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheyLiveREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ycktrfu5FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Have you ever felt like something was off about someone you met? What if the truth was more bizarre than you could imagine - that aliens walk secretly among us, perfectly disguised? (Mimic In The Mirror) *** The short story “Eight O'Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson – the inspiration for the movie “They Live!” *** Left-handedness: once a mark of the devil, now a unique trait celebrated across the globe. From the Salem Witch Trials to modern-day challenges with spiral notebooks, left-handers have been forced to navigate a world designed for righties, despite the historical stigmas, surprising advantages, and the evolving recognition of left-handers in combat, culture, and commerce. (Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil) *** In the shadow of Switzerland's majestic Eiger mountain, 29-year-old Aidan Roche vanished without a trace during a solo hiking trip. Despite an unlocked camper-van and one last eerie messages sent from the trail, his disappearance remained shrouded in mystery. Months later, a grim discovery brought more questions than answers. (The Disappearance of Aidan Roche) *** In the summer of 1948, a series of inexplicable fires ravaged the Willey farm near Macomb, Illinois, destroying the family's home and barns. Despite the efforts of local authorities and the U.S. Air Force, no logical explanation could be found for the hundreds of mysterious blazes that seemed to start spontaneously. At the center of this baffling case was 13-year-old Wanet McNeil, whose alleged confession to arson left many unconvinced. Was Wanet truly responsible? Could she have been starting the fires with her mind? (The Macomb Firestarter) *** In 1991, 63-year-old Vasile Gorgos left his home in Romania to visit a cattle market and never returned, leaving his family to believe he had met a tragic fate. But 30 years later, Vasile shocked everyone when he mysteriously reappeared, wearing the same clothes as the day he vanished and carrying an unused train ticket from 1991 in his pocket. With no memory of where he'd been for three decades, Vasile's strange case has left people wondering if his disappearance could be tied to supernatural phenomena like portals, alien abduction, or shifts in time and space itself. (The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = “Eight O'Clock In The Morning” (short fiction)00:12:38.092 = Show Open00:15:46.852 = Mimic In The Mirror: Are Aliens Among Us? ***00:26:13.246 = Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil00:32:35.305 = The Disappearance of Aidan Roche ***00:38:57.889 = The Macomb Firestarter00:48:20.167 = The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos ***00:55:50.605 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Eight O'Clock In The Morning” by Ray Nelson: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mu7tmynm“Mimic In The Mirror” source: Sean Casteel at Spectral Vision: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckjpyz8BOOK: “Mimics – The Others Among Us” by Sean Casteel and Tim R. Swartz: https://amzn.to/3Ws07IJBOOK: “Sky Crash Throughout Time (A Cosmic Conspiracy)” by Philip Kinsella and Brenda Butler: https://amzn.to/3WlE2v2“Left-Handers Are In League With The Devil” source: Baiily Benningfield at Ranker's Graveyard Shift:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8acbdh“The Disappearance of Aidan Roche” source: Strange Outdoors: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mrxvj87r“The Macomb Firestarter” by Troy Taylor: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5n7dbzmh (used with permission)“The Mysterious Vanishing of Vasile Gorgos” source: Marcus Lowth at UFO Insight:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/jxztu8nd(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: April 30, 2024In this episode of Weird Darkness, listeners move through alien impostors, the long history of left-handed stigma, a hiker who vanished in the Swiss Alps, a farm besieged by fires no one could explain, and a Romanian cattle trader who came home after thirty years.It opens with the mimics. Ray Nelson's 1963 story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" — the basis for John Carpenter's 1988 film "They Live" — imagined reptilian aliens ruling Earth from behind human faces, and the 2023 book "Mimics: The Others Among Us" argues that scenario may not be fiction. The book collects accounts like that of Brenda Butler, co-author of a book on the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, who in 1984 met a tall, blue-eyed man calling himself David Daniels and claiming to be from the Pleiades star cluster, then watched his skin turn scaly and reptilian before he shifted back to human. It recounts author Chris Holly's memory of a strikingly similar white-haired, blue-eyed family she later connected to the extraterrestrial "Tall Whites," alongside cases of living ghosts, doppelgangers, and a 1970s poltergeist blamed on a mimic wearing a teenage girl's face.From there the episode traces why left-handedness was treated as sinister for centuries. During the Salem Witch Trials, favoring the left hand could bring an accusation of witchcraft, and as late as the 1970s schools still forced left-handed children to write with their right. The Book of Matthew places the righteous on the right and the cursed on the left, the Zulu scalded children's left hands to stop their use, and communities along the Niger River tied left-handed cooking to witchcraft — while the ancient Celts prized left-handed warriors, Rome read left-side omens as favorable, and the Inca chief Lloque Yupanqui was admired for his left-handedness. The stigma softened by the late 1960s, when William Gruby opened Anything Left-Handed, Ltd. to sell scissors, kitchen tools, and watches built for lefties.Next comes the disappearance of Aidan Roche, a 29-year-old chemical engineer from Middlesbrough who vanished on June 22nd, 2023, while hiking the Eiger Trail in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland. His campervan sat unlocked and abandoned near the trailhead with everything inside intact, and his final messages placed him two hours from Grindelwald in clear weather on a well-traveled path. Swiss police, mountain rescue teams, dogs, and drones searched for five days, and his brothers Connor and Niall raised over £30,000 for helicopter surveillance and screen advertisements in twenty-four locations, yet found nothing until September 24th, 2023, when Aidan's body was discovered near the trail with the cause of death still unreleased.The episode then settles on the Willey farm outside Macomb, Illinois, where hundreds of fires broke out in the summer of 1948. They started on August 7th as small brown spots that appeared on the living room wallpaper, spread, smoldered, and burst into flame — more than 200 of them in one week, igniting curtains, an ironing board, and newspapers sealed inside a closed cupboard, often erupting on walls and ceilings while witnesses watched. The blazes consumed the farmhouse on August 14th and both barns soon after, drew over 1,000 spectators on August 22nd, and even brought in the U.S. Air Force, which floated directed radiation from the Russians as a possible cause. Officials declared the case solved on August 30th by pinning it on 13-year-old Wanet McNeil, who confessed to using kitchen matches after hours of questioning despite never being seen holding any; psychiatrist Dr. Sophie Schroeder found her mentally normal, researcher Vincent Gaddis called it poltergeist activity, and Fire Chief Fred Wilson retired still convinced something unexplainable had happened.The episode closes with Vasile Gorgos, a 63-year-old cattle trader from Bacău, Romania, who left for a market in 1991 and disappeared for three decades. His wife reported him missing, an extensive police search turned up no trace, and his family eventually held a ceremony and accepted that he was dead. On a Sunday afternoon in August 2021, a car pulled up outside his old house and drove off before anyone could read the plate, leaving behind a 93-year-old Vasile in the same clothes he had worn in 1991, carrying an unused train ticket from that year and an old identity card listing an address in another part of Romania. Doctor

It's not just Andy Burnham who's been purging politicians from government.There's a wartime power struggle in Ukraine, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy ousted his top army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi – before trying to bring the country's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov back into government, just days after dismissing him.The sacking of Fedorov led to almost a week of nationwide unrest and represents one of the biggest political crises since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.So, what does all this mean for Ukraine's ongoing struggle for survival? Niall Paterson is joined by Sky's military analyst Professor Michael Clarke.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Dispatches are our shorter form episodes, usually around a single question, subject or story. In this episode, Niall McCann recites an incident from a couple of years ago when he, alongside a group of rangers, tracked buffalo poachers for over an hour through incredibly complex terrain.For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." Mike Tyson's infamous warning for his opponents could easily apply to the new occupant of Number 10.Giving his first speech outside Downing Street, the new prime minister hinted at what his priorities will be – from easing the cost-of-living crisis to keeping commitments on defence spending.But what happens when those plans make contact with reality? Can Mr Burnham's "Manchesterism" work on a national level? And will international events interfere with his domestic agenda?Niall Paterson is joined by Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig to assess what might happen in his first few weeks and months in office.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Niall Stanage, White House Reporter, The Hill, joins John Williams to talk break down President Trump’s speech about election interference.

Niall Stanage, White House Reporter, The Hill, joins John Williams to talk break down President Trump’s speech about election interference.

Niall Stanage, White House Reporter, The Hill, joins John Williams to talk break down President Trump’s speech about election interference.

Cabinet minister, Manchester mayor, ‘King of the North' - Andy Burnham has held plenty of positions during his political career. But the next will be by far the most significant.The Makerfield MP is poised to take over as prime minister on Monday, after finally succeeding at his third attempt to become Labour leader.But who is the man behind the former Blair-era minister turned mayor of Manchester? How did his upbringing shape him and what underpins his politics?Niall is joined by chief political correspondent of The Times, Aubrey Allegretti.Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

England conceded two goals in seven minutes to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on Wednesday night, as Argentina set up a World Cup final against Spain. Niall and Marley battle hangovers to bring you reaction to the Three Lions' latest failure on today's FSD. SUBSCRIBE NOW: https://footballsocialdaily.supportingcast.fm/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fsdpod?igsh=MjQ5d29veGdoMmZ4&utm_source=qr  X: Football Social Daily (@FSDPod) on X  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@footballsocialdaily  Telegram Group: Football Social Daily - Chat, Podcast and Match Discussion Merch Store: FootballSocialDaily - Etsy UK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things got a little awkward in the studio when Niall Horan turned on the charm and had the team blushing live on air. From cheeky banter to plenty of laughs, the conversation takes some unexpected turns as Niall opens up about life, music and what's next. A major social media crackdown is shaking up the influencer world, with thousands of creators facing new restrictions and even losing their accounts. A historic pub has disappeared in the most unbelievable way after being accidentally demolished, leaving locals stunned. Every new relationship comes with unspoken rules, but experts say there's one that should never be ignored and we reveal our newest team member for Backyard Cricket at Kirribilli House!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On paper, it was a mismatch: a fledgling republic seeking freedom from the world's mightiest empire. And yet the American Revolution ended with the upstart colonists' victory over the mighty British military. Rick Atkinson, a military historian and author of a “Revolutionary Trilogy” on the fight for America's independence, discusses the military tactics, geopolitical shifts, and economic conditions that factored into the war's outcome. After that, the fellows discuss why serving as the British prime minister has become a game of musical chairs and how Labour lost its way, as well as the rise of “democratic socialism” and the appeal of class warfare and expansive government in the US – most notably, a California ballot initiative that imposes a “wealth tax” on the state's billionaires.  Finally, in the “lighting round”, John's thoughts on the passing of former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan; H.R.'s take on the Pentagon putting its generals out to pasture; and Niall reflecting on European World Cup fans descending upon the US, only to discover a land of abundance (i.e., plenty of ranch dressing even if there's not enough beer to go around). Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today's biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.