Patrick Freyne -“There’s a beauty in accepting that you’re probably just average”

Irish Times Writer Patrick Freyne has written his first novel, ‘Experts In A Dying Field’. He talks to Brendan about identifying as a yuppie in his youth, his years playing in bands, work burnout, obsoletion in middle age and why having children isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. He charts his life through five songs from The Monkees to Pixies and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining Brendan to discuss the big stories in Sunday’s newspapers are Mary Regan, Political Editor, Irish Independent & Sunday Independent; Alan Barrett, Research Professor at the ESRI; Hazel Chu, Dublin City Councillor and Green Party Deputy Leader and Cormac Lucey, Columnist, The Sunday Times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining Brendan to discuss the week’s film and TV highlights are writer, Henrietta McKervey and producer, Eoin Sweeney. They discuss Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, Bad: The Song That Saved My Life, The World Cup, The Isle of Wight music festival and Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You amongst many more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Broadcaster Aifric O’Connell explains the trickle-down effect of top influencers and catwalk shows abandoning gel manicures in favour of a return to a healthier, more natural-looking nail, more in line with the recent Quiet Luxury fashion trend.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writer and broadcaster Stefanie Preissner is back with one of her, by now, legendary gift guides. This time it’s ideas for buying for your father. She’s suggesting concerts, cookery courses, whiskey tasting, introducing your Dad to a day spa, a 10kg box of beef and many more ideas!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Booker Prize-winning author, Salman Rushdie, talked to Brendan about recovering from a knife attack which saw him lose his right eye, how laughter helped in his recovery, his thoughts on the US v Iran war, how free speech has never been more under threat and his new collection of short stories, ‘The Eleventh Hour’See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fr. Brendan McGuire, AI advisor to the Pope and sometimes spiritual advisor to Anthropic, gives his take as Anthropic halts access to top AI models following a U.S. ban on foreign use. Before his ordination, Fr. Brendan worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer and tech exec. He believes technology should serve humanity rather than control it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chef and Instagrammer Alannah Sheehan gives ideas and recipes on jazzing up your daily porridge, how to make porridge bread and also a recipe for a healthy and a not-so-healthy granolaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olympian Ciara Mageean spent her career representing Ireland and Northern Ireland, including a Gold at the 1500m European Championships in 2024, a year before the cancer diagnosis that ended her career. She talks to Brendan about her career, her terminal diagnosis, grief for the life she’ll never have and why we should all live in the moment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining Brendan to discuss the big stories in Sunday’s newspapers are consultant in paediatric intensive care at CHI Crumlin, Dr Suzanne Crowe; head of the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit, Pete Lunn; political correspondent at The Irish Times, Ellen Coyne; and commentator and head of the Iona Institute, David Quinn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.