Pretty much everyone in this country, either directly or indirectly, is affected by the housing crisis. And it has come up as topic on this podcast time and time again. We have had lots of guests that are hugely successful in the world of writing, acting, performance, but who can’t afford to buy a home and/or who are looked at very unfavourably by the banks for a mortgage. And its come up in my conversations with campaigners like rory hearne and Ciaran crazy house prices.

 And it’s a subject that my special guest Conor Skehan has a lot of experience in and a lot to say about. Conor is an expert in planning and architecture and in 2013 the government appointed him as chair of the Housing agency, a role he held for 5 years. And in that time Conor learned a lot about housing – not just the facts and figures and the big picture stuff, but why its is such a complex, emotional issue that we find so hard to fix. He has a lot of strong opinions about it, and he doesn’t hold back in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

 COMEDY - Leo Varadkar has recorded an audio version of his hotly-anticipated autobiography, and he’s even convinced a few of his former political colleagues to take part in the recording. We got exclusive access to the unedited footage that reveals what really happened in the studio

 Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

John Gibbons is one of Ireland’s best-known and most vocal environmental campaigners, consistently highlighting the climate emergency for well over 20 years. He has appeared on this podcast several times and he also does a weekly slot with Matt Cooper on Today FM’s Last Word. John has just published a new book called The Lie of the Land -  A Game Plan for Ireland in the Climate Crisis, and he joined me here in the GoLoud studio to tell me all about it.

We talk about how we have gotten into the situation we’re in, and he deals with some of  the climate-sceptic arguments that are floating around quite a lot at the moment. John also outlines some very clear solutions and he’s very optimistic that its not at all too late to put them into action. He also shares a story about a pretty serious run in he had with a certain, very well-known national broadcaster, now who might that be…?

COMEDY - As you can imagine, John’s attracts a lot of attention with his very vocal views, and so as soon as I put out the word that he was going to join me here on the podcast, the Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline started hopping

 Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Eileen Magnier spent 35 years as RTE’s North west correspondent, and in that time she covered an incredible number of stories of all different kinds. It was a job that she loved, but it was also very demanding and unpredictable in nature. Sometimes Eileen would have to report on incredibly tragic stories like the Creeslough explosion in co Donegal in 2022, in which 10 people died. This was a part of the job that Eileen took very seriously, as it is so important to cover these stories sympathetically and accurately, and with consideration to those left behind.

The physical and emotional toll of the work, after over three decades, was starting to become very apparent to Eileen and so, just over a year ago, she decided to retire and today, she says she has never felt so healthy, so free, and so energised.

In this episode Eileen and I have a fascinating chat about her almost four decades at the frontlines of public service news, the various factors that prompted her to make that very big decision to retire, and the amazing things that she has been doing since retirement.

COMEDY - when some of Eileen's former colleagues in RTE spotted her walking in the doors of Marconi House to record this interview, they thought she might be 'doing a Claire Byrne' and the Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline started buzzing!!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Buckle up and get ready for this one, because Paul Treyvaud has a LOT to say. Paul is a successful restauranteur with a great business, an Amazon Prime series, and a whole lot of TV experiences under his belt.

But recently, Paul has also become a very vocal and widely-publicised critic of a range of government policies that he predicts are about to trigger a ‘tsunami’ of closures in the tourism sector. In this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast, Paul lets rip about crazy covid policies, why Ireland’s immigration approach has not worked, and why he thinks he has been effectively cancelled from radio and tv appearances.

 Paul also shares some great stories from his time in the restaurant trade and the well-known people that he and his  master-chef father Michel have had the pleasure of cooking for.

 COMEDY - Students all over Ireland have been receiving their CAO offers this week and this has led economist and podcaster David McWilliams on a trip down memory lane…

 Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

If you follow what happening in the news in the UK then you’ll be very familiar with my guest on this episode, Enda Brady. Originally from Wexford, Enda studied journalism in the UK and ended up carving out a highly successful career there,  spending over 16 years as senior correspondent at Sky News.

In this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast, Enda and I have a great chat about the craziness of UK politics, the prospect of Nigel Farage as Prime Minister, and he shares some great behind-the-scene stories of his interviews with people like Tiger Woods, Zlatan, Ibrahimovic, and David Beckham.

COMEDY – We got a great reaction to this Gift Grub sketch about the WWE coming to Dublin this week, enjoy!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Karl Deeter has been a guest on my podcast, and my radio show before that, many times. We always have a great chat about US politics, his take on Trump (which is always interesting), and the big ticket political and societal issues in Ireland.

But Karl is also an entrepreneur and has been one of the country’s leading mortgage brokers for many years. A few years ago he developed a tech platform that brought a very welcome and much-needed digital layer to the mortgage application process, and that innovation, combined with many years of hard work and creative thinking, has just delivered a major payday for Karl, and, just as importantly, a true validation of his idea.

So we invited Karl back on to The Mario Rosenstock Podcast straight away to tell us the full story – from how he spent years trying to figure out what he was good at, to being ‘crushed’ by the 2008 recession, right up to selling his company in a multi-million euro deal just days ago.

COMEDY - Taylor swift has just appeared on her very first podcast, and its not even a music podcast! So now some well-known Irish podcasters are trying their luck and inviting her on to their shows. We got exclusive access to Taylor’s voicemails

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

It has been just over a year since I last chatted with comedian and writer Tadhg Hickey here on the podcast. But since then, things have really moved up a gear for Tadhg, some of it good and some not so good.

Tadhg has been a very vocal critic of Israel’s war on Gaza and a staunch supporter of Palestine, and his online videos and comedy sketches about the issue have always been popular. But over the past year his profile has grown significantly and, as well as winning new supporters, he has been attracting new critics. Why? Because, as he describes, he has ‘become dangerous’.

So I asked Tadhg to join me again here on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast to chat about the crazy year that he has had – from his continued activism and the negative attention it has been attracting, to his trip to Iran and thoughts on how the Irish and the Iranian people share a lot in common, the new satirical tv show that he is making, and lots more. 

COMEDY – Its not long before one of Ireland’s most anticipated concerts of the year is here, Oasis! Liam Gallagher has been getting all sorts of messages from the likes of Ronan Keating, Louis Walsh, and Daniel O’Donnell. We got exclusive access to his mailbox…

What would you do if you created a company, built it up, and then sold it in a multimillion euro deal? Would you book the first flight to Bali and lie on a beach for the rest of your days? Well, this wasn’t the route that my guest on this episode took.

Having sold his company Pigsback.com for over €25m just a few years ago, Michael Dwyer had a very different plan in mind– to work hard at becoming a top poker player and rise through the world’s poker rankings, playing across the Irish, European and World Series of Poker tours. And things have been going very, very well for him indeed.

So in this episode Michael and I chat about quitting a safe pensionable job to start a company, all of the highs and lows of building a business – and then selling it for millions; why he loves tournament poker and the success he has been enjoying, taking the right approach to risk, why the cryptocurrency sceptics need to open their minds, and plenty more.

COMEDY – Donald Trump takes to the podium and he’s got a very important message.

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

He’s a former New Zealand rugby player turned pundit and fashion entrepreneur, who is now also one of Ireland’s leading mental health advocates - Brent Pope is a busy man. But he found the time to join me as special guest on this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast for a fascinating chat about his own lifelong battles with mental health, creating the ‘Elephant in the Room’ movement to promote workplace wellbeing, and why the golden age of TV sports punditry is over.

Comedy - big news, Michael Flatley has just thrown his hat into the race for the Aras, and his voicemail inbox is hopping!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

There’s nothing quite like a conversation with Roddy Collins. He’s hilarious, unpredictable, emotional, a total open book, and a natural story teller. Roddy joined me here on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast a couple of years ago when he had just published his memoir about the many decades he has spent as a football player, manager and pundit. So it was high time to meet again.

Roddy has been keeping as busy as ever since we last met and we chat about loads of things like life after the book, why he’s spending a few months a year in Spain every year, how his son has turned pro in boxing, his great friendship with Vinny Jones, and much more.

COMEDY – Bertie Ahern, Roy Keane, and former FAI boss John Delaney, leave voicemails for Roddy on The Mario Rosenstock Hotline.

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand