I'm generally pretty open, but jaysus this Victoria Mary Clark 'spiritual' chat is painful.
Gavin Friday, can he ever do an interview without mentioning Bono?
No and I was expecting another cringefest, but I really enjoyed that interview - very honest and some relatable stuff. Seems like a good egg.
First time hearing Cillian Murphy speak at length, about his new film related to the magdalan laundries. Very impressed with him. Balanced, sincere, down to earth. Brendan did a decent meat and potatoes interview, it all flowed naturally on both sides. Not earth-shattering obviously but good solid listenable radio.
A couple of, very good, in depth, interviews there this morning. A very enjoyable listen.
What news of Guggi?
Honestly an actor talking about their new film is every bit as boring as a sports person being interviewed.
Couldn't agree more. Sports people ramping their autobiography or actors shilling their latest film like its going to be something revelatory to the human condition.
By and large sports people and actors are dull robots who are only good at one thing ie. doing what they are told to by other smarter people.... be it chasing a ball or spouting dialogue written by someone else.
But chat shows need to fill air time and these hucksters have something to sell.
And there’s an awful lot of these “hucksters” infesting the airwaves these days.
Why are these gloamers being given airtime on certain shows has me puzzled.
Serious shows should be serious, not platforms for these mouthy jackasses to peddle their rubbish.
Because people buy books and go to films and like these spots? Just a wild guess.
Not to mention shows needing guests.
Sometimes (not always) sports and film people do have something revelatory to say about the human condition. And very often the people explicitly pushing insights into the human condition are hucksters shilling.
All three groups (sports, film, "human condition" folks) have worthy contributors amongst them. I enjoyed his comments on the film, and he seems to genuinely be interested in making films that tell important stories which feature protagonists wrestling with difficult decisions.
whats a gloamer, actors or writers only appear on radio to promote a film or a tv series / book at least actors are trained to talk and present an interesting story , sports people are 90 per cent boring repeating tired cliches or old storys about a match 3 years ago .
steve coogan started off playing a sports reporter who talks in old cliches .
i have not heard one good interview on this program.
Do we really need another drama about the magadelene laundrys . i think he wants to work in ireland for obvious reasons
What interviewers or interviewees have you enjoyed in the past?
I broke down hearing him talking about his mother's dementia. The interview was well done.
Given the excessive praise from certain quarters I now suspect BO’C has a new agent. Hang on now, that agent isn’t here to defend himself…..
he,s a good interviewer but for the most part his interviews are not interesting if you like actors or writers talking theres dozens of podcasts that are avaidable i like the andy richter 3 questions podcast or you make it weird .i think tina fey and chelsea peretti are always entertaining and they don,t just talk about their latest tv show
You have very low standards or you don't really know how good an interviewer can and should be.
You won't find one on Irish radio anymore.
Your previous post said “exceptionally good”; now it’s dialed back to “good”. My term “excessive praise” was aimed at the former comment.
For the record, I also think he’s a good interviewer. He does seem quite genuine and sincere when doing these, not for example hurriedly and nervously rushing through a prepared set of questions on cue cards without listening to the interviewee’s answers. He is however an awful moderator, almost falling over himself to constantly remind us that “x isn’t here to defend themselves”* - had you listened for more than 1 minute to tonight’s Callan’s Kicks you’d have heard not one but two references to these types of comments in a sketch about the show. The make-up of his panels also leave a lot to be desired as it has become an echo chamber of the same type of panelist almost all the time. Some of the panelists are almost semi-permanent at this stage. The main problem with his eponymously titled show is interviews only make up a small part of the 4 hours he’s on air for at the weekends, and the overall output suffers when it’s brought down by over-cautiousness and an at times non-representative panel. Returning to his interview skills, he would perhaps be better suited to a dedicated interview show, a “Brendan O’Connor meets ________” type show, be it pre-recorded or live; rather than something that tries to combine 1:1 interviews, a paper review, occasional cookery segments, desert island discs, book reviews, or whatever else is thrown into the mix on any one day. He has a real strength in this area and it is being under-utilised on a this type of format.
* I am fully aware of the reasons behind this, but O’Connor isn’t the only person hosting a live radio show on RTÉ, other hosts seem far more adept at handling potentially libellous comments than him.
Actually I forgot about Pat and yes I agree he's good.
I assume you mean Aine Lawlor? No thanks. Rachel English ? Good Grief!
No I don't think everything in Ireland is ****, I just don't limit myself to domestic radio and therefore can have an informed opinion.
You might need to broaden your horizons and take off the green jersey every so often.
I think he's very good sometimes at the one-to-one stuff but his own 'politics' and/or interests (e.g. the whole self-appointed mental health guru stuff) inform his approach too much at times. I always found Marian more subjective and had a healthy dose of cynicism. Can you imagine Marian having the actor Robert Sheehan on (twice!) and lapping up some of his guff so easily?
Agreed. The panel moderating is excruciating sometimes, even though I still tune in. "In your opinion"…"that's your opinion". Yes, Brendan…I think that's the whole point of having the panel guests on!
Brendan off again (great job if you can get it).
Bressie on again (keeping himself relevant cos mental health and all).
Brendan off again.
Bressie on again.
Radio off again.
Good decision Sandy…….
I honestly think guys like Bressie, and yer man Harding, are kept as backup options when they can't find a guest to fill a slot on Irish radio.
"Jez, we haven't got anyone to fill the 1115 to 1140 slot......give Bressie a ring".
They know he'll never say no.
Or yer man Harding will waffle for half an hour about nothing.
Did anyone actually listen to young Breslin today ?
https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22449263/
Would you stop Michael Harding is a national treasure.
No half hour listening to him is wasted.
I heard parts of it. He gets so much u warranted grief from lads online. The guy is someone who’s had, serious, struggles with mental health, he’s as far from a “grifter” as you can get.
Was going to say, I could listen to Harding talk for hours.
Young? He's middle aged.
Actually you are right.
He seems to have drunk at the fountain of youth.
Looking very well for his age.
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