Author: Ken Sweeney

Bravery and Betrayal: Uncovering Elżbieta Zawacka’s Hidden Story Her story was deliberately hidden by the Soviet-backed communist regime imposed on postwar Poland… it was a real privilege, as well as a real adventure, to bring that back to our knowledge. Today, my guest is writer and historian Clare Mulley. Clare is an award-winning author known… Continue reading Clare Mulley

Not Small Men: Why Women in Politics Deserve a New Approach Any woman who does media knows that you cannot, under any circumstances, show anger. Because the research is really clear—people stop listening. When a man does it, he’s passionate, he’s showing leadership. When a woman does it, people stop believing her. Today, my guest… Continue reading Karen Sugrue

Women, War, and Change: Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini’s Path to Global Advocacy “You bring women to the table and they’ll talk to you both about what the men are going through and what the boys are going through and what the girls are going through. And I think it’s really important to bear that human perspective in… Continue reading Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

From Pandemic Pastime to Award-Winning Art: Steven Xiao’s Photographic Journey I think the reason that some people don’t see photography as an art is because of how comparatively fewer degrees of separation it has from reality. Photography is sort of painting with reality. And your perspective is the paintbrush. Today my guest is photographer Steven… Continue reading Steven Xiao

Phil BroiKos’ 24-Hour Symphony: ‘A Day in Music’ on The Comfortable Spot I’m trying to think big. I’m not going to have an opportunity to do this again. So I’m trying to make as big as I can, and I’m trying to make it clear that this is one big project. Today my guest is… Continue reading Phil BroiKos

Stella Bass on the record: Jazz Journeys & Album Insights I think music is music and I think people who frown upon any genre or get condescending need to know that if Ella Fitzgerald sang pop, and did TV specials, I’m kind of going if it’s good for Ella Fitzgerald, then anybody who wants to… Continue reading Stella Bass

Democracy’s Lifeline: Engaging Citizens & Countering Misinformation with Dr. Tobias Endler Democracy is not so much about casting your vote every couple of years, which is important, obviously, but it’s about the time in between, right? So in that sense, democracy is democratic debate.” Today my guest is author and political scientist Dr. Tobias Endler.… Continue reading Dr. Tobias Endler

Rock Vocal Mastery: Graham Bonnett on Shaping a Music Legend “Don’t copy anyone. Find your own voice and let it be natural. Don’t force it.” Today my guest is rock music vocalist Graham Bonnett. Since his early teens, Graham has become synonymous with his powerful voice which has been heard in many songs over the… Continue reading Graham Bonnett

AI, Canva, and the Creative Future: Surfing Design’s Next Wave with Simon Roche “Design was never about the visuals, it was about communication of an idea… if AI starts doing a good job of that, then brilliant.“ Today my guest is graphic designer Simon Roche. Simon is a Product Design Director who builds products and… Continue reading Simon Roche

Tides of Information: Ken Foxe’s Journey in Journalism Today my guest is journalist and writer Ken Foxe. With over 30 years’ experience in media, Ken has been at the forefront of investigative reporting and was the leading author of a long-running series of articles in 2009 regarding politicians’ expenses that led to major changes in… Continue reading Ken Foxe

Today my guest is Mary Ward. Mary is my aunt and has lived in Dublin all of her life. As a family, we have often discussed the idea of documenting our history and as part of that, I thought it would be a great opportunity to sit down with Mary and chat about her memories… Continue reading Mary Ward

Today my guest is author and rugby historian James Stafford. A self confessed rugby fanatic, James is the founder of cult rugby website The East Terrace, and has written on rugby for publications such as The Daily Telegraph, Irish Independent, Metro, ESPN Scrum.com, and Rugby World. In 2017 his collection of short comics, The Sorrowful Putto… Continue reading James Stafford

Today my guest is podcaster and historian Ian Sanders. Ian is the host and producer of the Cold War Conversations podcast. Since childhood, Ian has been fascinated with the Cold War which was an era in recent history that focused on the post war threat of conflict between the Warsaw Pact countries and the North… Continue reading Ian Sanders

Today my guest is graphic designer Malcom Garrett. For over forty years Malcolm has been at the forefront of graphic design and has created iconic images for musicians and bands around the world. From the Rio album by Duran Duran to becoming a founder member of the 5D World Builders at 5D Institute at USC… Continue reading Malcolm Garrett

Today my guest is Kaila Gabriel. Kaila is a first year Masters student at Queens University, Ontario, Canada, studying Immunology and Cancer Therapeutics. In her spare time, Kalia is a contributing writer for The Average Scientist project whose goal it is to make science accessible to all. I invited Kaila to join me a guest… Continue reading Kaila Gabriel

Today my guest is musician and actor Flo McSweeney. Flo first came to prominence as a versatile vocalist on the Irish rock scene with stand out performances with acts such as Moving Hearts and Toy with Rhythm before embarking on a solo career alongside acting roles in theatres across Ireland. In 2018, Flo realised her… Continue reading Flo McSweeney

Today my guest is author and historian Joseph Dragovich. Joe has recently published Hawkhurst: Murder, Corruption and Britian’s Most Notorious Smuggling Gang. The story of the Hawkhurst Gang is an account of one of the first modern crime syndicates and provides the perfect opportunity to explore 1740s Britain, a time of profound political, economic and… Continue reading Joseph Dragovich

Today my guest is Counselling Psychologist Niamh Delmar. Specialising in mental health and psychological distress, Niamh is involved with assessment, treatment and relapse prevention. She has over ten years’ experience as a training consultant for major organisational settings and provides mental health talks and workshops. Niamh is also a freelance writer and has also been… Continue reading Niamh Delmar

Today my guest is writer, broadcaster and DJ Dave Haslam. Author of a number of influential books, Dave was a DJ at Manchester’s Haçienda nightclub, and in 1999 he published a book about the Manchester music scene and, subsequently, books about superstar DJs called Adventures on the Wheels of Steel and Life After Dark; A… Continue reading Dave Haslam

Today my guest is contemporary artist Claire Murray. Based in West Yorkshire, Claire is internationally renowned for her wide range of artworks which evoke multiple reactions. Her concepts deal with light and colour as an open window and allow the viewer to draw their own conclusions while appreciating the simplicity of beauty. What drew me… Continue reading Claire Murray

Today my guest is author Mark Henry. Mark has spent a lifetime analysing trends, understanding what drives them, and explaining their implications. With a wealth of experience in market research and in applying psychology data to the world of business, Mark led the research and strategy function for Irish technology companies before turning to do… Continue reading Mark Henry

Today my guest is author John Erickson. John is a journalist with over thirty years’ experience working at daily newspapers in Illinois and Ohio. A prominent reporter in local news, John led the coverage in three stories that earned him a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, including a series that won a Pulitzer for National… Continue reading John Erickson

Today my guest is environmentalist and sustainability expert Kaj Embren. With over 25 years’ leadership and consultancy experience, Kaj has a track record of promoting sustainable solutions in fields such as industry, governance and civil society. Kaj firmly believes that we already have the tools to obtain sustainability and prosperity, but we still need to… Continue reading Kaj Embren

Today my guest is author and historian Dr. Margaret Weitekamp. Margaret is chair of the Space History department at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum where she curates the Social and Cultural History of Spaceflight Collection encompassing some 5,000 pieces of space memorabilia and science fiction objects. She is also the author of… Continue reading Dr. Margaret Weitekamp

Today my guest is award winning author and journalist Clodagh Finn. Clodagh has worked for various Irish newspapers, including the Irish Examiner and the Irish Independent and she is known for her insightful writing on social issues, culture, and current affairs. Clodagh has recently written Through Her Eyes – A New History of Ireland in… Continue reading Clodagh Finn

Today my guest is Alivia Brown. Alivia graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Evolutionary Medicine. During her time at UCLA, Alivia’s research led her to find a passion for education and cross-cultural knowledge. In addition to her academic achievement, Alivia also has her own YouTube channel devoted… Continue reading Alivia Brown

“A musical director is responsible for choosing the backing band members, doing the arrangements for all the songs and when you get to a high level with people like Britney Spears, you will be responsible for writing the incidental music, links and also making sure that all the music that you have written and arranged… Continue reading Simon Ellis

“There are some aspects of insects origin which are a little unclear, but they came on land pretty early and for a long time they were some of the most dominant lifeforms on land and at one stage they were very large with some of them with 70 centimetre wingspans, and it’s believed that they… Continue reading Donald Hobern

“I am as fascinated with by what was going on in the Neolithic or Megalithic age as I am in much more recent events in the 20th century. An enormous amount of it is connected and we are rebuilding our understanding of the past and that’s going to cover everything from the ancient Bronze age… Continue reading Turtle Bunbury

“Especially with motorsport, we don’t have women in Formula 1, we don’t really have women in Formula 2 either, we’re very lucky to have women in Formula 3 now, but we have to fight twice as hard, because we have to be winning to prove that we’re able to be there; and I guess that’s… Continue reading Shannon Tobin

“It was an amazing thing that happened in my career, meeting David and then starting to work for him. Initially, I was hired because they needed an outside of the box guitar player to do the Heathen and Low records live. It felt really good to be validated by someone like David; he is someone… Continue reading Gerry Leonard

“You are seeing better coaches going in and supporting women’s ski jumping and obviously that’s important, but it’s also important that there is a level of support from national federations, and the reality is that to develop a ski jumping team you’re talking about eight to ten years and when you look at that you… Continue reading David Goldstrom

“I always wanted to be a journalist since I was fifteen or sixteen. It was definitely something that I wanted to do. I was kind of between law and journalism – I was attracted to both of those fields, so I did work experience in the Four Courts in Dublin and I did work experience… Continue reading Méabh McMahon

“Commentary starts with my love for rugby, my dad used to take me to lots of games and that mixed with the voices to the games, I think that’s what really made me fall in love with the game. I started thinking about some of the iconic commentaries that I’ve heard and maybe I didn’t… Continue reading Justin Middleton

“To me it was fascinating and infuriating that there is so much going on that I just couldn’t see. That the answers to your questions, like: are there aliens around the star – the answers exist – they’re out there, like it’s happening out there or it’s not, but we just can’t see it. It’s… Continue reading Daniel Whiteson

“The magazine wanted to entertain, but it also wanted to improve and educate its readers in lots of ways, and one of its biggest concerns was that very few women had any kind of formal education in the way their brothers, fathers and uncles would have had and so it presented itself as a kind… Continue reading Prof. Jennie Batchelor

“The main reason they haven’t been used is that they are militarily useless. For example, Russia could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but it probably wouldn’t alter the war. It wouldn’t make the Ukrainians surrender and so they really would not be able to achieve military goals with them. The US considered using nuclear weapons… Continue reading Robert Jacobs

“What we are seeing is a fundamental shift in the Republican party and essentially a split between some of these moderate and more extreme voices, and ultimately in terms of how that effects the rest of the world, these more extreme voices tend to be much more isolationist. You have a lot of Republicans who… Continue reading Cristina Maza

“I wanted to take a different angle on the war. We have lots of books about Hitler and the top Nazi set but when you write about a woman, suddenly I got people saying how can you possibly pick this subject. It’s this ingrained sexism as well but it’s very important for us to understand… Continue reading Clare Mulley

“It turned into a business, and car companies originally were invented by people who had a passion for the internal combustion engine, like Henry Ford, but essentially they went through these very passionate people who were hugely enthusiastic about cars to becoming a business in the 80s, and it became a world renowned business and… Continue reading Bob Flavin

“Well, mostly women don’t kill each other or they don’t kill men. Now, there are exceptions, but I have never heard anybody ask the question: what is it about the way women are reared that basically it means they don’t kill other people, and is there anything that men can learn from this? Because I… Continue reading Prof. Pat O’Connor

“That’s what I should be doing. I shouldn’t be doing just the basic, almost like Parky on television – you ask them the question – you get the answer, you ask the question – you get the answer. I need to introduce people to who these people are and what their show is about by… Continue reading Martin Quibell

“Romance fraud is somebody using the guise of having a relationship with you to extort money out of you and it’s people who are pretending to be somebody else. They approach women and they will often say that they are an oil rig worker, a pilot – it’s often a sexy job – one that… Continue reading Becky Holmes

“How am I going to get people engaged? The Irish navy is your navy – this is for you – you pay your taxes and that pays my wages and that buys these ships. I’m a normal girl from Carlow that is out here trying to help Ireland protect its resources, its people, and do… Continue reading Lt Cdr Grace Fanning

“There’s something really dangerous and messed up that you always want to see people at their worst. I’ve travelled and been in so many places in the world and the one thing that I know is that no one has ever asked me to pity them – that’s the last thing they want. They want… Continue reading Benjamin Chesterton