Episodes
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Simon Le Bon, the iconic British singer and frontman of Duran Duran, joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about a life in music, his early days in the band, his quest to make glamour the "new punk-rock", and what he thinks now of Elton John, young musicians' use of AutoTune and John Taylor's decisions around some of their songwriting, plus their new album Future Past.
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David Gray, the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about his influences and inspirations, as well as his new album Skellig, his early days in music, his move into electronica with his record-breaking fourth album White Ladder, the bestselling record in Irish chart history, and how Covid-19 has impacted the live music industry.
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Missing episodes?
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Patrick Freyne, the award-winning critic and debut author, joins Nadine O'Regan on My Roots are Showing to talk about his new book OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, a collection of essays which tracks back through his life as a writer, musician and human being in Ireland, examining topics including mental health, the arts, writing and progressiveness in Ireland.
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Andrea Corr, lead singer of The Corrs, joins Nadine O'Regan to discuss her multi-faceted career. As frontwoman of The Corrs, the Dundalk-raised Irish singer has, along with her three siblings, sold over 40 million albums. She has also carved out a successful acting career on the stage and published a recent memoir Barefoot Pilgrimage, which is out in paperback in July. In this wide-ranging interview, Andrea talks candidly about her background, taking in not just her globe-trotting career, but also her life as a daughter, sister, wife and mother.
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Ed O'Brien of Radiohead joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about his first solo album Earth, as well as his decades in Radiohead, his route to creativity, the support of his friends such as producer Flood and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and how time spent in Brazil shaped him in the making of his first solo album. He also speaks about how Radiohead approach making albums, as well as their dislike of repeating themselves on tour.
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Irish playwright Nancy Harris joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about her life and work, including her plays The Beacon and Our New Girl, and her background, growing up as the child of two well-known journalists, Anne and Eoghan Harris, and her early move to Birmingham and then London to pursue her career. Motherhood, parenting and feminism are also discussed in the podcast -- as well as the question of whether being an artist can be incompatible with being a mother.
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Former professional footballer turned sports pundit, Richie Sadlier joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about his new memoir Recovering and his life growing up in Dublin, joining Millwall, and having to deal with a turbulent aftermath when his career was cut short by injury in his 20s. Now a psychotherapist, Sadlier has fought off his own demons -- he has struggled with depression and addiction over the years, and has faced down other tough realities from his past. He talks about his experiences as well as reflecting on his recent successes -- his memoir Recovering, written with Dion Fanning, took the top sports book award at the Irish Book Awards in late 2019.
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Irish-American diplomat Samantha Power joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about her celebrated career and her new memoir The Education of an Idealist, which tracks back over her time serving as US ambassador to the UN, as well as her childhood years in Dublin, her move to the States at the age of nine, her work on behalf of former US President Barack Obama, her thoughts on motherhood and feminism, her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, and her life in a Donald Trump-led United States.
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Irish journalist, author, activist and podcaster Una Mullally joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about her career in journalism, as well as her origins in Dublin, her early days, her decision to leave the Catholic Church, falling in love, and how she coped when faced with a cancer diagnosis days after her 32nd birthday. They also talk about the joy and the difficulty of creating podcasts (Una's new podcast, which she co-hosts with Andrea Horan, is called United Ireland and is available on all platforms), as well as Una's appointment in 2019 as a European Young Leader.
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Irish author Emilie Pine joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about her brilliant non-fiction book Notes to Self, which tracks back over her life, and offers her take on difficult but important subjects, including motherhood, family alcoholism and gender equality issues. Notes to Self has been published in more than a dozen countries and won several awards, including Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.
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Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about his life inside and outside politics, discussing his influences, his younger days in Dublin, his years in England, his feelings on Brexit, Ireland and modern politics, and his decision to abandon his early dreams of a life in writing to pursue a radically different type of career.
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The talented British author, screenwriter and podcaster Jon Ronson joins Nadine O'Regan for a new episode of My Roots Are Showing, in which he talks about his life and career, as well as his many brilliant podcasts and books, which include The Butterfly Effect, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test and Them: Adventures With Extremists Jon is based in New York, so this episode was recorded in Manhattan, where Jon reflects on his New York journey, as well as his early days in Cardiff and London, his lifelong battle with anxiety, his difficulty with Twitter trolls, and his hopes for the next American president.
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Irish author Kevin Barry joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about life, literature, Cork in the 1990s, the Dublin housing crisis and much more. Barry is the author of Night Boat to Tangier, which was recently longlisted for the Booker Prize. His previous novels are Beatlebone and City of Bohane, and he is also the author of a number of fine short-story collections.
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Acclaimed US author and musician Willy Vlautin joins Nadine O'Regan to talk about the art of novel-writing, making music with The Delines and Richmond Fontaine, and the experience of having his hit novel Lean on Pete made into a film starring Steve Buscemi and Chloe Sevigny. They also chat about his influences and inspirations, including artists such as Kate Bush, Roddy Doyle and Kamasi Washington.
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When you get offered an interview with Shirley Manson of Garbage, do you know what you do? You jump at it. Not just because the band are so acclaimed and successful, though they are (they've sold millions of albums) or because they're kicking off a new tour with their Electric Picnic date this Sunday. No, it's because Shirley Manson has long been an inspiration to a whole generation of indie kids -- and particularly girls. She does her own thing and she's been doing her own thing since the 1990s, and ruling over all.
In this podcast, My Roots Are Showing, Shirley chats to me about her musical loves and we talk about her life, from her early days right up to 2018 and her Electric Picnic plans. I hope you enjoy listening! Let me know what you think by going to twitter.com/nadineoregan or posting a comment here. xx
