Our Man In Stockholm: Recent Episodes
Philip O Connor
With Ireland's Girls In Green set to face Sweden in two crucial Euro qualifiers in the space of a week, I sat down with Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson to talk about football, the Fontaines DC, Drogheda hospitality and a whole lot more!
This week's guest is Patrick Hamilton Walsh, who as a teenager in Tyrone realised he wasn't actually much good at anything - but he had some dreams, and a plan, and nothing was going to get in his way. Since then he has visited more than 150 countries and is now based in Sweden with his family in the midst of a life that touches on sport, business and experiencing all that the world has to offer.
There's also news of Claire O'Halloran's new restaurant and FREE TICKETS for Sweden v Ireland, and a live podcast in the works!
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
The Irish In Sweden podcast is calling it - winter is OVER and the Gaelic football season is underway, so this week's episode comes to you from the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where Stockholm Gaels, Malmö GAA and Sandviken Gaels were all flying the flag for Swedish Gaelic football! There's a range of voices old and new from all over Ireland, brought together by the big ball game that has done so much to bring our community together.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
On this week's episode, Stephen Smith joins me to talk about how his time with Leinster Rugby led to the foundation of his company Kitman Labs, which brings together vast amounts of data about athletes and teams to provide greater insight and improve performance, a fascinating tale of a journey from the rugby boot-room to Silicon Valley and beyond.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Last Thursday saw an incredible array of Irish talent in Sweden exhibiting their art at the Ambassador's residence as part of the "Arrivals" exhibition organised by Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan. Though I didn't get to speak to all the artists, I got to talk to many of them, as well as the organisers themselves about what was a hugely successful event!
Spring is in the air and with it a hot of events and happenings in Sweden! This week I paid a visit to our good friend Aaron Kennedy at his new FSA gym at Odenplan, and I caught up with Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan to talk about the upcoming Arrivals art exhibition at the Ambassador's residence in Stockholm this week.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Aaron's new gym: https://fsaworkoutsstudio.se/en/
The Arrivals Insta page: https://www.instagram.com/arrivals.2024/
When Irishman Tomás Mac an tSaoir goes out for a spin on his bike, he's often away a little longer than the average lycra warrior - the Kerryman is currently in the middle of a marathon journey form New Zealand to Ireland by bike, across some of the most beautiful and rugged terrain in the world - and this is after traversing America and Africa on similar journeys.
Currently back home recharging his batteries for a final push from Dubai, Tomás joined me to tell his fascinating story of lions, tents, street food, the hospitality of strangers and a whole lot more besides on his journey halfway around the world.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Shrugging off another bout of man flu to bring you Ireland's hottest TV star in Sweden right now. Fireman Mark Bannon from Waterford is blazing a trail on "Robinson", Sweden's answer to "Survivor", and he joins me to talk about moving here and finding home in a small town of 1500 people near Örebro - and, of course, life on the Robinson island!
Last week I was in Gothenburg on the west coast for a soccer game so I took the opportunity to sit down with Ian "Mocha" Moloney, musician, photographer, occasional curmudgeon and nowadays one of the driving forces in bringing the Irish community there together. He told me all about the St. Patrick's Day celebrations there, the plans for the future and how singer/guitarists (known as "trubadurs" in Swedish) are getting all the gigs around the country at the moment.
Even though she got her first camera at the age of six, Holly McGlynn wasn't sure that she wanted to be a photographer, but having studied fine art and PR, she felt the pull of making pictures and threw herself in at the deep end in Berlin.
From there she has gone on to be one of Ireland's foremost fashion photographers, working with huge global brands and taking pictures of supermodels for household-name designers - but there's a lot more to her than just the glamour game.
Holly joined the podcast to talk about photography, networking, how to take a portrait and the challenge of photographing someone you struggle to connect with, and why sustainability has become a core value in what she does.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
The long tradition of a St. Patrick's Day parade in the Swedish capital continued on Saturday March 16, with community organisations and companies represented at Kungsträdgården. We took the chance to talk to some of those in attendance about what they were up to!
Support the podcast - patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Northern Ireland's Gray Hawthorne is well-known in music circles, as much for his ten-gallon hat and his love of country music as for his skill as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Last week I met up with him as he visited Stockholm to talk about his love of country and how a change in his family situation has led to him writing new songs, and we close out with an acoustic rendition of a brilliant new tune of his called "Into The Night", exclusively on the Irish In Sweden podcast!
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
We're celebrating International Women's Day on the Global Gael by handing over the reins to Molly Breen, our wonderful business development manager in the Stockholm office and one of the many talented young women that we have the privilege of working with!
Among many great suggestions for female guests for March 8, Molly has chosen to interview fellow Malahide girl and musical genius Lauryn Gaffney about how her work in songwriting and musical theatre has brought her to London, San Diego and Mexico, with even more great things on the horizon!
Lauryn has some great advice for young women on how to make their mark in the musical world, and Molly handles the presenting duties like the pro she is - support the podcast if you can at patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm, and support the talented women around you every day, not just on March 8!
On a visit to Dublin last week, I met up with Motala's own Madeleine Johansson, who moved to Dublin 19 years ago and got involved in local politics, leading to a seat on South Dublin County Council for left-wing party People Before Profit.
Motala's loss has very much been Ireland's gain, and we talked about what it's like to be at the coalface of local Irish politics in the teeth of a chronic housing crisis, among other challenges.
Please share and support the podcast financially if you can: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166
Tipped as a possible leader of the next Irish government, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald jumped at the chance to join the Global Gael to talk about what our diaspora means to her and her party - and what them being in government might mean for us. In a wide-ranging - and very different - conversation we talked about emigration, housing, voting rights for those of us abroad and why, despite the dreadful situation in Palestine, her party still wants to meet American representatives in Washington during the St. Patrick's Day festivities.
Another jam-packed episode this week as Carrie Cook and Sarah Galligan join me to talk about their new "Arrivals" exhibition which will take place in the spring and feature YOUR art, and Amy Falck in Malmö tells me about her plan to swap homes with someone in Ireland early next year so that her, her husband and her soon-to-be-firstborn can steep themselves in some Irish culture for a couple of months while on parental leave!
You can out how to submit to the "Arrivals" exhibition on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/arrivals.2024/
There's also a shout-out for sponsorship for Jack O'Kane, who is doing Vasaloppet for Ajabaja Cancer - you can donate here: https://www.targetaid.com/fundraiser/jack-okane/jack-okane/jack-okane-vasaloppet-oppetspaar-90km/
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
When Israel attacked Gaza in the wake of the violent and bloody incursion by Hamas on October 7 that saw more than 1300 people killed and around 250 hostages taken, one Palestinian-Irish family was caught in the eye of the storm.
Zak Hania, who had moved to Ireland where his four sons were born and had returned to the Strip to take care of his ageing parents, found himself doing everything he could just to keep his family alive while they sought to escape.
A plea was made to the Irish consular office in Ramallah, and almost miraculously, Zak's wife and his four sons were allowed to leave via the border crossing at Rafah.
But Zak's name was not on the list of those allowed to exzit, and he remains in Gaza, where food and water are ever more scarce and the indescribable violence continues.
On this week's Global Gael, his son Mazen joins me to talk about his family, his upbringing in Blanchardstown, moving back to Gaza and the horror of what has happened since early October.
Irish filmmaker Dennis Harvey explores themes of migration and identity in his work, and many of his films feature people that he has gotten to know during his seven years spent on and off here in Sweden.
His film "The Building And Burning Of A Refugee Camp" documents how a group of far-right protestors set fire to a migrant camp in Dublin last year, and that led to a fascinating chat about racism, refugees and housing and much, much more. .
His next film "Celtic Utopia" will examine how young Irish people relate to their culture through music, and it was a pleasure to have him come on and talk about his fascinating work.
You can get tickets for showings of "The Building And Burning Of A Refugee Camp" on March 8 and 10 here: https://tempofestival.se/film/the-building-and-burning-of-a-refugee-camp/
Irish comic Stevo Timothy's character of Farmer Michael has become a global internet phenomenon, reaching audiences around the world with his clumsy (and often offensive) takes on everything from feminism to football, and he's brining his live show to America for St. Patrick's Day.
But comedy and tragedy are never too far apart, and Stevo's backstory is one of the most intriguing you will ever come across - he crashed his motorbike while drunk, killing a friend and sustaining injuries that left him in a wheelchair, and despite his bombastic characterisation of Michael, anxiety is never too far away.
On this week's Global Gael he talks about the practicalities of touring in a wheelchair, what the audiences can expect, and how he deals with a life that can be tremendous and terrifying in equal measure.
https://twitter.com/SirStevoTimothy/status/1741501719102574819
Support this show on patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
On this week's episode, Doreen Burke form the Irish embassy in Stockholm talks to me about how to go about getting an Irish passport abroad, whether you're renewing your own, getting one for a child born outside of Ireland, or you find yourself in an emergency situation.
You can apply for your Irish passport here: https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/passport-online/
Please support this podcast by going to patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm and pledging €5 to help me to produce these podcasts every week.
Irish comedian Cormac Moore is coming to visit Stockholm in mid-February, and he joined me this week to talk about life as the man behind the mic, what it takes to get up there and make people laugh, and how being convenient is almost as important for your stand-up career as being funny ...
Get your tickets for Cormac's show here: www.thelaughhouse.se/event/feb-17th…tting%20comedy.
A busy one this week packed with drama and music!
I paid a visit to the initial readings for English-language theatre group Spuds & Sill's upcoming production of "Canaries" which will take place in the spring, and later in the week I caught up with Ged Graham, the writer and performer behind the "Seven Drunken Nights" stage show which tells the story of the Dubliners and is set for four dates in Sweden in early February.
The end of the week was spent with the wonderfully talented Brian O'Connor, who has a new album in the works - we met in the cellar of the Liffey in Gamla Stan to talk timing, life on the road, and how the compulsion to create is what keeps us all going!
Get your tickets for Seven Drunken Nights here: https://sevendrunkennights.com/tickets/
Corkman Dr. Mark O'Sullivan is causing serious ripples in the sporting world from his position as associate professor of football at Norway's School Of Sports Science in Oslo, ripping up the coaching manuals as he tries to answer the question - how do we coach the next generation of athletes so they can get the most out of sport?
Support the podcast: www.patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
You can follow Mark on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/markstkhlm
Dubliner Alan Dalton has been a guest on the show before to talk all things birding and nature, and he joins us again to talk about his new podcast "Wild Bird Acoustics".
An accomplished artist, photographer and bird-watcher, Alan puts an incredible amount of time into recording birds as they migrate around Sweden, and his new podcast uses those sounds as a backdrop to some fascinating wildlife conversations.
A love of rugby has brought Dubliner Gar Moss from Raheny to coaching Albania in their first official international against Kosovo last weekend - via Beijing and Dubai and a few more places in between! The nation's first head coach for their international team joined me to talk about the growth of the game and how, despite his boys being on the wrong end of a 34-12 defeat, the future is bright for growing the game internationally.
We've all heard about the great things happening outside of the big cities, but what's it actually like to live in the colder, more northerly parts of Sweden? Journalist Paul Connolly and his partner abandoned the high-flying media life in London and moved to Skellefteå, and they haven't looked back since - hear their story on this week's podcast!
Tadhg HIckey's searing memoir "A Portrait Of The Piss-Artist As A Young Man" won the Global Gael Bok Of The Year award for 2023 and if you've read it, you'll know why - it's a warts-and-all account of how he tried to balance tremendous success as a writer and actor with family struggles and the bottomless despair of alcohol addiction.
In a scenario that many in the Irish diaspora will recognise, Tadhg's abuse of alcohol really spiralled out of control when he was performing at the Edinburgh Festival and some of his darkest days as a drinker were spent in London, but luckily he entered recovery and has survived to tell the tale.
He came on the show to talk about the mechanics of writing a book, balancing low self-esteem with an enormous ego, and how telling the truth is the only way to real recovery.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
For the first podcast of 2024 I'm joined by Kalle Ryan to talk about celebrating a Swedish-Irish Christmas in Dublin, creativity and how he came to quit the booze a few years back, instantly making Dry January a walk in the park every year!
You can find Kalle at www.kalleryan.com, where he says:
All my services are on there, and I have several blog posts about creativity for anyone interested, here's a handful:
- https://kalleryan.com/batman-creativity/
- https://kalleryan.com/what-creativity-is/
- https://kalleryan.com/space-matters-surround-yourself-with-creativity/
- https://kalleryan.com/text-to-image-artificially-intelligent-art-or-synthesized-collages/
This year the podcast and the team behind it grew considerably, and we got the chance to talk to some truly amazing people about their lives as Irish people abroad. Those factors led us to the decision to create a set of awards to recognise the achievements of some of the most talented and generous people among us - some are still living outside the country, some are still based in Ireland but regularly bring joy to Irish people around the globe, and on this episode of the podcast we go behind the scenes to tell you about the five winners of the inaugural Global Gael awards.
Who knows - next year, it might be you ...
In what MIGHT be the final podcast of the year, we talk to Rory English at Lotts & Co. in Dublin where the Swedes in Ireland go to get their Christmas goodies, and there is the very welcome return of Billy "The Kid" Chaney to Stockholm from Barcelona after a turbulent six months in which our favourite artist and barber showcased his legendary creativity and resilience.
This week we talk to the wonderful and talented Áine O'Neill about her brilliant career in TV and media, throwing off the shackles and her desire to help other women be their true selves.
There's also details of the Global Gael Awards for 2023 and how the whole process works and a beautiful new Christmas song by the tremendously gifted Danni Morgan!!
On this week's episode we visit Carrie Cook at the Made By gallery at Fridhemsplan to talk textiles, design and sustainability - her beautiful collection is on show there until Dec. 20 and she shares some fascinating thoughts about how to be more aware of what we wear and use in our homes and workplaces, as well as what happens to it when we're finished with it.
George Murphy was given the honour of being one of the musicians called upon to sing at the funeral of Shane MacGowan on Friday, and he came on the podcast to take us behind the scenes of an iconic occasion where Shane's life and work were celebrated in joyous occasion filled with love, music and loss.
The Mother & Baby Homes, where young women were sent to give birth before having their children taken away from them, are a stain on Irish history, with many of the children born there having suffered neglect, abuse and trauma. Those children went on to become adults, and many of them left our island to find a better future abroad.
The wrong done to those children and their parents has since been recognised by the state, and attempts are afoot to try to compensate them in some way, but because of how the system is set up, many will get nothing.
Patrick Rodgers and Fréa do their best to help Irish people in Britain to deal with their trauma and to avail of the services and compensation that they might be due, and he joined me on this week's podcast to talk about his vital work.
An absolutely amazing day and night in Stockholm this weekend as the Irish Chamber Of Commerce In Sweden staged its networking event and a stunning gala dinner, with craft brewer Ivan Keane walking away with the prestigious Beacon award at the end of the night!
I spent the day talking to representatives from companies great and small to get the view from the ground for Irish businesses in Sweden, and the creativity, drive and sense of community on show was incredible - hear all the voices from the networking event here!
On Nov 20, 2023 Shane MacGowan, leader of the Pogues, singer, poet, writer, carouser and cultural icon, passed away at the age of 65. Shane was the man who did more than most to make the Irish in England both visible and proud of themselves, and that was no mean feat in the Britain of the 1980s. An incredible songwriter who burned the candle at both ends, his ability to put into words what it was and is to be Irish abroad is a cornerstone of the global experience of our people, and this podcast is a personal tribute to his life and work.
On this week's podcast (which is late, and it's all Hozier's fault!) Jim Smith Rehnström joins me to tell the story of how his grandad upped sticks and moved to Sweden, making him one of the oldest members of the Swedish-Irish diaspora, and Cormac O'Brien in Gothenburg has been out swinging at one of Swedish TV's biggest football commentators! All of this and more on this week's episode!
This week I'm joined by Marjorie Sundström and Louise Waller to talk about Orange Day on Nov 25, the international day for the elimination of violence against women and girls. It's a cause Marjorie has long supported privately and professionally, and Louise works for UN Women in Sweden with such issues.
There's a business shout-out to remind you to get your Christmas food ordered, and a reminder that Thin Lizzy's Brian Downey is on tour in Sweden this week.
If your'e experiencing domestic violence in Sweden, you can contact Kvinnofridslinjen on 020 50 50 50 or visit their website at https://kvinnofridslinjen.se
Irish listeners can reach out to https://www.womensaid.ie/ or call 1800 341 900.
Read more about Orange Day and how you can engage in Sweden:
https://www.unwomen.se/engagera-dig/kampanjer/orange-day/
10 ways to end violence against women:
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2022/11/push-forward-10-ways-to-end-violence-against-women
Make a one-off donation to our Orange Day fundraiser to end violence against women and girls:
https://unwomen.adoveo.com/start/T1dGa2IzWmxidz09/?location=orangeday&
Support UN Women Sweden work by becoming a monthly donor:
https://www.unwomen.se/stod-oss/manadsgivare/
Another bonus episode as Brian Downey hits the road in to bring the music of Thin Lizzy back to Scandinavia! Brian, Phil Lynott and the boys were tremendously popular here in their heyday and Brian is brining his "Alive & Dangerous" band back to many of the Swedish cities and towns they visited over the next 10 days or so - make sure to get out and see one of Irish rock's biggest legends live!
Full list of dates here: https://www.briandowneysaliveanddangerous.com/tour
The Irish community in England is well-served with brilliant organisations taking care of our people, and Leeds Irish Health & Homes is among the best there is. For decades Ant Hanlon and his team has looked after Irish people in Yorkshire, and he joins me on this week's podcast to talk about their valuable work.
https://www.lihh.org/
This week we hear from Irish author Doireann Ní Ghríofa who was in Sweden last week to promote a brand-new translation of her book "A Ghost In The Throat" ("Ett Spöke I Strupen") and Birgitta Hedin Curtin came by the studio to tell the awesome tale of how she ended up in the Burren in Co. Clare smoking fish that is now sold all over the world!
Back in the 1980s Ireland was awash with brilliant bands all being chased by record companies looking for the next U2, and when they found a teenage drummer from Walkinstown and his older brother, they thought they'd found them. Keith Walker went on to sign for a major label and tour the world, becoming hugely famous in Japan in the process, but like all such rock 'n roll dreams, it wasn't all plain sailing. A friend for more than three decades, he joins me on the podcast to talk about his life in music and how it took him around the world.
A rare midweek episode as artist Alannah Robins arrives in Stockholm to exhibit her work at Galleri Duerr. Titled "Comfort Ye My People", Alannah has created some tremendous visual work based on the surroundings of her Connemara studio, where the rugged mountains and age-old landscape give an impression of permanence, despite the ongoing climate crisis.
I visited the exhibition before it opened and Alannah took me through the process of creating the work, bringing it to Stockholm and exhibiting on one of the most prestigious streets in the Swedish art scene.
Be sure to visit the exhibition on Gallery Weekend (Nov 10-12) - you can find all the details on the Galleri Duerr website: https://www.galleriduerr.com/
This weekend we went behind the scenes with the Glass Mask theatre company as they took a play by one of Sweden's foremost writers and staged it in the Swedish capital. The director and cast tell us what it takes to put on a show like this, what it's like to perform in a different country and culture, and whether or not they might be back again with another English-language production any time soon ...
Few people can have had an impact as profound as that of Father Denis Slattery, an Irish priest from Fermoy whose St. Finbarr's Schoool in Nigeria went on to set the standard for they country's education system. Former pupil Adedeji Badiru joined me to reminisce about the man who gave him - a young boy with no shoes and his options fading fast - the chance at an education that has sustained him through a successful career in business and academia.
This week we've a discount code for a theatre event in Stockholm at the weekend, and Rory Moore from the Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden joins me to talk about the upcoming gala dinner and networking event, as well has how you can make nominations for the annual Beacon Award!
Get your tickets for "ACT" by the Glass Mask Theatre Company here: https://tix.kulturhusetstadsteatern.se/sv/specialoffer/ffczjbwwbl25q/
On this week's podcast, we unravel the mystery of an Irish-themed mural in Mölndal depicting the mythical figure of Niamh Cinn Oir, and Paul O'Mahony from the Local comes to the studio to talk about the stories that are making the news in Sweden.
Since open ing its doors in 1995, the Irish Cultural Centre in London has become one of the most important places for Irish culture outside our island. With a varied and exciting program, it is tasked with both preserving our culture and providing a platform for new artists, as well as being a meeting-place for the Irish in the British capital. William Foote sat down with me to take me through its history, its mission and what the future holds for an iconic Irish institution.
The GAA season came to an end in the Hague on Saturday with the final European Gaelic football round, and the girls of the Stockholm Gaels were there taking part in the junior competition. Tara O'Neill joined us from pitch-side to recount the games of the day, and camógie queen Michelle Cotter then jumped on to talk about how the season has been for women in the Nordic region and her hopes for next year.
There's also a business shout-out from Stephanie at the Läs Is More bookstore in a fast-moving, jam-packed episode!
I travelled to London to keep my promise to Joe O'Neill and attend an event with the Irish Creative Collective, and I was blown away by the range of talent on show - brilliant young Irish performers supporting one another in a fantastic venue, all in an atmosphere of mutual support and love.
Through the evening I collected the voices of many of those who took to the stage, and we talked about their sense of Irishness, where they fit in in London and what this collective means to them - and needless to say, Joe O'Neill is at the heart of it all.
You can follow the collective on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/irishcreativecollective/
This week we head out north of Stockholm to talk to Helen Kavanagh Berglund, who is moving on from a career spent in public service to an exciting new one as a consultant in the areas of leadership and sustainability.
There's the usual round-up of community news and events and a reminder to book your table in your favourite Irish bar for the upcoming Rugby World Cup quarter-final with New Zealand!
Support the podcast:
Patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166
Another jam-packed episode this week as Rosalie Wagenaar joins me to talk about her upcoming Irish dance workshops in Stockholm and her plans to do others around Sweden, and Aaron Kennedy drops by the studio to talk about getting in shape, the benefits of bulletproof coffee and how to behave when out on the town! There's also a bit of camógie and embassy news, and our first business shout-outs!
You can find Rosalie's Irish dance website here: https://www.iersedansschool.nl/
And be sure to follow Aaron on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaron_kennedy_performance
Support the podcast: Patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Las Vegas-based Dubliner Dave Rooney has done it all - broken Guinness world records, won Emmys and songwriting awards and played in every corner of the globe, and he did it all despite the anxiety that sometimes consumed him.
In his new book "Living With Anxiety - The Road Back", Rooney tells his full story for the first time, and he joined the podcast to talk about his life in music and the arts, becoming an ambassador for Ceol Eireann and how he hopes that sharing his tale will help others to deal with their issues and live their best lives.
This week we're on the west coast where Irish-American Stephanie Coughlan is launching an online second-hand bookstore called Läs Is More. Stephanie hopes to soon have a physical store in central Gothenburg from which she can share the many English-language books that she has acquired, finding new homes for great stories!
You can find the shop's website here - do her a favour and grab yourself a book to help her get her business going!
https://www.lasismore.com/
This week we talk to Dan Reid about the amazing story behind the Equator Gaels and how Ugandan coaches are teaching Ugandan kids to play Gaelic games in East Africa!
Kilkenny man Dan moved to Uganda as a young teacher and found himself at the centre of an African hurling revolution that has seen Ireland's traditional sports entrench themselves in schools there, offering children both an education and a chance to swing the timber like never before!
Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Another jam-packed episode featuring Anthony Morrissey and the announcement of the Irish Chamber Of Commerce In Sweden's gala event for 2023, a new open mic night at Wirströms and Josh Lenn introducing improv comedy at the Liffey, and we round off with a shout-out from the Mary Wallopers to the Stockholm Gaels camógs!
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
On this week's podcast Wexford man Kevin Deegan joins me to talk about his work as vice-president of innovation at Finnish food giant Valio, and there's also recommendations for new books by Irish authors Tadhg Hickey (A Portrait Of The Piss Artist As A Young Man) and Aoife Moore (The Long Game - Inside Sinn Féin).
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
A jam-packed episode this week as we catch up with Ireland captain Katie McCabe in Linköping to ask her about being nominated for the Ballon d'Or as the world's best footballer, and we talk to Albin Winbo from Varberg about his adventures with Cork City in the League Of Ireland!
There's also news of our new ambassador, a diplomatic Swedish-Irish connection to Hungary and some gigs to add to your calendar, as well as one or two to remove!
Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Ireland have travelled to France for the Rugby World Cup with best squad we've ever had and in the form of our lives, but we're facing perhaps the toughest draw we've ever had too. Irish rugby legend Alan Quinlan joins me to answer the question - after some past disappointments, can this be the team that finally answers Ireland's World Cup call?
Sport brings out the best in our communities, and the Irish in Sweden are no different - this weekend it was the turn of our hurlers and especially our camógs to remind us of the remarkable things we can achieve when we all pull in the same direction. Brendan Weathers of the Viking Gaels and Michelle Cotter of Stockholm Camógie join me to report on an incredible weekend for the small-ball game, and there's updates on the career of our chef extraordinaire Claire O'Halloran and news of unmissable gigs from Brian O'Connor!
Kurdish-Swedish comedian Özz Nujen joins me to talk about his family's extraordinary flight from Turkey to Sweden in search of refuge, how the country has changed and how its application to join NATO has once again put the Kurds in the firing line. We also cover the shame of Fortress Europe, where migrants are left to drown in the Mediterranean.
A report from a magnificent day of Gaelic games in Gävle is followed by a chat with Sligo man Tony McCarrick, for whom a teaching job in Nigeria ended up in a marriage to Nina and eventually, a job as a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence and all things technological!
This week I'm joined by Irish author Kate Kerrigan, whose new one-woman show "Am I Irish Yet?" explores questions of identity from the perspective a woman who grew up in an Irish family in London. Kate went on to be a hugely successful magazine editor and author, and her show is now taking audiences by storm as she mixes humour and anecdotes to get to the bottom of that thorny question for our diaspora - what do we have to do to be considered truly Irish?
The Irish In Sweden microphone was out and about and ended up under the noses of a huge amount of people as the Swedish-Irish Society and the Stockholm Gaels put on a mighty family day at Skarpnäcks IP on Saturday that featured the first game of camógie ever played in Sweden. Here from the fabulous camógs, those new to the parish and a few familiar voices on a great day out.
In our final podcast looking at the Women's World Cup, I'm joined by Ireland's Chloe Mustaki who takes us behind the scenes at the tournament. The defender looks back on the highs and lows of Ireland's debut at a major finals, and we look forward to the upcoming Women's Super League Season in England where she plays with Bristol City, as well as talking about the state of the game generally and where it goes form here.
All good things must come to an end, and even if the tenure of Ambassador Austin Gormley was undoubtedly one of the best things that happened to our community, but the time has come for him to move on.
He will soon officially take up his new role in South Africa, but before he departed Sweden's shores he sat down with me to talk about his time here and what it meant to both him and us.
After coming up short in a Celtman triathlon, Dubliner Willie Murphy felt he was pretty much done with the sport - but then his name was pulled out of the hat as one of only 260 racers at the 2023 Norseman - the world's most extreme triathlon - and he had to think again.
But there was a a problem. Willie had lost all his motivation and hadn't trained in ages, so how on earth could he get from being on his couch to the finish line of the Norseman - a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a marathon that finishes at the top of a mountain - in just eight months?
Hear his amazing story on this week's Global Gael.
Michelle Cotter and Hazel Reilly from the recently-founded Stockholm Camógie join me to talk about the rapid progress the team has made during the summer, and give us the lowdown on the preparations for their first tournament in the Hague in the first week of September.
The last week of July saw the global GAA family gather in Derry for the World Games, with footballers, hurlers and camógs from all over the world battling for glory in a truly international series of competitions. Gaelic Games Europe Development Officer Tony Bass joins me on this week's podcast to talk through the event and what it means for our games around the world.
Stockholm Pride will have an Irish tint this year as drag queen Dee Bugg makes her Celtic presence felt - Dee came to the IIS studio to talk about the event and how you can go about becoming the most fabulous version of yourself!
The Girls In Green are out, but not down and there's still one more chance to impress as they take on Nigeria on Monday in their final World Cup group game.
Before the tournament I spoke to Samuel Ahmadu, Africa's foremost football journalist, to get the lowdown on the continent's most successful team, male or female.
As Sweden experiences some very Irish summer weather, we pay a visit to Växjö to talk to legal expert Graham Butler about living in Sweden, working in Denmark and how different laws at different levels influence how we live our lives - not least if you're running a microbrewery like some of our previous guests!
A narrow defeat in our first game means it's all to play for against Canada, a team riven by strife with their FA and whose talismanic player missed a penalty in a scoreless draw with Nigeria. But who are the Canadians and how do they play? Harjeet Johal joins me to give us the lowdown ahead of Wednesday's Women's World Cup clash between Ireland and Canada!
The moment is almost upon us - on Thursday Ireland take on hosts Australia in the opening game of the FIFA Women's World Cup, and to set the scene I spoke to former Matilda Joey Peters about her career and what this World Cup means, and journalist Isobel Cootes, who gave me the lowdown on the players and tactics that Ireland will face in front of a sold-out crowd!
An internship when she was at Warwick University taught Nic Keaney one valuable lesson - no matter how much money it paid, she didn't want an "ordinary" job, so she went into journalism instead.
Her readiness to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice and her ability to come back with the story no matter what saw her quickly rise to the top of the profession.
A pivot to the worlds of tech and data followed and she ended up at the cutting edge of Twitter's attempt to keep the world connected in real time, all while dealing with misinformation, disinformation and "fake news".
Elon Musk's subsequent gutting of the company saw her depart but she had no shortage of suitors and she is now managing editor of PinkNews, the world's largest news outlet for the LGBTQ+ community.
In a wide-ranging conversations, she joins the #GlobalGael to talk about her career, covering everything from trauma and innovation to how we as journalists and people often define ourselves through our work.
Semester?! What semester?! A jam-packed episode this week with news of two Swedish-Irish weddings and an open call for young architects, followed by a dinger of a chat with the wonderful Anthony Morrissey about moving his family to Gothenburg and how he is gradually making his mark in both business and the community there.
For more info on the Trading Spaces architecture open call, visit their website: https://architecturefoundation.ie/news/trading-spaces-open-call/
This week, we kick off the Global Gael's Women's World Cup coverage with Ireland international Rianna Jarrett, who talks about her playing career in the U.S. and England, playing for Vera Pauw and what we can expect from the Girls In Green as Ireland appear at their first major finals against Australia, Canada and Nigeria.
He may have started out as a lowly stable hand in County Meath, but Paddy Looney's sharp mind and huge capacity for hard work quickly saw him rise through the ranks, and he now runs a very successful horse-breeding business north of Stockholm.
He talked to me about the work that went into building up his reputation and his business, the challenges he faces here, and how he works as a consultant for firms all over the world, helping them with their marketing, branding and business practices.
Andrew McGarry first left Longford for Dublin, and then Ireland for Australia as his mother's career in journalism took them to the other side of the world, and despite her protestations he followed her into the trade, He has spent three decades working in Australian media, starting at the lowest level and working himself up to the heights of sport and a live Eurovision blog that is one of the high points of the media calendar there.
He joined me to talk about his career, the Women's World Cup there and the mental toll of covering Australia's most notorious serial killings.
This week physiotherapist Jessica Stokes Diehn joins me to talk about how her practice is now focused solely on the wellbeing of women, particularly those who are or have been pregnant. Jessica talks about how she met her Irish husband in the wonderful environs of Wirströms Pub in Gamla Stan, getting her degree in Luleå and going on to realise that women were very much under-served when it comes to medical and physical care.
What happens when an Irish person dies abroad? How can they be brought home, and what can families do if they can't foot the bill? The answer is the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, set up by Colin Bell and his family to remember their son Kevin, who was killed in a hit and run accident in America. The trust has helped to repatriate almost 1600 Irish people who have passed away abroad, and they provide a unique and vital service for our diaspora.
To find out more about how you can help them - and indeed how they can help you - visit https://kevinbellrepatriationtrust.com/
This week we're joined by Eoin O'Connor to pay tribute to Aslan singer Christy Dignam, who passed away this week, with a special episode remembering their epic gig at Stockholm's Liffey pub.
There's also a review of the visit of Gävle GAA to Stockholm on Saturday, and how the capital's camógs are set for a starring role in an upcoming show on TG4!
London-based Barry Glendenning is one of Ireland's best-known sports journalists and his live blogs and podcasting for the website of the Guardian newspaper have made him a household name among soccer and sports fans around the world. We talked about his need to get out of UCD, stand-up comedy and becoming a hugely successful journalist despite not having a plan at all.
Like many Irish people, Dubliner Emma Patterson only came here for a brief stay, but ended up here (almost!) permanently! She came into the studio to talk about her work with public health and nutrition, the Swedish-Irish Society, kayaking and the value of community organisations.
This week we visit Ivan Keane of Keane Brewing on Lidingö to talk about running a microbrewery in Sweden, how the wrong label can stop your beer ever getting produced, and what the future might hold for how alcohol is sold in what has previously been one of the most tightly-controlled markets in the world.
Make sure to follow Keane Brewing on social media and consider booking a trip there for your next social or corporate event.
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/keanebrewing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keanebrewery
For decades the heroics of Irish explorer Tom Crean flew beneath the radar, but in recent years tales of his exploits in the South Pole have come to the fore thanks to fans and writers like Tim Foley.
Tim's dad came from the same part of Kerry as Crean, and a youthful curiosity about him turned into a campaign to have him remembered and a book describing Crean's incredible adventures.
https://tomcreanbook.com/
Shannon Lynn was a successful pro soccer player playing in the Swedish top flight and representing Scotland at the World Cup, but deep down, she never thought she was good enough.
The sudden, traumatic death of the woman she described as "the love of my life" exacerbated her mental health issues, leading her down a dark path of self-medication with alcohol that almost ruined her.
But it didn't. Thanks to family and friends she started on the road to recovery, and after years of hard work in therapy she now helps others in her life to be the best versions of themselves they can be, and to find joy in their sport.
It happens very seldom that someone opens up this much in front of the microphone, and I am very grateful to Shannon for doing so.
Aoife Gallagher's new book "Web of Lies" dives deep into the subject of how easy it is to go down the rabbit hole of compelling online conspiracy theories that can lead to us becoming radicalised, particularly into far-right politics.
Aoife talks about the kinds of conspiracy theories that are out there, the different ecosystems and echo chambers that exist, and how Covid changed the game, coalescing many disparate theories around the idea of increased state control, as well as what we can do when those around us are affected.
You can order the book here: www.gillbooks.ie/politics-current…airs/web-of-lies
Anna Sivenius Rattigan has a new book out in Swedish called "Odödlig Jord" and this week she joined me on the podcast to talk about how falling in love with a Meathman and Ireland in general has shaped her telling of this fantastic tale!
You can contact Anna on Instagram for a signed copy here: https://www.instagram.com/anna_sivenius_rattigan_author
Or you can order the book directly from the publisher here: https://shop.hoi.se/ododlig-jord
Brian Shelley is one of the finest defenders ever to grace the League oF Ireland, but after two of the clubs he played for fell into financial difficulties and couldn't honour his contracts, he upped sticks and moved to Australia. A jump to New Zealand followed and the Dubliner and his family are now thriving on the other side of the world - and he's still in the game that brought him there. This week, he tells his story on the Global Gael.
Claire O'Halloran's new Iníoní gastro bar on Timmermansgatan is already winning rave reviews for its brilliant food and intimate atmosphere, so I dropped by to find out about Ireland's latest culinary success in the Swedish capital!
For details on how to book, follow their Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/inionirestaurant/
While travelling the world to train and learn about various different kinds of wrestling, Irishman Ruadhán McFadden discovered that Ireland had it's very own style, and he is determined to bring it back. In fact, Irish Collar & Elbow wrestling was once one of the most popular forms of the sport, and his book on the subject has re-awoken a grappling culture that had almost disappeared, and he joined me from his travels in Tokyo to tell me all about it.
Dubliner Gavin Boland joins the podcast this week to talk about moving to Sweden and his job as global innovation manager for one of Sweden's most iconic brands - Absolut Vodka.
There's also a reminder about Gary Lavelle's Three Peaks For Gearóid's Smile GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/amazing-gearoids-three-peak-challenge-sweden) and a request for support for Graham "Reggie" Reynolds, our Wicklow-born member of Sweden's international fly-fishing team: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-swedish-flyfishing-national-team-2023
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm or Swish to 1232424166.
Once again Irish artists are making a splash at the Supermarket Art Fair, which this year is taking place at Stadsgårdsterminalen in Slussen. I took the chance to drop by and talk to the Irish contingent featuring Niamh Brown of Ormston House who has brought over Belfast-based painter Jennifer Trouton, and Alannah Robins, whose Interface outfit has brought over Galway-based Noel Arrigan and Ian Wieczorek from Castlebar to exhibit.
The fair runs until Sunday and I'd strongly advise you get down and see it!
https://supermarketartfair.com/
This week's podcast goes behind the scenes at Landvetter Airport as Irish wheelchair user Adrian Keogh had to crawl down the steps when assistance didn't arrive in time, and the wonderful Gary Lavelle talks construction, integration and why he's hiking up three peaks in Åre at the end of May för the Gearóid's Smile charity - you can donate here and provide respite for sick children and their families:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/amazing-gearoids-three-peak-challenge-sweden
Paul Ward was just 17 when his family moved across the Atlantic to Wisconsin, and decades later he is aiming to bring as many people back to Ireland with him as he organises a tour to the Emerald Isle. Paul never lost the love of his native land and in October he hopes to proudly show it to a group of guests who will join him on a journey with a difference - through the Ireland Paul knows and loves, with plenty of history, culture and craic along the way.
Paul joined me to talk about moving to America, thriving in the school system there and going on to study art before making a life in hospitality there, and the realisation of his dream to bring touring groups back across the ocean - you can find all the details of the group trip here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1840038156361666/posts/1854734098225405/
The last few years have been a remarkable success for Enterprise Ireland, and this week I'm joined by Darragh O'Carroll to talk about his work opening doors to big deals for Irish companies in the Nordic region, and how he made a life for himself here.
I'm also joined by Edy Fung to talk about "Technopoesis", a performance that will feature Irish artists using sound, light, sculpture and technology over two nights in Stockholm - you can find all the details here:
https://www.artrabbit.com/events/technopoiesis
This week's podcast takes us to Brussels, where Meathman Seán Ryan is leveraging the power of social media to bring Gaelic games to a global audience.
His "A Day In The Life Of A European Gaelic Footballer" video has been viewed over 200,000 times, and Seán believes that the likes of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube will be key to growing the games around the world.
You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_g5xlznexw
Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds from a wonderful day of Gaelic football at Limhamnsfältet in Malmö where the first tournament of the year took place on Saturday.
Back after the Easter break, and there's plenty of community news, especially from a musical and sporting perspective. There's also a long chat with the magnificent Billy Chaney, a barber-turned-artist from Dublin who is now living his best life in Stockholm, creating as he goes.
The first Gaelic football tournament of the year takes place in Malmö on April 22, and there's an open session for 6-18 year-olds being organised by Stockholm Exiles on April 23 and 30 - hope to see you there!
As the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement is celebrated with a visit from American president Joe Biden, we go behind the pomp and ceremony with Derry-born journalist Aoife Grace Moore to talk about what has really happened in the last two decades - is this peace, or just an absence of violence? How have things changed for those living there? And are we any closer to becoming "a nation once again"?
This week we meet two of the new board members for the Irish Chamber of Commerce In Sweden (one of whom you know already!), and the hugely talented Grace O'Malley drops by the studio to talk about her involvement in amateur drama group Spuds & Sill and their upcoming production of Brian Friel's "Dancing At Lughnasa" in Stockholm.
What do sign language and the Irish language have in common? For Gearóidín McEvoy, an Irish academic in Finland, the answer is a lot more than we thought - minority languages are all around us and are keys to understanding each other and expressing our identities. She joins me to talk about legal recognition of languages, teaching Irish in Montana and using podcasting to bring them to a wider audience.
As we leave our national day in the rear-view mirror, we look forward to a summer of travel with passport tips and a chat with Emer MacDiarmada form Tourism Ireland about the ins and outs of how the country is marketed as a destination in the Nordic region!
This week we have two magnificent interviews as Clare Cunningham realises her dream of playing the Grand Old Opry in Nashville and Ronan Sheehan embarks on his dream of getting a team of Cambodian Gaelic footballers to Derry, and we kick off with some St. Patrick's Day greetings from the Irish around the world thanks to the Limor social audio app!
The GoFundMe for the Cairde Khmer GAA can be found here - please donate if you can: www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-caird…ambodia-to-derry
We pay our annual visit to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Stockholm and talk to some of the well-known voices in the community such as the Ambassador, the chair of the Swedish-Irish Society and the business owners providing food and drink on a rainy Stockholm Saturday!
This week we have a St. Patrick's Day message from President Michael D. Higgins and we hear the fascinating story of Tadhg Leader, an Irish rugby player who tried his luck in American football and is now preparing a new generation of Irish kickers to do the same.
This week we hear from the Swedish Irish Society ahead of the St. Patrick's Day festivities, and I paid a visit to a rehearsal in Malmö for Quilty's 30th-anniversary tour with Andy Irvine. Get your tickets at quiltymusic.com
If you're looking for a music playlist to get your Paddy's Day off to a flying start, look no further!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Zbniw11CBEVl3c22BIg6e?si=0a9928b3d140424d
In the week of St. Patrick's Day, we celebrate with a chat about one of Ireland's greatest writers Brendan Behan, together with the creators of a new show about him.
Written by John Merrigan with songs and music by Danielle Morgan, "Brendan - Son Of Dublin" is a fresh look at his life and work, and not least those around him who helped catapult his undoubted talent to global fame and renown.
What better way to celebrate International Women's Day than a conversation with Ireland international Amber Barrett, the woman who scored the decisive goal against Scotland to send Ireland to the Women's World Cup Finals for the first time.
We talk growing up in Donegal, Gaelic football, and how the best touch of her career set her up for a goal and a celebration that delivered a seminal moment in Irish life.
This week I'm joined by Anton Foley, the Swedish-Irish man suing the Swedish government over their inaction on climate change. He talks to me about the climate crisis, big legal bills and why it's not too late to save the planet - but the clock is ticking ...
There's also news of a new trip to Malmö for more interviews, parades for St. Patrick's Day and all the usual community goings-on - don't forget to share if you can!
This week I'm joined from the Cayman Islands by Fanclub founder Dec Magennis, an old school friend and lifelong music fan who has built a new platform to help artists share exclusive video content and monetise their talent.
Dec talks about his formative years as a young man in the thick of London's burgeoning '90s scene, and what led him to develop his own platform to help bring more great music to the world.
The first weekend in March marks 25 years of Fagans Pub in Malmö, a vital centre for the Irish community in the Öresund region that will be celebrated over a long weekend with pints, music and craic. I paid them a visit to talk to regulars Conor and Michael, former bar manager Peter Miller and the current owner Mikael about what the pub means to them and the Irish community down south.
On this week's podcast I'm joined by film director Luke McManus to talk about his documentary "North Circular", which is being shown at film festivals around the world. We talk about how he made a movie that is an homage to Dublin's inner city during the pandemic, and how and why Irish movies are taking Hollywood by storm at the moment.
You can find out more about "North Circular" and which festivals it is being shown at on the film's website: https://www.northcircularfilm.com/
This week Zack Elbouzedi and I paid a visit to Dan Hickey's new IMPA golf centre out in Arlandastad, and Michelle Cotter joined me to talk about her plans for camogie in the capital!
It's still early in the year and many of us are still thinking about what we can do to get fitter and healthier - and for Colm O'Callaghan in Stockholm, running has always been a big part of that.
He joins me to talk about the joys of running outdoors, the difference between feeling the pain and distancing yourself from it on long distances, and what it's like to cross the line way up the field in a big-city marathon!
Irish music is lucky to have many great evangelists around the world, and this week we speak to Stina Rosén of The Irish Music Session In Gothenburg (TIMSIG) and Dag Westling of Quilty. Stina's group organises regular music sessions in Gothenburg, while Dag's band are celebrating 30 years on the road by teaming up with Irish music legend Andy Irvine for a celebratory tour.
This week's discussion centres on democracy and Ireland's restrictive approach to allowing its diaspora to vote. Legal scholar Larry Donnelly, who is involved in VotingRights.ie, a campaign to extend the franchise to the Irish abroad, joins me to go through the pros and cons of giving the franchise to the Irish abroad.
Last week brought the sad and shocking news of the passing of Kevin Higgins at the age of 48 - a Gael, a father, a footballer and an endless source of joy to everyone who met him, this week's podcast pays tribute to a man who will be sorely missed.
I am joined by his friends and Gothenburg GAA team-mates Billy Finn, Adrian Kelly, Paul Curley and Mal Keena to remember a man that affected us all profoundly, each in different ways.
Rest in peace, Kevin - your loss is immeasurable, and we were lucky to have known you.
Boxer Wayne "The Pocket Rocket" McCullough went from growing up on Belfast's Shankhill Road to carrying the tricolour for Ireland at the 1988 Olympics, and winning a silver medal four years. Widely acknowledged as being one of Ireland's most skilful and durable fighters, he moved to Las Vegas almost 30 years ago and has been there ever since, first becoming a world champ in the pro ranks before going on to forge a successful career as a boxing trainer.
He joins me to talk about boxing, identity and what it takes to be the best in the world.
On the birthday of one of Ireland's finest and most famous writers, I talked to Irish academic John Francis McCourt. about James Joyce, the joy of studying humanities, artificial intelligence and why we all need a little bit of time to think.
From the highlands of Ethiopia to the Stockholm Archipelago, Swedes are finally getting a taste of what real coffee tastes like thanks to an Irishman. Out on the island of Rindö, Jack Ryan tells the story of how he and his dog Muttley are roasting coffee beans in an old military building as part of a business that is expanding and growing all the time, and he even treats us to a cup of the best coffee you'll ever taste.
You can find out more about them at https://muttleyandjack.com/
For two decades Allen Gogarty rocked the bars of New York, mixing his own compositions with covers as he built a sold career as one of the most sought-after Irish entertainers in the tri-state area. Then a heart attack in early December forced him into a break from performing, and friends are now organising a benefit gig for the popular Meathman as he plots his return to the stage.
He joined me from Queens to tell me how it all went down, and how he plans to be back and gigging by St. Patrick's Day - and why we should all be paying a bit more attention to our health.
Here's a link to the GoFundMe page to support him: https://www.gofundme.com/f/allen-gogarty-benefit
A defender as clever as he was tough - and boy, was he tough - Pontus Kåmark helped cement Leicester's status as a Premier League team in his three-and-a-half seasons there, which were crowned by winning the League Cup in 1997. Kåmark played a pivotal role in that final; after a 1-1 draw at Wembley, Kåmark man-marked Middlesboro's Brazilian playmaker Juninho out of the game, setting the stage for Steve Claridge to score the winner for the Foxes in extra time.
Kåmark's stint in the Premier League may have been short as he returned to be closer to his daughter in Sweden, but the experienced international's effect on the game as a man-marker is not to be underestimated, and he is remembered fondly by Leicester fans to this day - and perhaps less so by Juninho ...
Two of Ireland's greatest gold-medal triumphs at the Olympics have come via the gloved hands of Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington, but few know the story of the Swedish woman who blazed a pioneering trail for women's boxing in Ireland. Anja Norman joined this week's podcast to tell us the story behind some of Ireland's greatest sporting moments.
When Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago it affected Irishman Alan Moore more than most - all of a sudden he had more than 2000 university students, several of them from Ireland and Ukraine, to take care of in a deeply uncertain situation.
As the world watches on the war has progressed, with both sides making claims and counter-claims about how well it is going - but what is life like for the Irish in Moscow and in Russia in general, who have families and jobs and situations that they simply cannot leave?
Alan joins me from Moscow to talk about it all on this week's episode.
The Irish language has been enjoying a strong revival in recent years, but how do you go about learning it or returning to it as an adult? Jane Ní Luasa is an Irish teacher and TikToker offering tips, tricks and lessons to willing learners all over the globe, and she joined me for a special bonus episode highlighting our language.
You can find out more about her on her website: https://gaeilgelejane.teachable.com/
Here's a playlist of some of her favourite Irish-language songs on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2uma9ekjF1SDdBJbecIrUZ?si=cd50b07e1fcd40e1
The World Handball Championships are taking place in Sweden, but it's not the kind of handball that many Irish people will be familiar with - but one man is. Chris O'Neill is a former semi-professional player now living in Gothenburg and he will be commentating on the whole shebang, so he joined me to talk about his love of the sport, what to watch out for and how he came to Sweden not for love, nor Ericsson, nor Volvo, but for "big balls and no walls", as he puts it.
There's also some information about a passport life hack that you all need to hear - listen, like, subscribe and support if you can!
Nothing binds Irish communities abroad together like Gaelic games, and Dubliner Tony Bass has been one of the most important and influential figures in their rapid growth in Europe. On this week's podcast he talks about leaving Ireland and setting up a club in Maastricht, years of battling for recognition and resources, and the lessons learned along the way. Absolutely essential listening for any lover of the GAA.
First out of the blocks this year is Tom Chamney, a former professional athlete in one of the most punishing track and field distances there is, who found love and a new career as a restaurant owner on Sweden's west coast!
With many listeners staying off the booze in January, I'm joined by Irish actor and comic Joe O'Neill, who quit alcohol almost a year ago for at least 12 months, to talk about the difference it has made to his life and health.
Joe is one of the driving forces behind the Irish Creative Collective in London, which runs events and networking opportunities for writers, artists and musicians.
This week I paid a visit to Irish Michelin-starred chef and hotel manager Liam Ginnane at the splendid surroundings of Vår Gård in Saltsjöbaden to talk hospitality, kitchen work and the joys of Christmas cooking for family and customers alike.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Irish in Sweden podcast!
A very special Christmas edition focusing on "Back Home - A Christmas Concert", which will take place in Dublin and be streamed live to the Irish community around the world on Dec 21.
I spoke to Aimee van Wylick, the woman behind much of the "To Be Irish" project about this creative endeavour, and I am also joined by cellist Patrick Dexter about how he shot to fame during the pandemic and what tunes he will play as part of this Yuletide celebration of the global Irish community.
https://tobeirish.ie/event/back-home-a-christmas-concert/
With the Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden holding its annual gala, it was time for a wrap-up of the year in the community. I'm joined by the wonderful Suzanne Hunt, chair of the Stockholm Gaels, and the equally wonderful Sofie Murphy of the Swedish Irish Society to talk about what felt like a breakthrough year in terms of co-operation in the community.
This week we visit one of the longest-established, yet smallest, Irish communities abroad as I talk to Irish academic Luke Field about life as a politics lecturer and researcher in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Against all odds, we have a jam-packed episode this week with award-winning Stockholm Gaels footballer Emmet Brogan and Robbie Graham, the Cork-born plumber-turned-school principal who is probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet!
This week we talk to brilliant Irish musician Martin Farragher - known as Faraway Martin - about having hits in the Middle East, what life is really like here and what needs to change, and how.
This week I'm joined by Irish author and thinker Owen Gaffney to talk about his new book "Earth For All - A Survival Guide For Humanity", that looks at the climate crisis and what we can do about it in a conversation all about challenges, change and hope.
This week's episode features Irish sporting legend Cora Staunton, who blazed a trail in Gaelic football (and soccer, and rugby ...) before going Down Under to become one of the most feared scorers in Australian Rules football. She talks about turning pro, her burning desire to win and bouncing back from a horrific injury to become better than ever before.
This week we're brewing up a soft-drink storm with Karl Stein, whose Törst beverage company is flying. Karl talks about moving to Sweden, the highs and lows of different businesses he was involved in, and why the future of the drinks industry lies in all-natural ingredients.
https://www.torstbeverages.com/
This week we visit Stockholm to hear how an attack in London left Elaina O'Shea with a traumatic brain injury that changed her life and how she is managing it, and then we stop somewhere on the road to Nashville, where Clare Cunningham is blazing a brave trail in a remarkable solo career as a songwriter and musician in America.
This week the clocks are gone back and Christmas is just around the corner, so it's time to get booking everything from flights to turkeys!
Gareth Jones joins us from Taylor & Jones in Stockholm to tell us how to ensure you get your goodies on time if you're anywhere near the capital, but before that we pay another visit to Jen O'Sullivan, who has built up a brilliant fresh pasta business over the last year in Söderhallarna.
When Rodney Walshe and his mother took the plunge and moved to New Zealand many decades ago, there were no airport lounges - instead it was a month-long boat trip and a new life in a new country with little chance of going back. Since then he has become what the Department Of Foreign Affairs have described as "the most recognised and respected Irish citizen in New Zealand", and this week he joins the Global Gael to tell his amazing story.
This week we go behind the scenes as Shamrock Rovers came to town to play Djurgårdens IF. Rovers fanatic Graham Merrigan told me what it was like to visit Stockholm as a wheelchair user and then we headed west to Gothenburg to talk to Cormac O'Brien about life as a rugby referee in Sweden's second city.
This week on the Global Gael, Corkman Con Hurley talks about growing up in England, returning home and writing "Gone To America", a deeply-researched and fascinating account of his family's history of emigration from the west coast of our island to the west coast of North America.
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week we pay a visit to the monthly breakfast with the Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden in Stockholm where we talked about everything from business and mentoring to films and rugby, and Claudia Crowley Sörensen joins us from Alvesta to talk about how she got into politics and looks like becoming the leader of the opposition on her local city council.
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week we head Down Under, where friends Joe McManus and Jamie Cleere have built a currach and sailed it under Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge, and Leon Hartnett joins me from Invercargill on New Zealand's South Island to talk about finding a sense of community in a place about as far from Dublin as you can get on this planet.
Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm - and please like and share the episode if you enjoy it!
A very special bonus episode ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League clash between Djurgårdens IF and Shamrock Rovers - I'm joined by ex-DIF midfielder Kevin Walker and AIK winger Zack Elbouzedi from Dublin to talk about Swedish football, Rovers' chances and what it will take to beat the club that calls itself "The Pride Of Stockholm".
After a mad week in the world of podcasting, Noah O'Rourke Drevfjäll joins us on his return from Ireland to tell us about his first visit to Dublin as an adult together with his partner Erika. The young journalist from Sörmland shares the story of growing up in a small town, working for newspapers in the big city of Malmö, and ultimately aiming to get back to the peace and quite of the countryside, either in Ireland or Sweden ...
With thanks as always to Martin Hession and the staff at Wirströms pub, and the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden.
Support the show:
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: Swish 1232424166
The second episode of the Global Gael takes us to London, where actor, writer and comedian Joe O'Neill tells us about a new group for Irish creatives there, and then on to Las Vegas where we meet Mayo woman Sinéad Madden, who is responsible for keeping the monsters of rock that are Def Leppard on the road.
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This week we head south to hear the tale of Diarmuid Reidy and how an unusual date with a Swedish woman eventually led to him owning his own brewery in Eslöv. There's also a bit of a celebration of the Irish women's soccer team and some news about jobs that are currently being recruited at the Irish Embassy in Stockholm.
You can find more information about the Uncharted Brewing Company here: https://www.uncharted-brewing.com/
Support the show: Swish 1232424166 www.patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Michael O'Toole is an Irish crime correspondent who has reported on some of the most heinous acts you can imagine - and some you can't. Like many journalists, he turned to fiction to try to put some of what he has seen and experienced into perspective, and his first novel "Black Light" is a searing portrayal of the world he reports on that has been widely praised for its realism and attention to detail.
We spoke about journalism, the art of writing fiction and how there's a little bit of darkness in all of us due to the work we have to do.
https://www.maverickhouse.com/books/black-light/
On the very first episode of the Global Gael we meet Marianne Bolger, the Clondalkin woman who was recently appointed Ireland's ambassador to Jordan, and journalist Dan Shaughnessy, whose ancestors left Galway and Ireland in the wake of the Famine. That decision eventually led to him being born in Massachusetts and going on to become one of the most respected sportswriters in America.
Support the podcast by becoming a patron: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Leona O'Neill witnessed the murder of fellow journalist Lyra McKee in April 2019, an incident that she reported on diligently, barely realising how it was traumatising her. Together with Chris Lindsay she has put together a book called "Breaking - Trauma In The Newsroom", in which some of the best journalists in Britain and Ireland relate their stories of how their work had massive negative effects on their mental health.
Leona discusses that fateful night and talks about its aftermath, the need for proper supports for journalists covering traumatic events and how we have to make it OK to talk about trauma and to ask for help in modern newsrooms.
Another jam-packed episode that takes us to the midlands town of Örebro, where Swede Pelle Blohm's new novel "From Bangor With Love" is set to go to print after a successful crowd-funding drive, and Wicklow's Graham "Reggie" Reynolds tells us how he landed a spot in Sweden's international fly-fishing team after a stellar summer on the rivers, as well as an upcoming delivery to the Irish Store he runs with his wife Malena!
You can pre-order a copy of Pelle's book by swishing 199 SEK (plus 65 SEK for P&P) to 0705707373, and you can get all the best Irish goodies from https://theirishstore.se/.
Swish 1232424166
www.patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week's guest is Warren O'Neill, who tells his story of moving to Sweden and starting up Nabla Analytics before going on to explain how the price of one of the hottest commodities of the year - electricity - is priced.
There's also TONS of community news and events, and even a couple of jobs that are up for grabs for the right people, so make sure to share the info with anyone who might be in the market!
Back after a looooong summer break with Mia Eriksson, one half of women's soccer podcast "Their Pitch", which is taking the game by storm thanks to its analytical approach.
Mia and I went in-depth about what makes a great soccer podcast, the best way to approach players, the importance of trust and how the most vital question to ask when it comes to sports is 'why'.
By day, Cork native Morty McCarthy is a language teacher at Folkuniversitetet, but behind his unassuming studious exterior lies the story of the punk rock drummer behind one of Ireland's biggest hit records and a man who has managed merchandise sales for some of the world's biggest bands - even if he couldn't convince Garth Brooks to sell his own stetsons in Croke Park.
Check out this fascinating chat with Morty, plus a few bits of sports news, a culinary event coming up in Stockholm and a shout-out to a good friend of the show in the south.
Support the podcast:
Swish 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week I'm joined by goldsmith and stone-setter Nigel O'Reilly, whose career took off after a period spent honing his craft in Stockholm with Michael O'Dwyer, and his high-end jewellery is now to be found in some of the finest stores in London and New York.
Rory Moore from the Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden also drops by to talk about the series of events they are co-hosting around the topic of applied sustainability, and Greta Thunberg takes the mickey out of me for my Dublin "th"s ...
Support the show: Swish 1232424166 patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week we're joined by one of Ireland's best-selling authors and biggest Scandiophiles, the magical Marian Keyes, as she takes us on a journey through her writing career and a recent trip to Rättvik to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, all with the purpose of finding out why Sweden loves her so much.
There's also a reminder not to forget the upcoming event with the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden - you can find the details on irishchamber.se.
Support the show:
Swish 1232424166 patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Last week the LPI Group opened an office in Gävle, some 90 minutes north of Stockholm, becoming the latest Irish company to establish a long-term presence in Sweden, so I drove up to talk to the founders, the Ambassador, Enterprise Ireland, the local mayor and many others about what this means for our community here.
There's also news of an Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden event, and a shout-out to the girls of the Gaels who didn't make the last podcast due to "technical difficulties"!
A busy program this week that starts with Irishman Shane Quinn explaining about the Better Governance projects and his fascinating work in international relations before we head to Skarpnäcks IP for a brilliant final round of the Nordic Gaelic football championship, where many of the golden Gaels of Stockholm were making a long-awaited return!
Our friends and rivals from Gävle arrived down with a sizeable and very talented squad for the day and almost pulled off a brilliant victory and a Helsinki Harps team made up almost entirely of Finns made it to the ladies' final, but in the end it was the Danish clubs Odense (men) and Copenhagen (ladies) who won the day - but the Swedish clubs did their best to win the night, by all accounts!
This week's chat is all about life, love and rugby with Dave Hanley in Karlstad. The Corkman moved from his native county to Västmanland and soon found himself preaching the gospel of the oval-ball game, and it can only be described as a massive rucking success.
Dave talked about his study of cognitive behavioural therapy, co-parenting after separation and how sport helps bring our community together.
There's also lots of information for the diary this week with Gaelic football in Skarpnäck on Aug 27 and the annual crab lunch on Sept 4, and a few tips on the current situation for air travel.
Sweden goes to the polls to elect a new government on Sept 11, so Paul O'Mahony of The Local came down to the studio on Atlasgatan to talk about the runners and riders. Who are the main personalities? What policies will decide the outcome? And what difference will it all make to the Irish community in Sweden? Find out here!
The Local has some great subscription deals on offer to help you keep up with the news in Sweden, and it's all in English - check out their offers here: https://www.thelocal.se/membership-offer/
Support the show: Swish 1232424166 www.patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
This week, multi-talented Corkonian Mark O'Sullivan grabs a cup of coffee for a chat about making everything from hit records to successful footballers, embracing creativity and forging your own path.
There's also a call for volunteers to help out at Midnattsloppet as a fund-raiser for the Stockholm Gaels, and some info about new ways to access birth information from Ireland.
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166 Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
The podcast returns after the briefest of summer breaks, and to help you enjoy the rest of the Swedish summer I spoke to Alan Dalton about bird-watching, fishing and how to get the most out of nature here in Sweden. Dubliner Alan has been here for over 20 years and his knowledge of the subject matter, not to mention his passion for it, is unparalleled. When we spoke he was on an island outside Umeå keeping a keen eye out for anything that might fly by...
This week's podcast is a bittersweet one as I say goodbye to Eoghan O'Connor, who has spent the last couple of years in Stockholm working with Enterprise Ireland and who is now moving on to work in London. Eoghan and I spoke about how he ended up in Sweden, the work he was doing here and how the Irish Chamber Of Commerce in Sweden helped him build his business network.
You can find out more about the chamber, who have generously contributed to the podcast, at their website here: https://www.irishchamber.se/
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166 Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
A jam-packed podcast this week kicks off with Stockholm Gaels legend and ex-Shanghai Siren Anna Rönngård, who recounts her key role in putting the women's game at the heart of the Stockholm Gaels. Anna's experience in China did not just launch an interest in Gaelic games - it also saw her start a career in sustainability, particularly around fashion, that has made her one of the most sought-after experts in the field.
We're also joined by Marcus Shilling, whose pose on Facebook in a t-shirt referencing a sketch by Irish internet sensation "Farmer Michael" led to a conversation about everything from starting stand-up in Stockholm to Sweden's small but growing pro wrestling scene.
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm Swish: 1232424166 Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
With the worst of the pandemic seemingly over, the hotel business is booming again, and none more so than the magnificent Marriott Hotel on Kungsholmen, where Kildare woman Marjorie Sundström is Sales Manager.
I sat down with her in a beautiful conference room to talk about her career in the hospitality industry, what makes a great hotel and having the Swedish-Irish Society there as guests for Christmas dinner.
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm Swish: 1232424166 Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
On June 16 Bloomsday was celebrated around the world, so I paid a visit to a marathon reading of Ulysses at Rönnells Antikvariat in Stockholm to talk to Dubliner Niall Balfe, who was dressed as Leopold Bloom for the day and has long been part of celebrating Joyce's great work.
Another rising Irish literary star is musician, photographer and writer Ian Moloney in Gothenburg, and he joined me to talk about his memoir "Bastard Boy", which is a tremendous saga of rock 'n roll from Ireland's south-east coast that brought him halfway to stardom and all the way to Sweden.
You can get the e-book version of "Bastard Boy" here: https://www.amazon.com/Bastard-Boy-Ian-Moloney-ebook/dp/B09ZJY8MQG
A love of music and friends made through the metal scene led Alan McCahey to a one-way Ryanair ticket to Sweden and life on the road with symphonic metal band Zornheym, while Ragnar Almqvist's more diplomatic path saw him appointed secretary at Ireland's Swedish embassy as his Swedish-Irish family's story came full circle. He joined me to talk about representing Ireland abroad, and the importance of culture and literature in telling our story to the world.
You can find all of Zornheym's music and merch here: zornheym.bandcamp.com/
You can find the Spuds & Sill drama society's plans for Bloomsday here on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spudsandsill
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
This week we here how Phil Martin's love of Mexican food led to his products being stocked on the shelves of some of Sweden's finest supermarkets, and former AIK assistant coach Sean O'Shea talks about growing up Irish in Huddersfield, his time with the Allsvenskan club and if he might be tempted to return to these shores...
This week social media was on fire as the hashtag #Swedengate gave the nation's carefully-cultured image a bit of a shoeing over some its cultural curiosities. An innocent story of a kid left alone while their friend went to eat dinner in a different room was met with gentle criticism and mockery - that in turn was met with outright racism as many people of colour shared their experiences of being excluded in other social settings.
The woman behind the #Swedengate hashtag is author, academic and activist Lovette Jallow, and she kindly came on the podcast to explain the reasons behind this very public conversation, and where Sweden is headed from here.
This week we hear from Miranda "Murre" Eriksson, a Swedish folk-rock singer who discovered the joy of Ballyshannon blues legend Rory Gallagher during the pandemic and started translating some of his songs into Swedish, and Tralee artist Laura Fitzgerald was in Skärholmen together with Ormston House with a humorous collection of visual art featuring both hay bales and hope for the changing world we live in.
Enjoying the shows? Let this be the week you start to support the podcast:
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Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
If you can't afford it that's fine - please leave a good rating and few words of a review to help others to find it.
A podcast producer recently brought an article in the Daily Telegraph to my attention about how Sweden's excess mortality rate proved that lockdowns were too harsh a measure in handling the pandemic. To understand why such a blunt instrument isn't the best way to measure success, I spoke to public health epidemiologist David Steadson about how statistics are used, his own experiences with the virus and the curse of long COVID, which has affected his teenage son for much of the last two years.
Having reached the summit of Gaelic football with her last-minute goal to win the Nordic championship for the Stockholm Gaels in 2019, Julia Kjelsson has set her sights on another peak - the midfielder joins the Irish In Sweden podcast to tell us why she is taking a break from the GAA to climb Kilamanjaro in July.
As he says himself, Keith Begg shot to infamy in Sweden when he started a group back in 2020 that criticised Sweden's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic - little did he know it would lead him to leave Sweden for good...
A link to Julia's championship-winning strike on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eR474nAqmIU?t=2203
Support the show:
On Patreon: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Swish: 1232424166
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
This week I'm joined by Paddy Kelly to talk about his book "We Can English", which weaves together some hilarious copywriting fails in Sweden with the story of his life here, and Carlow and Luleå's Neil Costigan, who recently concluded a deal to sell his company Behaviosec - the second hugely successful business he has helped to build during his time in Sweden. Neil takes us from his time in university to Uppsala, Stockholm, Silicon Valley and all the way to the frozen north.
There's also news of some blues in Malmö, and an apology from me for being such a sore loser at Gaelic football - you'd think I'd have learned by now...
As always, the show is proudly sponsored by Wirströms Pub, Sweden's finest Irish bar located in the heart of Gamla Stan in Stockholm (the Old Town).
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
You can order Paddy's book here: www.lysforlag.com/shop/we-can-english/?lang=en
This week Aidan from Stockholm's Spuds & Sill Drama Society joins me to talk about their upcoming production of "Cupid Wore Skirts", and I catch up with former Stockholm resident, actor, writer and director Joe O'Neill, who has sworn himself off alcohol for a year as part of a charity drive - with some interesting results...
You can get tickets for "Cupid Wore Skirts" here: www.olympiateatern.se/cupid-wore-skirts/
Joe's films can be found on YouTube, among them this one, "Toxic": www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLP9UmXgKUQ
Unlike yours truly, who needs to have a serious think about his life choices, MMA journalist and podcaster Petesy Carroll was in New York to see Katie Taylor make history against Amanda Serrano last Saturday, and he joined me to tell me exactly what it was I missed on a magical week in the Big Apple.
This week we pay a visit to the basement of Wirströms Pub as a group of people got together to practice speaking Irish. There's news of Paddy Kelly's new book "We Can English" and the latest Spuds & Sill theatre production, and a journey down south to Malmö to hear from Kevin Dunne about his route to Sweden and his new company kitting out sound studios all over the country.
You can find the Irish speakers on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/196555260941173
Info about Spuds & Sill's show and tickets can be found here: https://www.olympiateatern.se/cupid-wore-skirts/
Paddy's book can be bought here: https://www.lysforlag.com/shop/we-can-english/?lang=en
This week there's new music from the legendary Brian O'Connor and we hear how Dan Hickey went from Scandinavian Gaelic games star to professional golfer over the course of a couple of seasons. He also gives a few tips about how to correct your swing, so with the golf courses of Sweden opening up for the season, there's never been a better time to listen!
Later this week Stockholm Gaels will kick off a historic first season as the club's soccer team makes its debut in Division 7D of the Stockholm Football League - player-coach Seán "The Drogheda Destroyer" Donnelly joins me to set the scene for the season.
You can keep up to date with the games and everything else happening in the Swedish-Irish community by subscribing to the community calendar here: shorturl.at/bpFU8
I also talked to Malena Reynolds, founder of theirishstore.se, about her struggle to get appropriate childcare for her neuro-divergent sons Ellis and Ardan in Örebro.
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
A bumper week of Irish sport in Scandinavia leads to a bonus podcast here during Easter week, with visits to a Gaelic football tournament in Helsinki, the Friends Arena in Stockholm and Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg for Ireland's thrilling 1-1 draw in their World Cup qualifier with Sweden. We hear from Galway's Emma Ridge, Michelle Cotter from Clare speaking Finnish, Meadbh Murray on pride in the jersey, as well as Louise Quinn's friends and former team-mates Vaila Barsely and Annica Barsley, who as Annica Svensson played for Sweden on that hallowed turf, before, during and after the Sweden game. All with thanks to Wirströms Pub - Sweden's finest Irish bar.
As Ireland take on Sweden in Gothenburg, former Eskilstuna defender Louise Quinn joins the podcast to talk about playing here, selling tickets in the rain and learning the language, and another brilliant footballer Alex Orphanides tells us what you can expect from the language courses at Folkuniversitetet.
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
A friend's shared spooky experience struck a chord with writer and broadcaster Danny Robins, but little did he know it would pretty much change his life. A number of hugely successful podcast series and a West End hit featuring singer Lily Allen have led to a TV deal - and thousands of people getting in touch to share their stories of the supernatural.
But what is it about ghost stories that appeals to us? Why are people so interested? And what effect has it had on Danny's career? All this and more on the latest episode.
This week we visit Eskilstuna where Irish artist Alannah Robbins provided the visuals for an uplifting musical experience, and I chat to Rory Moore in Örnsköldsvik about how he wound up in Sweden and the Swedish-Irish Chamber Of Commerce, which has really taken off in the last couple of years.
We open with a mention of the Swedish-Irish community calendar, which you can subscribe to here - do so and you'll never miss an event again!
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/lpc0pc4p56qet7oulnc5g6n56o%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
It may seem amazing now, but Sweden's Roland Nilsson was one of only 11 foreign players to play on the very first weekend of the Premier League back in August 1992. The mild-mannered defender was brought to England by "Big Ron" Atkinson and quietly went about hammering opposing wingers as he became a cult hero at Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City in the Premier League.
Find out who the toughest challenge was, why he moved back to Helsingborg in 1994 and which Premier League legend he wished that he had the chance to play with.
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: philip@eblana.se
Sally Hayden's book "My Fourth Time, We Drowned" is the most important book that will be published in Europe this year. It painstakingly documents the brutal path to Europe for many migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, containing shocking tales of political indifference, human trafficking and misery, as well as tiny glimmers of hope.
Listen to the podcast, then go buy the book.https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/696846/my-fourth-time-we-drowned-by-sally-hayden/
On one of our more eclectic episodes so far, Hazel Reilly from Dublin talks about her work trying to find a cure for cancer, as well as her desire to find young people in Stockholm to play some traditional Irish music with. Later we sit down at Sponge Cookies with pastry chef Mark Farrell, whose cookies are really taking off in the capital. Mark, who has worked in some of the finest kitchens in England and Sweden, will soon be running the Little Britain team garden in Nacka Strand, as well as having his delights on sale at Hornstull Market every week.
Support the show:
Swish: 1232424166
patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm
Advertising/sponsorship: irishinswedenpodcast@gmail.com
On Saturday the Swedish-Irish community gathered in Stockholm for the first parade since 2019, and what a day it was. Guinness Zero, wolfhounds, pipers, representatives from Luleå and Gävle - even a rogue Cork jersey made an appearance!
Listen back to the sounds of a great day for the Irish In Sweden!
On Saturday night, at the age of 44, Casey Leydon will swap press row and his regular work as the best video creator in combat sports for a place in the cage, where he will meet a man half his age in an amateur MMA bout.
He talks to me about how he has transformed from "not being a sports guy" who was carrying a few extra pounds while covering the world's premier MMA events to being a lean, mean fighting machine ready to go out on his shield.
One of the most thoughtful people in MMA media, his insights are well worth your time and mine.
A bonus podcast during the finest week of the year - St. Patrick's Week - as Minister Damien English sits down with me to talk about our two countries, our diaspora and what we can expect from each other, as well as trade, neutrality and the possibility of voting rights for the Irish abroad.
The minister is in Sweden to talk to Team Ireland at Ireland House, as well as political and business representatives and the Irish community, and to collect a few good ideas to take back with him to Dublin.
This episode comes to you with the support of Wirströms Pub in Gamla Stan - Stockholm's finest Irish pub!
Every day is a good day to be Irish, but St. Patrick's Day has that little extra, and in Sweden it will be once again celebrated with a parade on March 19.
Sofie Murphy from the Swedish-Irish Society joins me to talk about the celebrations, and Sofi and Sarah from Lys Förlag pay a visit to the studio to talk about the books they publish, learning Swedish and ad fails in English by big Swedish brands, which are the subject of an upcoming book by Irishman Paddy Kelly.
There's also a chat with Kieran Hennigan, who just completed a half-Vasaloppet för a very good cause.
The first in a new series of football podcasts telling the stories behind Sweden's Premier League stars.
First out is Arsenal and Everton legend Anders Limpar, the mild-mannered wizard of the wing who ignited a white-hot rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United before going on to play for the club as he supported as a boy - Everton F.C.
Anders speaks about how his football journey took him to England, the hard-nosed culture of the time, not being a beer-drinker, and how he still respects George Graham despite the manager showing him the door at Highbury.
With the pandemic seemingly receding, I visited Dublin where I took the chance to see how the other half live - the Swedes who have made Ireland their home. Anton Berglund moved to Ireland for a job last November, whereas Vanessa Moore arrived in Cork to study and in 1999 and is still in Ireland. Answering perhaps the most important question of all, writer, comedian and spoken word artists Kalle Ryan was born to a Swedish mother and an Irish father - so who does he cheer for when Zlatan meets James McClean?
This week I've been talking to Max Ortiz, the man behind the revival of the Irish language in Stockholm, and musician Karl Murphy joins me to talk about playing the pubs, the pandemic and the sense of purpose that singing gives him. As always, a huge thanks to Martin and the staff at Wirströms Pub, proud sponsors of the podcast.
Behind the scenes at the Beijing Olympics, the genius of photographers and why the outbreak of more illustrates why we need the Olympics now more than ever...
This week Glenn Karlsson of Hyresgästförening tells us about the pitfalls of renting in Sweden and what you can do if you end up in a dispute with your landlord, and Stephen Farran-Lee recounts his career as an editor, publisher and translator of some of the most talented Irish writers of the last three decades.
Hannah Fraser talks to me about the work Enterprise Ireland is doing in Sweden and the great success stories of Irish companies here, while Kieran and Tom from the Mälardalen Brewing Company say goodbye to "Dry January" with craft beers from Strängnäs.
Teenager Aoife Leacy moved to Ireland at the age of six and became a bit of a sporting prodigy, but it is the very Swedish sport of ice hockey that won her heart, and she's now playing in the elite with AIK.
They play a derby against Djurgården on Feb 26 at 1300 so let's mobilise all the listeners and the entire Irish community to go watch her - link below to the tickets website!
There's also a chat with Irish-Norwegian cross-country skier Thomas Maloney Westgård who is taking on the best in the world at the Beijing Olympics and proudly wearing the green.
Link to hockey tickets: biljetter.difhockey.se/dambiljetter2122
The 1970 World Cup changed football forever as a swashbuckling Brazil team won the Jules Rimet trophy in fine style, and it's all documented in a new book, "The Greatest Show On Earth" by Andrew Downie - but how do you write a book about an event over 50 years ago that some insist on being paid to speak about, if they are still alive at all? Andrew tells the story behind this great slice of footballing history.
With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, our attention turns to all things snow and sliding. Now living in Stockholm and working at IES, Aoife Hoey Printz shares her amazing story of careening down the bobsleigh track at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, and Karl Lambert tells the tale of how a discussion over a few pints led to the formation of Team Ireland to take on the gruelling 90km cross-country ski race that is Vasaloppet.
While the whole world was going nuts over "Get Back", I was giving it a major body swerve - do we really need another endless documentary about lads playing music?
Turns out we do, and I got award-winning producer Pat O'Mahony to explain to me why it's a great documentary, and what goes into making one.
This week I spoke to Mark Ennis about mental health, depression and being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and there's some news about what's going to be happening in the coming weeks as I disappear behind China's Great Wall, but the podcasts keep on coming!
Some useful links for mental health:
www.attention.se
www.expatfocus.com/sweden/health/what-mental-healthcare-options-are-available-in-sweden-5679
www.studyinsweden.se/blogs/2020/11/25/mental-health-in-sweden
www.mind.se/en/hitta-ratt-kontakt/sok-hjalp-pa-andra-sprak/
This week Sofie Murphy joins me to talk about the Swedish-Irish Society, probably the country's oldest organisation promoting Irish culture here, and I talk to Helen Kavanagh Berglund about her work running the show in Sigtuna. There's also some good news for Guinness Drinkers in "dry January" too...
A study by Denmark's sports federation published last week attempts to address the situation for trans, non-binary and intersex athletes in sport, and it surprised many - six of its seven recommendations had nothing to do with elite competitions like the Olympics, instead focusing on inclusion.
I spoke to Rikke Rikke Rønholt Albertsen, a Danish academic and former elite track and field athlete, about the report's recommendations, and what a level playing field for trans, non-binary and intersex people might look like.
This week I visited the Karolinska Institute to talk to scientist Gerry McInerney about his work on COVID-19 antibodies together with an alpaca named Tyson, and I paid a visit to Martin Hession, owner of Wirströms Pub in Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town) to find out how the pandemic affected his business - and if we're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.
In the first OMIS podcast of 2022, Christian Christensen joins me to talk about Sweden's upcoming election in September - will it be another weak centre-left coalition or can Magdalena Andersson sweep to power with a strong majority? Or will the conservatives be bolstered by the far-right Sweden Democrats being brought in from the cold at long last?
January brings a focus on sport and fitness, and there are plenty of opportunities in Sweden to get involved. I go through some of the current gym prices from around the country and I'm joined by Henrik Tejlfors of Korpen (www.korpen.se), who organise leagues and competitions in different sports all over Sweden for those who want to compete, but maybe not at the highest level!
There's also a chat with Jennifer O'Sullivan, our former athlete turned pasta entrepreneur, about how the kitchen is just as important as the gym when it comes to building the new you!
Something to listen to while you're out on a brisk, bracing walk on the days between Christmas and New Year!
Emma Löfgren of The Local takes us through what's needed to get back into Sweden* once your time in Ireland is over, and Dave Rooney of the Black Donnellys band tells us about a brilliant Emmy award-winning documentary he made with my good friend Dave Browne. The two Daves toured Sweden and Scandinavia extensively before moving to America and Las Vegas, where they are taking the place by storm. Their film "This Is My Home: An Irish Story" is out on Netflix now and well worth a watch!
*PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINE AT LEAST 24 HOURS before travelling back - things are changing all the time and new measures may be introduced, and the podcast cannot take any responsibility for any such changes.
You can find the latest travel info in English here: https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden/communicable-disease-control/covid-19/if-you-are-planning-to-travel/
A trip through Stockholm to visit one of the few restaurants serving a turkey dinner (but only until the 23rd!), a chat with "Kitchen Hero" Donal Skehan, about trying to balance the Swedish and Irish traditions in the kitchen, and of course your greetings from all over Sweden and Ireland. God jul!
A review of the best season yet in Swedish Gaelic football, when Gävle and Luleå burst onto the scene to challenge Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and a conversation with Belfast man Aaron Kennedy on what to keep in mind when trying to stay on the right side of the "ordningsvakter" - bouncers - at Swedish pub and nightclubs.
Ariel Helwani is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of MMA journalism and a man at the very top of the game - but along the way, he too has suffered from anxiety and the idea that at some point the dream could be ripped from his grasp.
Talking to a therapist and becoming independent in his work has not just led to even greater success, it has given him even greater peace of mind.
Jennifer O'Sullivan has taken the plunge and started a new business, and Zack Elbouzedi has been taking football's Allsvenskan by storm - in episode 2 we're out and about on the streets of Stockholm finding Irish stories to tell.
It's here! The first episode of a new podcast for the Irish community in Sweden!
Whether you're here building a data centre in Luleå or at university in Lund, we've got you covered.
In the first episode I speak to Ambassador Austin Gormley about his work, Ireland's presence here in Sweden and what citizens can expect from their embassy.
Like, share and most of all - get involved!
Jack Murray is one of Ireland's foremost communications professionals, and like everyone from Hans Christian Andersen to Björn from ABBA, he quickly realised the value of storytelling, no matter what it is you are trying to communicate. HIs brilliant new book on the subject, "The Magic Slice", gives you a glimpse behind the curtain and tells you exactly how to create compelling narratives that audiences appreciate.
Sweden's Covid mitigation strategy has stuck out to the world, but what is seldom mentioned is those that it left behind - the elderly and people with disabilities.
Eric Hammarstrand has been housebound pretty much since the start of the pandemic and he feels angry and let down by Swedish society - including a Left Party that has been just as negligent of the needs of disabled people as those on the right.
Two huge games for Ireland's footballing women ended with one loss, one draw and the World Cup dream very much alive - Stephanie Roche joined me to go through the tactics that Vera Pauw's side used in this momentous week.
Brendan Walsh has gone from sending letters to zoos begging for information to being a zookeeper himself, educating people about animals through everything from daily talks to podcasts and TV shows. I had him as a regular guest on a radio show 25 years ago back when he was a teenager, and his passion for the animal kingdom and the natural world burns as brightly now as it did then.
We talked about the pandemic, bat detectors, and what to do with that puppy you got now that the pandemic is over.
Conspiracy theories have always been with us, but as the Covid-19 pandemic swept around the world in March 2020 they exploded in popularity as misinformation flooded to fill the vacuum of uncertainty. They quickly expanded to include everything from Covid conspiracies and paedophile rings to anti-vaxx sentiments, presenting governments and scientists with a tough nut to crack as they sought to convince ordinary people that they had their best interests at heart.
Aoife Gallagher is an expert in how such theories spread and flourish online and she joined me to talk about how such movements work and grow - and what might be done to stop them.
Before transitioning, Kirsti Miller was a world champion and a multi-sport sensation in her Australian hometown of Wagga Wagga, as well as being the toughest prison governor in the correctional system. After transitioning, hormone treatments saw her go from over 100 kilos to under 60 as the supposed advantages of having once inhabited a male body quickly ebbed away.
She joined me to talk about the realities facing trans people - especially women - in sport, and how education rather than fear is key to understanding what we need to do next.
Finland captain Tim Sparv is one of the most outspoken footballers when it comes to the Qatar World Cup and the conversation around human rights, and there are not too many more like him.
His article for the Players Tribune prompted a re-awakening of the discussion around what is being done, but that debate is all too often centred on pussyfooting around the subject.
He joined me to talk about his learning journey about Qatar and the situation there, and also to talk about the night Finland made their bow at the finals of a major tournament against Denmark back in June, only for Christian Eriksen to suffer a heart attack.
No matter what we are talking about, whether it is sport, politics or anything else, we need to think before we speak - and we also need to ask ourselves where our opinions on these things come from.
Zack Elbouzedi's path in football has taken many twists and turns, the latest of which has led him to Stockholm and AIK. In front of 12,300 fans on Sunday, Zack's two corners laid the foundations for a 2-1 win that keeps his new team in the title race, and behind his success is a story of hard work, perseverance, and that little bit of luck that brings us to the right place at the right time.
Essential listening for anyone involved in football, especially aspiring young pros.
The Paralympics is taking place in Tokyo, and even though the coverage is way, way better than it used to be, there's always room for improvement. Actor, activist, athlete, podcaster and heartthrob Graham Merrigan joined me to talk about representation on TV, relationships and being a wheelchair user in modern Ireland.
His podcast with Danny Murray is called "What's the Story" and is well worth your time.
Over 30 years ago Dublin was a vibrant city struggling to shake off generations of poverty and the shackles of the cult of Catholicism. As a teenage songwriter with his band Power Of Dreams, Craig Walker captured that time before upping sticks and heading to London to seek fame and fortune, and now as an adult he finds himself in Berlin, still writing songs that resonate. The band's new album Auslander - the German word for foreigner - is an outstanding return to form after a gap of 26 years, and he still has as much to say as he ever did about creativity, writing and what it means to be Irish and a stranger in a strange land.
From the moment my Da told me about Muhammad Ali as a six-year-old (me, not him), I was smitten.
On Sunday I got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Irish sporting history made at the Olympics, and I wish he could have been there with me.
Reflections from the first ten days in Japan at the Tokyo Olympics featuring dubious surfers, imaginary busses, and what happens when everything gets lost in translation...
This time ten years ago, none of us knew the name of Anders Behring Breivik.
If only it had stayed that way.
On July 22 he detonated a bomb in Oslo that killed eight people before going on a shooting rampage on an island. By the time the shooting ended, the bomb and his guns had claimed 77 victims, with hundreds more wounded.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the attacks, I spoke to Vegard Gröslie Wennesland, who spent some of his childhood growing up in Dublin, about that day. Vegard was on Utoeya and witnessed several of the murders before barricading himself in a building with dozens of others.
He also speaks about the intervening decade in Norwegian politics and beyond, how Breivik's views have become mainstream and what needs to be done to reverse this course.
Molly McCann was always a little bit different, but she didn't always want to be. A fantastic athlete, she excelled at football and now competes in mixed martial arts in the UFC'a flyweight division, but she struggled to come to terms with her sexuality.
The result is a new book, "Be True To You", which tells the story of her path to coming out in a way that young people can understand and relate to, especially if they feel the same way.
Petesy Carroll is the best MMA journalist in Europe, but even he was on the ropes due to the pandemic. He's back with a new deal that has seen him park his pen and fire up his mic as things return to normal in a sport that has never described itself in that way.
Behind the scenes in Copenhagen on the day of Denmark's must-win game against Russia at Euro 2020.
On Saturday night we watched live as a man died and was brought back to life on a football field in Copenhagen. A few days later I tried to relive that night to find out what, if anything, we learned.
For the third and final pre-Euro 2020 podcast, I spoke to my favourite Swedish-Spanish reporter Alexandra Jonson about her native country and our expectation that we have seen the future of Swedish football, and its name is Alexander Isak.
In the second of three pre-Euro 2020 podcasts, I talk to Danish Footy editor Claus Røndbjerg about Denmark's chances, the current and recent coach and players, and THAT tournament victory back in 1992, the one that enabled every small nation to dream the big dreams.
The first of three podcasts focusing on the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament from a Nordic perspective. Journalist, documentary-maker and self-described football dreamer Ronan Browne joins me from Tampere to talk about football in Finland, making the finals of a major tournament for the first time, and what the world can expect from them.
The recent violence in Gaza and the resulting hot takes landing like Scud missiles all over the discourse prompted me to contact Jacob Woolf, an Irish-Jewish man who is someone I always feel I can learn from.
We talked about Zionism, antisemitism, the moderate view, competing rights and what a fair solution in Palestine might look like.
With the World Cup in Qatar coming up, there's a lot of discussion around sport, human rights and life in the Middle East. David O'Leary lived in Qatar for four years, working on infrastructure projects, some of which are related to the World Cup. I asked him about his life there and the life of those on the building sites, and how the country is opening up in a way that is perhaps not recognisable to western eyes.
In a week that has been a podcast producer's nightmare, two stories stuck in my mind - that of Eoghan Harris and his sock puppet account, and how a Swedish healthcare whistleblower who should have been treated like a hero was called "illoyal" by her employer.
That led to this rant, and it only occurred to me at the very end that, though they are very different, they are actually about the same fundamental things.
From the Super League to Jake Paul's boxing career, sport has been letting me down lately. I spoke to Pod God Seán Sheehan to get him to restore my faith in what is - or should be - a glorious and indispensable part of our lives.
Finally, soccer's Super League has announced itself, and the only surprise is that people are surprised. The somersaulting hypocrisy is not just limited to ex-pros and broadcasters either - we all bear some share of the blame...
Is the recent violence in Northern Ireland a return to the dark days, or a once-off in a relatively stable piece? Writer Emma De Souza joins me to put it all in context.
In 2018 I interviewed biathlete Sebastian Samuelsson, and hours after it was published he started to get death threats. The young Swede spoke out about doping in his sport and not everyone was OK with that - especially not Russian fans, whose athletes weren't allowed to compete under their own flag at the Olympics due to the situation there.
He joined me to talk about speaking out, winning gold in Pyeongchang and the young Swedish team of sharpshooters that is electrifying the sport.
There is increasing support for a boycott of the Qatar World Cup among Scandinavian soccer fans, and one leading journalist has already decided that she won't be taking part - Johanna Franden joins me to talk sportswashing and the return to the Swedish national team of a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Turn on your radio in Ireland and you'll hear some of the best music anywhere in the world - but it will most likely be by a man.
Linda Coogan Byrne started "Why Not Her?" to get an answer to that very simple questions - why do Irish female artists only get a fraction of the airplay they deserve?
She spoke to me about anonymous veiled threats, the truth of the data and what needs to change for inequality to become a thing of the past.
Healthcare for transgender people is coming up short in many European countries, Ireland among them. For the most part, non-trans people know very little about the current situation and the effect that it is having on the lives and health of thousands of people.
As a community aid officer at Transgender Equality Network Ireland Noah Halpin is an advocate and activist trying to help other trans people to get the care they need, and a willing vocal presence in the discussion. I got him to teach me a few lessons on the subject, and I came away far more enlightened than when I started.
Keith Begg and 200 others critical of Sweden's Covid-19 mitigation strategy had a private Facebook group where they aired their opinions and discussed what to do about it. A media report about the group shot the Irishman, who is also a Swedish citizen, into the public eye, and not in a good way; described as everything from a traitor to a threat to national security, he received a threat at his home and has now left Sweden.
A throwaway tweet of mine went viral this week, prompting hundreds of replies and millions of views, but at the same time drowning out any possibility of real engagement. What have I learned from it? You can find out here...
A frankly bizarre story attacking critics of Sweden's Covid-19 strategy appeared yesterday, in which the 200 members of a closed Facebook group were all but accused of treason. The publishing of the story and the response to it says more about Sweden's national state of mind than it might wish to admit, and I was joined by epidemiologist and public health expert David Steadson to talk about the current state of play. You can read or listen to the original story here: https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/private-facebook-group-attempts-to-influence-swedish-interests-abroad
Professional boxing has always had its share of dodgy characters but the sport has never faced anything like Daniel Kinahan. A man named in Irish courts as being one of the biggest gangland figures in Europe is effectively an agent and advisor for some of the biggest names in the game - and there is a lot of silence around his burgeoning influence.
A recent BBC Panorama documentary brought his name to the fore - but will it change anything in boxing?
My first journey abroad in ten months took me to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East to cover a sporting event, where I discovered the real winners and losers can be measured in terms of how free they are to express themselves.
It's that time of the year when articles and social media posts are trying to shame us off the sofa and into the gym, using the extra weight gained over lockdown or Christmas as a stick to beat us with.
Many of us try different things to lose weight and get fit every year, but all too often we fail, which ends up feeling even worse. I spoke to professional fighter and all-round good guy Paul Redmond about foot and training, the difference between cutting weight and losing it, and how we need to educate ourselves about nutrition if we want to succeed.
An attempted coup in the seat of America's democracy finally brought the media's focus onto the far right and what it is capable of, and the final days of Trump's presidency will be a damage limitation exercise as the world scrambles to orient itself to a new normal. But will the forces that fostered his failure of a presidency just fade away? Journalist and conflict reporter Sulome Anderson, who has seen many's the "strongman" rise and fall in the Middle East, joined me to talk it over.
With parallel careers as a professional footballer and a pop star, Swedish-Irish Kevin Walker looks to have it all. His league and cup titles sit alongside his best-selling albums as major achievements that most would be envious of, but his success has come about as a result of a lifetime of hard work and overcoming a bout of blood poisoning that almost killed him. Yet again his career is at a crossroads, so we sat down for a pre-Christmas chat about sibling rivalry, singing with Robbie Williams and scoring goals in packed stadiums.
As 2020 puts on its coat and heads for the door, it leaves behind one story which has dwarfed all others this year - the Covid-19 pandemic. Many businesses and workers have been hit, and amongst the worst affected has been journalism. But while some of the ill effects have been down to the pandemic, many were simply magnifications of broken business models and mismanagement that still plague the media business. Ewan MacKenna joins me to discuss whether or not the Fourth Estate can ever recover.
Almost a week has past since Argentinian icon Diego Maradona died of a heart attack, sparking a period of grief and mourning around the world as a man who transcended sport - and sometimes life itself - was lost to us. Having been named after him, Diego Abatecola idolised Maradona as much as any other football fan, and he joined me from Buenos Aires to talk to me about the void left by the passing of a legend.
Emma Coolen is a football-loving multimedia producer whose social media skills landed her a dream job with the Dutch team at the Women's World Cup in France - what few people knew was that her other dream was to play for them. After changing her life at the age of 20 she was well on the road to a professional career when another dream opportunity came up as part of a BT Sport TV series about women's football, but as Oscar Wilde once said, there are two tragedies in life - one is not getting what you want, and the other is getting it...
As a kid Pannie Kianzad wasn't one for team sports, preferring the solitude of the swimming pool to more social setting of the soccer pitch. And when she and her girlfriends were trying to find a way to keep fit, she didn't let their lukewarm feelings for trying out boxing turn her off - she went along and tried it by herself, and it has taken her all the way to a career as a professional mixed martial artist in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
A former intern for then-senator Hilary Clinton back in 2006, Noel Rock was elected to Ireland's parliament but retained his interest in American politics, and he joined me to pick over the results, the rhetoric and the road to recovery in the wake of what turned out to be a presidential election for the ages.
As America still counts its votes, I sought the counsel of two women in the media that I have enormous respect for - Áine O'Neill, an Irishwoman who has recently moved to Los Angeles, and Stephanie Brumsey, a Black journalist who works in New York and covered the Trump inauguration.
They told me what the atmosphere is like on both coasts, and how - still - hope of a better future is what will help us endure.
As a teenager Johanna Karlsson got so far under the skin of a local newspaper editor that he gave her an album to review to see if she could do it better. Turned out she could, and thus a career in journalism was born.
Johanna has always taken the road less travelled, and one of her best-known stories centred on the restaurant business in Malmö and how power, money and influence rooted in the restaurants of the city's Möllevången district echoed all the way Bangladesh.
It was a spicy tale of cheap beer, child brides and marriages of convenience, but ultimately it was about the price people seeking a better life would be prepared to pay. For some, it would be very high indeed.
For ten years Sweden's Jonas Jerebko carved out a career as one of the 450 players in the toughest, most competitive basketball league in the world - the NBA. A gritty, hard-scrabble player as a rookie, he added a silky outside shot and became a key part of teams that made it to the conference finals in both the East and the West, and he came tanatalisingly close to winning a championship ring with the Golden State Warriors.
Now playing for Khimki in Russia, he talks about playing with some of the greats, the passing of Kobe Bryant and how he's still in the game to win that elusive ring...
The history of Northern Ireland is bloody, complicated and understood by few, and it has often been told by outsiders.
No longer. Documentary-maker Seán Murray tells the stories of his community in West Belfast, talking to the victims of violence and exposing the bigotry, brutality and sheer bloody-mindedness that was at the heart of the conflict.
Yet in an era where much crowing is done about freedom of speech, many don't want to hear the voices that Seán brings us from their unquiet graves. So what are they trying to keep from us?
Dublin in the late 80s was a hotbed of creativity and, for a while at least, no band was hotter than Guernica. Starting out in the mould of Joy Division and New Order, they morphed into a powerful live band driven by guitars and synths, and the rock-solid rhythm section of Darragh Broe on drums and Derek Lee on bass.
At the mic stand was Joe Rooney, who later later find fame as a comedian and actor, but back then he was an enigmatic frontman and with a stunning album in the can, the band were seemingly destined for great things. A sudden split brought that dream crashing down, and the reverberations still echo sometimes in the lives of those who were part of the story.
Back then I was a teenage hangaround who idolised Darragh, Joe and the lads, and when I heard that now, over 30 years later, that never-released album may finally see the light of day, I had to talk to Joe to fill in some of the blanks of a story. For all its disappointment and tragedy, it was and is an electrifying and inspiring tale that left us with music and memories. Even though Darragh passed away in 2009, his son David - also a drummer - is a driving force in ensuring that the world is reminded of his father and of that brief, glorious time when Dublin could lay claim to being the creative capital of the world.
As journalists and editors we have a terrible habit of making the same mistakes over and over and over again, especially when it comes to reporting on the far right. We think we are showing them up for the buffoons they are, but we are actually giving legitimacy to ideas that should have been dead and buried at the end of the second World War.
This week's podcast outlines the seven deadly sins of modern media and journalism, from the Free Speech Fallacy to the Privilege Blanket and all points in between.
Long hailed as a paragon of social democracy, Sweden is one of the only countries in the world - perhaps the only - where limited companies can profit from running schools. In a free-market project based on schools vouchers that proved a step too far even for Augusto Pinochet's Chile, pupils are treated as customers and choice is paramount.
But while all that sounds good to parents and indeed shareholders, who are banking millions in profits, the law of unintended consequences has had a hugely negative impact on a school system that was once among the world's best.
Not only are the Social Democrats not doing anything to change the system, they are actually not allowed to talk about it at all thanks to the agreement that is keeping their weak government in power.
Today's lesson is from Åsa Plesner and is a cautionary tale for what can happen when vital structures in society are opened up to the free market.
On the whole, fear is a good thing - it's what helps us stay alive in dangerous situations. But it's also used to manipulate how we think, how we feel - and how we vote.
Arash Javanbakht is an associate professor at Wayne University, and he is an expert in fear, trauma and PTSD. He explained the nuts and bolts of fear to me, how it works in the tribal context and what that means for the upcoming American presidential election.
John Karalis of MassLive.com and the Locked On Celtics podcast joined me to talk about Black Lives Matter, the NBA bubble and how the players are exerting their power of American politics as the election approaches.
Covid has played havoc with the work of journalists, especially those of us involved in sports. I talked to Second Captains football kingpin Ken Early about nostalgia, crowd noise and having your calendar Tipp-Exed out of existence by the pandemic.
As you will no doubt be aware, I'm trying to fund a project to do "Outside It's America," which is 50 podcasts from America's 50 states in 50 days, ending up in New York on polling day in the presidential election there.
No-one likes to support something sight unseen (or indeed sound unheard!), so this week's podcast is something of a prequel - an interview I recorded a few years back with Angus McIntosh about America's love affair with guns.
This is the kind of conversation I hope to be having in America in a few weeks' time, but I can only do it if you support the campaign on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/philip…-states-50-days
Have a great week!
A quiet few weeks is about to get a lot busier as a secret project reaches the starting gate - listen to find out more.
Reporting on sexual violence is complex and knowing who owns the story and what it means to them is key to doing it justice. Student journalist Kamron Clarke has written brilliantly about the phenomenon.
The Black Lives Matter movement has made people of colour more visible and offered new opportunities for them to make their voices heard - is this a turning point, or a flash in the pan?
Broadcaster and public speaker Wuraola Majekodunmi joined me to talk about how she sees modern Irish media and where it's headed.
As a child Paul Howard dreamed of covering a World Cup - luckily for him, that dream came true as a journalist, but it turned out to be a lot different to what he expected.
One of Ireland's most successful authors, Paul spoke to me to share some memories of covering sporting events around the globe...
Some reflections on modern media, culture and "cancelling", and why racism is not a Black people problem - it's a white people problem, and it's ours to solve.
Born in Cairo to a family of diplomats, Heba Habib got used to developing different perspectives. As a journalist now living in Sweden during the Covid -19 pandemic, she has observed the similarities and differences as societies she knows well struggle to cope for a variety of different reasons.
She joined me in the #OMIS studio to talk about her work and how it is being affected by a world constantly changing.
Among anyone who knows anything about MMA media, Esther Lin is widely acknowledged as the GOAT - the Greatest Of All Time - among combat sports photographers. Soft-spoken yet uber-competitive, she told me about her background as a documentary-maker, how she got into photography and how storytelling is an integral part of taking and making photos.
Photographer Kai Pfaffenbach recently won a Nobel prize together with his Reuters colleagues for his coverage of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. He told me about being self-taught, surviving in the field, and how the art of taking a great news photo is sometimes as simple as being in the right place at the right time.
During a decade of social upheaval in Ireland, two referendums have been passed that have granted marriage equality to LGBT people and removed the constitutional ban on abortion. Una Mullally is an Irish journalist, podcaster and author who found herself thrust into the limelight, especially in the marriage equality debate, putting her in a somewhat unique position of documenting these historic changes while also playing a part in them.
From a youthful fascination with wrestling and getting paid in beer to commentate to becoming the voice of Cage Warriors and calling the UFC London card, Brad Wharton's ability to make viewers feel the atmosphere has made him one of the sport's most sought-after men on the mic.
We spoke about how he got started, having empathy for those in the cage and what makes a great commentator in one of the world's fastest-growing sports.
There's a lot of people As the Covid-19 pandemic grips the globe, there's a lot of people working - including journalists, broadcasters, experts and interviewees, and the standard of set up has been, shall we say, less than brilliant.
With that in mind I spoke to sports broadcaster par excellence Niall McGrath, who is currently revamping his home studio, about how best to improve your home broadcasting set-up.
Whether you're being interviewed or into gaming or YouTubing, there's a wealth of information that will help you look and sound better and more professional - and it won't cost the earth (although it will if Niall has his way...!).
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, powerful people and their PR departments seem to be forgetting some basic things about journalists and journalism. Let's put that straight, shall we?
On the latest episode of the Our Man In Stockholm Podcast, I spoke to journalist and historian Sid Lowe about how he got started writing about football, coping in these Covid-19 times and making an impression on a certain Spice Girl's husband...
This week I talked to Sarah Colgan of 20x20, an initiative to raise the awareness of and participation in Irish sport - from modest beginnings, their campaign has really changed the game in Ireland, and there are definitely lessons that can be learned elsewhere.
From 1930s cartoons depicting the Jews as sly, hooked-nosed figures to conspiracy theories about Mossad interfering in modern elections and the "Great Replacement", antisemitism may have morphed and changed over the years, but it has seemingly always been with us - and the media still struggles to deal with it.
There is a new, coded language in use, but the message remains the same - the Jews wield enormous power, but are not to be trusted.
With that in mind, I spoke to Jacob Woolf on his return from the World Jewish Congress in New York to find out exactly what modern antisemitism looks like and how it manifests itself in the modern media and political spheres.
In the interview he mentions the work of an organisation called Jews For Economic And Racial Justice - you can read their document "Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering To Our Movement" here.
I got a delivery of some new podcast equipment this week, so to test it out I decided to go through the 13 ethical rules of journalism observed by the Swedish Union Of Journalists.
The sound may not be perfect just yet, but the 13 rules are well worth exploring, and I try to give practical examples of situations in which they might apply - and some of them will surprise you...
Trans people and the issues facing them are one of the hottest cultural topics and/or battlefields we have at the moment, for a variety of reasons, and I for one don't mind admitting that I know so little about the subject that I'm embarrassed.
Rather than coming out with my own ill-informed hot takes and adding to the ever-grown pile of steaming manure that passes for mainstream media journalism on the subject, I decided - hang on to your hats here - to ask a trans person to explain some things to me first.
Aoife Martin is an Irish trans woman, activist and patient educator of the terminally ill-informed like myself, and I spoke to her about how we should be covering her life and the lives of people like her, and how best to respectfully engage.
Ken Robertson is the man who has created some of the most attention-grabbing and eye-catching marketing and advertising campaigns in history - there's barely a person in the UK, Ireland or beyond who hasn't been enthralled, appalled or both by his work during almost two decades coming up with campaigns for bookmakers Paddy Power.
Now the owner of a new agency in Dublin called The Tenth Man, I asked Ken to reflect on his life as an advertiser and marketer and about creativity, how it works and what is needed for it to survive and thrive.
The first of a number of podcasts this week, looking at the general reporting around the Irish election and how the accents of those speaking on TV and radio and the positions they hold tell us how broken our media is.
Conor McGregor, Kobe Bryant and Rory Best have all been in the eye of the media storm in their careers, and all have been redeemed to some degree - but why do some get forgiven, and others not? Who decides when they are welcome back into the fold? And is there anything that is irredeemable in this modern media world?
Guitar player Dave Browne is the greatest Irish musician you may never have heard of - despite the fact that he holds three Guinness world records and plays to countless thousands of people every year.
Born in Dublin and raised in Cuffe Street, the lightning-fingered Dub played all 50 American states in under 40 days together with singer and songwriter Dave Rooney, and a brilliant documentary about their escapade called "This Is My Home" will soon be hitting a screen near you.
I caught up with Dave in his local casino to talk about life and how he became one of the hardest-working musicians on the Las Vegas strip.
An update from somewhere between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with some thoughts on the passing of a mentor and an idea about how to change the Patreon model.
"Russian interference" is a new thing for many democracies, but since independence the Finns have worried about other countries spreading disinformation and trying to manipulate their political system.
I spoke to Mikko Salo of Faktabaari about how the Finns are tackling the problem of "fake news" with fact-checking and education - whisper it, but their approach seems to be working...
There are many routes into journalism and not all of them go via formal training - Seán Sheehan (aka The Pod God, aka Seánie Podcast) has become one of the most respected and high-profile Irish sports podcasters through his passionate love of sport (especially MMA) and his unique ability to cause a row in an empty house.
A trained mathematician and economist, Seán is also working good numbers on the Patreon platform to keep the lights on at Severe MMA, so we spoke about passion, sport and trying to make money in journalism as we looked back at 2019.
Despite seemingly overwhelming evidence of their avarice and incompetence, the British voters have given the Conservative party an overall majority following their general election. Reflections on an election where feelings were far more important than facts.
NBA player Kyrie Irving caused a stir last week when he reacted to criticism from Boston fans over his off-season move to Brooklyn on Instagram. He might make millions of dollars a year playing a game, but that doesn't make him - or anyone else - immune from harsh words.
I talked to ex-basketball pro-turned-sports journalist John Karalis about living in that bubble, the responsibilities we have when it comes to critiquing performances, and how much criticism we ourselves must be prepared to take for our work.
As the man behind the riffs on some of ABBA's most iconic hits, there is barely a person on the face of the earth who hasn't heard Janne Schaffer play guitar - but there's a whole lot more to the Stockholm fret king than just the pop songs loved by billions.
Almost five decades into a career that has seen him share a stage with everyone form Cliff Richard to Pink Floyd, the 74-year-old's passion for music and performing still burns as brightly as ever.
We met in Stockholm where we talked about becoming one of Sweden's best-known and best-loved musicians, working with troubled geniuses like Ted Gärdestad and Cornelis Vreeswijk, and the moment he realised that ABBA were going to take over the world.
Every journalist with a byeline has been abused and threatened online, but few have come face to face with their abusers.
Sami Koivisto, a Finnish journalist with public service broadcaster YLE, has had more than his fair share of death threats that inspired fear in him and those close to him, but when police offered him the chance to meet one of those who had posted threatening messages, he took it.
This is what happened when he faced down the troll that wished his family dead.
Every day, your newspapers and airwaves are full of angry contrarian commentators, all shouting over one another about how they are being silenced, but of course, "you can't say that in this country any more".
This is not unique to Ireland or England or Sweden; those demanding an "open and honest" debate (and who usually deliver anything but) are part of a broader movement using similar tactics to try to present their ideas without having them scrutinised or questioned.
Academic Gavan Titley joins me to talk about his upcoming book "Is Free Speech Racist?", which examines how this came to be, the forces driving it and what attempts to create a new crisis of free speech mean for the public discourse.
Until the recent release of a private recording of hime being racist, anti-Semitic and generally losing his shit, Richard Spencer was the acceptable face of neo-Nazism. Newspapers wrote puff pieces, TV stations gave him a platform, all oblivious to the fact that he is one of Hitler's heirs apparent.
So what can journalists and editors do to avoid this happening again? One is to verify that people are who they say they are, and the other is to stop assuming that the people you are interviewing are acting in good faith when all the evidence points to the contrary.
While all journalism follows the same basic principles, court reporting is something of a special case - it requires sharp skills, an analytical mind and not least a working knowledge of the law and how it relates to your work as a reporter.
Sarah-Jane Murphy is one of Ireland's most skilled court reporters, and that should come as no surprise - a qualified solicitor with eight years of experience, she has a Master's in journalism from DCU and has covered some of the biggest trials in the country in the last number of years.
We talked about the practicalities of the job, the skills needed and what changes might need to be made to the law to ensure that justice can be seen to be done.
When is it OK to use anonymous sources? Can they be trusted? And can we as journalists be trusted to make that call?
When it comes to establishing who said what to whom, modern journalism has become the Wild West. Keen to preserve their contacts, journalists are granting anonymity to sources that don't truly deserve it.
The result is, at best, partisan reporting of certain issues in politics, sport and business - at worst, downright lies.
So how should sourcing work? Who deserves anonymity and who doesn't? And how do we tell the difference?
This podcast covers some of the things we all need to think about when evaluating the use and credibility of anonymous sources.
Jo Kamenou describes herself as "one of the lads" at Bleacher Report Football - a woman in the previously male-dominated environment of sports journalism.
Forget the fact that fast-moving newsrooms are difficult enough places at the best of times. Even if things have improved in recent years, it's a tricky path to follow. Men often don't take kindly to women who know more about football or sport than them, but they're going to have to get used to it...
We talked about how the most boring team in international football inspired her, what it's like to have a start-up culture in the newsroom and how she sees a future for herself - and many other women - behind a microphone.
On the road again so this week's pod covers some issues that have cropped up recently in the media sphere - how very few people now writing about Greta Thunberg have any idea what they are talking about, what it's like to spend hours in the cold for a 12-minute video of a world news event, and why journalists have a responsibility to people they put in the spotlight.
During a two-day seminar at the Auschwitz Museum I spoke to journalists and museum staff about the challenges of telling the story of the Holocaust, 75 years after the camp, where over a million died in an industrial murder operation that was the epicentre of the effort to exterminate the entire Jewish people, was liberated.
It is a desperate, awful bleak place at times, but a look around the word tells us that little has changed - devious men still use the spectre of "the other" to grow and consolidate their power, just as Hitler did.
I asked a variety of journalists about their work, and why they felt they had to go to Auschwitz. There is also a recording of a seminar with press officer Pawel Sawicki about the media and how Auschwitz is portrayed, and what they do to keep their reputation intact and their story relevant.
One of the greatest books about the Holocaust is entitled "Hope Dies Last", and that is what I left Auschwitz and Poland with - hope.
We can overcome the hatred that created this place, but it is an ongoing process, sometimes of education, sometimes a battle, but always with compassion.
If my constant posting and tweeting and writing about this subject over the last few days has upset or offended you that's fair enough, but I'm not one bit sorry.
The alternative is being silent, and I have seen where that leads.
I cannot and will not be part of it.
On this day 18 years ago we watched in horror as the Twin Towers collapsed live on television - and with them went many of the checks and balances of objective journalism. That parking of journalistic principles has paved the way for the events we say happening today around the world.
This podcast features reflections on that day and what has changed since, and what to be aware of when consuming media following the resetting of our historical clock to 9/11/2001.
Gaute Boertad Sjaervoe was 16 years old when he saw two of his friends murdered by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011. Trapped on an island 40 kilometres outside of Oslo, he ran, but had several more brushes with the gunman who went on to kill 67 more people that day, the vast majority of them teenagers like Gaute.
He survived as Norway promised more love and more democracy as an antidote to the hatred of Breivik, but instead of being repulsed by him, the rhetoric of the murderer is now in common use in Norwegian politics.
Undaunted by his traumatic experience, Gaute is still very much involved in the youth wing of the Labour party, and on a late summer afternoon in Trondheim he told me the story of what happened that day - and what has happened to Norway since.
Over the last 17 years I have gotten married, had a family and built a career in media for myself - all that time, Dawit Isak has been sitting in a cell in Eritrea in the most appalling conditions, imprisoned without trial for his journalism.
I spoke to journalist and author Martin Schibbye - who was himself shot, arrested and spent 438 days in the Kality prison in Ethiopia while trying to report there - about his new book "The Search For Dawit Isak" and what the future holds for freedom of speech in a part of the world that is struggling to find peace.
Whether we like it or not, social media is now an inherent part of the wider media, and journalists, editors and consumers need to understand the role it plays in disseminating news and information.
But there is also a deeply personal element to how we interact online, so I spoke to academic Ciarán McMahon about his new book "The Psychology Of Social Media" to tease out some of the strands of social networking, how we present and perceive ourselves there and where all this is leading us in the 21st century.
As a child Zainab Boladale would pretend to read the news by grabbing a paper and making things up based on the pictures she saw, and ever since she has wanted to be a journalist.
She made her way from Co. Clare on Ireland's west coast through one of the country's best journalism programs and on into the hallowed halls of public service broadcaster RTE where she has been a huge success - but as a woman of colour from a not-exactly-privileged background, it hasn't always been easy.
She told me about her route to the top, and where she's headed next.
A new podcast series on the same feed, featuring interviews with some of the interesting people I meet on my travels.
First up is a recent conversation I had in Reyjavik with Gunnar Nelson - a fighter, a father and a man not to be trifled with at daycare...
Hannes Halldorsson is not just a top-class international goalkeeper for Iceland - he's a scriptwriter, movie-maker and director back operating in a small national market where budgets are tight and dreams are big.
I spoke to him in Reykjavik about making ends meet in the movie business when he's not between the sticks.
Together with Julian Assange and Wikileaks, activist and "poetician" Birgitta Jonsdottir turned the world on its head by releasing the "Collateral Murder" video, which featured the slaying of two Reuters journalists by American forces in Baghdad, Iraq.
Jonsdottir may have ended her association with Wikileaks but her commitment to art, activism and politics is still as strong as ever, and I met her in Reykjavik to talk to her about her life and work, as well as the importance of the Internet archives for journalists as a tool to hold the powerful to account.
I have met almost every MMA journalist at one time or another, but not Karim Zidan - then I realised that the reason he doesn't attend events is that his writing about sport and politics, and in particular about MMA and some of the former Soviet republics - means that it's not safe for him to attend.
In a world powered by social media, blogs and fan-generated content, Karim's work in untangling the web of "sportswashing" is absolutely crucial to understanding how and why tyrants use athletes like Mohamed Salah and Khabib Nurmagomedov to rebrand themselves and their regimes.
When it comes to media, marketing and journalism, Media HQ CEO Jack Murray has done and seen it all.
A former political advisor and government spokesperson, he has been in the room as some of the biggest Irish political scandals of the last two decades have gone down. Many senior politicians have wisely acted on his advice, and many more have lived to regret not doing so.
His Media HQ business is now the leading publisher of media intelligence in Ireland and the biggest organiser of media training events, and he offers PR and media training for all manner of companies, brands and NGOs at all levels.
(He's also the best writer of press releases that I know, but that's beside the point).
I spoke to Jack about crisis communication and asked him who do politicians turn to when it all goes wrong, what "The Golden Hour" means in PR terms, and is honesty always - or ever - the best policy when you're fighting for your political life?
Long before the glossy production and the fan zones, long before the slick social media presence and the souvenir stores in host cities, Ann Odong and her friends were covering women's soccer.
A lawyer and journalist, she essentially used her profession to fund her obsession, often allowing her heart to rule her head, and she has finally been reaping some reward as a digital content producer for FIFA at the Women's World Cup.
She told me about making the athletes visible, how to build trust and how she came to shoot one of the most viral videos of the tournament with the Nigerian team.
Summer is a time when sport takes over and who better to talk to than Irish-born, Brazilian-based sportswriter Ewan MacKenna?
Often dismissed as a professional contrarian, Ewan's writing and workflow is both deep and complex, showing us things about our heroes and ourselves that sometimes we'd rather not see - so what's it like to be on the receiving end of such negative attention? What is his agenda? And how did he manage to write a book about Conor McGregor without a single word form the man himself?
Find out all these things and more in this episode.
With the sudden - and very welcome - interest form media outlets in the Women's World Cup, many reporters whose beat is normally men's soccer find themselves putting their shoulders to the wheel to cover it. Here's five pitfalls to avoid when writing about women in sports.
The Index on Censorship are the watchdog that ensures that you and I can exercise our freedom of speech, and they kick up an almighty fuss about those places in the world that don't allows us to do that.
But the recent rise of far-right hate speech, boosted and amplified on social media, has proved a danger to our democracies and our most basic human rights - so in these battle for rights, who wins out in the end?
I spoke to IoC CEO Jodie Ginsberg, a vastly-experienced journalist who now leads the campaign to keep free speech free.
Why journalists should never be surprised by election outcomes, the end for private religious fundamentalist lobby groups in Ireland's public debate, and a perfect example of how no-platforming benefits democracy.
As teenagers around the world skip school to protest the destruction of the planet and a "Green Wave" sweeps through European politics, I spoke to veteran environmental correspondent Alister Doyle about how to report on the climate crisis. We talked about everything from landing on now-disappeared ice shelves in the Antarctic and dealing with Texan cranks to why climate science skeptics are really deniers trying to sow doubt, and how environmental journalism is key to helping the world understand the scale of a crisis that threatens us all.
Sports media is a beast that mus be constantly fed with news, views and comment, and nowhere is that more true in America, where seasons bleed into one another in a never-ending carousel of coverage.
The quality of the coverage (on both sides of the pond) is often dependent on access to the athletes themselves, and on them being willing to tell their stories. European sports are becoming more and more restrictive with this access in the belief that "less is more", while in the States you can wander into a locker room and talk to any of the multimillionaires you find there.
Jay King is the beat writer about the Boston Celtics for The Athletic, and he told me about his day-to-day work, what it's like dealing with these millionaires every day and how building relationships is at the heart of his job.
Sarah Maria Griffin is a novellist and poet who effortlessly flits between the worlds of fiction and non-fiction, engaging in occasional (and often regular) acts of journalism. Her approach to writing and her thoughts around how we express ourselves are well worth a listen for any journalist or writer trying to find their own unique voice.
The way we consume video has changed, but the old way is not dead yet - what do we need to consider when shooting for mobile devices and linear TV? Is there a difference in how stories are told and presented? What factors need to be taken into account when selecting our shots?
I love radio. It's where I started, and if forced to choose, it's what I'd do full time.
And one of the most creative, knowledgeable and smartest people I've met in the field is Irish producer/presenter/all-rounder Pat O'Mahony. Amid an audio background of seagulls, leaf-blowers and passers-by, we sat down in Dublin for a coffee recently to discuss what makes it such a great medium to work in and what you need to succeed.
Journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead while covering disturbances in Derry last week, and today she will be buried after her funeral in Belfast.
What can journalists and in particular editors learn from her life and her untimely passing? How can we keep freelancers safer while still reporting from dangerous situations?
Over the weekend a broadcaster in Ireland came under fire for apparently using audio belonging to a freelance journalist without her permission.
Though they have since agreed to pay her for her work, the case illustrates the laissez-faire many media houses have towards the copyright of freelancers.
This podcast is a brief rundown of what freelance work is, who owns it (spoiler - them, not you), and what to do if you find something using it without your permission.
As Ireland's far-right desperately tries to get off the ground and the tech giants are once again in the firing line for giving them a platform to spread hatred, I spoke to journalist and academic Niamh Kirk about information networks, regulation, and what free speech actually means in the digital age.
When writing or broadcasting, journalists have a responsibility to tell you how they got to know what they know - and if they don't explain it properly, you have no way of knowing if you can believe them or not.
Apart form a sharp mind and some tough questions, the most important thing for any journalist is the contents of the bag slung over their shoulder - choose well and you can tell any story, anywhere in the world, for hours at a time without running out of power. Choose badly, and you can end up talking to yourself while history is made in front of you.
Christian Payne (aka @Documentally) is a former professional photographer who now tells stories in any medium you can mention, and he is forever pushing the boundaries of what is possible to bring recipients as close as they can to the action.
When not teaching others how to capture the world around him he can be found in his shed writing, sipping a good whiskey and endlessly packing and repacking his bag while dreaming up new ways to tell stories.
Dion Fanning was one of Ireland's most well-known sports journalists when he suddenly stepped away from the Sunday Independent and into the wild online world of Joe. In doing so he left behind much of his past, moving on from writing about sport to working with video and long-form interviews.
We talked about coming from Irish newspaper royalty, annoying Roy Keane, Pele's problem when discussing erectile dysfunction in conference calls and what the future holds for both sports coverage and journalism in general.
When a presenter on Newstalk said that women might bear some of the blame if they get raped, he was suspended and eventually reinstated - but when Dil Wickremasinghe criticised him and the station, she was sacked and her show cancelled.
Her emails to RTE suggesting she taker her "Global Village" show - a calm oasis of diversity in a sea of click-bait and bile - went unanswered.
Now a trainee psychotherapist, Dil joined me at the International Bar in Dublin for a gripping discussion about her career as a broadcaster, the circumstances surrounding her departure and how diversity in the media is not - and cannot be - treated as a box-ticking exercise.
A small but dedicated group attended the first-ever live OMIS podcast in Dublin, and for almost an hour they listened to journalist, broadcaster and communications consultant Margaret E Ward talk about diversity, media capture, the effects of journalism on vulnerable people and a whole lot more besides.
Why make a one-hour radio documentary when you can make a six-and-a-half-hour podcast series spanning 13 episodes about infamous boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter and his wrongful conviction for murder?
I spoke to BBC sports journalist and broadcaster Steve Crossman about how the discovery of 40 hours of taped conversations with Ruben Carter finally gave the "Hurricane" the chance to tell his own story - a story of poverty, racism, violence, and almost 20 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.
Framing is a term we use in journalism when we decide what you could call the “terms of reference” for a story - and how you do it is of vital importance.
Danny Robins is one of the finest comedy scriptwriters and documentary-makers I know - my fellow freelancer is also married to a Swede in what is an uncertain time both professionally and politically for us all.
I met him last week on what is most likely my final visit to the UK before Brexit, and on my return to Sweden I called him up to talk about his background in comedy, his brilliant audio documentary about Johnny's Cash's legendary gig at Folsom Prison, and humour might help us to both explain and navigate the times that we live in.
Women's sport might be getting more and more space in the media, but there is still a lot to do - I spoke to producer Elaine Buckley about her efforts to raise the profile of female athletes and what fans and journalists can do to help.
A picture is worth ... what, exactly?
Photojournalism is powerful, immediate and perhaps more undervalued than ever before - but it is no less important.
I spoke to Dylan Martinez, Reuters Chief Photographer in the UK and Ireland, about how he got started, the life of the agency photographer and what the future holds for this vitally important form of journalism.
What would you do if an article you wrote led to Al Qaeda threatening to kill you? Yemeni citizen Hind Aleryani left the safety and security of a job with the UN to become a journalist and activist concentrating on the rights of women and children, but after criticising religious extremists she was forced to flee to Sweden - but the "humanitarian super-power" with the self-proclaimed feminist government has already turned its back on her and is threatening to deport her and her traumatised daughter.
I spoke to Hind about her life, her journalism and what needs to be done to protect and promote much-needed female voices in and from the Middle East.
An allegation that an Irish athlete raped a woman in a Dublin hotel has set tongues wagging, and though little is known about the case, plenty of people are sharing wild theories on social media as editors and reporters chase the details.
I spoke to Noeline Blackwell, lawyer and chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, about how the media handles the cases that come before the courts, and what can be done to make a traumatic experience less damaging for those involved.
Most interviews with professional athletes these days are very guarded affairs. They spend almost as much time on media training as they do in the gym - but are journalists in part to blame for them being so boring? I talked to ex-Manchester United, Rangers, Red Star Belgrade and AIK midfielder Bojan Djordjic about his work on both sides of the microphone - first as a high-profile player in big clubs, and now as an analyst tasked with studying some of his former team-mates.
What would the coverage of the Belfast rape trial have looked like if we didn't know Paddy Jackson was involved? And was the public interest served, given that he was found not guilty? In Sweden, it's highly unlikely that Jackson's name would have been known before the trial, but I compare it to a recent court case around match-fixing in soccer to tease out some of the issues.
I spoke to American academic Whitney Phillips about how the media's attempts to do the right thing in reporting on the far right have backfired spectacularly - instead, it has ended up providing endless fuel for their fire. She outlines some of the ways in which they can be handled by journalists - not least by shifting the focus from the aggressors to their intended targets. You can read her full report here: https://datasociety.net/output/oxygen-of-amplification/
Middle Ireland recently got a jolt of what it is like when the far right stick their head above the parapet in the form of presidential candidate Peter Casey, but for journalists and women of colour like Clara Rose Thornton, they've always been there. I spoke to her about race, gender and how power is exerted over minorities by and through the media, and what can be done to change it - and the power of the spoken word comes out on top once again.
In the wake of a presidential campaign that saw a candidate go from one percent to 21 percent by attacking Travellers and welfare recipients, I spoke to actor, writer and director John Connors about being on the receiving end of racism as a political tactic.
Outside of Ireland, barrister, columnist and broadcaster Joe Brolly could walk down the street almost entirely unmolested - at least he could, until he wrote about how he wanted to see professional mixed martial arts banned. On social media at least, all hell broke loose. I was one of those who disagreed with him, so I asked him to talk to me about his journalism and the arguments he made in two articles that illustrated the power of certain columnists to tell us not what to think, but what to think about.
In this week's episode I speak to Johanna Franden about breaking into a male-dominated world, being a soccer pundit on the trail of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Barcelona and Paris, and why a second language can be vital to a freelancer...
I talk to Niall McGrath in the middle of the maelstrom that is covering a Conor McGregor fight in the UFC.
I'm in Las Vegas for UFC 229, so here's a little bonus material to keep you going.
A few years ago I went to a firing range to find out why America loves guns, and I had a clear idea in my mind about what I wanted to do.
It didn't turn out that way.
Instead, it turned into this mini-documentary which, for the most part, is a conversation with a man called Angus.
Angus is warm and friendly with a booming laugh and a passionate desire to uphold the Second Amendment, so rather than argue with him, I decided to listen to what he had to say.
He is currently recovering from a serious illness and I hope to see him while I'm here - in the meantime, have a listen.
Our conversation is never going to solve a seemingly intractable American problem, but it sure helped me understand it better.
What should you be getting paid for your work? What do you do if you don't get it? And is it ever wise to work for free? Ahead of a big week in Las Vegas for Conor McGregor's fight, I wrestle with some of the questions freelancers all over the world want answers to.
Eamon Dunphy is a former footballer and one of the most controversial figures in Irish life. His work as a journalist and broadcaster is sometimes derided as sensationalist and provocative, but his sharp intellect and insatiable hunger for knowledge and ideas have reshaped Irish media and caused others to raise their game considerably. I spoke to him about his four decades in the media industry, and how if he was starting out today, he reckons never would have made it...
You don't have to be Scottish to go to Brazil and tell them the story of one of their greatest football icons, but it helps... Andrew Downie is a journalist and author based in Sao Paolo who has written a brilliant biography about Socrates, the doctor-philosopher-footballer who shaped an era in one of the most-loved teams of all time. He also has extensive experience of reporting in conflict zones and works for the Committee to Protect Journalists - I asked him if being a Hibernian fan prepared him for such a challenging life in the field...
Judging by the international coverage, Sweden's election was a referendum on immigration - but while it was indeed a factor, much of the tunnel-vision journalism that was produced was amateurish, ill-informed and obscured the real driving forces behind how the ballots were cast.
Long before he gave us so the rib-shatteringly funny comedy that was Father Ted, Graham Linehan was an almost accidental journalist treading the dark, rainy streets of Dublin, reviewing gigs and albums and harbouring dreams of becoming being Woody Allen.
I talked ot him about how he fell into journalism, what he learned about how to communicate from it, and what it's like to live your life in the public eye.
(We spoke over Google Hangouts, which is among the top two crappiest pieces of technology known to man, so apologies for some of the sound quality on this episode.)
Journalists often find themselves having to cover subjects like disability, racism and LGBT rights. These are subjects in which they have no direct personal experience, and the language they use has the power to cause immense damage. Suzy Byrne is a well-known Irish campaigner for both disability and LGBT rights, and I talked to her about what journalists can do to improve how they frame their subjects and stories, how they should think about the language they use, and what can be done to make sure minority voices are heard and seen - and not just in relation to their minority status.
With the Swedish election looming and Marine Le Pen denied a Portuguese platform, I spoke about free speech, the far right and how to cover politics properly with Stockholm University journalism professor Christian Christiansen.
Sulome Anderson's father Terry was bureau chief for Associated Press when he was kidnapped before she was born and held hostage for almost seven years - despite this, she still followed in his footsteps. Her book "The Hostage's Daughter" is part searing memoir, part journalistic blockbuster, and she told me about her work, the choices she has made and how the uncertainty of the media business has left her at a crossroads in her career.
An interview with Irish MMA journalist Petesy Carroll about how covering the rise of Conor McGregor led to him being able to create a career as a combat sports journalist.