The Blindboy Podcast - Louise McSharry

Episode Date: May 24, 2022

I chat with Louise McSharry who is an experienced radio presenter and broadcaster and now hosts her own podcast.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greetings you fleeting Cains. I hope you're all enjoying the wonderful splendor of early summertime. I am speaking from the past and pretending that I'm in the present. Because right now, I am in Madrid. Well not really, I'm in Limerick right now, but I recorded it last week. But if you're listening to this right now, I am in Madrid. Because as you know, I was gigging in Madrid and Barcelona and I'm taking a couple of days in Madrid to get some writing done

and enjoying the boiling hot weather and I'm wearing charts charts or chino shorts, I have a pair of charts that I got when I was 11 years of age, and when I was 11 they were huge, big baggy shorts from a brand called Petromotion,

big baggy charts. But now, as a man in his 30s, they fit me perfectly and snugly. So, yeah, I'm walking around Madrid wearing an 11 year old boy's charts, but I didn't take podcasting recording equipment with me, so I recorded this last week in Limerick. I always have to tell you that I've pre-recorded it, I don't like feeling like I'm lying. Plus, what if something mad happened? What if like the Queen of England turned inside out on television, started running around with her lungs and spleen on display? You'd be wondering why I wasn't addressing it if that did happen so if that is going to happen I don't know because I recorded this last week but I'm talking to you now I'm recording this

on Thursday do you know what did happen three hours ago Vangelis died Vangelis is was sadly a pioneer of electronic music he composed the soundtrack to Blade Runner. I adored the music of Vangelis. Listen to the Blade Runner soundtrack. Rest in peace, Vangelis. So that did happen. And the Queen of England may or may not have turned inside out on live television. We'll never know. Maybe I've created a quantum superposition right there now.

Maybe at that exact moment, a parallel universe has opened up where the Queen of England has turned inside out on live television. So this week what I have for you is an interview, a chat. I spoke with somebody who I'd actually chatted to about three years ago. And I interviewed her three years ago. But the hard drive on the recorder that I was using

just got corrupted and I couldn't recover a lot of files so I brought her back for another interview her name is Louise McSharry she's a broadcaster and a podcaster and we did a little live podcast last week in Cork in Crane Lane which was a lovely little venue and I'd like to give a special thanks to Island's Edge

who put the entire gig together. Island's Edge is a, it's a brand new stout in Ireland which describes itself as Island's Edge Unexpectedly Refreshing. Now I'll tell you what is unexpected. It's made with basil and tea and I asked them why and they said

to make it refreshing. Now you know from listening to this podcast. I'm not really a stout drinker. That's not my usual pint. Because I love the creaminess of stout. But sometimes there's like a little bitter bite. And I have to say. This pint did not have it. It was just the creamy smooth part.

So I really really enjoyed it. And it definitely helped that I adore tea I'm obsessed with tea so I was thinking of that every time I was taking a sip so thank you to Island's Edge for giving me and Louise McSharry a stage to have a fantastic enjoyable chat around the theme of welcoming difference so I'll tell you who Louise McSharry is specifically to my listeners who are outside of Ireland. Louise is an incredibly experienced radio presenter and she presented an incredibly popular radio show on 2FM. 2FM is part of RTE, our national broadcaster.

But Louise had this show where she would speak about things that weren't really being spoken about on other radio shows and she would play music that wasn't getting played on other radio shows she used to go through great lengths to platform up and coming Irish musicians

and allow them to be played on the National Broadcaster so that they could reach audiences that they simply wouldn't reach. It was a real beacon of something different on 2FM, on our national broadcaster. It was genuinely different. And then, about six months ago, they cancelled it. And no one could understand why. Everyone was utterly sickened that they would cancel Louise's show.

But what made that even more controversial is, generally when someone gets taken off the air on the national broadcaster, the expectation is for the presenter to just quietly go along with it and say nothing. But Louise didn't. She very publicly spoke her mind and called out RTE. she very publicly spoke her mind and called out RTE she expressed that she was deeply unhappy with the way that she was

let go from RTE and she broke the rules basically you don't do that as a broadcaster you don't call out the national broadcaster when they let you go, you don't do that Louise fucking did it and it was incredibly brave

and she got into a lot of trouble but she did that not for herself but to try and make sure that other presenters if they're being let go from radio stations or tv stations that maybe they won't have to go through what she went through now she's not presenting radio she's doing her own podcast called catch up with Louise McSharry which is doing brilliantly and she loves making it and we chat about that. But mainly what this chat is about is it's about the current media landscape, something I speak about a lot. It's about the widening gap that is happening not only in Ireland but in every country in the world between established media, by which I mean radio stations,

newspapers or TV, established media versus independent media, such as podcasts. And I speak a lot about, you know I have experience working with established TV channels and stuff, but I have this podcast as well. And I can do things on this podcast that I simply cannot do on TV and radio and I'm not even talking about being controversial

not even that shit I'm not even controversial I simply mean following my passions to the point that I can make the best piece of work. That's becoming increasingly difficult, unfortunately, in established media. So the creators who are passionate about what they're doing and care about what they're making and don't want to have it fucked with, they're moving to independent media. So even if you're not from Ireland, if you're one of my listeners from beyond Ireland, you're going to be interested in this conversation because this isn't just an Irish conversation. Every country in the world, there is a gap happening between established media and independent media. And you know what too, it's the right time for me to put this out because

this is quite different in tone to my usual podcasts. This is very heavy on the crack and conversation and laughter whereas I usually do deeply introspective monologues and hot takes. But the thing is with May May and a bit of June

it's kind of silly season for podcasts I find. Especially in Ireland. In Ireland, when the weather gets better, because the weather is so bad all year, you kind of don't want to be as introspective with your podcasts. You tend to want to look outward in a more social way, so it feels right to put out a podcast that's a bit, a bit louder and a bit laughier. Laughier, that's not a word. Yeah, it is now.

A bit louder and a bit laughier than I'd usually put out. You can listen to this on a park bench with one earphone in and the other earphone listening to some passing birds or an overexcited dog chasing a frisbee. So here is my chat with Louise McSharry. Also at the very start of this podcast

me and louise speak about the way in which i've printed out my questions for some reason i printed the questions out on what white on black instead of black and white which is the standard way that you read words on a page i did the opposite i think i thought I'd see them better I won't be doing it again what's the crack Louise how's it going not too well because you're like a professional presenter

so this shit doesn't happen where I'm like where are my notes yeah but that's you're a natural am I really yeah

thank you very much yeah that's why people love you thank you very much you're welcome that's very kind I printed the questions out like that so I'd see them better really? Thank you very much. That's why people love you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. That's very kind. I printed the questions out like that so I'd see them better. Now that feels like a questionable decision.

Now it's confusing me. That's the thing. It feels like everything's redacted. That's the problem. Do you know what I mean? Anytime you see this it's like you're looking through CIA documents

and you're going what bit did they black out so yeah how do I navigate this interview do you know what I'm gonna what I'm gonna do

is I'm gonna ask the questions that were asked on the internet and we navigate them that way the first thing I wanna ask right we actually had a chat before we did a podcast before where the fuck was that?

Nace? Was it Nace? Yeah it was somewhere in Kildare I think The place with the big golf ball and the roundabout I have not been there since Nace is a queer place man First off it's called Nace which is an odd enough name.

Then they're famous for TK Maxx, but it's like a Disney village. That's what Nace... You've been there, surely, have you? No, I haven't. The Nace outlet. What's it called? Kildare Village.

Oh, Kildare Village, I have been there. Very odd place. Yeah. It feels like walking around a high-budget fair city. Because it's like it's not a real town. It's just like this false town that sells mothballed fendi off a roundabout. And then when you're giving people instructions, it's like, just turn a left at the roundabout that has the burnt skeletons of horses.

And then they have that ball. The ball. The famous ball. Ah, poor old Nace. Did you see the girl who dressed up as the Nace ball for Halloween? No! Oh, it was unbelievable. What a costume. Big on Twitter for a day. Did she look like the Nace ball?

Yes. I mean, she really did and it was beautifully homemade. Possibly one of my favourite Irish Halloween costumes of all time actually. Do you know, I'm being a bit harsh on Nace there because public sculptures they're a difficult thing to do. People generally hate them but you can't hate a ball.

You can try. You can try but it's like what's your problem? It's a fucking sphere. Get over yourself. Whereas in Limerick, we have a fucking statue of Terry Wogan and his face looks like a melted Easter egg. Have you seen

surely you've seen the statues of famous RTE men and RTE? Oh, you've to they're kind of defended by squirrels. They are. And now they've put up a big fence, like a big metal fence all around Radio Centre where those statues are. Now the they've put up a big fence, like a big metal fence all around Radio Centre where those statues are.

Now, the rumour is that the fence is to protect Dorothy from terrorism. But the fence is only, like, this high. Like, you know... I know, the area after getting very short recently. But, yeah. Is that legit? They have a tiny fence to keep all the terrorists?

I don't know. That was the story that was going around, yeah. Is that legit? They have a tiny fence to keep all the terrorists? I don't know. That was the story that was going around, RT. But it's about, like, it's about maybe to my boobs, which is, I don't know, like, I don't know, four and a bit feet high, four and a half feet high. And they're protecting statues from terrorism. Protecting RTE, the organization, from terrorism. I don't think I'm going to be able to start thinking about that

for a long time. Now, that was the rumour. I know, but I really need to speak to the person who thought of that. Like, it's Ireland. Like, we know a thing or two about terrorism. Unless we're trying to confuse the terrorists. Because if I was a terrorist and I wanted to terrorise RTE,

I'd be like, come on, me go in. And they're like, there's the fence that stops the terrorists. I'd just be like, yeah, there's something there I don't know about. Do you know what I mean? Something's hid, this is too good, because usually the Brits have got high walls. Do you know what I mean? There's got to be something else happening here.

What's your favourite statue up in RTE then? Well, Gerry Ryan doesn't have a statue. He has a square on the crown, which I feel is more dignified. Is that near his little, it's not a commemorative garden, but I remember, so around 2010,

we were shooting a rubber bandit sketch in RTE and there was this area that was like a garden, right? But it was long grown over and apparently you weren't allowed to touch it because Gerry Ryan had grown it. And then I was like... This right but it was long grown over and apparently you weren't allowed to touch it because jerry ryan had grown it and then i was like this is new to me well i i'll tell you why i know about it because i thought they were joking i was like all right this is like you know on the first day of your job where they say to you go to the shop there and buy some horizontal paint so i thought rte were like don't go near there because that's

Jerry Ryan's garden but it turns out it was because I did a sketch there where it was a medieval sketch where we were farming arses of course

so we put all these fucking plastic joke shop arses in Jerry Ryan's fucking thing and then they came out and this was blasphemy he was only dead

about two years yeah that doesn't surprise me I didn't know about it but it doesn't surprise me fucking thing. And then they came out and this was blasphemy. He was only dead about two years. Yeah. That doesn't surprise me. I didn't know about it but it doesn't surprise me. I want to ask you were born in America. I need to get that out of the way. I wasn't.

Okay, great. No, my family Why did I think that then? Because we moved to America when I was, I just turned seven. We moved to America. Oh dear. When I was Because we moved to America when I was... I just turned seven, we moved to America. Oh, dear. And then when I was 15, we moved to England for a year, and then we moved back to Ireland. Where did you stay in America?

We were in the suburbs of Chicago. Near where John Hughes shot all his famous films. Yes. Home Alone territory. Yeah, but we didn't live in a house like Home Alone. Did you get to see those houses? Yeah. They're mad, aren't they?

Yeah. It was very hard to be... Like, in America, so many houses... In the towns that I lived in, so many houses are giant. And you don't even have to be that rich to have a giant house. Yeah. Because there's just loads of land. Yeah.

And, like, everything's way cheaper over there. I sometimes look at housing prices just to, like, upset myself. Or you'd go on to, like, the American websites. Do you know what? I started doing that during the pandemic. A very lonely thing, actually. Oh, you'd go on to like the American websites. Do you know what? I started doing that during the pandemic. A very lonely thing, actually. Have you seen that during the pandemic,

some of the American houses have got full 3D tours? No. Yeah, like full on, like amazing shit. So I got myself one of them Oculus Rifts. Okay. So yeah, this is real lonely, weird shit. So I would put on my virtual reality helmet, right? Yeah.

In a pandemic and find some like lawyer's house in Malibu and just walk around his house. And the thing was as well, so what they'd done is they'd put a little robot around the house, right? But the robot was supposed to have this software in it that would blur out people's photographs. Right.

But sometimes it wouldn't work. So I'd be there looking at his family, reading, like, every bit of voyeurism that you get from snooping around, I'm getting it virtually during a pandemic in all these American houses, but I was noticing, fuck me, this is quite cheap for something this size.

Yeah, it's because there's loads of land, you know, so every plot is bigger and everything's just cheaper um so yeah so we didn't live in a giant house like my parents i'm adopted by my aunt and uncle and they took us in overnight when they were 25 and 26 which obviously when i got to be 25 and 26 was like holy like what that's nuts like yeah you know they were normal 25 and 26 year olds working normal jobs. And then all of a sudden they had two kids. So like we didn't have money. Do you know what I mean?

We didn't have the cool shit and we didn't have the big house or whatever. So I was very much like looking at that American life, but not really experiencing it. And then what age were you when you came back to Ireland? I was 16. Did you have an American accent a little bit? Yes. Did you get bullied? Yes. Yeah. Well, I've just I don't fit in anywhere. Do you know what I mean? So like I had a normal Irish accent and then moved to America and like was seven. Got the shit slagged out of me every day. So very quickly assimilated and was like trying to be the same as everybody else. And then we moved to England. I sounded pure American, like not a hint of Irish then until I was 15.

Then we moved to England, picked up a bit of English, not on purpose, just happened. So then when I went back to visit America, they were like, oh, you're English now. And I was like, fuck. And then we moved to Ireland and I had this weird English,

Irish-American accent. And then I picked up a bit of Irish. So like, I will get shit for my accent as long as I live. And I've accepted that. So, and this, one thing I'd love to know about, right, and I've never had the opportunity to, like, you worked in radio for

years, right? 20. Like, 20 years. Like, I just can't get my head around radio DJ accent. Yeah. Like, I really can't. Like, guys, we're here in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 tonight. Everyone come down to Blanchardstown. Blanchardstown tonight.

Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Like, you will never, ever meet a human being in real life who speaks like that. Like, even the radio presenters themselves, when you speak to them in real life, they don't talk like that, right? I know, yeah. How the fuck does that happen? Honestly, know I have to say whatever I have to say

about 2fm I loved my colleagues now you didn't do that you had your own thing no well I always just have spoken in my normal voice um and most of my colleagues in 2fm were the same I have to say like there wasn't a lot of kind of put on voices there, but I hear it in other radio stations and I cannot understand it. I think it's just some people grow up with an idea. Like there was a time where that was the accepted radio voice, you know, pirate radio era, 90s radio. Like that's what people sounded like on the radio. And because at the time, no matter where you grew up in the country,

there weren't that many stations to listen to in the kind of 80s and 90s, 70s earlier, you know, I think people thought this is what you have to sound like on the radio. So they the kind of 80s and 90s 70s earlier you know I think people thought this is what you have to sound like on the radio so they started kind of imitating it and most people I think or a growing number of people have accepted that actually it's better if you just sound like yourself yeah but there's still those people who fit through who who are doing that voice and I spin fm man oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Do you know? I wasn't going to name names, but yeah. But also they are

genuinely employing people with that accent. Yeah, but maybe annoying people is what they want to do. I mean, I think sometimes if you sound like that genuinely, like, you know, what can you do? No one's... They don't. They don't. You don't they don't you don't think

any of them i think if you spoke like that in real life someone would call an ambulance like you know what i mean it's it's not it's just and i've never been able to get my head around it and never understand what what like are they afraid of people falling asleep at the wheel like i here's one thing as well that i used to notice when I went into radio stations. You go into the breakfast presenters, right? Yeah. And they're not allowed to sit down. They have to stand up.

Yeah. The fuck is that? Well, that's kind of a choice. It depends on the station. I did a breakfast show for a good few years on iRadio. I was about to say RIP, but it still exists. Just RIP for me. And I sat down, but we had two studios,

a stand-up or a sit-down. And you could stand up if you wanted to. It was a choice. Like the presenter who was on after me chose to stand up. But I think there probably are some stations who believe. It's the same for me actually recently. It's an energy thing, isn't it?

Yeah, because I made some, sometimes I make sponsor content on Instagram as part of my job. And I did some for a client in like last year. And they were like, you need to be standing up and I was like but why? And they were like because you'll have more energy.

I mean your lungs would be different. I mean singing sitting down and singing standing up are different. I suppose even in a way though like do you know the way that's a really uncomfortable chair? Well I'm poised so I'm not even noticing. But that was a choice. I spoke to the venue beforehand and I

said we need to have uncomfortable chairs did you really yeah well you see that so why would you do that I'll tell you why I'll tell you why because I've done loads and loads of live podcasts so I learn all these little things along the way okay well I'm picking up tips so carry on so uh I used to have generally a venue will say oh you're going to be sitting up on stage. We'll get you a lovely couch, right? Yeah. So at the start, I was like, fuck it, let's go for it. Until I did a gig in Monegar.

And I was interviewing a man, he was in his 70s. He fell asleep in the middle of the fucking podcast, right? Now, he was older, so I was like, okay, fair enough. Yeah, age is a factor. Generally, with a live podcast, a little bit like radio, we have to be engaged. We have to be thinking about what we're talking about. Yeah.

The comfier the chair, the less you want to talk to them out there and the more you just want to go, I'm not saying nothing. I'm just going to chill out. Yeah, maybe. So I deliberately get slightly uncomfortable chairs. Well, look, it's not a high stool, so I'm happy. No, that shit needs to go. No, and ban them. Yeah. That needs to be a rule. Yeah, maybe. So I deliberately get slightly uncomfortable chairs. Well, look, it's not a high stool, so I'm happy. No, that shit needs to go. No, and ban them.

That needs to be a rule. Like, if you go to a festival, they have the high stools. Stools are designed for it to be beside a fucking bar. Yeah. No one sits on a stool by itself. No. Because you're effectively playing a game where you're trying to not fall over. Like, there is nothing less dignified, and can

I say, as a person of size, especially, there is nothing less dignified, and can I say, as a person of size especially, there is nothing less dignified than climbing up onto a high stool with nothing around it as people look at you. Like, it is hellish, and I've been forced into it too many times, and I'm not going to be quiet about it anymore. No, that's...

It doesn't make sense. Shit, that needs to stop. It's wrong. So, I'm going to read out some questions from the internet, right? Because some of these were, we'll say, about you leaving RTE. And I want to read them out because some of them were so angry. I'm going to read out one, right? Okay.

This was from a girl about town. I would love for her to talk about the world of radio and how fickle, commercial, and full of nepotism it seems they'd sooner replace experienced broadcasters with mildly funny Instagram influencers while expecting media graduates to work late shifts and pass them up at every opportunity what does she feel the future of radio and broadcasting in its current form?

is it positive or is there trouble brewing? that's so angry well I mean i think there is trouble brewing um and this is completely separate to me and my experience like i think that radio is in a kind of panic mode because obviously the market has changed so significantly and radio once upon a time had like a chokehold you know had everyone in a chokehold and there weren't that many options and now obviously that's not the case and so people are panicking like I've seen it myself and you know people are panicking and clutching at straws and like oh no this person has a huge audience so we'll bring them in and that person has a huge audience yeah them in and assume that it'll translate but what's not

happening is a kind of level of respect or understanding for the fact that radio presenting is a craft like not everybody can do it every once in a while someone is a comedian or an instagram person or whatever and they're and and they they have a natural talent and it does work yeah and that's great but it doesn't always and it's a real gamble to just assume that because someone is successful in one area that they're going to be successful in another and I think you know it's really like I mean for me and for some of my colleagues who I've worked with over the years in various radio stations like I've seen it happen that there are people who've worked their asses off who've like

been in radio for years it's their passion it's their love it was the case for me like I loved radio it was my number one thing. People would say to me, oh, do you want to do TV? Do you want to do this? And I'd be like, yeah, like, maybe. But, like, I really want to do radio. I love radio. And people like me who, and not to be cocky,

but, like, I'm good at it. And other people who are good at it and who've worked hard and have a natural ability and have honed their craft who are never going to get a chance now because whoever's making the decisions has decided that they don't have enough Instagram followers or they're not making enough funny Instagram videos or when I lost my job in iRadio and they were it it was it was a shit one like we started iRadio I was the third person employed by the company I was involved in hiring the staff I was involved in like organizing the phones and sorting the bins out

like I was in there from day five or something and and so when it came time for redundancies the redundancies happened because we started in the boom and we had to make changes in the crash so people had to go they had to consolidate the two stations that they'd started in quick succession and I was like well it won't be me because I've been involved from day one and I'm doing well my show is doing well like there's no reason why this would happen and they had a list of criteria that you'd get points for and two of the things that were that you'd get points for on the list were you do dj gigs in nightclubs and you do comedy gigs so i was a breakfast radio presenter i wasn't doing dj

dj gigs in my clothes like yeah you know and i wasn't a comedian because i was a radio presenter. And, you know, they were factors in me losing my job. And I think that that's an example of where things are now. And that's kind of early days of this shit start. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's, when did I, Jesus, that's like 13 years ago. So now... So it's even worse now. The followers that someone has, because you can get followers for having a pretty decent photograph of a cat, you know?

Yeah. Like my experience in RT, I never felt like they got me, you know, or had any understanding of what I had to offer or like any appreciation of what I was trying to do. Like I never felt that for years. Like, and this isn't since I left. I felt that for years while I was there. So what I was trying to do while I was there was build a following. Yeah. You know, do things like write my book, you know, write columns, try and build an Instagram following.

Like, build a community so that they'd be like, oh, Louise has that community she could bring to the station. And that never happened. They never saw that. That was never a factor. They didn't get it. The sad thing about it is they saw it when they let you go because the response online was like,

what? You fucking got rid of Louisa? You fucking... Like seriously, the amount of comments, DMs I got when I said I was having you on. Like I'm going to read out one particularly angry comment.

I'd love to hear about Louise's experience with being let go from 2FM. Not in a gossipy way. But her experience, I love the way they clarified that. Not in a gossipy way, but her experience of it. Being let go from a job that you love is so hard, but

to experience it publicly and be gracious about it, I'd love to know how she managed it and then bounced back with your brilliant podcast. Thanks. Thank you. Guys, stop. You know, it's funny. I obviously read the responses on your post today

and I was thinking about the fact that it's only now, I finished in October, so it's what, seven months? It's only now that I feel kind of out from the fear of talking about RTE. Yeah. Because it was messy.

Like it was, they let you go and you did what most people don't do, which is you said, hold on a minute, R RT, something about this is shitty. Yeah, yeah. Which was amazing for you to do. That was fantastic. Yeah, well, like, it's funny, like, when you work for

RT, you have to be careful all the time about what you say. Like, you have to represent the organisation in a certain way. You can't have opinions on matters of public debate publicly. You can't, I don't know, smoke a spliff in public. Not that that's,

I'm actually not into that. Not because I'm better than anyone else, it just makes me really sleepy. But you have to be careful all the time about what you do. And it's taken me this long to kind of shake that off. And I was thinking today,

I was like, oh God. You can't have a political opinion. No, no, God no. I worked for RT during the marriage referendum and the repeal the eighth referendum and I wasn't allowed to say anything yeah and that was excruciating for me now everybody fucking knew what I thought like it was obvious but I got several like my name was brought up at board meetings because I was being too ambiguous apparently about things um on twitter and. So like, it's not just on air, it's all the time. I was on RTE at that time and I had a sketch

and I wanted to say something about Repeal the Eight, but we couldn't because it was RTE. Yeah. So I made this sketch where we were peeling eight bananas. And then... LAUGHTER I actually... It was Frankie Boyle.

We got Frankie Boyle. We brought Frankie... We got Frankie Boyle to do the sketch. Yeah. But we had to disguise Frankie Boyle because we couldn't tell RTE that it was Frankie Boyle. So they didn't even know that Frankie Boyle was going to be on the TV. It was him in a wig. It was him in a wig.

But we got Frankie Boyle to peel seven bananas. And then once he got to peeling the seventh banana, we said, what are we going to do now now I guess we peel the eighth that is so good but they didn't spot it no one knows that's so funny but go on but anyway yeah the reason that I say that is because I was thinking about tonight and I was like you can say whatever you want like and I'm so I'm gonna be completely honest I'd started to think

already about leaving and about podcasting and about like the various options for me. So when I got the phone call that I wasn't being renewed, I honestly wasn't that upset. I was a bit upset. Like, I'm not going to pretend like I didn't care at all. Like nobody likes being told your contract is not being renewed. Like I was being rejected. So I felt the natural feelings that come with being rejected. been renewed like I was being rejected so I felt the natural feelings that come with being rejected but what happened was the way they handled it was just so fucking appalling and I just was so angry

about it I was like I don't want anyone else to go through this this is not an acceptable way to treat people what was the bit that made you most annoyed and hurt so I found out because my agent called me and now my agent I had started working with her about four years ago I think so my relationship with like I was in RT for 11 years so I'd been in RT for six years before I ever started working with Jane so like it didn't make financial sense for me to bring Jane into my RT relationship so I didn't and Jane was okay with that, fair play to her. So she had never been involved in any communication between me and RTE. So when she was like, can I give you a call?

I was like, yeah, Grant. Didn't think anything of it. And she called me and she said, look, it's bad news about 2FM. They're not renewing your contract. And I immediately went into, okay, fine. Yeah, podcast. Like, let's think about how we manage this.

What's the statement going to be? Like, you know, straight in. Didn't cry or anything went home had a little cry and she said to me on that phone call the boss into FM says I said how is this going to go now announcing it and she said they'll follow your lead and I said okay great so I went home and I thought about it and I was like okay I had like six weeks left on my contract I was like I really want to do these six weeks I was thinking about what I wanted to do with the show and stuff I had a meeting that day with my two colleagues who worked on the show with me had to not say anything which was felt shit they were like planning for next year and I had to just be like yeah

and knowing that those shows were never going to happen you know and so I emailed Jane with my statement, which is the statement that I put out at the time that I finished, and I said, look, it was very civil, very polite. Thanked ORT for the support that they'd given me over the years, especially during my cancer, which was the truth. I was very well supported at that time. Like, nothing negative at all.

Sent that off, didn't hear back for, like, a day and a half, and the email back was, we're telling the team next week, next Thursday. So they wanted me to wait a full 11 days, not tell anyone, not my friends, not my family, because they didn't want it in the papers. Go to work, do my shows with my colleagues, who, by the way, we had worked very closely

through the whole pandemic and just pretend like everything was fine and I was like I'm not okay with that and I sent back that feedback I was like I'm not okay with that yeah I'm like I'm it feels dishonest to me and like I am to a fault and genuinely to a fault I'm honest like so I put the statement out on the Friday and it did not go down well in RTÉ. Yeah, because you broke the rules. Yeah, I didn't do what they wanted me to do. They wanted to be in charge of every single detail of this situation in which I was losing

my job. Was there a part of yourself thinking, because most people in that situation would think, okay RTÉ are going to get rid of me here. But maybe they might have something else down the line. But by doing that so publicly, you've effectively made it quite difficult for you to get hired by RT again. Like, I mean, yeah, I was thinking about it a little bit, but I didn't think that I was really burning a bridge. Like I felt like it's this is really one person, by the way. I felt like this one person was being really unreasonable. I felt like what they were asking me to do...

And the question said, no gossiping, so don't mention their name. No, I won't. I have no interest in mentioning the name. But I felt like it was an unreasonable ask of me. And I made that case very clearly. And I just felt like it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to my team. It wasn't fair to me to expect me to go through this seismic shift in my life alone for 11 days until they were ready. After saying, we'll follow your lead.

So obviously that didn't go down well. And this person was like, she's never going on air again. And like had a complete tantrum apparently. He never spoke to me. And then that was the end of it. And no one in Orti ever spoke to me. Yeah. Never texted me. Never to me. And then that was the end of it. And no one in RT ever spoke to me. Never texted me. Never emailed me.

Not my colleagues, again, like this is management. Never texted me. Never emailed me. Never nothing. After 11 years, not a word. And my point was, all it would have taken for this to be okay would be for them to call me in for a meeting or even a phone call. But it should have been a meeting. Sit me down and say, look, Louise, you know the story.

We're moving the schedule around and there just isn't a slot that suits you. Like I'm 39 years old. I've been in radio for 20 years. Like I'm able to take that news, you know, to not even give someone the five minutes of humanity to acknowledge that this is a big change, I feel is unacceptable. And I think it's especially unacceptable from our national broadcaster, by the way, who is supposed to be a leader in the industry. And they're not the only ones doing this shit, by the way, it's happening all across media. But I felt like if maybe if I say something the next person will get a meeting and because when I didn't hear from anyone what it made me feel like was a piece of trash like I'd been used

up and thrown away and I was no use to anyone anymore and I didn't need to feel like that it was completely unnecessary and I'm just the kind of person who like if I see something happening that's wrong whether it's to me or someone else I can't stay quiet about it so I had to say something and since that though you've started a podcast called catch up and what I'd love to know is like podcast like I I also work in broadcasting so I have an idea of it and I fucking love podcasting because I can do whatever I want and there's freedom and fun and creativity surely you're loving the podcasting now oh I'm like I'm loving it like I could not have predicted how happy I am like Like, as I said, I loved radio. And that was one of the things for me when I, you know,

because I knew straight away I was going to do a podcast. And it was one of the things that was kind of stopping me from doing it sooner was that love of the craft of radio, the live element. Like, I was like, I'm going to be devastated. I'm going to miss it so much. I don't. What is it about podcasting? What gives you, what buzz do you it about podcasting what gives you what buzz

do you get from podcasting that you didn't get from radio number one I'm doing it all I do it all you record you I record I edit I book the guests I I do it all and I love that it's like such a great feeling of putting out something that you've done completely yourself number two no one can take it from me like Like when you work in radio, obviously, you're like always at the risk that it's all going to end tomorrow and that's gone. Like nobody can take it from me. People can stop listening, obviously,

but nobody can take it from me. And thirdly, what I wasn't really ready for and what's been a beautiful surprise for me, and I'm sure you know all about this, is that like nobody's listening to a podcast casually. Yes. You know, like they make a decision to turn a podcast on yeah and to listen to it and then if they're not enjoying it they turn it off but like the people

who are listening are into it whereas like with radio you might be on in a shop nobody's really paying attention or you might be on here or you could be on in an office and half the office hate you and then they decide to text you that they hate you like you know all that shit that's all gone and and also I don't have to consider people I don't have to consider men and I have to do that in radio. I'm already hurt by that now I'm awfully hurt by that. No like I love like like men listen. No I understand. Listen to me and like that's great and like I love men but like I don't have to intentionally consider them when I'm making my content and if you're here great you're welcome to intentionally consider them when I'm making my content. And if you're here,

great, you're welcome. Yeah. But like, you know, I'm not making content especially for you or I don't have to factor you into this conversation.

What's, what, because what's a decision that you'd have to make to factor in men? Well, for example, um,

if I was talking about a sexual assault, say the whole country was angry about a story, as has happened many times, in a case of male violence against women in this country, I'd have to... Not all men. Ah, OK, yeah.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that that goes without saying that it's not all men and i don't want to waste time saying it's not all men because the people who need the it's not all men aren't going to get what i'm saying anyway yeah do you know what i mean yeah and so that would be a thing even on rte there's so much content that is like unapologetically aimed at men and or you, let's say sport content. Obviously, there are lots of women who love sport, and I'm not suggesting that there aren't.

But really, those shows are generally geared towards men. And I felt like I wanted to make content that was for women. I felt like there was a space for that, and that women were entitled to that, because there are lots of things that concern us that were never spoken about, or just there wasn't time for, you know. Or you might get one acknowledgement kind of in every six weeks or whatever.

And I loved the idea of making stuff that was specifically for women. Not everything is for everyone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And with radio, you kind of have to be for everyone to a certain extent. Whereas with a podcast, you can be as niche as you want. So that's the point that I'm making.

Like, you know, that's what I like or one of the things that I like about podcasting is that I can be as niche as I want and I don't have to apologize for it. And people can choose to turn off and obviously also for the consequences of that. But like, you know, you don't have to try and be everything for everyone.

Because that'll take you out of your zone. Yeah. Like for me, what I, my rule for a podcast each week is, am I being passionate about something I deeply care about? And it could be fucking Corn Flakes. Mm-hmm.

And it was Corn Flakes one episode. I found out that the man who, the man who invented Corn Flakes fucking made it as an anti-masturbatory aid. But yeah, John Kellogg, terrified of wanking, invented cornflakes fucking made it as an anti-masturbatory aid. But yeah, John Kellogg, terrified of wanking. Invented cornflakes

to stop people wanking. But hang on, how? Like physically? He was a Protestant and his idea was, this was old school Protestantism where they were like, take the windows

out of the churches. And his idea was that human passion, right, comes about when we stimulate the senses. Okay. So I need to make some boring shit. So the most boring breakfast he could think of was cornflakes, right? He was, he wasn't a Quaker. Does anyone know the specific religious sect? No? That he was? No. Okay. Because in Australia, at the same time, the same religious sect, no? That he was? No, okay. Because in Australia at the same time, the same religious sect were working hard on developing Weetabix.

So both Weetabix and Cornflakes were invented by extreme Protestants to be so unstimulating, so boring, that no one would possibly think of anything sexual. So what you're saying is up to that point, breakfast had been so exciting.

Maybe. That people were being driven to masturbation. That was his theory. And then on that same podcast. I want that breakfast. But you know what else? Because the podcast I did

was about breakfast is essentially an argument about sexual morals, right? And I'll tell you why. So you've got Weetabix and Cornflakes are both invented to stop people wanking.

But then I went in looking into the history of industrialized cutlery. So the first proper cutlery company was made by a sex cult. So at the same time that they were making Cornflakes in upstate New York, there was this

Oneida cult, they were called cornflakes. In upstate New York, there was this, the Oneida cult, they were called. These were Christians who believed that in order to be close to God, you had to fuck everyone. So what they did is, they had this commune

whereby everyone was married to each other. So everyone was married. But what happened, and what they used to do in this commune, so everyone's married, everyone's fucking each other.

But, you know, like how do you make money doing that? So they were like, let's start making cutlery. So what happened was, the religious sex... Sorry, so the cutlery is just a totally random decision. They were just like... A commercial decision. Yeah. So they're like, we need to live this,

everyone's married to each other sex life in this commune, so we need to figure out how to make money. So they go, let's start making cutlery right but what happened was this was about 1850 they start making the cutlery and they're getting really good at it do you know why they were good at it because the the thing that was banned in their culture was you couldn't have jealousy and you couldn't have possession everyone is married to. You're not allowed to fall in love. Everyone has to fuck everyone to be closer to God. So what happens is humans naturally pair off in monogamous relationships. So whenever a monogamous relationship would start, you'd have to take it to the board. So the board would all have a meeting

going, you can't be doing that. You can't be doing that. You're all supposed to be married to each other. But what happened was, in order for them to negotiate the natural monogamy of human beings, they ended up inventing corporate culture. So then their children, because everyone got pregnant, obviously. Obviously. Then their children grew up

and the children were like, we don't really want to fuck each other all the time. But we like the cutlery bit. But were they all related? No, they managed to diversify it enough like after a while it would have ended up

that way so the kids were basically like we're in this commune we kind of just want to get married to people is that alright with you? but we liked the cutlery

so the kids ended up going let's stick with the cutlery and that company is called Oneida and today most of the cutlery that's in the Western Hemisphere is made by this company.

But they invented corporate fucking culture through sexual politics. So that's why the breakfast is an argument between sexual morality. Wow. Do you think the art... Well, listen. Shunning.

Do you think fucking RTE would let me do that? They should. They won't. This is what I love about podcasting. I love that. I mean, for you, it's like, all right, you don't want to think about men. Like, for me,

I recently found out I'm autistic, right? So, but... Thank you. But that's why when I think about fucking cornflakes i think about cornflakes i fucking think about cornflakes to the point that i never i nearly get hit by cars thinking about cornflakes so much but i love doing that yeah so for me i stick with the thing i'm totally passionate about i give it an unhealthy amount of thought. Well, it's not unhealthy. Society says it's unhealthy.

That's the thing with being autistic. I focus on something so much that I'll, you know, I'll forget to put my pants on. Well, that's like, it's the thing about so many neurodivergent people is that, like, their neurodivergence is the thing that makes them successful or, like, is their gift.

Well, so I'm lucky in that the thing that i happen to make a career out of it because like i worked in an office once in a call center and i was fired after a week for printing out 92 pages about cia crack cocaine smuggling didn't work very well and i failed my leave insert and my whole time in school was terrible. But what it allowed me to learn was that I don't have a disability. It's just that society is made a certain way. And being like excessively passionate about things, that's not great at weddings, you know.

But it's fantastic if you're a podcaster. It really is. It really is. That's what I love about podcasting. That is not permitted on the national broadcaster because there's too much red tape. So that's what I love about podcasting. And it's given me a wonderful freedom

and allowed me to do things that I'd never be able to do. So surely now you're getting there to that place where you're forgetting about the RT, you're forgetting about the rules, you're forgetting about the RT you're forgetting about the rules you're forgetting about balance yeah it's starting to happen

it actually happened on the podcast last week I was doing I do it like there's a news segment every week with Aoife Moore

from the Irish Examiner local paper oh Aoife's class Aoife's amazing yeah you've had Aoife on a few times though oh she's on every week

oh right okay yeah she's on every episode yeah she's like a really important part of the podcast. And she was on my show as well. Like we have a long relationship and I adore her, but we were talking about something and I can't even remember what it was, but I said something and then I was like, and I was like, oh my God, I just had that panic of, oh, I've been too opinionated there.

And then I realized, oh, I can be opinionated. Like I don't have to apologize for that. So it's ongoing, but like I'm getting there and I'm really figuring out what I can be opinionated like I don't have to apologize for that so it's ongoing but like I'm getting there and I'm really figuring out what I can do with this freedom and you know the podcast is quite like formatted at the moment because that's what I'm used to and I think it's working but like I've got loads of ideas for other things and that's the beauty of it is that like no one can stop me well I'm thrilled for you because you reminded me this evening the last time that we spoke about three years ago i was like trying to get you to leave rte yeah you

were i was like get the fuck out get out you were like podcasting is the way forward and my podcast network is amazing and i'm now with that podcast network you were like you know this is the way to go well i'll introduce you to the people and i was like you know sure blind boy um yeah you were right you were right let's take a little small break now for the ocarina pause okay so i'm in my studio not my office this week so i have my ocarina so let's play the ocarina. I'll try and play it gently so it doesn't startle your dog. That was the ocarina pause. You know the crack with the ocarina pause. Support for this podcast comes from you the listener via the patreon page patreon.com forward slash the blind boy podcast

if you enjoy this podcast if it brings you solace if it brings you entertainment comfort whatever please consider paying me for the work that I'm doing because this is my full-time job.

I'm an independent podcaster. Support can be in the form of the price of a pint or a cup of coffee once a month. And if you can't afford that, don't worry about it. You can listen for free because the person who's paying is paying for you to listen for free. So I get to earn a living and everybody gets a podcast. But what I would like to do with the Ocarina Pod this week is dedicated to Louise's podcast, which is called Catch Up with Louise McSharry. And it's a weekly podcast. And as you can tell from the chat that

we've been having, Louise is now an independent podcaster. She's recording, editing and putting out her own podcast and this is now her full-time job. And what she's doing is bringing years of professional broadcast experience to an independent space where she gets to make something that she's genuinely passionate about and put it out. So support Louise's independent podcast. You could do that monetarily or just

leave a review listen to it recommend it to a friend share it on your social media because those are the important ways that you can support independent podcasting back to my chat with louise mcshary you could wake up as any celebrity tomorrow and spend the day as them? Who would it be? That is really hard because do you want to be someone that you admire or do you want to be someone who just lives like a completely different life to you? Like I kind of would like to wake up as Burnaboy. You know Burnaboy? The unbelievable Nigerian musician. I've never seen anyone with more confidence.

I feel like he is living the best life ever. He's got the ultimate big dick energy. Wouldn't mind experiencing that for a day. And he also, just like I think like smokes weed, which I've already said I'm not into, but he is, so I would enjoy it as him. And everyone loves him. Like, he's an icon.

Like, I'd love that for a day. Not forever, but for a day. Okay, fair play to you. I, you know, we haven't heard from Jeremy Renner in a while. Oh, God. You know Jeremy Renner? Yeah. He looks like a belly button.

Um, what would I do if I was Jeremy Renner for the day? I'd like, I'd go onto his Twitter and I'd say that like, I, Jeremy Renner, I've spoken to the Hollywood execs

and I'm going to remake Marley and me, but I'm the dog. Imagine that. Oh, I'd love that. Well, that's for a thing. I would fucking love that. That's what I'd do. Well, then you'd have to

imagine that for him. Imagine that for him. Oh, someone make that. Everyone's going, what would you do if you were a billionaire? I'd fucking make that happen. Like, do you watch Succession?

I do. So do you know the actor Jeremy Strong? I do. Who does he play? Kendall, is it? Yeah. So do you know Kendall

from Succession? So it was announced recently, right, that him, Jeremy Strong, is going to be playing a remake of Stuart Little, right, and he's going to be Stuart Little.

But the thing is, they didn't specify whether it was going to be animated or not. So now all I'm thinking of is this fucking live action Stuart Little with Jeremy Strong and his dead serious

fucking acting playing this depressed fucking mouse who hates his dad I can't wait for it they're probably going to fuck it up and animate it I'm trying to see if I knew if you could be reincarnated as a fruit what fruit would it be and why? I never ask these questions man

it's always serious fucking is Jerry Adams in the IRA that type of stuff what type of fruit would you be? Well, like, my mind immediately went to, like, a really dirty place. Go on! You're not an RT anymore. Come on.

Well, I was thinking about the way that you eat various fruits. Yeah. And I feel like a passion fruit. Yeah, that's a very involved process, isn't it? Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

There's no dignified way to fucking horse into a passion fruit, really. You see some people taking out the spoon, but that makes it worse. No. You know, that makes it worse. Yeah. My sisters are going to listen to this. So, you want to be the passion worse. Yeah. My sisters are going to listen to this. So, you want to be the passion fruit. Yeah.

And to be eaten by someone else. But then here's the thing. Hold on a minute. Passion fruits don't get to choose who eats them. So, like, what's... Yeah, but they don't have eyes either. So, like... Actually, I never specified

whether you'd be sentient or not that's it now passion fruit's fucked for me for the next fucking year I'm going to be inside an Aldi picking out my passion fruits and I'll be worrying about whether they're sentient or not

well and the only reason that I thought of it is because I stayed in a really nice hotel last night and they left like a fruit plate out and there was passion cut open passion fruit there and there was passion fruit cut open and I was like, how am I going to eat that?

There's only one way and I was like, I'm not doing that. I wasn't in the mood. They make you work for it as well, the old passion fruits, don't they? Because the seeds are nice, aren't they? The seeds have a and the beauty of the passion fruit actually is that

it's not just, yeah. The wonderful thing about a passion fruit is that it's sweet, right? But then there's this other flavour. Tang. But that tang is passion. I can't go, oh it's a tang. What type of tang?

A bit of a nectarine. No, no, no. That tang. What type of tang? A bit of a nectarine. No, no, no, no. That tang is passion. That's why it's called a passion fruit. And then on the outside, they don't look like they're going to promise much on the outside, do they? They don't. They look like an elderly apple.

I'm feeling more and more connected to the passion fruit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. I'm with you on the passion fruit. I was going to go with pineapple. Yeah. Spiky on the outside, sweet on the outside.

Spiky on the... I like the fact that pineapples contain a chemical called bromelain, which can tenderise meat. Huh. Yeah, so I'd like to have a useful purpose if I was a fruit. Well, you know, the other... Papaya. ...thing about pineapple...

Go on. It makes cum taste great. Apparently. And do you know why I know that? I was listening to Jack Harlow's album. Were you? Yeah, I didn't enjoy it. Well, I'm old now, you see.

Yeah, me too. So because I'm old, I kind of don't know what good music is for young people. And I'm scared to ask anyone under the age of 25 in case they think I'm in the drug squad. So I had to go dive into Jack Harlow and kind of go, is his music good

or do people just think he's attractive? And I think people just think he's attractive because I'm listening to his lyrics and it's like, yeah, yeah, go on. You're eating pineapples now, so your cum tastes nice. All right, fair play.

Like, no. I want to listen to some Snoop Dogg. Give me some Snoop Dogg. I love Snoop Dogg, you want to play? Thank you very much, Cork. I love the way he said it. It's just like, you just sound like Cork.

I know. Not even a person from Cork. Just like the eater of Cork drifting in from the lead and speaking. You can have all the Snoop Dogg you want, boy. Actually, one thing I should mention. Your career in radio,

one thing that really stands out for you is you've been huge in platform and Irish acts, Irish artists, making sure that you're the one playing Irish music that wouldn't find a way to be heard otherwise. And one of the shitty things about you being off the radio is there was

bands that were heartbroken, genuinely heartbroken, going, who the fuck is going to play us now that Louise is gone? And I can't think of many other DJs who are providing that space. Well, I mean, there are. I don't want to pretend like there aren't other Irish presenters playing Irish music because there are. There are lots.

But it certainly seems like there are fewer. I was really lucky I chose my music. I chose my music. Did you really get to choose all of it or did someone say, Wow. Now, I didn my music. I chose my music. Did you really get to choose all of it or did someone say, 100%? Wow. Now, I didn't choose,

it was my job to choose music that I felt my audience would like. Yeah. Like for, for a long time, I did a new music show and so the whole point of the show was that I was trying to curate

what was new out there to help people find the music that they'd love. And for me, a lot of that was like building credibility so that sometimes I could play something a bit off the wall

and people would be like, you know, it's a bit off the wall but like Louise likes it so I'll give it a chance you know what I mean so you're trying to build that relationship and then when I moved to weekday more or weekend mornings where it was a bit more kind of mainstream you know I still was thinking about what do people want on a Saturday morning what do people want on a Sunday morning like what what what will people like what's the vibe of the show all that kind of stuff that's the job but that part of the job is being removed because everything now almost

is formatted and playlisted within an inch of its life and it's playlist schedules that have been adopted in from other countries so you categorise music based on A, B and C and then there's like an algorithm or a formula that means you play this many A songs per hour, you play this many B songs per hour.

So it's all based on computers, basically. So there's almost none, almost none, almost no kind of human choice anymore. Like someone is choosing those songs to go into those categories, but like there's no, oh, it's a really sunny Sunday. Let's play songs that feel like a sunny Sunday, you know? And that's really missing.

And also, obviously, what's missing in many cases is the Irish element. And because, you know, sometimes people just look at the charts and maybe the great Irish music isn't reflected in the charts. I will say, like, Adam Fogarty is the head of music for 2FM now. And I think he's done an amazing job of bringing loads more Irish music into the mainstream playlist in 2FM. I think 2FM has really improved over the last number of years

in terms of the amount of Irish music that it's playing and the amount of music by women that it's playing. And I hope that that continues because there's no reason Irish music shouldn't be played on mainstream radio. It is so fucking good. Yes. And the thing there as well that you described like you just

described a skill right like if you think of someone like uh john peele remember john peele john peele launched careers because he had really really good taste yeah so so did dave fanning and dave fanning as well of course who's still by the way. But do you feel that going forward in radio, as you see it, people with this skill to curate, to understand that this is disappearing? Yeah. I mean, I'll tell you a little story about the person I mentioned earlier that I'm not going to name. When I got my show on Saturday and Sunday mornings,

I was coming off the back of years of being a music presenter in 2FM and having a relationship with my listeners, which was based on music. So when I was doing this show that was mainly going to be talk, but I was still going to be playing music, I said, so can I pick my music? It felt to me obvious that I would still pick the music so that I could keep the people that I already had

and bring them in. And he, I mean, like, like got really angry at the suggestion. And I was like, well, you know, obviously, I think it's a big part of my brand, for want of a better word, that I pick music carefully and I have all this experience.

And he was like, that's not your job. You don't get to play whatever you want. It's not a jukebox for you. It's not just what you want to play. And I was like, hang on a second. I was like, this is offensive. I've been doing this for years like I don't pick based on what I want to play or what I feel like listening to it's the job yeah to pick what's right for the audience and the people who are listening like that's the job and there was no acknowledgement or

understanding of that like it what what he thought I was I was asking for was I can go on the radio and play what I want to listen to that morning and without seeing without seeing that no no I'm I'm carefully choosing based on the mood of the country based on the Saturday morning based on what people have been talking about that week based on the viral chart based on loads of different things. There was no understanding even of that part of what I did. And so that's what I worry about. That there's no appreciation for the fact that that is a craft and that is a skill that is finely honed and that you develop over years.

So that worries me because it does make me feel like that's all going out. Because it's not only going out of radio, it's the blogs are disappearing as well, the music blogs, and because it's not only going out of radio it's the blogs are disappearing as well the music blogs and now it's just the algorithm yeah and the algorithm's getting kind of shit yeah well even for me like if i turn on a streaming service and i'm like what do i want to listen to like it's kind of hard work now to think about what do i want to listen to when the the the algorithm of the streaming service is offering me this this this, this and this. So to go off the beaten track

and like actually make an active decision based on what you might want to listen to, it takes a real effort now. So there you go. That was my chat with Louise McSharry that ended quite abruptly there because I couldn't find a natural ending in the edit because when we got off stage,

the audience were clapping so loudly because it was a lovely night that it would have startled you if I let it on the podcast so I kind of ended it abruptly there so thank you to Louise our podcast is called Catch Up with Louise McSherry and also thank you to Crane Lane in Cork where we recorded that gig because the staff were absolutely lovely and sound and thank you to Island's Edge for making the entire night possible and for putting that conversation on and making it happen

and also and I should be doing this every bloody podcast that I mention alcohol visit drinkaware.ie which is actually a really good informative website around drinking responsibly and assessing your own relationship with alcohol i'll catch you next week i will have a hot take and hopefully in madrid i made myself a promise that i was going to get 10 000 words written hopefully i got my

10 000 words written Dog bless you all.