Fighting Words gives young people the opportunity to write and create in a number of ways. 

Today, Tom learns about the organisation's playwriting course which gives young teenagers the chance to write one act plays for production in the Abbey Theatre. This year, 8 young playwrights gather opposite Croke Park on Sundays to work on their one act shows.

Tom spoke with:

- Una Kavanagh (one of the main organisers of the programme who is also an actor, writer and artist),

- Sean Farrly (one of the coordinators of the initiative who also took part in it when he was a teen), and

- Róisín Browne (a participant in this year's programme).

On this week's show, Izzy and Tom:

- Looked back on President Biden's first year in office,

- Spoke about how we think ourselves drunk,

- Reviewed two recent cinema releases; 'Kingsman 3' and 'Belfast',

- Chatted about the cheap flights phenomenon, and

- Checked whether each other were keeping up their New Years resolutions!

On this new segment, Izzy paid respects to Ashling Murphy on behalf of 'Panoramica'. Tom and Izzy also spoke about controversy surrounding Molly Mae's 24-hours in a day comment, what they do with their 24-hours, new years resolutions, being spontaneous and more.

Sion Hill is the alias for singer-songwriter and producer Nathan Johnston. After leaving Ireland for Berlin, after leaving Berlin for Hamburg, and after leaving Hamburg for the murmuring vastness that is London, Nate’s desire for something new is as evident in his music as it is in his change of destination! Nate has toured Europe with the likes of A-ha, Pete Doherty and Alice Merton. Going back to his roots in Pop, Soul and Rock’n’roll, Sion Hill is finally learning to accept that there are no straight paths in life. Instead he and his sound will continue to “venture into the unknown”.

Nate came on 'Panoramica' to chat about growing up in Mullingar, getting into music, going to boarding school, how he started off studying business in college, the differences between small and big venues and much more.

Colm Keena is a Dubliner who studied zoology at Trinity College but ended up going into journalism! He has been a journalist with The Irish Times for around 25 years and is currently a public affairs correspondent there. Colm has worked on a variety of stories mainly relating to business, law, and politics. In 2006, Colm's refusal to reveal the name of a source who gave him information about then-Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern's finances resulted in a court case that went all the way to the Irish Supreme Court.

As a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Colm worked on the Pandora Papers and a story relating to the Xinjiang internment camps. Notably, Colm was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that worked on the Panama Papers. 

Colm is also an author. He has written a novel ('Bishop's Move') as well as biographies on Bertie Ahern, Charles Haughey, and Gerry Adams.

Colm came on 'Panoramica' to chat about his long career in journalism, how he ended up as a journalist having studied zoology, his work on the Mahon Tribunal, the prospect of going to prison, what he has learned, why he recommends journalism to young people and more.

Geraldine O'Connell Cusack grew up in an Irish family the Bronx, New York. Her father was a trade union organiser in the docks there. Geraldine studied political science at university and went on to work with the Seminole tribe in Florida to help them develop an alphabet. After that, she did similar work for communities in rural Chile and Tanzania.

Geraldine came on 'Panoramica' to discuss her upbringing, her Irish roots, how she ended up working with the Seminole tribe, the Seminole's history, her daughter's and her own experience living with the tribe and much more.

Dominic MacSorley grew up in Belfast during a period often referred to as "The Troubles". Coming from a medical background, Dominic studied law and started working for Concern Worldwide in his 20s. He continued working for the non-governmental organisation all around the world for the past few decades. He became CEO of Concern Worldwide and is now approaching the end of his time in that role.

Dominic came on 'Panoramica' to talk about many things, including his beginnings, hope, Concern's work and the solutions to the most pressing problems facing our world.

Mary Kennedy grew up in Dublin and became a teacher. One day, she answered an ad in a paper and became a continuity announcer in RTE. She became a household name after presenting many shows over the years, including 'Eurovision' (1995), 'Nationwide' and 'Open House'. 

Mary came on 'Panoramica' to chat about her early life, family, career, faith and her new book 'Journey to the Well', which she co-authored with her sister, Deirdre. 

Patrick Desprez grew up in France and moved to Ireland a few decades ago where he went on to study linguistics and become a teacher.

Patrick came on 'Panoramica' to chat about linguistics, education, the power of language and coming to Ireland.

***Updated episode with better audio***

Sri Paran came to Ireland from Sri Lanka a number of decades ago and is now a well respected paediatric surgeon. He came on 'Panoramica' to discuss his move to Ireland, faith, how he got into medicine and his remarkable home country of Sri Lanka.