I’m pretty sure that you will not have heard an interview with Tánaiste Micheál Martin quite like this one before. The man is great craic, full of funny stories and banter – it’s a side to him that we rarely get to see in the Dail and on current affairs shows, but we certainly get a taste of it in this episode.

We talk about his love of impressions, and he even does a few for us! He tells me what he thinks of my Gift Grub caricature of him, he also talks about his relationship with Leo Varadkar behind the scenes, time he spent in the north trying to understand the unionist perspective, the return of Bertie and his rumoured bid for the Presidency, getting into bed with Sinn Fein, and and lots more.

We actually stayed in studio chatting for over an hour and a half and so we’ve decided to break the conversation up into two parts, the first of which you’re about to press play - and if you'd like to hear part 2 afterwards, jump back to Oct 2023 on this menu. I hope you enjoy what I think is a very different kind of interview with one of Ireland best-known politicians.

Comedy – Eamon Dunphy and John Giles discuss the massive cocaine haul off the Irish coast this week.

Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand

This is one of my favourite interviews from last year. I’ve always noticed that rugby players, in particular retired rugby players, have brilliant stories to tell. There’s so much craic and mischief going on behind the scenes in the changing room and when they’re off on tour and then you and I are lucky enough to hear all about it, when a sufficient amount of time has passed and its safe to share the stories!

Tommy Bowe is one of those great former rugby internationals who also happens to be a brilliant storyteller, so I was delighted when he agreed to join me as special guest here on the Mario Rosenstock Podcast. I got some juicy behind-the-scenes stories and gossip which I think you’ll enjoy, but we also talk about his childhood growing up in a border county when the British army very much still a presence there, how he very nearly did not become a professional rugby player, his new career as a TV presenter (known for regular hilarious gaffes – 10 siblings, anybody?), and his successful clothing company XV Kings which has just turned 10 years old.

COMEDY - David McWilliams reminisces about causing trouble on ‘culchies shopping day’ on 8th December in his youth

Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride a motorbike alone from the bottom of South America to the very top of North America? My guest on this episode did just that.

Peter Murtagh, having retired from the Irish Times after decades of doing the work he loved to do, hopped on his motorbike, and spent eight months travelling 45,000 kms alone through deserts, mountains, jungles and cities, and he joins me to tell me about the places he saw, the people he met, and what he has learned about himself and the world.

Check out Peter’s book about the whole experience: 'Tip to Top: The Journey of a Lifetime, From Chile to Alaska'.

COMEDY – whats the story with the Irish ‘Summer’ this year? The Mario Rosenstock Podcast hotline has been hopping with messages from well-known voices.

Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand

In the 12 months since Tony Kelly was on this podcast, his life has completely transformed. The comedy character that he created at a house party over ten years ago, is now the central character in a feature film that has gone global, streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

So Tony is back on the pod to tell me all about how it all happened and where to next. We also talk about his personal struggles with alcohol and drugs and how that side of his life has been going for him since the very dark times he went through not so long ago.

COMEDY – Tony gets voicemails from Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Brendan O’Connor, and the great John Mullane!!

I am a tennis nut. I have been playing and loving the sport since I was ten years old and continue to love it to this day. So I’m delighted to be joined on this episode by the best tennis player ever to come out of Ireland. Conor Niland played for many years at a professional level, he was coached at the tennis academy run by legendary coach Nick Bollettieri, and he even qualified for Wimbledon, one of the only Irish players ever to do so.

He has also met and played some of the tennis greats and on this episode he takes me behind the scenes of this fascinating world. Conor has just published a fascinating book called ‘The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%’, and he tells me all about it in this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast.

COMEDY – Taylor Swift is in Ireland and her phone is hopping! We got exclusive access to her voicemails

Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand

Professor John Crown is one of Ireland’s best-known and accomplished cancer experts. He has spent his entire career trying to improve outcomes for patients and fighting to improve the way Ireland’s health system works, so it was no surprise that, recently, John was crowned with the Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Medicine and Research Award from the Irish Association for Cancer Research.

In this episode of The Mario Rosenstock Podcast we talk about John’s fascinating background, what inspired him to become a cancer specialist, what we all need to do (and stop doing) to live longer, healthier lives, where the health system has gone wrong and how John believes it can be fixed.

COMEDY – we throw back to one of my favourites: RTE boss Kevin Bakhurst has just introduced a salary cap for RTE presenters – his voicemail box is hopping!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Brendan Ogle is one of Ireland’s best-known activists and trade unionists. Having fought Margaret Thatcher and her plans to privatise the railways in the UK, Brendan returned home to Ireland in the early 90s and has been fighting for workers’ rights and social justice ever since.

He has now decided that its time to move from protest to politics, and to try to effect change as a member of the European Parliament. Brendan is always a compelling podcast guest – he’s a real character, he’s got loads of war stories from the decades he has spent in the trade union movement, and its clear that he has plenty of fight left in him yet.

COMEDY – Donald Trump’s phone has been hopping ever since he was found guilty of falsifying his business records. Check out the messages he has been getting from some well-known Irish people

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Laura and Rob are from very different worlds. Laura is a stand-up comedian and actress, best known The School and Bridget and Eamon on RTE. Rob is one of Ireland’s most successful Olympians, competing in five different Olympic games, and winning a gold medal at the Moscow World Championships.

But together they present a very successful podcast called Red Raw where they talk very openly about their lives and share stories about body image, trying to conceive, Rob not hitting puberty until he was 17, and Laura being a virgin into her mid 20s

Nothing is off the table when it comes to their podcast – and nothing was off the table when it came to our chat too.

COMEDY – with 2fm losing some of its biggest stars, some of Ireland’s favourite podcasters audition for their roles…

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand