In October 2017, Ibrahim Halawa was released from an Egyptian prison after four years of being incarcerated without any proper trial. He and his sisters had been caught up in a protest in Cairo. Shortly after his release, Senator Ivana Bacik talks to the young Irishman about the turn his life had taken.

Podcast available here 

https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

International Human Rights lawyer Philippe Sands, author of East West Street, talks to commentator Fintan O'Toole about crimes against humanity. Recorded June 2019.

Podcast available here:

https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

Viv Albertine - guitarist for British post-punk band The Slits, and author of two extraordinary memoirs Clothes Clothes Clothes Boys Boys Boys Music Music Music and To Throw Away Unopened - talks about a lifetime of challenging authority. Recorded June 2018.

The Guardian's investigative journalist Luke Harding quizzes McMafia author Misha Glenny about the current endemic of organised crime emerging from Russia. Recorded at 2018 Borris House Festival.

Podcast available here: 

https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

Sir Tim Smit - Whose career included a spell as a rock musician of some success before he went on to create The Eden Project and to restore and evolve The Lost Gardens of Heligan - provides inspiration with his optimistic and iconoclastic vision. Disruption makes luck...

Podcast available here:

https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

Gender activists Glamrou and Panti Bliss discuss the politics of identity, the power of dressing up, and the fun of extroversion.

Podcast available here: 

https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

Educationalist and children's author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, and some 100 other bestselling books) talks about where it all comes from - and about the stunning importance memory in particular.

Podcast available here: https://festivalofwritingandideas.com/podcasts/

'Not Afraid of Chaos': Actor Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve, Fleabag, Harry Potter) chats about her career on stage and screen to broadcaster Olivia O'Leary.

Drifting into the Arena of the Unwell': Withnail & I and Killing Fields screenwriter Bruce Robinson opens up about his extraordinary life, with actor Dominic West (The Wire, The Affair).

Musician Bob Geldof talks to Professor of History Roy Foster about his love of Yeats, and the poets influences on the life of a journeyman, rock star and activist who started out in a seaside suburb of Dublin. Note: bad language comes with the territory. This was the inaugural Annual Doyle Collection Interview, recorded in June 2018.