The Booket List: Recent Episodes
Eoghan & Evan
A podcast all about books. The Booket List is a long form interview. Guests have been asked to come on and talk about the book that they deem to be the most influential and impactful on their lives. Guests include journalists, entrepreneurs, politicians, sports people, bloggers, and many many more!
On our 3rd episode, Eoghan spoke to Mark Little, former journalist and founder of Storyful. Mark is currently working on his newest venture, Kinzen.
Mark’s book of choice was ‘Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72’ by the notorious Hunter S. Thompson. The book details Thompson’s adventure following the democratic candidates vying to take on Richard Nixon in the 1972 Presidential election.
Mark is one of the most recognised thought leaders in journalism and misinformation in the modern world. While diving into this book, we spoke to Mark about the way journalism is going today and the ever growing influence social media and technology is having on public discourse.
Pat Divilly is our guest on today’s podcast. Pat is a fitness entrepreneur turned life coach. He is based in Galway and his work has been helped countless people across Ireland.
We speak to Pat about ‘Awareness’ by Anthony de Mello. De Mello is an Indian priest and his book encourages people to wake up to the world around them. Observing your thoughts and emotions from as an outsider.
Pat is someone with a lot of wisdom. We delve into many topics around the book and Pat’s own life. Pat speaks about his love of Jiu Jitsu and surfing, while also explaining the important of keeping up your hobbies.
This week, we spoke to journalist and author, Roisin Kiberd, about her recent book ‘The Disconnect: A Personal Journey Through The Internet’. A very relatable book about the journey many of us have gone through in the past decade navigating this ever growing thing called the internet and all its various aspects.
One of the key themes we discuss is the founders of some of the big social media players, particularly, Mark Zuckerberg. He is a recurring character in the book and there are incredible insights into his life and the power he holds.
As well as this, we look at the social implications of the growth of these companies. A pertinent issue in Ireland today is the housing crisis and Roisin tied this into her book also.
**We spoke to Ben Harkin, a young man from Donegal. He recently self published his first book ‘Time nor Tide: Ireland and Climate Change’. We speak to him about the pressing issue that is Climate Change and the current situation in Ireland.
As we are all aware, this is an issue that is going nowhere. Unfortunately, many of us feel totally helpless and lacking in knowledge around this topic. Ben’s book explains some of the most complex areas of Climate Change and how Ireland is handling the crisis.
Some of the many areas we delve into include; exporting emissions, farming, travelling, and we even manage to talk about a recently introduced Leaving Cert subject ‘Politics and Society’ which is introducing more and more young people to these complex topics.**
Professor Luke O'Neill has been one of the most trustworthy and reliable voices throughout the pandemic in Ireland. His consistent positivity has provided me (and thousands others) with comfort and reassurance throughout the past year.
Thus, it was a huge honour to sit down with him and speak about his most recent book, ‘Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science’ on this week’s episode. The book aims to demystify many aspects of modern life that science can help explain, such as; diets, vaccines, big pharma, mental health, and much more.
It was impossible to not ask him about Covid and the future we are staring into. However, like always, Luke is able to see the positives that are about to come for the world post pandemic.
**We sat down with small business expert Carl Reader. Carl has recently released his new book ‘Boss It’. The book is written for the first time business person. Carl cuts out all the jargon that normally comes with these types of books and simplifies the process of starting a company.
We speak to Carl about the realities of an entrepreneur's life and the sacrifice that is involved. We delve into the area of the surge in ‘get rich quick’ influencers many of us are bombarded with on social media and how Carl differentiates himself from these people.
This episode will be interesting for anyone interested in running their own company or interested in business in general. From fundraising, to networking, to messaging, to marketing, we cover it all with Carl Reader.**
We had the pleasure to speak to Irish News Reporter of the Year for 2018 & 2019, Mark Tighe last week.
Mark’s book of choice was ‘All the President’s Men’ by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The book details how the pair brought down President Richard Nixon and exposed the infamous Watergate Scandal. Many parallels can be drawn between Tighe’s exposé of former FAI President John Delaney and the work Woodward and Bernstein did during the 1970’s.
As always, we learn a lot about our guest. We dive deep into the book and also ask Mark about his time blowing the whistle on the FAI’s shoddy finances, as well as learning about the pitfalls of Ireland’s defamation laws.
We speak to Giles Paley-Phillips about his new book 'Blank'.
Giles began his career as a children's book author. But more recently he is co-host of the Blank Podcast with his friend and comedian, Jim Daly.
Their new book retells some of the most insightful stories that they have had on their podcast. In the book they go through moments in their own lives and their guest lives and delve into topics like; imposter syndrome, social media, sleep, and much much more.
Our conversation is an open chat about life in general.
And we're back!
After our short hiatus, today we speak to Off The Ball's Eoin Sheahan about Paul Kimmage's classic "Rough Ride".
The books outlines Kimmage's career in pro-cycling in the late 80's. His descriptions of the torture cyclists go through during these long and harrowing races are eye opening to say the least.
However, the main point of this book is Paul's exposure of the mass doping that cycles participate in. The backlash Kimmage received for this expose was intense. He then went on to be a journalist with the Sunday Tribune and later helped expose Lance Armstrong's doping.
We ask Eoin about his opinion of the book and the role of a sport's journalist.
To mark our 10th episode, we have UCD historian Paul Rouse. Paul is a former manager of Offaly Football and is a regular contributor on Off The Ball.
The book Paul has chosen is JJ Lee’s ‘Ireland, 1912-1985: Politics & Society’. The book details the formative years of the Irish state, the key figures during that time, and the significant events.
Paul talks about the importance of history. How he first came to enjoy and have a passion for the subject. His enthusiasm for history is infectious. He explains the book and his love of history impeccably throughout the podcast.
On today’s podcast, Eoghan speaks to former Fine Gael TD, Noel Rock. Noel served in the Dail from 2016 to 2020.
On the agenda is Game Change (AKA Race of a Lifetime). The book details the incredible 2008 US presidential election. From the head to head between Barack Obama & Hilary Clinton, to the subsequent race between the former and John McCain.
We ask Noel how this book made him feel about politics. Did it inspire him to run for office? We also dive into Irish political life today.
On The Booket List this week, we have the Lord Mayor of Dublin City, Hazel Chu. Hazel is a member of the Green Party in Ireland.
We speak about 'The Night Manager' by John le Carre. The novel details the incredible espionage adventure the protagonist, Jonathan Pine, sets out on. Diving into topics like patriotism and betrayal.
As always, Eoghan asks Hazel about what life is like for her right now. How is she finding life as Lord Mayor, particularly after recent abuse she has received online.
This week we have Conor Stone. Conor is a mental health blogger and influencer. He runs amentalhealthjourney.com and Work Mindful.
Conor’s book of choice is ‘Mindfulness - Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ by Danny Penman and Mark Williams. The book is an eight week guide to slowly introduce mindfulness into a persons life.
Eoghan has known Conor for many years. The two guys try to have an open and honest discussion about their own mental health and what helps them in their personal lives.
Up today is Thomas Arnold. Thomas is the co-founder of Ireland’s first ever Tik Tok House, The Go House. He also has over 17k subscribers on YouTube.
Thomas chose to speak about ‘The 5am Club’ by Robin Sharma. The book outlines the importance of owning your morning and setting yourself up for a great day.
We discuss the whole area of self development, Thomas’ ambitions for the year ahead, and all the pros and cons that come with being an online influencer!
We speak to Ireland’s youngest TD, James O’Connor. James was elected in the 2020 General Election, where he ran in East Cork for Fianna Fáil.
James chose to talk about ‘Becoming’ by Michelle Obama. The book outlines the life of the 44th First Lady of the United States, from her humble beginnings to her husband’s stratospheric rise to the White House.
As with all guests, we relate the themes of the book back to them. We speak to James about the perils of politics, how much it can affect your family, and also his thoughts and opinions on Irish politics today.
Gareth Hickey joins us to speak about ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie.
Gareth is the founder and CEO of audio journalism app, Noa. He is a highly ambitions and intelligent person. He truly embodies the message of this book and his memory of it’s details are impeccable.
After we dive deep into the book, we speak about Noa and the current state of journalism. Noa is battling misinformation and helping to ensure everyone has high quality news in a format they can easily digest.
Eoghan speaks to Mark Little, former journalist and founder of Storyful. Mark is currently working on his newest venture, Kinzen.
Mark’s book of choice is ‘Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72’ by the notorious Hunter S. Thompson. The book details Thompson’s adventure following the democratic candidates vying to take on Richard Nixon in the 1972 Presidential election.
Mark is one of the most recognised thought leaders in journalism and misinformation in the modern world. While diving into this book, we talk to Mark about the way journalism is going today and the ever growing influence social media and technology is having on public discourse.
On Episode 2 of The Booket List, Eoghan speaks to Stockholm based journalist, Philip O’Connor.
Phil has chosen ‘Borstal Boy’ by Brendan Behan. The book outlines Behan’s time spent in the youth detention centres in England in the late 1930’s for his involvement in the IRA.
The conversation dives into the Irish struggle for independence. We talk about Irish nationalism today, how Brexit will impact reunification, and Phil’s opinions on Irish society.
On Episode 1 of The Booket List, Eoghan speaks to John Davis of the David McWilliams Podcast.
John’s choice of book is the iconic ‘Into the Wild’ written by Jon Krakauer. The book details the tragic tale of Chris McCandless and his fatal Alaskan odyssey.
We delve into John’s own travels and his experiences throughout his life. We speak about John’s work as a sound engineer on many famous films, such as James Bond.