The hosts of the Irish Stew Podcast turn the tables on themselves for this special episode!
For the 100th episode of the Irish Stew Irish Podcast, Wexford's native and attorney Shelley Ann Quilty-Lake, grills the pair on their four-year journey, their podcast concept, the show’s evolution, their changing interview approach, and how they collaborate.
John and Martin reflect on the podcast’s dynamic guest lineup, which includes astronauts and archaeologists, standout moments in the first 99 episodes, and what they see as their role in the Irish diaspora.
This year the duo were delighted to find themselves on the shortlist for three 2024 Irish Pod Awards. They also share the buzz from their recent “Irish Stew Gets Lost in Belfast Road Trip 2024” (episodes dropping mid-Jan), the first, they hope, of many road trips across the Global Irish Nation.
Speaking to IrishCentral at the beginning of the podcast journey in 2021, Martin and John explained that the dream for the podcast was the strengthen the connection between the different communities within the broader Irish diaspora, by “telling the stories of people that are doing interesting work and figuring out why they do what they do.”
The enchanting opening theme music to the podcast, performed and written by Martin’s niece Rosa Nutty, is a musical take on the Irish expressions “Oileán mór, domhain beag. Ní neart go cur le chéile”, which translates to “big island, small world. There is strength in unity."
This is the overall message John and Martin want to achieve with the podcast and to flip our understanding of what it means to be Irish on its head, especially when it comes to the term “plastic paddy."
“The whole plastic paddy thing is toxic, it’s not good for Ireland. There is this tension between what is Irish identity... where an American will say 'I'm Irish' and they immediately get smacked down and told no you’re not Irish."
“What we’re trying to say is that there are a lot of flavors of Irishness [and] I think it’s in the country's interest to figure out how to accommodate that expansive Irishness.
Martin and John look forward to dishing out many more servings of Irish Stew for you in 2025!
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