IRELAND'S EDGE

Apr 11 2024 43 ep. 34 mins 46

IRELAND'S EDGE Podcast artwork

Born out of the eponymous event series and presented by historian and writer Chris Kissane, Ireland’s Edge – The Podcast hosts and hears from a range of disparate and diverse voices all at the cutting edge of what they do. In series one, there were discussions of transhumanism, the Irish language, space exploration, economics, the hidden history of the banjo, Taylor Swift and chaos theory - and almost everything in between!

And after another tumultuous year, we’re back with a new series of thought-provoking discussions about the altered state of the world around us.

We’ll be talking about everything from the climate crisis to data privacy, and psychedelic drugs to the future of the art, with guests including Guardian US editor John Mulholland, writer Seamas O’Reilly, and global energy expert Dr Michael Dorsey.

Things look different from the edge.
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'We Didn't Start the Fire': Addressing Climate Chaos

Apr 11 2024 37 mins

On today’s episode, the generational divide over climate action.While most of the world agrees with the scientific fact that humans are dangerously altering the earth’s climate, we can’t agree what to do about it. Global powers and corporate giants quarrel over who should do what, while generations argue about the need for urgency. In a global crisis where the blame and the d

University Challenge: What is the State of Ireland's Education Sector?

Apr 03 2024 42 mins

For centuries, Irish universities have been bastions of intellectual life, shaping education, politics, culture, and debate. With over half of young people receiving a third-level education, Ireland boasts one of the world's most university-educated populations. Yet, amidst political, financial, and societal pressures, uncertainty looms - can these institutions maintain their stand

'Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On': The Abbey Theatre’s Caitríona McLaughlin in Conversation

Mar 28 2024 32 mins

It is no exaggeration to say that the history of modern Ireland has been played out on the stage of our national theatre, The Abbey, founded in 1904, and after independence the first publicly-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world. It was there that Ireland first saw many of the great plays of Gregory, Yeats, Synge, O’Casey and others, often to great public debate and c

Don’t Believe Everything You Read in the Papers

Mar 19 2024 45 mins

The Irish were once the biggest newspaper readers in Europe, but in recent years our interest has begun to decline. With news reporting and investigative journalism facing an existential funding crisis, and trust in information itself rapidly declining due to "fake news" and the excesses of social media, what is the future of a world with less news, and what are the consequences? R

OK Computer: The Age of AI

Feb 28 2024 38 mins

Artificial Intelligence has already begun to change the world around us, at a speed that few of us anticipated. Will the advancement of AI bring positive progress and societal evolution, or have we created something we cannot control? On this fifth episode of Ireland’s Edge - The Podcast, Chris speaks to two fascinating guests about what opportunities and challenges this brave ne

Disrupting Opera, AI and the Art of Co-Collaboration: Dumbworld

Feb 21 2024 33 mins

Artists all around the world are trying to make sense of what the advance of artificial intelligence will mean for their creative work. Will the very human traits of passion and creativity survive in a world where we let ever more intelligent machines do the work for us? In Belfast, the innovative people behind production company Dumbworld have been thinking about this question in

Everybody Hurts: Reforming Irish Healthcare

Feb 16 2024 42 mins

Once again this winter, the Irish healthcare system has been overwhelmed, with thousands of appointments cancelled, hundreds lying on hospital trollies waiting for beds, and staff once more having to complain about unsafe and unfair working conditions.On this episode, Chris speaks to three women who see the healthcare system from very different angles: Professor Sara Burke is Direc

A View From the Hill: In conversation with Fiona Hill

Feb 07 2024 71 mins

"I’ve worked on a lot of conflicts that looked like they were intractable. A solution takes a lot of international effort; you’ve got to look for multiple honest brokers."From the horrendous destruction of Gaza, to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the return of Donald Trump, geopolitics feels terrifyingly unstable right now. On this week’s episode we hear from one

'Cowards and Women': Reporting the Rise of Sinn Féin

Feb 01 2024 32 mins

Series 4 / Episode 1Chris speaks to BBC Ireland correspondent Aoife Moore about the controversial rise of Ireland’s largest political party, Sinn Fein. Hardline militants in the republican movement used to regard their political wing as a place for ‘women and cowards’, but with Sinn Fein already the largest party in Northern Ireland, and leading the polls for the next Dail el

The People Have The Power: Fidaa Marouf, Kevin Baker + Dinny Galvin

May 25 2023 26 mins

On this episode, The People Have The Power. While debates about social change often focus on Government policy, all across Ireland there are citizens and volunteers taking it upon themselves to create the change they want to see in their communities.At Ireland’s Edge, Muireann Kelliher spoke to three such inspiring individuals to hear their stories and ask them how we can be