Muireann O’Connell is an incredibly sharp, witty, and well-read person who always has something interesting to say and a great story to tell, and that’s why she makes for the perfect Mario Rosenstock podcast guest. We used to work together in Today FM before Muireann took up a full time role in Virgin Media, and she currently presents Ireland AM with Tommy Bowe and Alan Hughes.We chat about TV vs Radio, insomnia, true crime podcasts, if women are safe on the streets of Ireland, and a recent hila...
Jun 03, 2022•58 min
In case you missed it... this is a fascinating insight into the mind of ROG - his mindset, his ambitions, and what makes him cry. First released in March 2021 - but with the week thats in it, a very interesting listen-back.ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES Midway through my interview with ROG there was a pitch invasion. Not the kind either he and I are used to – the kind where a bunch of kids storm the room and demand that I start to do impressions of their father. It was the best kind of interruption to any ...
May 31, 2022•48 min
With all of the crazy things that have been happening in the world over the last few years (Brexit, Covid, war, inflation...), who better to ask what this means for you and I and our wallets than the expert economist who can break it all down in the simplest of terms, replete with catchy metaphors and analogies, and laser sharp soundbites.David McWilliams and I met in studio the other day and recorded a conversation that not only picked through the weighty issues of our time like housing, inflat...
May 27, 2022•58 min
Mick McCarthy was just one of the ‘callers’ who phoned in to chat with this week’s special guest, the great Tony Cascarino. As well as a call from his former gaffer, Tony heard from Roy Keane, Boris Johnson, Steve Staunton, Robbie Keane, and a few more besides – because everyone loves chatting this man. Tony is legend of Irish international football, a highly respected pundit on radio and TV, and a bit of a ‘cheeky chappie’ character to boot.Tony and I chat about sport, poker, footballer salarie...
May 20, 2022•1 hr
You might remember a time in the 1990s on Irish radio, when the ‘phone-in show’ was everywhere. Lots of radio stations, particularly in Dublin, had a late night talk show where callers phoned in and ‘expressed their opinions’ about hot topics, to put it mildly! One of the most talented broadcasters behind that genre of radio is my special guest on this episode – Niall Boylan. Niall was at the forefront of late night talk radio back then, but he has also been central to that format's evolution an...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 4 min
If you love juicy, behind-the-scenes stories from the heyday of Dublin’s nightclub scene, then you’ve come to the right place. You probably know Amanda Brunker as one of Ireland’s best-known models, columnists and novelists, what you might not have known is that Amanda was also once hostess at Dublin’s most famous celebrity haunt, Reynards. That is where every Irish celebrity and every visiting international celebrity came to hang out and play. And in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast...
May 06, 2022•59 min
He’s the Eurovision-winning Rock ‘n’ Roll kid, the lead singer of Michael Flatley’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ stage show, the friend who organised U2 to play at Tony Fenton’s funeral, and the man who convinced Roy Keane to sing a song in Lillie Bordello’s VIP room! There are a lot of fascinating strings to Paul Harrington’s bow. Jump in to hear all the stories.COMEDY:One of the big stories in the news this week has been Ireland’s turf war. No, not criminal gangs fighting for control of territory..but actua...
Apr 29, 2022•59 min
If you are a sports fan or indeed a fan of Today FM and Newstalk radio, you will instantly recognise the voice of my special guest this week, the great John Duggan. John and I have worked together for over 20 years and in that time he has been one of the most unique, consistent, and recognisable sports broadcasters on air – and he has also been central to the evolution of Off The Ball from a Newstalk Radio show into Ireland’s leading multi-platform sports media brand. Whenever myself and John ge...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 5 min
My special guest on this episode is a comedian, a writer, and a traveller – he’s also one of the most interesting conversationalists that we’ve had on the series. Martin Beanz Warde and I talked for almost two hours about traveller culture and lifestyle, discrimination and acceptance, comedy and anxiety, and so much more. But while we edited the chat down a little, its still longer than most episodes on the series so far, because it deserves the time. It’s a fascinating chat between two people f...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 28 min
In case you missed it, here’s one of our favourite episodes from the series so far – my chat with Doireann Garrihy, first published in May 2021, this one’s a lot of fun…What do Pippa O’Connor, Mary Lou McDonald, Maura Higgins, Roz Purcell, and Daithi O’Se have in common? Doireann Garrihy does a frighteningly good impression of all of them. If you follow Doireann on social media or watch The Doireann Project on RTE you’ll know just how talented she is. So it is no surprise just how successful Doi...
Apr 11, 2022•49 min
As well as being the front man of the Camembert Quartet (Late Late Show house band), Paddy Cullivan is an ‘historical entertainer’. What is that, you might ask? Well, he cleverly brings together all of the things he loves - history, music, comedy and the visual arts – and combines them into stage shows where he takes big historical stories and makes them accessible and entertaining, while also challenging the ‘accepted narratives’ of these pieces of history.His latest show focuses on the murder ...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr
In January I sat down with Shane O’Donoghue, host of CNN’s Living Golf. You can check out the full episode by scrolling back a few episodes. But at one point of the conversation we got deep about Rory McIlroy, someone that Shane knows very well. We talked about the way his mind works, how he has dealt with some of the low points of his career, and if he’s in line to win The Masters this month. We held that bit back for this week, just before he tees off at Augusta. Its ten minute insight into th...
Apr 06, 2022•11 min
My special guest is a man you will probably have seen and heard many times on Ireland’s biggest TV and radio shows – but not for a few years now. Constantin Gurdgiev was one of a group of what you might call ‘celebrity economists’ who became the new rock n roll stars during the recession – Constantin is Russian, very slick, very intelligent and I used to portray him as a kind of bond villain on Today FM’s Gift Grub and on Vincent Browne’s show on TV3.Constantin has been living in the US for the ...
Apr 01, 2022•59 min
Glenda is a model, TV presenter, business owner, and a very popular Gift Grub character! She is also fantastic company, as you’re about to hear on this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast. Glenda has met so many major celebs – the Kardashians, Robbie Williams, and Matthew McConaughey to name but a few. And in this episode she spills the beans on them all! She also shares some great behind-the-scenes stories about her experiences from her time on set, on press call photo shoots around Dublin,...
Mar 24, 2022•59 min
Recently financial advisor Eddie Hobbs and I had a fascinating conversation - it was also a long one, so we held a bit back, and in this episode you’ll hear the rest of it. Eddie opens up about his involvement with the short-lived political party Renua and he reveals some real ‘behind the scenes’ stories about that escapade. Eddie is also very direct about his views on Sinn Fein and why he is utterly opposed to that party’s economic policies; he talks abou Ireland’s housing crisis, and we talk a...
Mar 23, 2022•31 min
John ‘Jumbo’ Kierans is a legend of the print world, specifically the ‘red tops’, the tabloids. You might associate tabloid newspapers with scandals, sex, showbiz, celebrity exposes, paparazzi chasing stars down the street and all that – and you’d be 100% correct! Jumbo, with vast experience as a journalist and editor in this industry, reveals exactly how it all works, the good, the bad, and the ugly. He also tells me fascinating stories about being the first journalist to enter Kuwait after its...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr
Aslan’s Billy McGuinness was fresh off the Dancing with the Stars dance floor when he joined me in the studio – his legs were a little worse for wear, but he was in top form – full of laughs and great stories, and raring to get back on stage with Aslan for their 40 Years, 40 Gigs tour (get your tickets here! https://mcd.ie/aslan-40-years-2022-irish-tour-announced/)Billy reveals the real story of how he became a member of Aslan, shares the details of some of the bands biggest nights out on the to...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr
Want more Mairead? We didn't include my full chat with Mairead Ronan in the recent episode with her, so here’s a short bonus episode where we talk about who will win this series of Dancing with the Stars (Mairead is a former winner), why weight gain is an issue for her and how she controls it, and her dream media gigs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 09, 2022•18 min
There was a time, not so long ago, when Eddie Hobbs was everywhere - on every radio show and in every newspaper, presenting his own hugely popular TV shows, and a few best-selling books too. He was even a regular character on Today FM’s Gift Grub! But, for various reasons that we talk about in this interview, Eddie started to spend less time in the media and more time running his own business and also writing and tweeting about some of the big economic and political issues facing us. And yes, we...
Mar 03, 2022•56 min
I recently sat down with financial advisor Eddie Hobbs for what turned out to be a truly fascinating interview – and you can hear that interview in full on the next episode. But during that conversation Eddie spent some time talking about Vladimir Putin, what is driving his invasion into Ukraine, the historical context, and what he believes its going to take to stop it. As it happens, Eddie knows Russia very well – his children are from Russia, and he has been there many times; and he is also an...
Mar 01, 2022•17 min
If you’re a regular listener to this podcast you might have gleaned that I am fascinated by hard workers; grafters, people who work unbelievably hard to become the best at what they do – and Keith Barry falls very firmly into that camp. He is incredibly focussed on what he wants to achieve and has designed every aspect of his life around achieving it. And in this chat he tells me what that looks like, the tough times he has gone through along the way, and the celebs he has met in the course of h...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr
This is a very special episode because it’s basically just a fly-on-the-wall chat between two old friends. Mairead Ronan and I have known each other for years and when we met up in the studio we had so much to talk about - great behind-the-scenes stories of Today FM and the heyday of The Ray Darcy Show, what was really behind her decision to leave the station recently, the kind of messages that female broadcasters face on a daily basis from listeners, her huge plans for Faro, Mairead’s company, ...
Feb 17, 2022•1 hr
You’re probably seeing, reading and hearing a lot from Gerry Thornley right now, with the Six Nations in full flow. Gerry is one of the country’s most eminent rugby writers, he has ghost written books with Ronan O’Gara, Trevor Brennan and Johnny Sexton, and he has so many great stories to tell from his time covering rugby’s biggest games – and he shares loads of them in this great conversation. He also gets some very colourful calls from ROG, Rob Kearney, Fintan O’Toole, and Johnny Sexton. This ...
Feb 10, 2022•58 min
Its time to pay a visit to the deep south…North Cork! James Leonard and Timmy Long are known as ‘The Two Norries’ (a Norrie is someone from the north side of Cork City) – and they are two of the most interesting people I’ve had on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast since the series began. They had a difficult upbringing which led to drug, alcohol and other addictions and they both spent time in prison. During their time inside and since their subsequent release they have turned their lives around, foc...
Feb 03, 2022•1 hr
ONE top rugby writer talks SIX Nations Rugby 2022 for TWENTY minutes. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 02, 2022•19 min
If you’re a fan of golf, or sport in general, you may be very familiar with this week’s guest – he has been golf correspondent at the BBC and Fox sports, and he is currently the Host of CNN’s Living Golf. Shane O’Donoghue knows all the players, all the courses, and all the great behind the scenes stories from that fascinating world. Shane was also Ryan Tubridy’s right hand man when Tubs presented the 2fm breakfast show, The Full Irish, all those years ago and so he also has some great backstage ...
Jan 27, 2022•1 hr
“ I walked in here this morning scared out of my wits that my voice wouldn’t hold up – it is amazing, it has held up, I told you, something strange is happening to me, so thank you”This is a very special episode of the Mario Rosenstock podcast – my guest is Charlie Bird, one of Ireland’s best known reporters, a very familiar face on our TV screens for many decades, and a familiar voice on radio too. But it was with great sadness that, last year, following a shock diagnosis of motor neuron diseas...
Jan 20, 2022•48 min
If you’re a regular listener you’ll know by now that I just love to hear great stories – we veer towards guests that have lived fascinating, perhaps unconventional lives, and have a knack for telling anecdotes about the interesting things that have happened to them over the years.So, when I came across a recently launched book, written by a man called Pat Egan (Backstage Pass - A Life in Show Business) , I got straight on the blower to him. Pat is one of Ireland’s most famous music promoters res...
Jan 14, 2022•58 min
Marion McKeone is in a league of her own when it comes to reporting the big stories from the States. Marion is US Correspondent at the Business Post, has a weekly slot along with Cal Thomas on Matt Cooper’s Last Word on Today FM, and appears regularly on RTE, BBC, NPR and many more stations. And boy has she lived an interesting life – she has worked on the front lines in war torn countries, travelled around every corner of the US and seen some pretty disturbing sights, and spent time with some o...
Jan 06, 2022•1 hr
Well this was a tough episode to put together. By way of a Christmas / New Year present to you lovely fans of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast, we set out to pick a few of our very favourite moments from the show since we launched back in March 2021. But with so many great guests, stories, comedy sketches, and unexpected hilarious moments, it turned out to be a tough task indeed. But we got there, and I’m now delighted to present you with ‘Mario’s Selection Box’ packed with audio treats featuring gu...
Dec 29, 2021•48 min
