The Cure Podcast

Hello lovely listeners, in this episode we tackle a subject we have been getting loads of requests to cover: yoga. We are joined by Kate McNamara, owner and teacher at Hot Yoga Cork (hotyogacork.ie) who tells us how she fell in love with yoga as a twenty something year old in a new city, and what it has brought to her life since. She tells us about setting up her own studio in Cork and all of the challenges and successes since then. She also describes why yoga is still so important to her and how she incorporates it into her daily life and her fitness routine.

Kate also discusses the origins of yoga and explains the many different manifestations of this discipline. She talks us through the particular yoga practice she teaches, hot yoga. Like many of the topics we have covered on the show, this exposes our bodies to hormetic stress (an intentional physiologic stress such as cold or heat exposure, challenging exercise etc), increasing physical and mental resilience.

Plus if goat yoga is a thing what about kid yoga, and will Con  ever learn to pronounce pilates correctly??

In the second episode of our two parter with Conor Hammersley, he tells us about his research in Ireland and the United States on rural masculinity. Conor describes the challenges facing male farmers and farming families today. He helps us to understand complex concepts like social reproduction, masculine and feminine hegemony in clear terms. He also explains the uniquely Irish historical and cultural influences which reinforce gender norms here. Plus why does Ireland have so many single sex schools, how do the All Blacks get things right, and how does the rodeo relate to Irish farmers?!

We could have talked all night to Conor, he is just so passionate about his subject. We enjoyed it a lot, and hope you do too!

This episode sets a new record for the Cure Podcast, as for the first time we interview a sibling of a previous guest. We loved our conversation about stammering and resilience with Timmy Hammersley way back in series 1. This week we talk to his brother, researcher Conor Hammersley. Conor is a Fulbright scholar currently undertaking a PhD on identities and masculinities among Irish men with a specific focus on the farming community. As part of his Fulbright scholarship award at Columbia-Bassett Medical School in New York, Conor is extending his research by comparing and contrasting the evolving socio-cultural and economic challenges faced by US farmers in relation to their health to those encountered by farmers in Ireland. In the first episode of this two parter, Conor talks about the challenges and changes encountered by men in modern Ireland and gives us a historical and cultural backdrop. Next week he will fill us in on his research in the farming community.

Plus, is that a head cold Dinny is showcasing, despite his recent forays into the world of cold exposure...?

Please note, this episode has mature themes and content.

Hello friends of the Cure Podcast! After an unexpectedly long break we are delighted to be back talking all things related to health and wellbeing, and learning from our wonderful guests. We have a super episode to open Season 3. We  talk to Richard Hogan, pyschotherapist, columnist and author of Parenting the Screenager. He tells us all about the challenges of parenting and  how to navigate those tricky teenage years. He explains the difference between digital natives and digital immigrants (or old people as teenagers would call them). He talks about encouraging the development of resilience and skills to manage adversity in our young people. He describes how to recognise our own negative thought processes which lead to self-destructive behaviour and how to avoid passing on intergenerational trauma. He also speaks very movingly about his own experiences of family life and the lessons he has learned.

Plus: the transformative power of a summer job, and Dinny updates us on his ongoing quest to hold back time with his recent adventures in cold exposure therapy.

We hope you enjoy it!

In this weeks show we chat to Stefan Okunbor.

Stefan is currently a member of the Kerry Senior football panel. He speaks very openly about his experiences of growing up black in Ireland, racism, his travels to Australia to peruse an AFL career, injury set backs and much more.  

Please be aware there is some strong language in this episode.

We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode we are talking about the psychology of online dating with Cyber psychologist Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton.

Nicola is a lecturer in applied psychology and cyberpsychology in the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT). Her research focuses on communication through technology, particularly in the areas of online dating and relationships, and attraction. She is currently researching how the COVID pandemic impacted online dating.

She talks us through the biases that we bring to encounters in cyberspace and why people can behave differently in a virtual setting than in real life. Plus the different approaches that men and women take to swiping and screening potential partners which might explain those frustrations when people behave in ways we don’t expect.

Nicola is so knowledgeable and engaging, we loved talking to her and hope you like the episode.

We are back after a short break. 

In this episode we chat all things poetry with the wonderful Mary Kennelly. Mary shares her journey through poetry and why she has written her most recent book. It is a lovely personal story about life, illness, caring for loved ones and finding peace after their death.

We hope you enjoy the show.

In this weeks episode we talk all things the brain and alzheimer's disease.

Professor Marina Lynch is a leading expert in the area of brain health and the role inflammation has on the brain. She discusses her work and gives some simple tips on how we can live better and help reduce inflammation in the brain.

We hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode we talk to Dr Susanna Soeberg who talks us through her research on hot and cold exposure and why this approach is beneficial.

Susanna describes the impact of this practice on physical and mental well-being, and discuss the key role of brown fat in this process. For those of us who don’t have a sauna at home she explains some good workarounds!

Susanna’s book ‘Winter Swimming - the Nordic way towards a healthier and happier life’ is available to order at https://is.gd/4GKlr0 and for those of you who really want to get into the science her recent paper is available at https://is.gd/L5Btk2

We hope you enjoy the show.

In this weeks show we talk all things Artificial intelligence with Professor Barry O Sullivan.

Barry  is an award-winning academic working in the fields of artificial intelligence, constraint programming, prescriptive analytics (operations research), ethics, and public policy. He contributes to global Track II diplomacy related to disruptive emerging technologies. He recently was elected as a fellow of The Association for the Advancement of Artificial intelligence and is president of the European Association for AI.

We hope you enjoy the show.