auburncom's collective on Huffduffer

We've spoken about fairy forts before. However, in the context of our recent discussion of placenames and bearing in mind the widespread incidences of Ráth and Lios in towns across Ireland, we decided to bring an expert in.

Sinéad Mercier, co-author of "The Men Who Eat Ringforts", drops in to tell Darach and Peadar all about these structures which link Ireland to its past. Is the word "fort" unnecessarily militaristic? If the deference for "fairies" has contributed positively to the preservation of archaeological and ecological phenomena, then why can't we just say "because fairies" in a planning permission objection?

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1613088000

Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is a lecturer in TU Dublin and a well-travelled chef and TV presenter. He's the world's leading expert in Irish food history, so why he agreed to appear on our podcast, we'll never know. Gearóidín and Peadar chat with Máirtín about the history of Irish ingredients, ancient cooking methods, and an absolute heap of cheese.

Why is Irish food not held in the same regard as French, Spanish or even Danish grub? What did we eat before the noble spud arrived on our shores? Why do we eat so little seafood for an island nation? Why does Darach hate coddle? Is it because he's weird? It is, isn't it? Find out all this and more, as Máirtín takes us on a culinary journey a thousand years or more in the making.

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1550793900

Some people out there wouldn’t see a rabbinical calling and a love of Irish dancing and sean-nós singing as a likely pairing. Those people have not met Darach’s guest this week. Saoirse Cecelia Beyer is a New Jersey-based rabbi with a passion for traditional Irish singing and dancing styles which has taken her to fleadhs all over.

In this week’s episode, she tells Darach about being a “purveyor of joyful Judaism”, learning conversational Connacht Irish but Donegal Irish songs, PG-13 humour in religious education and the significance of the chosen name Saoirse. She also offers an informed interpretation of controversial passages of Genesis and Leviticus which might surprise you.

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1562893605

When we in Ireland think of Irish-America, our minds tend to rush towards rivers died green, New York cops and maybe even a Massachusetts political dynasty. But there’s a lot more to the story than that. In particular, the Appalachian region, crossing multiple states, has its own culture and identity distinct from its neighbours in the South and Midwest, of which Irish music and language have made a significant contribution.

In this week’s episode, Darach and Peadar chat to Rebecca Wells, a singer in Nashville, Tennessee. She tells the lads about her Appalachian roots, the influence of Irish music on bluegrass and other musical traditions, the overlap between accents and dialects and the way what you call a can of carbonated drink is an indicator of where you are from. She also tells the story behind her Twitter handle @faoiltighearna and her favourite Irish word.

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1578009600

Taylor Swift broke the Irish Internet today when she wore a geansaí. It launched a thousand versions of the same joke - she looked a bit like one of the Clancy Brothers.

In today's BONUS episode we look at the history of the Aran sweater, what knitters know that the others don't, diddly-eye erasure and much more.

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1595627400

"Hamlet has been performed in Klingon" Aisling Carolan.

For a poet, the fact that the Irish word tír (country) and the English word tear (a sad drop of water) sound the same is profoundly significant. For a linguist, however, this is a coincidence and a cursed one at that.

How much weight should we attribute to similar sounding words with similar meanings in different languages?

In this week's episode, we consider the theory, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, that Hebrew and Gaelic languages are linked… and that the source of this link is that the Gaels were a lost tribe of Israel. Some of this is down to soundalikes, but do grammatical parallels prove a deeper link? Darach and Clodagh are assisted in their work by crafty classicist/linguist/artist Aisling Carolan, who is determined to prove a link between Pokemon and Púca.

Today's episode is swear-free.

https://podbay.fm/p/motherfocloir/e/1538733632

Are you here for an affair? Ah yes, an episode of Settling the Score, very good sir – this one’s about Simon and Garfunkel’s song score to Mike Nichol’s classic 1967 satire The Graduate. How was this movie pioneering in its use of music? Do these famous songs engender sympathy or skepticism for the characters, or both? And, it’s okay to ask: do these lyrics actually mean anything?

https://www.settlingthescorepodcast.com/67-the-graduate/

Whether he’s helping people understand what “Inbox Zero” really means, or he’s pondering our impact on the globe, writer and podcaster Merlin Mann has dedicated himself to uncovering and sharing nuggets of wisdom.

https://ten7.com/podcast/episode/merlin-mann-wisdom-meaning-and-owning-your-priority

t’s all been leading to this: Episode 200. We turned to our Top Men to celebrate the milestone, the showrunner of House of the Dragon Ryan Condal and the writer showrunner of Veep Dave Mandel! Their movie props collecting podcast The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of just wrapped S7, so they were ready to go DEEP into all the incredible props, artwork, and writing that made Raiders of the Lost Ark one of the greatest films ever made. WHAT A PICTURE!

https://podbay.fm/p/escape-hatch-formerly-dune-pod/e/1717977600

TOMORROW is the season finale of Presumed Innocent. TODAY we have the director of FIVE of Presumed Innocent’s amazing episodes, Greg Yaitanes. Greg gives us behind the scenes details of working with Jake Gyllenhaal and the rest of the incredible cast, and then he joins the Escape Hatch Five Timers’ Club as we cover another entry in the Dad Movie Mt. Rushmore canon, Peter Weir’s 2003 nautical masterpiece, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World! Do not miss Greg’s insights as a director into this epic film.

https://podbay.fm/p/escape-hatch-formerly-dune-pod/e/1721606400