In this episode of Talking History, we'll be looking at the challenges facing American Liberalism from the 1960s to the 1990s through the prism of the political career and presidency of Bill Clinton, and we'll be debating whether it should be viewed as a success or a failure.

Joining host Patrick Geoghegan for this debate is:

• Nelson Lichtenstein, Research Professor in History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his book A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism will be published in September 2023

• Dr Daniel Geary, Mark Pigott Associate Professor of U.S. History at Trinity

• Prof Patricia Sullivan, William Arthur Fairey II Professor of History at the University of South Carolina

• and Prof Mary Ellen Curtin, Associate Professor at the American University in Washington DC, and historian of modern African-American and women's social and political history.

On this episode of Talking History: we explore Spike Island in Cork - a monastery, island fortress and convict prison, on the 85th anniversary of it being handed back to Ireland as one of the treaty ports. Featuring: John Goulding, Assistant Manager, Spike Island; Dorota Gubbins, curator, Spike Island; and Eric Curtis, Spike Island volunteer - a past resident who grew up on the island.

In this episode of Talking History, we're finding out about the history of the first public library in Ireland, Marsh's Library in Dublin, from caged readers to a mummy discovered there in the 19th century.

Joining Patrick Geoghegan to discuss are: Dr. Jason McElligott, Director of Marsh’s Library, Dr Janée Allsman, IRC Enterprise Partnership Scheme Fellow at the Department of French and Francophone Studies at University College Dublin, post-doctoral researcher who is working on French collections in Marsh's Library and also on the use of AI technology to examine this material, and Amy Boylan, Assistant Librarian at Marsh’s Library.

In this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan speaks with authors of exciting new historical releases. Featuring: Dr Agnes Arnold-Forster, writer and historian of medicine, on her book 'Cold, Hard Steel: The Myth of the Modern Surgeon'; Dr Michelle McGoff-McCann on her book 'The Irish Coroner: Death, murder and politics in Co. Monaghan, 1846-78'; and Dr Mark Jones, Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global History at University College Dublin, author of '1923: The Forgotten Crisis in the Year of Hitler’s Coup'.

In this episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan reflects on 240 years of the Bank of Ireland, the milestones in its history, its governors, and how the old parliament building in College Green came into the possession of the bank. He's joined by Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam; John McGrath, premises manager, Bank of Ireland; and Mick O’Farrell, employee with Bank of Ireland and published historian.

In this episode of Talking History, we're looking at the history of Irish wakes, and exploring Irish beliefs and practices about death over the centuries. Featuring: Éamonn McEneaney, Director of Waterford Treasures Museums, Donnchadh O Ceallachain and Rosemary Ryan, Curators at Waterford Treasures Museum, and John Thompson of Thompson Funeral Homes (established in Waterford in 1786), former President and founder of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors.

On this week’s Talking History, Patrick looks at the life and legacy of Katherine Mansfield, the New Zealand-born modernist writer, whose haunting and powerful works helped redefine the modern short story.

Joining Patrick to discuss is: Sir Vincent Gerard O'Sullivan, Professor Emeritus, at Victoria University of Wellington, one of the world’s foremost Mansfield scholars and President of the Katherine Mansfield Society. He has edited, with Margaret Scott, the five-volume edition of Katherine Mansfield’s Collected Letters, published by Oxford University Press. He is also widely published as a poet, fiction writer, playwright, and biographer; Dr. Adrian Paterson who lectures in English at the University of Galway and has published widely on eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth-century literature with a particular interest in the artistic interactions of modernism and Irish literature; and Dr. Gerri Kimber, Visiting Professor in the Department of English at the University of Northampton and co-editor of Katherine Mansfield Studies, the peer-reviewed annual yearbook of the Katherine Mansfield Society. Her books include: ‘Katherine Mansfield: The Early Years’ (2016), ‘Katherine Mansfield and the Art of the Short Story’ (2015), and ‘Katherine Mansfield: The View from France’ (2008). And she is the Series Editor of the 4-volume Edinburgh Edition of the Collected Works of Katherine Mansfield and for ten years she was President of the Katherine Mansfield Society.

In this episode of Talking History: this summer marks the 225th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1798 Rebellion, a massive uprising inspired by the revolutions in France and America which attempted to create an independent Irish Republic, inspiring Irish nationalists up to 1916 and beyond. Patrick Geoghegan looks at what happened in Wexford in 1798 and how it is being commemorated this year, alongside Bernard Browne, author and vice-chair of the National 1798 Historical Centre, Mico Hassett, Enniscorthy Castle manager, and Michael Fortune, folklorist.

In this episode of Talking History: how Ireland became a founding member of the European Space Agency with space commentator Leo Enright; we'll explore Europe's old towns and find out what they hide about our continent's history with author Marek Kohn; and we'll hear about the 300 men, women and children buried in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery who died during the War of Independence and Civil War, from author Conor Dodd.

In this episode of Talking History, we meet 'The Last Viking', legendary warrior King Harald Hardrada, with author Don Hollway; we explore the history of watchmaking with designer, watchmaker, and historian Rebecca Struthers; and we'll learn about 'The Ugly Duchess' and how a Renaissance portrait challenges our views about beauty with the UK National Gallery's Emma Capron.