Alison Curtis and I have been close friends and colleagues for over two decades. We worked on the same show for many years (The Ian Dempsey breakfast show, where I still work) and to say there are a few very entertaining stories from that period would be an understatement – and yes, you’ll get to hear a couple of them in this conversation (the ones the lawyers said were ok to share!). Alison has also presented her own weekend breakfast show on Today FM for ten years now and in that time she has ...
Jul 10, 2023•58 min
My special guest on this episode is not only brilliantly talented, but such great craic too. Lyra is one of Ireland’s fastest rising stars - her music has featured on Love Island, Grey’s Anatomy, X-Factor and RTE’s Striking Out, she has performed on TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Ireland’s Got Talent and, get this, she’s just back from London having opened for Pink in Hyde Park! Lyra is also hilariously funny and we had so much fun together in the studio. COMEDY – In a week dominate...
Jun 30, 2023•52 min
This is a very open, honest and compelling conversation with a man you will probably be very familiar with through the many public-facing roles he has had over the years – Senator, Minister, author and high profile newspaper editor among them – but in this conversation you will learn a lot more about the other side of Shane Ross. We chat about growing up between Ireland and England, being both a political insider and outsider at the same time, his tumultuous relationship with his father and his ...
Jun 23, 2023•55 min
Luke 'Ming' Flanagan is not your average politician. He looks different, he acts differently, and since his very first day in politics he has been tirelessly campaigning for the decriminalisation of cannabis. And because of that, he has often not been taken seriously by other politicians many of whom have either overlooked him or made fun of him. But Ming has certainly been taken seriously by voters , climbing the ranks from local councillor to TD, to the MEP position he holds today. We covered ...
Jun 16, 2023•41 min
I've always been fascinated by the lives of crime journalists. It’s a career that involves exposing criminals and crime gangs, putting yourself in dangerous situations, and often being at the receiving end of death threats. What’s it like to live a life like that and why would anyone want to do it? These are just some of the questions that I wanted to ask Paul Williams, one of Ireland’s best-known and most experienced crime journalists. Paul has spent decades profiling Ireland’s most dangerous c...
Jun 08, 2023•51 min
There was a time in Ireland where honest communication about personal issues or potentially controversial subjects was not our strong suit. As my special guest on this episode, comedian Anne Gildea, says – “Nothing was said about anything – it was all mystery.” Little by little we became more open and liberal about these things however one of the issues that stayed very much buried under the carpet up until very recently was something that affects over 51% of the population! That’s the menopause...
Jun 01, 2023•54 min
A lot of people come up with great ideas for businesses or creative projects, but only a few of them actually make it happen. Tony Kelly is one of those rare people. An actor and comedian, Tony created a comedy character many years ago call Gar Campion who is a very talented but deeply flawed hurler. He started putting Gar in sketches on YouTube and in the years since he has fought tooth and nail to turn The Hurler into a feature film, set in his native Waterford City. And, against all the odds,...
May 26, 2023•57 min
Just like tens of thousands of people across Ireland, Ciaran Mulqueen spent a long, long time trying to buy a home. As he searched through property listings online, he was taken aback by some of the tiny, poor quality properties for sale and rent at ridiculously high prices. Not only that, but so many of the photos of various properties were clearly photoshopped, and many of them claimed to be in salubrious locations that were actually many miles away! Ciaran was moved to call out some of these ...
May 19, 2023•52 min
A lot of people with amazing stories have sat in front of me in studio since we started The Mario Rosenstock Podcast, but Georgie Crawford must be right up there as having one of the most dramatic and compelling stories of them all. It’s a story about a cancer diagnosis at a young age, a surrogacy interrupted by war, deep self-doubt, and more. But Georgie turned all of this negativity in to something so positive and impactful when she created The Good Glow podcast, which has grown into a highly ...
May 12, 2023•59 min
We got a huge response to the first part of my chat with economist and podcaster Chris Johns. Thanks for all your emails, tweets and Instagram messages about it – I read a few of them out at the start of this episode. In this, part 2 of my interview with Chris I continue to ask him to ‘talk to me like a 2 year old’ and answer some of my simple questions that can have complex answers. Questions like can Sinn Fein really solve the housing crisis, why Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be...
May 05, 2023•37 min
Chris Johns is a regular contributor to Eamon Dunphy’s The Stand podcast and he also writes regularly about politics and economics. More recently he has launched his own podcast with fellow economist Jim Power, called ‘The Other Hand’. I read and listen to his work regularly and always find him to be highly intelligent, wonderful with words, and very insightful about a lot of the issues I find fascinating – like who or what is ‘the markets’ and why do they seem to exert so much control over all ...
Apr 28, 2023•59 min
These days it can be a dangerous thing to hold an opinion. It’s a bit like holding a firework, it has the potential to blow up in your face. The whole subject of opinions, freedom of speech, and discussion is one that fascinates me so I was delighted that one of Ireland‘s foremost opinion writers agreed to join me on the podcast this week to chat all about it. Brenda Power has been writing opinions columns regularly for decades, she’s a pro at it, and she has attracted her fair share of controve...
Apr 21, 2023•44 min
Ronan Collins is one of Ireland’s most loved and respected broadcasters. He has spent over 43 years in front of the mic and has the distinction of presenting Ireland’s longest-running and most listened-to music radio show – a role that he has only recently retired from. Ronan and I chat about music radio and how it has changed (and why he’s not a fan), the great radio presenters and producers, Ryan Tubridy’s future, that spat with Louis Walsh, his trips to Africa, and loads more. COMEDY - Ronan ...
Apr 07, 2023•59 min
It’s not every day that we have a guest on the podcast that has played drinking games with Joe Strummer of The Clash, shared double brandies with Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays, hung out with Amy Winehouse, and was part of the foundation of Irish radio as we know it today. You’ll often hear Stuart Clarke of Hotpress on the radio – but he's generally talking about the lives and music other people. But in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast it’s all about Stuart, and he has some really ...
Mar 31, 2023•59 min
Enda McNulty played football for Armagh, winning an All-Ireland medal and an All-Star award while he was at it. He has taken everything he learned on the pitch, combined it with deep study in to the human brain, and has now become one of Ireland’s top performance, leadership, and mental toughness coaches. He has worked with so many of the greats in sport and business. Enda has just published his second book, ‘Commit 2 Lead’ in which he shows us how we can ALL become great leaders. Roy Keane and ...
Mar 24, 2023•52 min
Shane Byrne spent many years playing rugby at the highest level, with 41 caps for Ireland and over 100 for Leinster. He also spent a couple of years at Saracens. But all of that was probably a doddle after the gruelling few weeks he has just spent being hurled around the Dancing with the Stars dance floor! Shane was voted out just a couple of weeks ago and he has kindly taken the time to join me in the studio to chat about his DWTS experience, his rugby career and adjusting to life after it, And...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 15 min
When you think back to your formative years, what albums spring to mind? What music marked the major milestones? What songs made you – and still make you – laugh, cry or get lost in nostalgia? In this episode, my Today FM colleague Ed Smith joins me to talk about the three albums that helped shape him into the person he is today. And this is also the theme of Ed’s new podcast – it’s called Recorded History and in each episode Ed chats to musicians, writers, artists and creatives about the three ...
Mar 10, 2023•57 min
My guest on this episode was crowned Rose of Tralee in 2014 and she has pretty much been in the public eye ever since. She came out publicly for the first time just days after winning the contest, making her the first ever openly gay Rose of Tralee. Then in 2019 Maria was elected as an MEP for Midlands–North-West constituency at the European Parliament elections, and in doing so she became the youngest Irish MEP in the European Parliament. We chat about Maria's experience growing up between the ...
Mar 03, 2023•54 min
Singer and songwriter Brian Kennedy is one of the most open, honest, heart-on-the-sleeve people you will ever meet, and he has such a powerful story to share. Brian has had a lot of health issues over the last few years and we do briefly touch on this part of his story, but we spend most of our time together chatting about the things you may not know about him - how he grew up in a pretty dysfunctional home during a very dysfunctional time in Belfast, how a teacher in his school discovered his v...
Feb 24, 2023•49 min
After seeing Billy Connolly perform on stage in Limerick , Karl Spain knew that he wanted to be a comedian. But it wasn’t going to be easy. He spent many nights in tiny comedy clubs, sometimes getting heckled, sometimes performing to just a handful of people. But he kept showing up and his tenacity has certainly paid off - Karl has carved out a successful career as a stand up, a writer for other comedians and for TV shows like RTE’s The Republic of Telly, and he's is just back from a massive UK ...
Feb 17, 2023•45 min
As you’d expect, Louis Walsh does not hold back in our conversation for this week’s episode – he dishes out the detail on everything and everyone, from his relationship with Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy, to negotiating his X-Factor salary with Simon Cowell, and also what he thought of Britney Spears after spending a couple of days with her on America's Got Talent. But we also find out about the young Louis Walsh, what his parents did for a living, what he was like in school and even how, if he...
Feb 10, 2023•45 min
Ciara Kelly co-presents the Newstalk breakfast show with Shane Coleman and it is her job to have a clear and comprehensive opinion on pretty much anything that can crop up in the news, and she certainly does that job very well. In this no holds barred conversation, we get stuck right into so many topics from women in media and twitter users versus radio show texters, to pronouns, gender identity, and the right to hold an opinion that may not be too popular. I also learn about what Ciara was like...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr
Are all calories created equal? Why is that last half stone so hard to lose? What’s the healthiest evening snack you can eat? These are just some of the questions that Karl Henry, he of Operation Transformation fame, has the answer to in this episode. Karl and I also tackle a couple of trickier subjects, like should we really be telling people its ok to be obese if that’s what they want to be, or is it now taboo to call someone fat, and should the word be banned? The callers were lining up to ch...
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr
If you’re looking for behind-the-scenes, no holds barred stories of how Ireland’s original boyband got started, what it was like in very early days playing in tiny venues to hostile crowds, and the role Louis Walsh played in it all, then you’ve come to the right podcast. Keith Duffy of Boyzone fame joins me on this episode and reveals all. We also chat about the new band he has formed with Brian McFadden of Westlife, called Boyzlife, and what he thinks of my Gift Grub character of him! COMEDY Po...
Jan 20, 2023•59 min
Jarlath Regan, comedian and host of the highly successful Irishman Abroad podcast has spent the last 10 year living in London – he has raised a family and built his career there but his goal from day one was always to get back home again. And that’s exactly what he did just a couple of months ago. I think if you’ve ever lived abroad for a period of time, you’re really going to connect with Jarlath’s story – he talks about why he moved away in the first place, , the difficulties of settling into ...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr
We had another fantastic line up of guests in 2022 – we shared funny moments, deep and meaningful conversations, and just downright mad times too. When it comes to picking the best bits of the year, there is simply too much to choose from. But we gave it a shot, so press play to hear just a few of the guests and moments we enjoyed the most. They include: • Daithi O’Se – RTE TV • Mairead Ronan - TV presenter & entrepreneur • David McWilliams – Economist • Glenda Gilson – TV presenter & en...
Jan 06, 2023•46 min
Here's a little comedy selection box for you, packed full of my favourite comedy sketches from over the last few months of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast. I hope you enjoy – and if you do, subscribe, follow and tell a friend!
Jan 03, 2023•19 min
One of my big highlights of 2022 was winning the award for Best Comedy Podcast at the Irish Podcast Awards. When we set out to make this show one of the things we wanted to do was have brand new and exclusive comedy sketches in every episode and also to weave in little bits of ad-lib comedy into every interview on the show to make it different and to surprise you and my guest. We want this show to be unique, to offer you something that you’re not going to get on any other podcast, and that’s wha...
Dec 29, 2022•17 min
So have you ever fretted about using your diesel car to get closer to nature, eating your ethical food off a plastic plate, or just simply existing on the earth! Then my guest on this episode has the very book for you. Colm O’Regan is a stand up comedian, broadcaster, podcaster, and best-selling author – his new book is called Climate Worrier: a hypocrite’s guide to saving the planet. This is a great book for people who aren’t hardcore environmentalists but at the same time really do care about ...
Dec 22, 2022•53 min
Its fair to say that Lynn Ruane not your “typical” Irish politician – she’s from a very working class background in Dublin, developed a drug addiction in her teens, became a mother at 15, and has generally had a life that might be called ‘unconventional’ in the context of politics in Ireland. And yet that’s what makes Lynn such an interesting and effective politician – she represents a huge yet traditionally under-represented part of Ireland, shakes things up in government building and shines a ...
Dec 16, 2022•51 min
