The 738am podcast - talking to people about stuff

On this week's show I chat with Donal Dineen who first came to prominence on the seminal music video show No Disco on RTE 2. He moved from there into radio, finding himself at the helm of two hugely influential shows. Firstly, Here Comes The Night on Radio Ireland, and Small Hours on Today FM. Donal chats about how life as the 'psychedelic black sheep' of the family fuelled his desire to move to the bright lights; how a kindly person insisted that a life in the civil service was not for him and pushed him into a more creative sphere; the effect that the sudden death of his father had on his life and his outlook; his love for radio, telling stories via music and pictures; and how the commercial interests of radio stations have left him bitter about the state of the industry. It's a fantastic and open conversation with a man who helped define a particular style of music radio and whose influence has been unmatched since. You can follow Donal Dineen on Twitter @dineensparish

Bernard Butler is a musician and record producer, known to lots of us as the guitarist with Suede, before that all went a bit wonky. Others might know the song 'Yes', by McAlmont and Butler, as one that became something of an anthem around the time of the marriage referendum earlier this year. Aside from that he's played and/or produced with the likes of Duffy, The Libertines, Roy Orbison, Eddi Reader and loads more. He was in Dublin a few weeks back as part of a McAlmont & Butler tour and he was very kind to get off the ferry and give me some of his pre-sound check time on the day of the gig in Vicar Street. We had a chat about his Irish roots, changing his musical instrument from violin to guitar, gigging with Suede, creative friction, his work as a producer from his studio overlooking Emirates Stadium and loads more. You can follow Bernard on Twitter @Bernard_Butler or visit his official website for all your Bernard Butler needs.

It was an honour this week to chat to a real legend of Irish radio, Ian Dempsey. Ian began his career like many others on the first wave of pirate stations in Dublin, including ARD. He joined RTE in 1980 and was 2FM's most successful breakfast jock ever, and since his departure they've never really managed to find anyone to replace him properly. He was also the host of Dempsey's Den on RTE2 television, a kid's show which brought us those lovable aliens Zig and Zag. In 1998 he was lured away to Today FM where he's presented the breakfast show ever since – a remarkable achievement by any standards, simply because of the demands of getting up at that time every single day! We chat about his start in radio, the early days of 2FM competing with the superstar pirates like Radio Nova and Sunshine, his decision to leave RTE, the creativity and enjoyment of doing the breakfast show on Today FM, a mutual love of David Bowie and loads more. It's always great to meet somebody whose career you admire, even more so when they're as nice and generous with their time as Ian was. I hope you enjoy the show. You can find Ian on Today FM every morning, and on Twitter @IanDempsey.

If you're a lover of sport and radio, you'll be well aware of today's guest. Colm Parkinson is a former Gaelic Footballer, turned broadcaster. He's part of the Off The Ball team on Newstalk every evening, and by his own admission he can be a bit divisive due to his forthright opinions. I spoke with him about his playing career; the difficulties of combining work, training and matches; how his personality got him into trouble with a series of managers and coaches – especially with Mick O'Dwyer; and his belief that he felt he knew best most of the time. Then we discuss his move into broadcasting, how the departure of the Second Captains crew from Newstalk opened a door for him, learning on the job despite some criticism, why he feels there's too much bonhomie between sports journalists when there should be more debate, and how his career almost took a complete left turn at one stage. This really is a good chat, I hope you enjoy it. You can follow Colm on Twitter @woolberto –  and obviously catch him on the radio in the evenings.

Today's guest is singer/songwriter Daniel Anderson. You might have caught a recent YouTube video which saw him go door to door around Dublin to try and sell the record he'd made. It was a clever and innovative way to generate some buzz about his work, and a successful one too as he sold out within a couple of days. The story of how he made the record happen is far from normal though. Going beyond the usual process of writing and recording songs, Daniel's four year project involved construction work, learning to play a variety of instruments, recording production and mastering, and everything else that goes into creating an album. I chat to him about that whole process, how he feels he can set himself apart from contemporaries, the video that caught so much attention, his future plans and much more besides. It's a brilliant story. You can find his work, details of upcoming gigs, and his social media profiles on his official website - andersonsongs.com

My guest on the show today is Dave Moore. You'll know him as part of the dynamic duo, Dermot and Dave, and their work on 98FM and now every weekday from midday on Today FM. I've spoken to quite a few radio people for this podcast, and the stories of how they got into the business have always been interesting, but quite similar. A love of radio or music, cutting their teeth on pirate stations etc, but I've never heard a story quite like Dave's. So, we get the full version of how he went from being a working musician, quite happy with his lot, to one of the biggest shows on Dublin radio. We also chat about his love of languages, getting shot in Russia, his partnership with Dermot Whelan, and loads more. It's a fun chat, Dave's a super-nice guy, so I hope you enjoy the show.

One of the great accomplishments of my life will be tell people I've interviewed so many people who have Wikipedia entries. Maybe one day I'll have one of my own, in the meantime I can live vicariously through my guests. According to the online encyclopedia, my guest today is 'an Irish screenwriter and television producer known for his work on Irish Pictorial Weekly, Langerland.TV, Science Fiction, and Brain Freeze.' If you've been online in Ireland for any amount of time, you'll surely have been aware of Langerland, the biting, cynical look at Irish life, and we talk about Colm's involvement in that project. And after his popular Twitter account @colmtobin helped bring about a book deal, we discuss that project, life online, the ups and downs and social media, and lots more. It's a good chat, and you can get the book 'Surviving Ireland' in all good bookshops now.

I have to admit I always find it a bit strange when I sit down with somebody I know to do a podcast. I just think it's easier when it's someone I haven't met before. I've known Sinead Gleeson since the blog explosion in the early-mid 2000s, when we all had to answer the question 'What's a blog?' every time we talked about it. Now everyone know what a blog is and we're in the 'What's a podcast?' era! Sinead's blog, which I think was called Sigla, won lots of awards in the Pop Culture category, and since then she has gone on to do lots of great, interesting stuff. She set up a feminist website called The Anti-Room with Anna Carey; she writes for the Irish Times (among others); she presents The Book Show (@bookshowrte) for RTE Radio 1, and most recently she's compiled an essential anthology of short stories by Irish women writers called 'The Long Gaze Back'. We chat about all that, and much more in this episode. Hope you enjoy it.

My guest today needs absolutely no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway. As one of Ireland's most successful comedians he's filled venues up and down the country and, of course, in the UK where he's now based. Dara O'Briain is a regular on the telly with shows like Mock the Week, The Apprentice: you're fired, Stargazing and Dara and Ed's Big Adventure with fellow comedian Ed Byrne. He's written books, released DVDs, he likes science, Arsenal and video games, and he's also one of the nicest guys you could possibly meet. He came into the Castaway studio a couple of weeks ago while he was here in Dublin performing his latest show, Crowd Tickler, at Vicar Street. We chat about his comedy beginnings, dealing with odd people on Twitter, how he writes his comedy – including what could be construed as a live demo of his process – and loads more. You can follow Dara on Twitter, or check out his official website for tour dates.

My guest this week is a stand-up comedian, broadcaster and writer Abie Philbin Bowman. We chat about his career, and why he didn’t go to the Edinburgh festival despite having a hit show there a few years ago. We discuss comedy as career, the comedy scene in Ireland (on TV and radio), how married life has changed him and his work, and loads more. It’s a good chat, so dig in. You can follow Abie on Twitter @AbiePB

My guest this week is a writer of books who, by his own admission, doesn't read fiction. He writes for TV without being a dedicated television watcher, and has spent most of his life as playwright despite the fact he's only ever seen a couple of plays. His methods, in general, are what you might call unconventional. But Paul O'Brien's story is little short of remarkable. Having written novels set in the world of professional wrestling in America, he published them himself, and set about having them noticed by important people in that world. He did that, and it has opened all kinds of doors for him – including a commission to write the biography of WWW legend Jim Ross, one of the most well known characters in wrestling history. I chat to Paul about the way he works, how he went about getting the books read and publicised by some pretty famous people, what it's meant in terms of his own work and future, and loads more. It's a genuinely brilliant and inspirational story, one you need to hear. You can follow Paul on Twitter @tweetpaulobrien or visit his official website at paulobrien.info

Louise O'Neill's debut novel, 'Only ever yours', was published in 2014. Her second book, 'Asking for it', was launched last month and has garnered rave reviews and feedback in the short time since. 'Brave, clever, provocative but relentless', said the Irish Times, while the Guardian said, ‘This may only be her second book, but it’s clear that O’Neill is blazing her own path in literature’. Both books go beyond traditional story-telling, carrying messages that will resonate with readers, and start important conversations. I caught up with Louise just before the launch of 'Asking for it'. We discussed her life as a writer and how the stories came to be, her process, the personal side of both books and the impact on her as an author and lots more. She was very open and honest about it all, and it was fun to chat to her. I hope you enjoy the show. You can follow Louise on Twitter @oneillo

We all know what it's like to be a fan of somebody creative. A singer, songwriter, actor, playwright, poet, whatever it is, sometimes somebody's work just resonates with you.

That's very much the case with Marc Maron whose show has become a huge part of my life since I discovered it a few years ago. Mondays and Thursdays provide new episodes, gleefully consumed each week.

Marc was in Dublin this week performing his brilliant stand-up (sit on a stool) comedy show at Vicar Street, and I managed to get him into the studio for a chat the day he arrived in Ireland. The story of how it all happened is contained in the podcast, so I'm not going to tell it here.

All I can say is that he was an absolute gent, generous with his time – particularly as he was very jet-lagged – and spending that bit of time with him to record a podcast was just amazing.

We talk about Ireland, podcasting, Obama, comedy, microphones, his guests, breakfast, and loads more, including an exclusive about his TV show Maron – which you can find on Fox on the Sky platform, or via iTunes.

I really hope you enjoy it as listening much as I did recording it.

On today’s show I meet author Jax Miller whose debut novel ‘Freedom’s Child’ is in shops now and causing quite a stir.

She talks very openly and candidly about the heartbreak that prompted her to write the book, why the act of writing was essentially a life-saver for her, and how the instant success has been tough to deal with. We chat about how the book came to life, how she identified so strongly with Freedom Oliver – the main character – and her influences, which are more visual than literary.

It’s a great listen, Jax is fantastic and funny and warm, and I hope you enjoy the show. You can follow her on Twitter @JaxMillerAuthor, and you can pick up Freedom’s Child in a bookshop near you today.

My guest today is Hugh Linehan, Digital Development Editor of the Irish Times. Previously he was Online Editor there.

We discuss starting in journalism, and how he became so involved with the online side of the publication.

At a time when newspaper sales are falling, we talk about how the Irish Times, along with other traditional media outlets, are having to change their business model, embrace new technologies and the myriad challenges faced by the different ways people choose to consume content and news.

The Irish Times has also moved into the podcasting sphere, with a number of self-produced shows, as well as giving a platform to the fantastic Second Captains after the lads left Newstalk radio back in 2013. We chat about podcasting as a growing medium, podcast advertising, monetisation, audience building and lots more.

You can follow Hugh on Twitter @hlinehan.

My guest on this week's show is 2FM presenter Louise McSharry. She talks about how she got her breakthrough in radio through persistence and a bit of brass neck, becoming the breakfast show presenter for iRadio, moving to RTE and her hopes for the music show she does every weeknight from 8pm - 10pm.

We also discuss her upbringing, dealing with loss and a childhood situation that was challenging, to say the least, as well as the fact she was given the all clear from cancer back in March – and how that experienced has affected her and what she wants to do in the future.

You can follow Louise on Twitter @louisemcsharry and, of course, listen to her on your radio weeknights on 2FM.

So back in the day, when blogging was the thing all the cool kids did, Lisa McInerney set up one called 'The Arse End of Ireland'.

Using the moniker of 'Sweary Lady' it was a showcase of her writing talent, both comedic and serious, and it become one of the most popular blogs in Ireland. The plan, however, was to use the power of blogging to become a novelist, and that couldn't have come together better if Hannibal Smith himself had made it.

Lisa's first novel, 'The Glorious Heresies', was published earlier this year to widespread acclaim. 'A big, brassy, sexy beast of a book', said Joseph O'Connor in the Irish Times. The reviews have been excellent, which is mostly because it's an excellent book.

I hadn't met Lisa since one of the last Irish Blog Awards events, and since then things have obviously gone really well for her. We chat about the blog, how it helped her as a writer, how an email out of the blue helped her find an agent, her writing process, video games and loads more.

You can follow @SwearyLady on Twitter and you can buy The Glorious Heresies at your local bookshop.

No doubt many of you who are into podcasts are well aware of Jarlath Regan. His show 'An Irishman abroad' hit the ground running when his first episode topped the iTunes charts, and since then he's gone from strength to strength, interviewing people like Boy George, Niall Quinn, Aidan Gillen and loads more.

Jarlath was in town last week for the Vodafone Comedy Festival where he recorded his latest shows (a two parter with Tommy Tiernan), and he was kind enough to come to the Castaway studios for a good chat about his life as a stand-up comedian and as a podcaster – roles that he views as quite separate from each other.

We discuss why he moved into the world of comedy after a career in graphic design didn't fulfill him, how and why he started the podcast, his process in preparing for interviews, and loads more. If you're a podcast junkie, this is going to be one you'll really enjoy.

You can find Jarlath on Twitter @Jarlath and you can subscribe to An Irishman Abroad on iTunes.

As ever, hope you enjoy the show. If you like it, a rating or a review (or both!) on iTunes would be greatly appreciated.

My guest this week is Adrian Kennedy who, for 17 years, was the host of the nightly FM 104 phone show.

Having spent so long with that station, it's not a huge surprise that relations were strained when he decided to leave to join arch-rival 98FM, but the fall-out from that decision and the way it has affected some friendships has left a bitter taste in his mouth.

We discuss that move, the way he feels about it, and the effect it had on the show itself. Not to mention the strange circularity of Adrian now going to the station that Chris Barry left FM104 for in the 90s, allowing him to take over the phone show, coupled with the fact Chris Barry is back in the hot seat at nighttime at a station he left in a very contentious way.

Adrian's thoughts on that decision, and the move in general make for very interesting listening – as you can imagine there's no holding back – and we also chat about radio in general, how he got started, how getting the bug for the business helped him escape some trying times during his school years, and whether or not he considers himself a 'shock jock' due to the nature of his show.

You can listen to Adrian on 98FM every weekdday between 10am and 12, and follow him on Twitter @AdrianFKennedy.

My guest this week is author Donal Ryan.

His breakout book 'The Spinning Heart' was long-listed for the Booker Prize and won the Guardian's First Book Award in 2013. It captured small town Ireland at the height of the recession, and the way it affected individuals, families, communities and more.

That was followed up by a second novel 'The thing about December', to my mind one of the best books I've read in years.

I chat to Donal about his influences, how he started writing and the challenges he's overcome even to get his words down on paper and leave them there. We discuss his writing process, dealing with success as well as criticism and bad reviews, taking a sabbatical from his job to working as a full time writer (he's the Writer in Residence at the University of Limerick), and loads more.

He was an absolute pleasure to talk to and I hope you enjoy the show. Remember, you can leave comments below, or if you're so inclined you could give the show a rating or review on iTunes – it'd be much appreciated.