The Artificial Hipsters Cross the Bridge

We return to an old favourite. How regulators are respossible for poor service and processitis. Ciaran does not agree while Jim scrapes the barrel.We also spend a short while on the resurgence of the Suuuuuper Spurs, but have they left it too late.

Not much else to talk about except the Blockades in Cork, Limerick, Galway and the Gulf of Hormuz. But we manage to revile Starmer and discuss Tourettes syndrome, so you cant say its not varied.Hopefully we’ll be a bit lighterthearted next time, but there’s some good stuff here.

Well we cover a lot of ground today, from Morgan’s famous disappearing phone by way of Nye Bevan, Peel and Gladstone to arrive at a new way of setting up a major political reset. Oh what fun!

This week we get into the Iran war. Where can we start and more importantly portantly where will it finish ? Jim waxes lyrical about the appalling vaccillation of Keir Starmer and the weakness of the British Armed Forces. Ciaran, as always keeps a cooler head

This weeks we really go up the pole big time with a review of useless, decrepit and littering street 'furniture'.We also touch on Epstein and why Ireland doesn't have a mainstream right wing party.

We spend a lot of time on the Mandelson affair. Dont think it cant happen in Ireland. Then we switch to street littering where local councils leave junk in the form of useless posts or signage all over out cities. More on this to come but we have uncovered a typical example in Oliver Plunket St in Cork. Then we come to jaywalking which is endemic across Ireland and trace that back to the traditional sport of road bowling. That should keep you going for a bit.

Sorry this is a bit late but we had a fistfight with our service provider. Its all alright now. Phew. Let us know what you think about the new format

Well we won’t be doing any more speech only podcasts, we have decided to take the momentous step into video production which will take to the air, same bat time, same bat channel. in two weeks time. For the first time, to use Ciaran’s phrase, you will be able to see him picking his hair and me combing my nose. Plus we will be doing more video inserts and perhaps interviews.In this last speech only podcast we have a review of 2025 and predictions for 2026, so nothing very exciting but we hope interesting nonetheless, Stick with us..

Sorry about last week we were hoping to do a test of our new video format but there were some technical problems which stopped us at the last minute. We’re still on line for a new launch in the early part of the New Year.This is our lighter hearted review of Christmas Traditions. Enjoy !A Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all our listeners.

We make no apologies for returning to the topic of broadcasting bias and especially in the BBC. Too much has happened for it to be ignored. Apart from Troy Parrot and Harry Kane carrying their Nation Teams into the World Cup Finals (well nearly anyway)

APART FROM OUR NORMAL SNIPPETS, WHICH COVER A RANGE FROM ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN ETC ETC, TO HANK MARVIN’S BIRTHDAY, WE FOCUS ON WHY CENSORSHIP HAPPENS AND WHY OUR POLITICS IS SO VACUOUS THESE DAYS.

WELL WE COVER LOCAL STUFF LIKE LENNY HENRY’S NEW BOOK, UK ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, THE INCOMPETENCE OF KEIR STARMER AND THE STUPIDITY OF OXFORD GRADUATES. PLUS THE VASTNESS OF SPACE AND INTER-STELLAR VISITORS. THATS A GOOD RANGE OF INTEREST....

We cover a lot of ground this week. Anti-semitism, driving from Cork to London, Potholes, Irish Presidency, awful Labour Conference.....And then the meat. How do people get their information these days with the unreliability of almost all data sources. No sport though...

That was what Dr Johnson called Patriotism. It’s our main topic for this podcast. What does it mean? Why should we expect citizens to be patriotic ? We also touch on Jim’s birthday and his unexpected telephone call from a Spurs Legend...yes really! Plus Trump's visit, the ULEZ website in the UK and many other snippets, but not football...well apart from the phone call.

Welcome back after our Summer Break. We’ve made a few format changes. Firstly we’ll be producing pods on a fortnightly basis rather than weekly and each podcast will be in two sections. The first is the 'Snippets ‘ Section which is about half an hour of things which have caught our eye, bad jokes and slightly off piste comments on current news issues. The second section will cover a single topic in more detail.This week we’re talking about alcohol and its role in British and Irish culture.Enjoy.

LAST POD BEFORE WE BREAK FOR OUR HOLS...BACK IN SEPT. RENEWED, REFRESHED AND WITH SOME NEW IDEAS.THIS WEEK WE TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE B&I LIONS BEATING THE AUSSIES AND THEN THE LIONESSES WINNING THE WOMEN’S EUROS AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE FOOTBALL. THEN WE GET INTO THE MEAT OF HOUSING. THE LACK OF HOUSING SEEMS TO BE AFFECTING MOST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE AMERICAS. WHAT TO DO? SUBSIDISE? CANT AFFORD IT. BUILD MORE OR RENT MORE BUT THE BASE PROBLEM IS NUMBERS BE IT PEOPLE, OR COSTS. HMMM.....

WELL WE GOT THERE EVENTUALLY, DESPITE A SOVIET STYLE PROGRAMME OF ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES. SOMEONE UP THERE DOESNT LIKE US...WE MUST BE GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT. THIS WEEK IS ABOUT HALF OUR NORMAL LENGTH BUT WE PACK A LOT IN, BOTH WRONG ABOUT THE HURLING FINAL, BOTH OPPOSED TO VOTES AT 16, QUITE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW TO GET THE PEOPLE TO LOVE THEIR COUNTRIES AGAIN SO WORTH A FEW CLICKS AND BUZZES.

This week we moved away from our usual doom and gloom and angry old men issues and turn instead to great Rock Music. Jim gives an impassioned account of Rod Stewart in his Glasto triumph. Whilst Ciaran sticks to Dylan as he always does although the Stone Roses and Moving Hearts get a mention.Lulu, Clapton, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac and Christie Moore are all in the mix. Enjoy.

OUR 100TH EPISODE !WE REVIEW OUR FAVOURITE EPISODES AND WHAT WE SHOULD DO NEXT. WE’D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK.PLEASE FOLLOW US AND SEND A COMMENT OR TWO.

WELL WHAT A WEEK FOR BALLS UPS. STARMER IMPLODES THE LABOUT PARTY, BOB VYLENS IMPLODES GLASTO, AND THE BBC IMPLODES ITSELF. OH YES PLUS DUBLIN FOOTBALLERS LOSING, CIARAN’S YOUGEST GRADUATING AND LOTS OF OTHER GOOD STUFF.MAKE SURE YOU LISTEN NEXT WEEK ITS OUR HUNDREDTH PODCAST !!!!!

THIS WEEK WE HAVE A FEW INSIGNIFICANT MOANS AND MOMENTS BUT THE BIG STORY IS OBVIOUSLY THE AMERICAN ATTACK ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS GRADE PRODUCTION FACILITIES. AS WE WERE RECORDING THE IRANIANS RETALIATED AGAINST THE US ATTACKS. NOT SURE WHERE THAT’S GOING. TUNE IN NEXT WEEK TO FIND OUT. JIM THINKS HE MIGHT BE IN A SHIPPING CONTAINER IN THE MIDLANDS DIRECTING DRONE ATTACKS. YEAH ! LIKE ANYONE WANTS A 72 YEAR OLD DISABLED EX RESERVIST FOR ANYTHING.......

We agree with a recent speech by Dominic Cummings in which he alleges the Civil Service blob has taken over the process of Government in Britain and Europe. We agree and go into it more fully.We report on successful Fathers Day outings and also Jim’s near fatal experience with an exploding fountain pen. Fatal fror his trousers anyway...

This week Jim goes to his daughter’s wedding and delves into the rights and wrong of sacking ther Spurs manager. Ciaran gets caught up in Original Sin (its a new book about the cover up around Joe Biden’s health).We also talk about how the left lost Marxism and found woke authoritarianism.We both spend a lot of time talking about economic policy but in particular whether Trump is about to impose a military solution on America. Could there be a revolution...who knows where the Trumpster is concerned?

WE LOOK AT WHAT BREXITEERS MIGHT WANT OF THE EU. NO FOOTBALL...NO ODDS AND SODS...STRAIGHT TO THE MEAT COURSE.

We comb over Keir Starmer’s agreement with the EU....needless to say we have different approaches, but in attempt to get to the other side of the bridge next week we are going to try to identify what a deal with the EU which would satisfy brexiteers might look like.In the process we hate the Eurovision Song Contest but love Ciaran’s daughter’s keys......

This week we talk about whether a social revolution is under way and have we passed peak woke? We also talk about Skortgate in Camogie.News just in...Ciaran doesn't regard Jim as his role model in all things, oh calamity !

MONTY PYTHON’S BLACK KNIGHT WHO RESISTED HAVING ALL BODILY PARTS RENT ASUNDER COULD TEACH US SOMETHING ABOUT RESILIENCE. UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE NOT LISTENING. THE MESSAGE OF VE80 THIS WEEK IS THAT THE ALLIES WERE ABLE TO BUILD ON THE RESILIENCE OF THE PEOPLE TO CREATE A WAR WINNING MACHINE. ARE WE JUST A NATION OF SELF OBSESSED WOKE WIMPS OR IS THAT ESSENTIAL STRENGTH STILL THERE? DISCUSS.

THIS WEEK WE HAVE A FEW OF THE USUAL MOMENTS AT THE BEGINNING BUT WE SPEND MOST OF OUR TIME DISCUSSING OUR GUESTS TO A HISTORICAL DINNER PARTY. OUR GUESTS ARE ENOCH POWELL, FORMER UK MP, BILL CORBETT SNR (JIM’S GRANDFATHER), BOB DYLAN, LIAM CASEY (CIARAN’S GRANDFATHER), TONY BENN, BILL BURR (US COMEDIAN), GEORGE ORWELL AND NELSON MANDELA. THERE’S A COLLECTION FOR YOU! I WONDER HOW THEY’LL GET ON? WE FIND OUT.

WELL WE DON’T JUST TALK ABOUT THE LEGACY OF THE POPE THIS WEEK. WE TOUCH ON TRAFFIC PLANNING AND WHY TRAMS DON’T GO UPHILL, DOUGLAS MURRAY AND INDEED AND BIT OF FOOTBALL...THAT SHOULD KEEP YOU GOING FOR ANOTHER WEEK.

AFTER OUR HOLS WE SPEND A WHILE TEACHING OUR AUDIENCE HOW TO FILLET SARDINES AND HOW TO AVOID CAR HIRE INSURANCE CHARGES BUT MOST OF ALL TRYING TO WORK OUT HOW THE COIFFURED ONE IN THE OVAL OFFICE HAS BEEN GETTING ON WHILE WE WERE AWAY.....

This week we look at how Governments can actually cut expenditure. The role of democracy in doing so and how to make the population more self reliant and less dependant.Also the Heathrow shut down debacle and on a brighter note the revival of a great play my Brian Friel called Making History by Cork’s Famous Everyman Theatre under the direction of new Artistic Director Des Kennedy in his first Everyman Production.

WE HAVE A FEW MOANS THIS WEEK BUT MAINLY WE CONCENTRATE ON PARENTING AND THE MODERN PRESSURES UPON CHILDREN AND PARENTS NO FOOTBALL AGAIN ! THATS BECAUSE BOTH OUR TEAMS LOST BUT OUR RUGBY TEAMS DIDN'T!

Well after a few weeks of Trumpian excess we thought we should change the pitch a bit so we’ve taken a look back at Covid. There’s quite a lot of data about now which seems to show that most Countries got it badly wrong what do you think? Let us know via our poll.

Well we get a bit snappier this week after our sick leave. After the normal pleasantries and a report back from the convenor of our Listeners Council we concentrate on the spat between Trump and Zelensky. Above all we have no football !

Well another interesting week, we look over the Vice President’s speech to the European Security Conference and find some good bits in it. We touch on the moral foundation stone of our democracy and wonder how to defend it. Also this week, a new restaurant in Cork’s St Luke’s area, Jim’s going to write a book for Ciaran to publish and Man Utd are going to be relegated.

WELL WE PACK A LOT IN AGAIN THIS WEEK. JIM’S VISIT TO DERRY AND THE BOGSIDE; WHY THE EURO ELITE HATE TRUMP; A GREAT RUGBY WEEKEND EXCEPT FOR WALES WHO SHOULD BE DRUMMED OUT OF THE BROWNIES; ENDING WITH BUYING GENERATORS; AND DEMOCRACY FOR ALL FROM YOUR LAPTOP...AND WHY NOT?

This week we cover US Food Additives; Populism is it good or bad?: We visit a power lifting contest and start a new section called One Thing I Would Change. Plus the Spurs resurgence ?? And Liverpool for the Premiership.

WE START THIS WEEK WITH A SHAMBOLIC TIME IN THE DAIL, FOLLOWED BY A REVIEW OF EXTREME CENTRISTS AND THEN THE AWFUL IMPACT OF PSYCHO TERRORISTS ON SOCIETY AND HOW WE STOP THEM MURDERING LITTLE GIRLS. WE END UP WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FOOTBALL BUT OUR HEARTS WEREN’T IN IT AND WE’RE GOING TO HIDE UNDER THE BED CLOTHES NOW.

EP.80: THIS WEEK WE SPEND MOST OF OUR TIME TALKING ABOUT THE INAUGURATION SPEECH AND WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN FOR US ALL. THERE’S LOADS TO DISCUSS THERE ! DID YOU KNOW THAT ONLY 10% OF PODCASTS GET PAST THEIR THIRD EPISODE ? WELL THIS IS OUR 80TH !!! THATS A FEW PINTS YOU ALL OWE US. BY THE WAY THE WHITE HOUSE POLICY IS THAT ALL PUBLIC SPEECHES BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT SO WE’VE ADDED A QUICK SOUNDBITE FROM THE SPEECH. NOW THAT’S CALLED FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

We cover a lot of ground this week. Mainly we talk about whether personal ethics ever overcome the public good. This is by way of Tottenham’s biggest fan calling them dreadful; compulsory vaccination; Enoch Burke; The destroyers of slavery; Rich Boy Barrett; Building then closing empty schools which never see a pupil. And what about two protesters getting two years for throwing soup at a picture? Serves them bloody right. Quite a mash up altogether.

This is our review of 2024 and predictions for 2025. Surprising unanimity from our two boys, both think Trump is the key factor, both think that starmer is useless, both think Nigel Farage is on his way to No.10 and both think we’re in for a rocky economic ride on both sides of the Irish Sea. They even agree that Liverpool is the team of 2024. Whatever is the World coming to? We’ve started consecutive numbering of episodes from the beginning...78 can you believe it???

Time for our seasonal jollies again. Santa Jokes, Songs, The Night Before Christmas, jokes, Carols, Favourite Christmas memories, jokes, Panto memories and how to cook a turkey. Suitable for all ages, no swearing, no politics, no football just Santa Claus and Christmas stuff. Enjoy Songs, poem and jingles provided by Pixabay Community

AFTER A BRIEF HOLIDAY WE ARE BACK ON THE JOB. THIS WEEK JIM GOES CROSS EYED WITH IRISH FERRIES AND THE SPURS, CIARAN GETS EXERCISED ABOUT THE IRISH ELECTION...WELL A BIT. WE TALK ABOUT WHAT REPLACES THE LEFT RIGHT SPLIT AND THE WAR IN SYRIA. AND WE’VE GOT PLANS FOR OUR CHRISTMAS POD NEXT WEEK. DON’T BLINK.

What a mix this week! We start with a bit of football but quickly move into what a twit Simon Harris is, then the over representation in the Irish Parliament. This is followed by Ciaran queue jumping at Gatwick, Jim leading off about the poor timing of British defence cuts, then the behaviours which alienate the electorate and inspire criminals. Phew! No wonder we’re having next week off !

This week we spend some time wondering whether we are entering the time of the new fascism. Journalist Alison Pearson was said to have been given a Non Crime Hate Incident report lodged against her. This for criticising some anti-Israel demonstrators to which someone took offence and...bish bash bosh there she is getting the three o clock knock from the Political Police, otherwise known as the 9am knock from the Essex Police. We’re just waiting for our visit. We also wonder whether the UK government has lost its mind by introducing an inheritance tax for farmers and whether Jeremy Clarkson is the British Trump.

HOW DID TRUMP WIN SO EASILY? WE DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THE CESS PIT OF POLITICS. COULD IT HAPPEND IN BRITAIN OR IRELAND? WELL YES AND NO. WE ALSO HEAR ABOUT NHS ADMINISTRATORS BEING INVOLVED IN THE TRAGIC SUICIDE OF A YOUNG GIRL AND FINALLY WHAT A GOOD JOB LIVERPOOL DID.

THIS WEEK WE DIVIDE THE PODCAST INTO TO HALVES, THE FIRST HALF IS FOOTBALL BASED, WELL WE HAVENT DONE IT FOR A WHILE. THE SECOND HALF IS A DISCUSSION OF WHETHER COUNTRIES SHOULD HAVE A FORMAL RELIGIOUS ALLEGIANCE. THIS WAS TO ENABLE JIM TO SAY (NEARLY) DISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM, WHICH IS THE MOST SPELLED AND LEAST USED WORD IN ENGLISH.

GREAT DISCUSSION OF FAMILY PARTIES FOLLOWED BY BANNING POLITICIANS FROM MANAGING HEALTH AND SETTING UP AN INDEPENDENT HEALTH COMMISSION TO OVERSEE REFORM. IN ADDITION WE LOOK AT GATEWAY LEGISLATION WHICH DOES LITTLE BUT OPENS THE DOOR TO EXCESSIVE RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM. WE ALSO TALK ABOUT SPUTS AND LIVERPOOL. ONE WON AND THE OTHER DIDNT.

THIS WEEK WE LOOK BACK TO SEE IF THINGS REALLY WERE BETTER IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS. MUSIC, SCHOOL, SATURDAY JOBS, FOOD, THE LIST GOES ON. WHAT ABOUT BOILED BEEF AND CARROTS ?

Well we start with Jim being really run down by the Spurs recent loss. Ciaran gets exercised about the long waits between first and second courses in restaurants. then we get into it. We wax lyrical about the lack of conviction or any sort of political compass amongst our elected National Representatives. Where are the great politicians of our time?