In this episode, Ireland’s Edge host Chris Kissane explores the past, present and future of spoken word poetry in Ireland with two of its most exciting and original practitioners, FeliSpeaks and Dyrt. 

Felicia Olusanya, known as FeliSpeaks, is changing the face of poetry in Ireland. A Nigerian-Irish poet from Longford, she began performing at poetry slams and spoken word events while a student in Maynooth, where she now lives. Her work poignantly confronts issues of identity, race, gender and more in a strikingly individual style.

Spoken word poetry is one of the most ancient art forms, and it was particularly important in ancient Irish oral culture. The Limerick spoken word artist and rapper Shane Davis, who performs as Dyrt, has explored how spoken word can offer a new way of exploring ancient Irish myths and legends.

Note: This episode contains some bad language.

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‘What is creativity, what is the process of creativity?’

Sinéad O’Sullivan is an aerospace engineer from Armagh who worked on the planning for human missions to Mars at NASA. She’s also worked at Harvard Business School and MIT’s Sloan School of Management where she has applied chaos and complexity theories to everything from tech startups to music, a focus that reflects her interest in creativity. Last year she collaborated on a mini-opera about climate change disinformation entitled ‘Unexpected Changes’. On Ireland’s Edge - The Podcast Sinéad, a self proclaimed Taylor Swift stan, spoke with music journalist Jim Carroll about AI, creativity and what makes the perfect pop hit.

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In 2017, the writer Mark O’Connell published a book about the transhumanist movement, To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death. Encountering an extraordinary set of people keen to use technology to push the human body past its physical and mortal limits, Mark explored the scientific and ethical questions behind a quest to free human beings from our corporeal cages.

At last year’s Dublin Theatre Festival, Mark, along with directors Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd, premiered a theatrical adaptation of his book. At Ireland’s Edge, Mark and Bush spoke to Síobhra Quinlan about turning this unusual book into an even more unusual play. Their discussion begins with an excerpt from To Be a Machine (Version 1.0) starring Jack Gleeson.

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What can we make of a language that has 32 words for field?

Writer and broadcaster Manchán Magan encountered the remarkable richness of the Irish language as a young child, and his grandmother Sighle was determined that he would learn to speak it in the place where it was the common language of daily life. This was Muiríoch in the west Kerry Gaeltacht, where Manchán spent his childhood holidays in his grandmother’s house. The Irish he learned there dates back to a time when the multiplicity of words for objects, actions, ideas and feelings reflected a way of life with a profound appreciation for the natural world. 

In Dingle Manchán spoke with Ireland’s Edge founder Nuala O’Connor about his new book, 32 Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape.

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The Covid-19 pandemic led to months of school and university closures that forced young people, and their parents and teachers, to adapt to different ways of learning. Despite enormous effort, patience, and creativity, cracks have shown.

More than a century on from Pádraig Pearse's famous call for a more progressive and holistic approach to education, rigid exams and entrenched inequalities still too often persist.

To discuss radical change at Ireland’s Edge we were joined by Acting President of University College Cork John O’Halloran, Dublin University Senator Lynne Ruane, and folklore lecturer Billy Mag Fhloinn.

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Once referred to as a ‘performing historian’ Rhiannon Giddens is a musician from Greensboro, North Carolina whose career has ranged from folk to country, blues to gospel, opera to R&B. Her old-time string band, the Carolina Chocolate Drops have received 6 Grammy nominations, winning in 2010 for their album Genuine Negro Jig.

In 2017 Rhiannon received a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant for ‘reclaiming African American contributions to folk and country music and bringing to light new connections between music from the past and the present’.

At Ireland’s Edge, she speaks to music journalist Jim Carroll about race, influence and appropriation of African-American music, and cross-cultural collaboration all through the story of the banjo in the United States.

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Supreme court justices can often seem remote and mysterious, cloaked by their position and their commitments to impartiality. But recent controversies over judicial behaviour, appointments and independence have reminded us that judges are never removed from the societies they serve. 

In Poland, Britain, and the United States, supreme courts have found themselves at the centre of bitter political conflicts, while the enforcement of lockdowns and quarantines have made us all think more about the importance of the courts in upholding the rule of law and protecting our liberties. 

After a year in which our supreme court came under perhaps unprecedented public scrutiny, it seems more important than ever for us to learn more about its judges.

At Ireland’s Edge, Dr David Kenny, Associate Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, speaks to the Chief Justice of Ireland Mr Frank Clarke.

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