The Mario Rosenstock Podcast

Russell Watson and Gary Barlow have something in common – they both started their careers in Workingmen’s clubs across northern England, playing to audiences that were very hard to win over. They other quality they share is grit and determination, and so fast forward to today, and Russell is selling out concerts globally, he has performed for the Queen, the Pope and US presidents, topped the charts in the UK and US for months at a time, and sang at major football and rugby finals all over the world. He has also been a contestant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! UK in 2020.In this episode Russell tells me so many great stories about the tough crowds he’s played to, the celebs he has met and performed with, and the secret to his ‘overnight success’ (“that was a very long night!!”)Russell will be in Ireland very soon for some shows in Wexford, Limerick and Dublin – check out russellwatson.com for all the details.Lots of news around this week but one of the stories that have cause a bit of a stir is the news that RTE boss Kevin Bakhurst is getting a €20k pay rise. We got exclusive access to his voicemails – press play to hear them!Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

I just love talking about music and songwriting, so when I had the chance to interview  Grammy-nominated singer songwriter, RuthAnne Cunningham, it was never going to be a short conversation! So we divided out our chat across two episodes and this week its part 2. Having written songs for some of the world’s biggest performers, including Niall Horan, Britney Spears, Westlife, Niall Horan, Martin Garrix and One Direction, Ruthanne has so many great stories to share and so much to say about the music industry and how it all works. In this episode Ruthanne and I talk about the role the social media plays in the modern industry - and why she’s not too happy about it – she tells me how things work when it comes to royalties and how songwriters get paid, and we talk about why a legend like Bruce Springsteen wouldn’t be a success if he started out today.  COMEDY - The fuel protests and blockades are dominating the news this week, and Michael O’Leary and Paschal Donohoe let their opinions about it be known on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast Hotline.   Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand.

RuthAnne Cunnigham has written songs for some of the world’s biggest performers, including Niall Horan, Britney Spears, Westlife, Niall Horan, Martin Garrix and One direction. She is a Grammy-nominated singer-song writer with multi-platinum global hits totally over 10bn steams and collaborations with greats like Diana Ross and John Legend.RuthAnne joined me on the Sunday Roast radio show on Today FM  a few years ago  to tell me the story behind 'Nice to meet ya', which she co-wrote with Niall Horan, a song that went on to be a huge hit. So we asked her to come back for a chat about all of her other hit songs, collaborations and her own successful career as a performer. She has some amazing stories to tell.Check out RuthAnne’s new book ‘Its not just a song’COMEDY – the Sauna craze sweeping Ireland has now made it into the hallowed halls of Leinster House!Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Ireland has produced a lot of sporting greats, but none quite like Roy Keane. He’s not just a footballer, or a pundit, or even a national obsession at this stage, he’s practically a genre of Irish conversation. And he’s someone that has been a big part of my career for many years, in particular with Radio Roy on Gift Grub.Dave Hannigan has just published new book called We Need To Talk About Roy in which he takes a fresh and fascinating look at Keane - not just the man himself, but what he tells us about Ireland, ambition, class, celebrity, masculinity, football, and fame. And this isn’t just a great piece of journalism – Dave is from the same part of Cork as Roy, they are roughly the same age, and they even played against each other a few times!!!In this chat Dave and I chat about Roy’s early days in Cork, why Saipan still has such a grip on people, how Roy became such a huge media figure, and why he may actually be more culturally relevant now than he was in his playing days.COMEDY - its Michael O’Leary’s birthday this week – he’s decided to throw himself a big birthday bash, in true Ryanair style…Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

I am a huge football fan, and I love the history of football too. I’m fascinated by the best players we’ve had the privilege of watching over the years, my all-time favourite being Diego Maradona , and also by the great managers like Alex Fergusson and Jose Mourinho – many of whom I’ve caricatured on Gift Grub over the years.And that’s why I was delighted when I received a copy of a new book about one of the most interesting and successful football managers of all time - and you’ve probably never heard of him! I certainly hadn’t anyway. His name was Helenio Herrera , also known as HH, and what a life story he has. Born into poverty, he went to become an ok football player but incredibly accomplished, wealthy and famous football manager - he’s also credited with inventing the modern style of football management.Barcelona-based Irish football writer Richard Fitzpatrick has just published a fascinating profile of this man – its called HH: Helenio Herrera – Football's Original Master of the Dark Arts, and he joins me on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast to tell me all about it.COMEDY - As this episode is all about great football management, we put a call in to some of the great footballers and managers, and asked them to reveal which manager they most admire…Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Larissa Nolan, who you may know from previous episodes of the show, got in touch the other day about a story that she really wanted to talk about, and she wanted Karl Deeter , another friend of the show, to join the conversation too.  The story was about an incident that happened at the recent BAFTA awards on the BBC, where an actor with Tourette’s syndrome, whose life story inspired the award winning film ‘I Swear’,  shouted out the N-word when black actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage to present an award. Naturally this caused a major stir - but the reaction was actually quite nuanced, with some very different viewpoints emerging.So Larissa, who has OCD, and Karl Deeter, who has Tourette’s, joined me to get into this issue. We chat about what it’s like to live with Tourette’s and OCD and how both conditions are actually quite similar in some ways. They also give a great explainer about this BAFTA’s story and the nuanced outcry it has caused, and they share their own opinions about it. Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Joe Conlon first walked on to the stage of the Gaiety Theatre at the age of 13 and he knew immediately that that’s where he wanted to be. Fast forward to today and Joe has become synonymous with Panto and theatre in Ireland. He spent 15 years as the iconic Gaiety panto dame, Nana, and has been in countless productions in that role and many others besides.Joe has now decided to hang up his panto boots to concentrate on other projects, including focusing on his own drama school, which he has been running for many years. So we thought it was a great time to sit down with him and chat about his many decades on stage, the importance of drama and drama schools for building confidence in kids, Ireland’s phenomenal acting talent, working with Brad Pitt, and lots more.COMEDY – Is RTE paving the way for the return of Ryan Tubridy?Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

I have to say that I was genuinely moved by Brian Kennedy’s recent appearance on RTE’s Dancing with the Stars. In the last few years Brian has really been through the ringer - he has had cancer, a massive heart attack, and quadruple bypass surgery. He literally had to learn how to walk again three times after surgery – and then he goes dancing on national television. That takes guts and resilience and a whole lot of positive mental attitude, and I found him so inspiring to watch.Brian has an incredible life story – raised on the Falls Road in Belfast at the height of the troubles, Brian had a difficult, even traumatic childhood. But he went on to forge a very successful music career, performing in venues like Madison Square Gardens with legends like Van Morrison.  He has represented Ireland at the Eurovision, sang at George Best’s funeral, and was a coach on The Voice of Ireland. Brian is also a great storyteller and serious craic, as you’re about to hear.COMEDY - Lots of people enjoyed listening to financial planner Eoin McGee on the last episode, but now they all reckon they’ve got great money advice to share. too. Check out some of the message’s we’ve been getting from the great and the good. Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand 

Eoin McGee is one of Ireland’s best-known financial advisors, he’s also a TV presenter and an author. His latest book is called 'How to Achieve Financial Freedom – create enough wealth to stop working’ in which he shares advice about how we can all take more control of our wallets and become a lot more financially independent as a result.In this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast, Eoin tells me about the book, but we also talk a lot about our attitudes to money in Ireland and why it isn’t particularly healthy, certainly compared to places like the US. He shares a very personal story from his childhood, about a difficult situation that made him want to be a financial advisor when he got older; we talk about the importance of being in the moment, why working longer can be better than retirement, and lots more.COMEDY – the non-stop rain is causing consternation across the country, and Simon Harris is taking matters into his own hands.Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Joan Mulvihill has been a regular voice on all things tech for years– she was CEO of the Irish Internet Association, before working in Siemens for many years, and she was involved in a number of other tech-related organisations.But Joan is also a very accomplished artist and her great passion in life is working in the intersection between art and technology. We had such a unique and interesting conversation about things like Elon musk and the rise of the broligarchy, and how they have been colonising our lives like the colonial powers of old. We talk about the dangers of AI and why Joan doesn’t ask ChatGPT anything; art, grief and loss; why workplaces should be nicer to humans instead of trying to make robots that behave like humans, and lots more.COMEDY - It has been quite the week for the Beckham family following the explosive statement from eldest son Brooklyn. How will they react to the bombshell statement?Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand