On today's podcast I had the pleasure of the company of Episcopal priest, Fr. David Gierlach speaking from his parish in Honolulu, in Hawaii.

Fr. David was encouraged to speak his mind on social media a couple of years' ago when many people were outraged that Transgender Appreciation Day coincidentally fell on the same day as Easter Sunday.

His post blew up!

Fr. David realised that he had a powerful platform and his gift for communication could take his voice beyond the congregation in his own parish.

Two years later this skilled and passionate priest has amassed a following of over 600,000 people between Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok and he uses this to talk straight regularly about basic human values, and in particular the dangerous MAGA cult of morally absent Donald Trump and the damage he is doing.

Fr. David started off life in a Catholic seminary, but he left because it wasn't for him. He worked for an alcohol and drug residential centre, he studied law and had a successful two decade career as a lawyer and then in 2009 he became an Episcopal priest.

He has recently written a book, 'Jesus Christ! He Still Matters', to remind people about real faith, and not the version that seems to be brainwashing so many at the moment.

We need many more like Fr. David.

Enjoy the Show

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I chat once again with Paul Kearns, urban planner, author and journalist who has been living in Tel Aviv with his young family for the last 8 years.

Paul brings us his insights from inside Israel since the Trump brokered cease fire - were there celebrations, who is credited with the ceasefire, what is the general mood like, what is the current standing of Netanyahu and what will happen with his corruption trial?

He spoke about the trauma of this war for those in Israel, for those in Gaza and the West Bank, and how he tries his very best to explain the war to his very curious 9 year old girl.

This was a difficult conversation, and in all honesty it is impossible to see a peaceful path forward, but yet, life goes on for everyone who will have to do their best to recover from the psychological trauma of this utterly pointless war.

This world of ours has to do a better job in making sure this does not happen again.

Just a day after our conversation Gaza was attacked again and over 100 people were murdered.

Thanks for listening ..

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I chatted with the author of the book 'Every Day I'm Brave', Renee Zukin.

Renee talks about her life and career and in particular about the struggles of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder otherwise known as OCD.

For some reason she was always fearful in her life, and when this mum of three was unravelling with malnutrition because of the irrational fear of what might be in her food, she realised that she had to seek much needed help.

Eventually she was diagnosed of having OCD, and it was only with a deep understanding of this condition did she learn how to recognise and control it and begin to change her life for the better.

This avid writer put pen to paper and wrote the book 'Every Day I'm Brave' to help others who suffer from similar conditions or who are gripped by fear, preventing them from living the full lives they deserve.

Renee says the book is part memoir and in part a practical self help book, and in our conversation she talks about the debilitating effect of "fear" and how you can start to face it, one step at a time.

Enjoy the show

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

Welcome back to the second part of my conversation with author, restaurateur, healer and teacher David Ellis.

In this episode David explains why he could hear the voices that no one else could hear and the changes this brought to his life.

He chats about his spiritual journey, his healing work and that of the Atlantis Institute and he also has a very honest conversation about the challenges of living as part of a gay couple in a world where acceptance is often just polite lip service to an inclusive idea.

Enjoy the show

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I chatted with author, restaurateur, healer and teacher David Ellis.

David is a former client of ours and after a brief amount of work that we did for him way back in the very dark Celtic tiger crash days, a friendship developed.

David's story is extremely interesting, and in the very competitive and demanding hospitality sector he went from being the emotionless hatchet man to being someone that his colleagues could barely recognise.

After his father passed away something very strange and quite unbelievable happened to him, which changed the course of his life.

Let's hear that story...

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I had the immense pleasure of chatting with the author of the book, 'Octopus on a Treadmill', Gifty Enright.

As a young woman growing up in Ghana she dreamt of having lots of shoes, big cupboards, and the trappings of success, so she moved to London to fulfill her dream.

She quickly discovered that she missed that strong sense of community that she enjoyed in Ghana, but she dug deep and carved out a very successful career and life for herself in London.

After a number of years this successful, hard working career mum hit a "Burnout" wall that she knew could not be solved with the medication that was being prescribed to her. This avid reader who was determined to get better, did some deep research to find a sustainable solution to her life situation. She applied what she learnt and after just three months she was on the road to recovery and hasn't looked back since.

She wrote the book 'Octopus on a Treadmill' to share what she learned so that other busy career mums who are constantly juggling don't hit the same burnout wall that she did.

As well as being an author, she is a public speaker and a coach and she doesn't care so much about those shoes anymore!

Enjoy the show

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's episode I chatted with Genealogist David Ryan who opened up my eyes to a profession I knew nothing about.

What exactly does a genealogist do, who employs them, why and when?

David explained to me the process that he normally follows, and the interesting people that he ends up doing this work for and the unusual stories that he uncovers, including the poor man who was killed on Patrick Street by a bull who had escaped!

As well as providing practical tips about investigating your own family tree, he also spoke about the many online ancestry services that use DNA tests as part of their process and if these are to be trusted.

Enjoy the show..

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I had the privilege of speaking with Irish actor Diarmuid Noyes, the co-lead of the movie 'Christy', which has been winning awards in Ireland and abroad and rave reviews from movie critics everywhere.

Diarmuid plays the character Shane in the movie brilliantly, as he wrestles with the job of trying to steer his brother Christy on the right path and at the same time, not to derail his own life.

Diarmuid talks in detail about the huge preparation that goes into getting a part like this right, the process around the whole movie and the special bond that has grown between the novice actors and the more experienced actors like himself and Emma Willis, who played his wife Stacey in the movie.

He has been acting since he was nine years of age, a career shaped in some ways by a crush on Mary Kate Olsen and personal circumstances, and even now he still finds this crazy profession challenging.

Diarmuid is extremely humble, finds praise a difficult thing to accept and for some strange reason he gives himself too hard a time.

Yes Diarmuid, you are a brilliant actor.

Enjoy the show...

Christy opens in Irish cinemas on the 29th August, and in Britain from the 5th September.

The book I referred to at the end of the podcast is called The Surrender Experiment.

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On today's podcast I bring you a conversation that I had with Garry McCarthy outside a busy beer house in Berlin during the Berlin Film Festival, where the movie 'Christy' won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus category.

While Garry didn't have a starring role in the movie, you could say he was the biggest star of the movie, because his tireless work as the Founder and Creative Director of the Kabin Studio for years and years, can be seen in the performances of some of the main actors as well as the spirit that runs through the whole movie.

Danny Power who plays the main character in the movie, Christy, came from the Kabin as well as Jamie Forde, Darren Stewart, Cara Cullen and many of the supporting cast. Much of the music you hear in the movie and is available in the soundtrack came from the Kabin Studio.

The movie captures the real stories of life for many in the northside of Cork city and Gary has witnessed these stories for years.

Through his work at the Kabin he empowers young people through music and creativity to find their voices, build their confidence and to feel safe.

He says "when you have the right people around you, you can be steered in the right direction"

He is one of those people.

Enjoy the show

Christy opens in Irish cinemas at the end of August.

Christy was directed by Brendan Canty.

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]

On night two of the Berlin Ale Film Festival there was a second screening of the movie Christy in a more intimate venue, and a chance for me to relax and properly watch the movie.

During the course of the evening I spoke with some of the stars behind the movie and I also hit the record button during the Kabin Crew performance, and the audience question and answer session with the cast and the audience after the show.

The film really connected with the audience and while the questions they asked were really interesting, some of the answers were quite hilarious and you just might get a flavour of real Cork like!

The movie was about real lives, it captured both the dark and the light, and in many ways it was art imitating life.

On today's podcast I captured some of the magic from this very special night.

Interviews with:

• Brendan Canty (Director and co-writer)
• Emmet Fleming - Sleeper Films
• Danny Power - Christy
• Jamie Forde - Robot
• Darren 'Tiny' Stewart - Ferrit
• Ema Willis - Stacy
• Cara Cullen - Leona
• Ian 'Bony' Tabone

Enjoy the show

Christy was co-written by and directed by Brendan Canty

Christy opens in cinemas at the end of August.

Podcast Production by Greg Canty

Greg's blog

Greg on Twitter

Greg on LinkedIn

Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: [email protected]