What a story we have for you on this episode. Nadia Adan was born in Somalia but had to flee when the war broke out, and after years of travel, refugee camps, and time in prison, she and her mum found refuge in Ireland, where they have lived happily for over 20yrs. Her passion for hard work and business have made Nadia very successful and she’s now…

Anna Geary has a lot of strings to her bow: All Ireland-winning camogie captain, coach on RTE’s Ireland’s Fittest Family, radio presenter, former contestant on Dancing With The Stars… the list goes on. She’s also now an author, having just published her first book. It’s called Anna’s Game Plan and it's a practical toolkit to help people become more…

With all the recent talk and speculation about politics, the next government and the future Fine Gael, we thought it was timely to repost this fascinating interview with Minister Paschal Donohoe. Published a few months ago, this is probably one of the most open, honest and personal interviews he has done, covering how and why he got into politics, …

Pat Sheedy was released from prison just last August. He was there because of all of the scams he pulled to make money to feed his all-consuming gambling addiction – it ruined his life. And he travelled from Limerick to Dublin to join me here in the studio to tell his story. We talked about how and why he started gambling - and why he couldn’t stop…

As Liam Neeson would say, Kayleigh Trappe has a very particular set of skills. She takes clips from TV shows and podcasts that have gone viral, and recreates them perfectly on camera. And her ‘victims’ are paying attention, earning her name checks from the likes of Peter Crouch, Louis Walsh, Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally and a few more leading …

Cathy Kelly is one of Ireland’s best loved and most prolific authors, with a very impressive 23 novels under her belt! Her latest one is called Sisterhood and Cathy joined me in studio to chat about her lifelong love of books and her writing process. She has also been receiving treatment for a very serious type of cancer over the past few months, a…

There’s a big referendum coming up this week, but how many of us actually understand what we’re being asked to vote on? Award-winning journalist Larissa Nolan has spent weeks studying this proposed change to the constitution and not only does she break it down for me in this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast, she also lets fly about her very …

Not only is Donal Lenihan a true legend of Irish rugby and a much-loved commentator and pundit, he’s also a master storyteller. In this episode he shares so many great behind-the-scenes stories about antics on and off the pitch during his playing days, insights in to the modern game, management and current squad, and why he loves using his position…

You might recognise Paddy Cullivan as the frontman of the wonderful Camembert Quartet, which was the house band for the Late Late show for over ten years. But Paddy is also a very successful ‘historical entertainer’, bringing together history, music, comedy and the visual arts and combining them into stage shows where he takes big historical storie…

Last year we had Marion McKeown and Cal Thomas (they of Matt Cooper’s Last Word fame) on the pod (on separate episodes). I’m a massive fan of their slot on Matt’s show and, as you might expect, they both had such interesting and prescient things to say about Trump and politics in America. So we thought, given everything happening in the US right no…

Award-winning journalist Larissa Nolan spent many years living with her young son in rented accommodation. But ten years ago, she decided that enough was enough and it was time to do everything she had to do, to buy a home for them to call their own. And so began a fascinating story that involved a radical approach to how she approached her career,…

He was one of my very first guests on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast – that was almost three years ago and things have just gone from strength to strength for Conor Moore. He has continued to build his repertoire of impressions, including characters from the world of Formula one, he has shared a stage with Roy Keane on The Overlap live show, performe…

Phil Cawley and I were colleagues in Today Fm for over 20 years. During his time in the station, Phil presented one of the most listened-to Weekend radio shows in the country. We also got to work together on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show a few times. Phil is a genuine legend of Irish radio and he's also a great character and storyteller. On this e…

Ive always admired Matt Cooper’s work ethic. He presents a two and a half hour radio show every day on Today FM, writes two newspaper columns, presents not one but two podcasts, he writes books, he’s a father of 5 and lord knows what else he packs in to his day. In our chat on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock podcast, Matt opens up about what d…

Luke O’Neill was a very well-known scientist before the covid pandemic but he pretty much took on celebrity status during it, such was the demand for his expertise on TV, radio, print, and podcasts. He even became a very popular Gift Grub character on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast show on Today FM. On this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast we cha…

We’re dipping back into the archives this week and bringing you one of our most popular interviews of 2023. Ciara Kelly co-presents the Newstalk breakfast show with Shane Coleman and in this no holds barred conversation from Feb 2023, we get stuck right into so many topics from women in media and twitter users versus radio show texters, to pronouns…

As you walk / run / work off all of those lovely turkey sandwiches and mince pies, why not jump in here and take a listen to some of my favourite interview highlights from over the last few months? They include great moments and stories from Keith Duffy, Louis Walsh, Rachel Allen, Al Porter, and Terry Prone. The Mario Rosenstock Podcast is produced…

If you're in the mood for a little bit of comedy, then you've come to the right place. Here are just a few of my favourite comedy sketches and moments from the last few months, including: Rachel Allen gets a call from Roy Keane Terry Prone gets calls from George Lee and Enda Kenny Shane Byrne gets a call from Rob Kearney We hack in to the voicemail…

On this episode I meet the man behind the brilliant satirical news site Waterford Whispers News, Colm Williamson. Since launch, WWN has garnered international attention and viral popularity many times over. Some of the stories are just plain fun, but some are doing their bit to hold people and institutions in powerful positions to account, when Col…

I’ve always noticed that rugby players, in particular retired rugby players, have brilliant stories to tell. There’s so much craic and mischief going on behind the scenes in the changing room and when they’re off on tour and then you and I are lucky enough to hear all about it, when a sufficient amount of time has passed and its safe to share the s…

We continue the fascinating conversation that I had with leading psychotherapist and author Tony Bates. We covered so much ground in part 1 (and if you haven’t heard it yet I strongly encourage you to do so) and in this episode we chat about many more very interesting and important things, including family trauma and therapy, the scourge of over-pr…

Tony Bates is one of Ireland’s leading psychologists. He has worked with thousands of patients throughout his many decades in practise, most notably as head of the Department of Psychology at St James’s Hospital, a position he held for over 30 years. He also created Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. And if you’re a fan of Bressie…

You have probably heard a lot of interviews with Minister Paschal Donoghue on radio and on TV, but I’m pretty sure you will not have heard one quite like this. My plan is going into this particular interview was, not to talk about all the usual topics you’ll hear the minister talk about in the media and in the Dail, but rather to get behind all of …

This chat with Al Porter was genuinely one of the most enjoyable conversations I have had on this podcast series to date. Not only is Al totally hilarious, he is also deeply intelligent, self aware, and has a very powerful personal story to tell. He has just come out the other side of an incredibly difficult few years where he was, by his own doing…

A few years ago Al Porter was one of Ireland’s most rapidly rising stars in the entertainment world. He had become the youngest headliner in Vicar Street’s history at 21, his award-winning stand up was receiving rave reviews from critics, he had his own TV and radio shows, and big plans in motion for the USA. And then, as he says himself, it “all f…

Rachel Allen needs very little introduction. A very familiar face on our screens and a best-selling author, Rachel has carved out a highly successful career for herself in the culinary world both in Ireland and abroad. But did you know that her grandfather escaped from a concentration camp? Or that she has very strong views on veganism that might s…

It’s not easy being a TV weather forecaster in Ireland, and Joanna Donnelly knows this first-hand. She regularly gets blamed for actually creating bad weather, not just forecasting it. But despite all this, Joanna loves what she does. Having studied Mathematics and Meteorology, Joanna has worked with Met Éireann and RTE for over 28 years, and has j…

I have heard some fascinating life stories in my time, but Terry Prone’s is up there with one of the best. Terry is a writer, an actor, a journalist, a broadcaster, an advisor to successive governments, a communications expert, a PR pioneer, the list goes on and on - and after already writing 30 books, she has finally written the one that tells her…

Have you ever hear a Tánaiste and former Taoiseach doing an impression of Muhammad Ali? Well, you're just about to. In this second and final part of my interview with Micheál Martin he nails an impression of his sporting hero, and we also talk about freedom of speech, violent protests, the housing crisis, the presidency, Murphy’s vs Beamish, and wh…

I’m pretty sure that you will not have heard an interview with Tánaiste Micheál Martin quite like this one before. The man is great craic, full of funny stories and banter – it’s a side to him that we rarely get to see in the Dail and on current affairs shows, but we certainly get a taste of it in this episode. We talk about his love of impressions…

Senator Michael McDowell has been a TD, Tanaiste, Minster for Justice, and the country's Attorney General; he’s currently a barrister, a senator, and a columnist for the Irish Times. How he found the time to join me for an hour-long chat for this podcast I’ll never know, but Im very glad he did because we got through some great topics, including ho…

2023 has been a year of wildfires, extreme weather, and record temperatures – is it all down to climate change? To answer that question we invited climate commentator John Gibbons back to the studio for a conversation that I think you’re going to find very interesting ( and probably alarming). John Gibbons has been researching, campaigning and cons…

At one stage during our chat, Shane Coleman broke into a quite excellent impression of former finance minister Charlie McCreevy. Unfortunately I couldn't convince him to do a few more, but we did get stuck into a few political topics, as you might expect. Shane was one of Ireland’s leading political correspondents in print media for many years befo…

Watching the Rose of Tralee this week reminded me of the brilliant episode we recorded last year with Daithi O’Se. Daithi was in top form when we met, the Rose was back after a two-year hiatus and he was raring to go. We chatted about what its like hosting the festival (and how he gets in shape in advance), what makes Kerry people so unique, his ne…

It's hard to describe Roddy Collins. Footballer, football manager, boxer, brother of a boxing world champion, practical joker, social commentator, author..the list goes on.Not only does Roddy have great stories to tell, he also tells them so well. We talk about life in football’s lower divisions, settling local disputes in the ring, practical jokes…

While we’re on our short summer break, I’m playing some of my favourite episodes from the series so far. This one is from May 2021, its with my friend and colleague Dermot Whelan, who has just announced that he’s leaving the Dermot and Dave Show on Today FM to focus on his mindfulness business. When we record this episode, Dermot had just released …

We’re on a short summer break at the moment and so we’re resurfacing some of our favourite and most popular episodes from the last few months. This episode first aired in November 2022 - its a fascinating chat with Frank Greaney, Courts Correspondent with Newstalk and Today FM, and also podcast host, author, and restaurateur! I love Frank’s on-air …

Every episode of my podcast features a brand new and exclusive comedy sketch. If you want to hear a few of my favourites funnies from the last few months, just click play and enjoy!!Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

It's never easy to pick easy to pick highlights from the series because there genuinely is far too much to choose from. So I’ve tried to find a few clips that represent the wide range of guests, topics, and laughs that we tend to have on this show every week.So what’s coming up? Jarlath Regan of the brilliant ‘Irishman Abroad’ podcast will be talki…

Tadhg Hickey is a comedian, a singer, an actor, an author, and he is also a long-time friend of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast. Tadhg was also a regular guest on the radio show I used to present on Today FM on Sundays before we started this podcast. On one of those Sunday shows Tadhg joined me for a long and fascinating chat about his recovery from a…

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…

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…

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 grow…

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. B…

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 …

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 is…

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 an…

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 clearl…

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 …

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 ques…