Henry McKean is not accustomed to doing interviews, usually he’s the one asking the questions. But on this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast we turn the tables on Henry and reveal the man behind the mic. If you’re a regular listener to Newstalk radio, you will be familiar with Henry's very distinctive voice and interview style. Having spent years travelling the country and talking to people about all sorts of fascinating subjects, I knew he must have a few great stories to share – and I wasn’t disappointed!

Henry and I  chat about the weird and wonderful people he has met, the big stories he has covered, and some of the pretty hairy situations he has ended up in. He also talks about his own fascinating background and family history.

Comedy – Eamon Dunphy has just stepped down as host of The Stand – but two well-known podcasters have already taken his place..Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

As the saying goes, it takes many years to become an overnight success, and this is something that Chris Kent knows all about. Having worked for years as an electrician, Chris wanted to try his hand at comedy and started to graft hard on the scene. Things started to take off for him and he was able to work at his comedy full time. But then Covid hit – the dream ended and Chris went back to his trade to make ends meet.

 But today, Chris is back on the horse and he’s selling out venues all over Ireland and the UK. On this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast he tells me his fascinating story and we go deep on all things comedy, writing and life as a performer

 Comedy – we got exclusive access to Met Eireann’s voicemails this week, and some familiar voices have a lot to say to them!

 Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Whenever my Today FM colleague Dave Moore and I get in to the podcast studio, we talk A LOT about music. We’re both completely fascinated by things like how compositions are structured,  the formula behind a great pop song, what makes a great producer, that kind of stuff.

 The last couple of times Dave was on the show, we held back a few bits that we didn’t have time to include in the final edit,  and Ive wrapped them up for you here in this special ‘unheard-bits’ episode. First Dave tells us the story of a life changing moment for him, when his music caught the attention of one of the world’s biggest bands. Then he talks about his obsession with thrash metal and why he believes it is such a great style of music – and he’s quite convincing!

This week, its story time and Im delighted to be able to dip back into the archives and revisit one of my favourite episodes with, in my opinion, one of Ireland’s best storytellers, Peter Sheridan - author, playwright, and director. Peter has driven across America with actor Sean Penn, developed a cocaine addiction through his friendship with an LA dealer named Cuban Mike, auditioned top Hollywood actresses like Renee Zellweger, and learned rebel songs directly from Christy Moore. He has done it all, and he’s here to tell the tales on this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand.

Over the last 20-years, Steven and David Flynn, aka The Happy Pear, have built one of Ireland’s best-known health food brands – and they’ve also become international healthy living influencers, known for the 5am sea swims, the handstands, the yoga in jocks, and all of the quirky things that they have become so famous for. And as a result, they have a massive following of people who love them, and indeed those that don't.

And that divided public perception is just of the things we chat about in this really fascinating conversation. . We also talk about things like being identical twins and what that feels like, why we’re all too obsessed with protein and are neglecting something far more important, and some pretty out-there places they ended up in on their travels. I think you're going to see a very different side to The Happy Pear in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

Comedy – Matt and Ivan, and Taoiseach Simon Harris leave voice notes for the twins.

Check out their latest book The Happy Pear 20

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

You probably know Paul Williams well from his journalism and regular appearances on radio and TV. However, you may not be aware of how and why he got into crime journalism in the first place, what daily life is like for someone with a job like his, and how passionately he feels about the victims of crime. We get stuck in to all of that in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast and Paul also tells me about his new book, Crooks: The Stories behind the headlines.

COMEDY – Paul gets voicemails from The Monk, Simon Harris and Fintan O’Toole.

Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand

It’s the time of year for reflection and I’ve been thinking a lot on how far we’ve come with this podcast since we started it almost four years ago - millions of listens, some big awards and nominations, and a lot of friends made along the way. And it’s all thanks to you for being a loyal listener and supporting us along the way. 

So I thought it would be fitting for this week’s episode to go right back to the very start and revisit my very first interview on this series, with the great Ian Dempsey of Today FM. Having shared a radio studio with Ian for well over 20 years, there was no one better to send me off into this brave new world of podcasting, knapsack on my back, excitement and trepidation in my heart.

You might have heard interviews with Ireland’s most-loved breakfast show presenter before, but you haven’t heard one quite like this. Ian reveals things about himself that even I didn’t know – like why he would never, ever get a massage; his desire to be able to drop an F-Bomb on the radio, his memories of the infamous Fr Joseph Marmion, and the real reason for his obsession with David Bowie. He even blew me away with his impressions of Paschal Donohoe, Joan Burton, Matt Cooper and many more! 

Produced by: Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand. 

Whenever I want to get stuck into a really great chat about US politics, Irish politics, or any kind of tending social issue, I have a couple of go-to guests that I love to thrash things out with – and Karl Deeter is one of them. We don’t always see eye to eye, but in my opinion that's often the essence of a great conversation.

As a mortgage-broker turned tech-founder, Karl is well-known for his knowledge of the property market and various economic issues, and he’s a regular on radio and tv giving his expert views on these subjects. But he's also very interested, knowledgeable and opinionated on politics, geo-political issues like conflicts around the world, and even the challenges of just having an opinion in the first place! He always has so much to say, and in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast we get stuck in to issues like the General Election, Trump, The Monk, Irish attitudes to Israel and loads more.

COMEDY – it’s the eve of the election and the politicians are leaving voicemails on out hotline like nobody’s business. And Simon Harris is feeling particularly sparky!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Comedian Ross Browne has written for and starred in several hidden camera shows including RTE’s The Fear and Scorchio, alongside Fred Cooke, Hilary Rose and Jennifer Zamparelli. And he has also personally pranked The White House, CIA headquarters and Enda Kenny! (here’s a link to the one with Enda)

Ross is also a lead writer for the latest series of The Young Offenders, he has an Amazon Prime Special show, and he’s a successful stand-up comic. Oh – and there’s the small matter of his former career as a professional wrestler! So as you can imagine, we had tonnes to talk about in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast, and a lot of laughs were had.

COMEDY – It seems politicians are all about getting on podcasts these days, so we've been getting quite a few requests for 'air time' from election candidates this week!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

So much has changed for Dave Moore since he last joined me here on the Mario Rosenstock podcast. Not only has Today FM’s Dermot and Dave show now become ‘The Dave Moore Show’, after Dermot Whelan left to focus on his mindfulness career, but Dave can now call himself an author!

He has just published his first book, ‘Dave's Bad Jokes’ - a carefully curated collection of questionable gags sent into the show by listeners over the last few years. Press play to hear all about it, and indeed some well-known personalities phoning in to read out their favourite bad jokes

Dave and I also nerd out over music, accents, and comedy, and he talks about life on air without the co-host he has shared a studio with for over 20 years.

COMEDY – Matt Cooper loses the rag over Donald Trump’s crazy cabinet appointments

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

He has been on our screens with Ireland AM for 25 years and on stage in your favourite pantos for over 30, Alan Hughes must be the hardest working man in showbiz. He’s also so refreshingly honest, irreverent and funny – the perfect ingredients for a guest on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

In this episode we talk all about Alan’s remarkable career, what drives him to work so hard , misbehaving celebrities, why he thinks panto is suffering from political correctness and lots more

Comedy – Donald Trump, Matt and Ivan, and Louis Walsh all leave messages for Alan on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline.

Produced by Patrick Haughey, Audiobrand.