[Documentary] Take a trip to Inishbofin island off the west coast of Ireland. A beloved family-run hotelis making some changes.What will their regular guests think? - I've been going to Inishbofin, with a group of friends every Easter for years. It's our annual secular pilgrimage to the island, where we stay at Ireland's most westerly hotel—The Doonmore, or Murray's, as the locals call it, named after the family who have run it for over half a century. During the Winter months, changes have been...
May 01, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 29
[Short form interview with immersive audio] 2025 marks the 55th anniversary of the Samaritans’ presence in Ireland. Lucy’s grandmother, Judy, dedicated 30 years as a volunteer with the organisation, offering support through their phone line. Although Lucy has always been curious about her grandmother’s experiences on those calls, Samaritans volunteers are bound by a pledge of confidentiality regarding their callers. However, there was one call Judy could share with Lucy—and the reason why will s...
Apr 02, 2025•10 min•Season 6Ep. 28
[History documentary] Pablo De Miguel tells the little known story of how Turkish diplomats saved the lives of 1,000 refugees during the Spanish Civil War’s longest siege. It involves espionage, international negotiations and murder but above all else it's a story about the will to survive and fight to get home. Pablo's research website: zurbano21.com Special thanks to Martin and Sofía. -- Clips taken from: British Pathé films British Movietone While at War (2019) The Spanish Civil War (1983) Th...
Jan 11, 2025•43 min•Season 6Ep. 27
[Sports documentary]In 2007 the legendary Scottish track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy set out to break the 1km time trial world record. The record and then only sub one minute 1km time was set by Hoy's longtime rival; Arnaud Tournant. Hoy was determined to go sub one minute himself and even more determined to snatch the record away from the French cyclist.Hoy embarked on a journey to the most remote cycling venue on the planet; The Alto Irpavi Velodrome, high in the Bolivian Andes. The fastest track on...
May 01, 2023•50 min•Season 6Ep. 26
[Audio drama collection] We've released 25 and a bit stories for Yarn. To celebrate we're going to take a look back in this omnibus episode. Lately most of our episodes have been documentaries so I decided to dig out some of our fiction stories and pull them together into a neat bingable collection for your listening pleasure. I've selected 4 stories and recorded new introductions for each. Episodes include: The Absence of Gary Lefty Chancin' me Arm Brick Lane --- Comments and feedback very welc...
Apr 22, 2022•50 min
[Documentary] "I had no contact with this man. All I ever said was hello to him. It's stalking. And it builds and builds." These are the words of my mother, Eileen Byrne. She’s going to recount her ordeal with a stalker. I was just a kid at the time. I knew very little about it, until lately when she started talking about the incident. It was a recent Irish news story that triggered her memory. The murder of Aisling Murphy in broad daylight, sparked a national conversation not just about violenc...
Mar 30, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 25
[Special Interview] On Day 6 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine I talked to an old friend of the podcast, our tour guide from the Chernobyl episode. He talks about the Russian takeover of the Chernobyl exclusion zone and what it's like to be staying put in Kyiv during the invasion. If you would like to support Ukrainian refugees and aid organisations working in Ukraine or get protest information here is some information: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ways-to-help-ukraine-conflict/ If ...
Mar 02, 2022•28 min•Season 5Ep. 24
[Documentary] Inside stories from the jury room. I wanted to see inside this secretive world and get a sense of what it feels like to serve. I talked to 7 former jurors about their 7 separate trials. I also talked to a practicing criminal law barrister for his thoughts on the jury system. We’ll explore the selection process, the characters in the courtroom and the atmosphere in the deliberation room. Then we'll do a deep dive into a few cases and hear them told from a juror's perspective in thei...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Season 5Ep. 23
[Deep Dive Interview] The Oklahoma City bombing of 1995… The 2011 Norway attacks… The 2016 Nice truck attack… The 2019 Christcurch, New Zealand shootings… What do all these attacks have in common? They were all formulated, planned and executed by a single individual. The popular fear of lone actor attacks is that they are completely unpredictable and so almost impossible to prevent. We speak to Dr. Francis O’Connor, an expert on lone actor radicalisation. Dr. O’connor and his colleagues have bee...
May 14, 2021•59 min•Season 5Ep. 22
[Documentary] We visit the Mezhyhirya estate in the Ukraine. The vast estate covers over 340 acres. That’s just shy of the area of Monaco. The glamorous and opulent principality has a lot in common with Mezhyirya. Except Monaco is home to 38,000 people. Mezhyhirya was most recently home to just one family. This is the story of the former president of Ukraine - Victor Yanukovych. His mafia style cartel, nick named ‘the family’, his extravagant lifestyle and the construction of his monument to gre...
May 02, 2021•23 min•Season 5Ep. 21
[3-part documentary] Episode 3 of 3 - Darkest before the dawn. 1900s - 2000s In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability. In episode three things start with one of modern history's darkest ideas, Eugenics. We explore its prevalence, especially in America and some of its most famous proponents. Then we jump over to Post WW2 Britain and we uncover how wars not only created Disabled people but how post war periods also led to infrastructure and programmes that he...
Nov 22, 2020•49 min•Season 4Ep. 3
[3-part documentary] Episode 2 of 3 Two Steps Forward. One Step Back. 1500s - 1800s In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability. In episode two we will see how the aftermath of the Reformation effected people with disabilities. We look at the Elizabethan Poor Laws and the Poor houses many Disabled people ended up in. We enter the massive institutions that were created for people with disabilities, including the infamous Bedlam Asylum and we explore the age of ...
Nov 15, 2020•44 min•Season 4Ep. 2
[3-part documentary] Episode 1 of 3 - Parallel Worlds. Prehistory - 1400s In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability. The story of Disability runs in parallel with the story of humanity itself and like the story of humanity, some of it isn’t pretty. It involves murder, neglect, segregation and sterilisation but it’s also a story of innovation, determination and love. In episode one I define what a disability is before diving into the past. I start with the Ne...
Nov 08, 2020•40 min•Season 4Ep. 1
[Two part Docu-drama] Episode 2 of 2 This is the true story of Hermann Goertz. The Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland. Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goe...
Jun 03, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 2
[Two part Docu-drama] Episode 1 of 2 This is the true story of Hermann Goertz. The Nazi spy who landed in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, on a mission to meet the IRA and organise a German-led invasion of Northern Ireland. Goertz’s time in Ireland has become something of a legend. This story is based on his own written accounts and recently declassified British and Irish secret service files. The story is full of ridiculous plans, double crosses and colourful characters. Through Goe...
Jun 03, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 1
[Introduction] Whether we're spinning yarns or unraveling them, Yarn is what you could call- a storytelling playground. We’re in our 3rd year of bringing you original stories. In that time we’ve released over 20 episodes, we’ve been featured in the guardian, won a best podcast award, appeared on WPEZ radio in Chicago And been selected for the UK audio drama festival. Each of episodes is in a different style and genre . Documentaries… Short stories… Interviews… and dramas…. Our stories feature at...
May 22, 2020•3 min
[Documentary] My friend Dermot has a stammer. He’s had one as long as I’ve known him. Like most people I didn’t take much notice of it. After all, everyone stumbles over words sometimes don’t they? Whats the big deal? I certainly didn’t think about what was happening behind the stammer. The thoughts, the anxiety and all the tricks being employed under the surface of what most would consider a minor blip in someone's speech. In this documentary Dermot tells us about the secret war he waged every ...
Apr 16, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 5
[A travel and history documentary] It’s October 2019 and we're visiting the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the Ukraine. We'll spend two days exploring the zone with a small group of tourists and a guide and we'll stay overnight inside the exclusion zone, in Chernobyl’s only functioning hotel. This year the exclusion zone has received a surge in visitors following the popular HBO TV drama series starring Jared Harris. That series took an in-depth look into what exactly happened the night of the disa...
Feb 18, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 4
[Documentary] On patrol with a drug recognition expert. I went on a ride along with a police officer who's specialty is to determine if drivers are impaired by drugs. Thanks to The Ulster Town Police department. Website cover illustration by Stephen Morton.
Dec 25, 2019•40 min•Season 2Ep. 3
[A true crime documentary] Modern piracy and the hijacking of the Petro Ranger. - You probably don’t think of pirates as wearing expensive suits and working in high rise office buildings. In the 90’s the biggest pirates of South East Asia were impossible to tell apart from high powered business people. It was hard to tell them apart because they could be both. This is the true story of one of the most sophisticated pirate syndicates in South East Asia and its mythic leader Mister Wong. The syndi...
Jul 19, 2019•48 min•Season 2Ep. 2
[A deep dive interview] "I treated it like it was my best friend but in fact it was my worst enemy". A sober alcoholic tells his son just what it was that made him drink the way he did. Produced by Dermot Tobin, John Roche and Pearse O'Caoimh. Music by Drembot. - Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.
Apr 15, 2019•34 min•Season 2Ep. 1
[An historical audio drama] Based on a true story. Dublin, St. Patrick’s Day 1923. A bloody civil war has been raging in the city for almost two years. Brothers, sisters and friends have often found themselves on opposing sides. In an attempt to restore order the new state have started executing dissidences in high numbers. Opposing forces react by calling for a compulsory period of national morning. All public amusements are to be shut down. Anyone staging or attending a public event leave them...
Mar 10, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 13
[A dramatic monologue] Drinkin’, workin’, emigratin’ and boilin’ spuds in hot tar. The life of a chancer. Performed by Lorcan Cranitch. Spotify users can view a video version of this episode. It also contains a new soundtrack. Full transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-12-chancin-me-arm-6b89c5154782 - Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.
Feb 16, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 12
[A dramatic monologue] Drinkin’, workin’, emigratin’ and boilin’ spuds in hot tar. The life of a chancer. Performed by Lorcan Cranitch. See a video version of this story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN7OyCyXykE&feature=youtu.be Full transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-12-chancin-me-arm-6b89c5154782 - Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com.
Feb 15, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 12
[A beat poem] Walk with the narrator on a six minute stroll down one of London's most famous streets. You'll meet its inhabitants and visitors, all to a thumping music beat. Sound design: Drembot Illustration: Ricky Burgess Full transcript: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/walk-with-the-narrator-on-a-six-minute-stroll-down-one-of-londons-most-famous-streets-c003a7a0b13b - Comments and feedback very welcome! Email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com....
Aug 08, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 11
[A mythic audio drama] The Irish legend of how the Giant’s Causeway came to be.
Jul 26, 2018•7 min•Season 1Ep. 10
[An historical documentary] October 1962. A bold move on the Cold War chessboard makes America very nervous. Russia installs nuclear missiles in revolutionary Cuba and points them directly at the US. Life as we know it becomes increasingly precarious as communication between Moscow and Washington breaks down. Meanwhile, naval personnel on the Caribbean seas sense they have their finger on far more than a trigger. Yarn 09 is the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. We explore the ideological and te...
Jul 18, 2018•27 min•Season 1Ep. 9
[A true crime audio drama] "You met a murderer that night you know" A night out to the pub in rural Ireland leads to gossip and ends in murder.
May 29, 2018•15 min•Season 1Ep. 8
[An emotional short story] A story about the effect divorce and shared custody has on children and parents. Full transcript here: https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/yarn-07-every-second-saturday-54ad64d588bd
May 21, 2018•10 min•Season 1Ep. 7
[A music and culture documentary] The melody of nations Respected and revered, the national anthem is a country's musical tribute to itself. But in a world so splintered, are songs invoking God, love of country and bloody slaughter the ones we need to be singing? Yarn 06 is melodic journey through some of the world's most famous national anthems. On the way, we get up close and personal with the triumphant tribalism at the heart of a nation's sense of self.
May 13, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 6
