Best National Library Of Ireland Podcasts (2025)

“Poetry is like one of the great loves of my life, and I think it's probably the longest relationship I'll ever have. I read a lot of poetry. I also wrote these short stories even when I was pretty young, like in second grade, and the stories kept getting shorter and shorter. My family used to go to Damascus in Syria and Lebanon every summer for th…

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How to Make an Algorithm in the Microwave with Poet MAYA SALAMEH 38:26

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20h ago38:26

38:26

“Poetry is like one of the great loves of my life, and I think it's probably the longest relationship I'll ever have. I read a lot of poetry. I also wrote these short stories even when I was pretty young, like in second grade, and the stories kept getting shorter and shorter. My family used to go to Damascus in Syria and Lebanon every summer for th…

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Art is a Fundamental Element of Life - Gallerist HANNAH BARRY on a Life in Art 34:58

20h ago34:58

34:58

“There's something fundamental about the value of art and culture. Not just being integrated for vocational reasons, but because the experience of art and having a cultural element in one's life brings enjoyment, learning, relief, or any of the many experiences and feelings that art provides. I think this is quite fundamental as an element of life.…

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Art is a Fundamental Element of Life - Gallerist HANNAH BARRY on a Life in Art 34:58

21h ago34:58

34:58

“There's something fundamental about the value of art and culture. Not just being integrated for vocational reasons, but because the experience of art and having a cultural element in one's life brings enjoyment, learning, relief, or any of the many experiences and feelings that art provides. I think this is quite fundamental as an element of life.…

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Empire of AI: Dreams & Nightmares in Sam Altman's Open AI with KAREN HAO 43:40

6d ago43:40

43:40

“My book is called Empire of AI because I'm trying to articulate this argument and illustrate that these companies operate exactly like empires of old. I highlight four features that essentially encapsulate the three things you read. However, I started talking about it in a different way after writing the book. The four features are: they lay claim…

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Why We Need Stories in Times of Crisis: ETGAR KERET on Healing, Connection & Creativity in the Age of AI - Highlights 19:13

12d ago19:13

19:13

“I feel that when you don't tell your story, it's as if you have a limited existence. We can always have some kind of choice, but I'm saying that the story we choose may be the most crucial choice that we make, because this story will affect all the other choices.” Etgar Keret is one of the most inventive and celebrated short story writers of his g…

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Finding Humanity Through Storytelling with Author & Filmmaker ETGAR KERET 1:08:23

12d ago1:08:23

1:08:23

“When I write my stories, I don't want to solve things in life. I just want to persuade myself that there is a way out. Maybe I am in a cell, maybe I'm trapped. Maybe I won't make it, but if I can imagine a plan for escape, then I'll be less trapped because at least in my mind, there is a way. I think that my parents are survivors. They always talk…

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Arabic Literature, Palestine & The Art of Translation with HUDA FAKHREDDINE

21d ago

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“I'm Lebanese. I grew up in Lebanon during the Civil War, and I came to the United States as a graduate student with the intention of going back. I never wanted to stay here. I really thought that my life would happen in Beirut, in a city that I loved and hated in the healthiest of ways. My investments, both literary and intellectual, were rooted t…

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Arabic Literature, Palestine & The Art of Translation with HUDA FAKHREDDINE

21d ago

—

“I'm Lebanese. I grew up in Lebanon during the Civil War, and I came to the United States as a graduate student with the intention of going back. I never wanted to stay here. I really thought that my life would happen in Beirut, in a city that I loved and hated in the healthiest of ways. My investments, both literary and intellectual, were rooted t…

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Building a Vital Earth for Everyone with President of Environmental Defense Fund’s EDF Action DAVID KIEVE 46:32

27d ago46:32

46:32

“I think my role and where I'm most comfortable is focusing on the economic harms that the choices this administration is making will limit access to affordable, clean energy. Affordable energy overall, and that they will wind up harming the American people. EDF is standing up and fighting the Trump administration in court every single day. We beli…

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The Poetics & Pedagogy of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, Audre Lorde &Adrienne Rich in the Era of Free College w/ DANICA SAVONICK 42:56

27d ago42:56

42:56

“As I was reading Hooks and Freire, a colleague recommended Adrian Rich's essay "Teaching Language in Open Admissions." It was in that essay that I first read about her experiences teaching at CUNY during open admissions, learning that she taught alongside June Jordan, Audre Lorde, and Toni Cade Bambara. Eventually, that essay led me to their archi…

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Art Without Borders - RAJIV MENON'S Vision for South Asian Art 46:31

1M ago46:31

46:31

“I want people to understand South Asian art as broader than a single gallery or a single artist, but as a larger cultural movement. I want people to encounter art in all parts of their lives, and I’m constantly thinking about new ways to achieve that. I was very aware, as someone launching a South Asia-focused gallery, that this was the cultural d…

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What Do We Do with the One Life We’re Given? - Scientists, Writers, Philosophers & Changemakers Share their Stories 16:09

1M ago16:09

16:09

In this time of rapid technological change, how do we hold onto our humanity? How do stories, traditions, and community help us find meaning in loss and face an uncertain future? How can science, art, and spirituality open new pathways to understanding ourselves and the human experience? PAUL SHRIVASTAVA (Co-President of The Club of Rome) discusses…

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Creative Ireland: How Ireland Is Harnessing Creativity as National Strategy with SHEILA DEEGAN 51:26

1M ago51:26

51:26

Today, we talk about creativity—not as a luxury, but as a national strategy. Sheila Deegan is one of Ireland’s leading cultural architects. Over three decades, she’s shaped the artistic life of Limerick and helped reimagine the role of creativity in civic life. She now serves in the Creative Ireland Programme, a bold cross-government initiative tha…

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Creative Ireland: How Ireland Is Harnessing Creativity as National Strategy with SHEILA DEEGAN 51:26

1M ago51:26

51:26

Today, we talk about creativity—not as a luxury, but as a national strategy. Sheila Deegan is one of Ireland’s leading cultural architects. Over three decades, she’s shaped the artistic life of Limerick and helped reimagine the role of creativity in civic life. She now serves in the Creative Ireland Programme, a bold cross-government initiative tha…

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Every Monument Will Fall - DAN HICKS Explores Remembering & Forgetting 55:59

1M ago55:59

55:59

“I work in between archeology and anthropology in this field called either historical archeology or contemporary archeology. At the heart of that is the relationship between objects and humans. How do we write about the past or the present in terms of listening to human voices or evidence from things where maybe human voices have been erased or hav…

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From 'Bee: Wild' to the 'Kiss the Ground' Regenerative Agriculture Documentary Trilogy - Highlights 15:03

1M ago15:03

15:03

"For the last two decades, I've made over 20 films about the environment, starting with oil and carbon emissions. Those films, Kiss the Ground and now Common Ground, talk about how we can stabilize the climate, reverse climate change, grow nutrient-dense food, and help farmers make a profit through biodiversity and regenerative practices and princi…

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From 'Bee: Wild' to the 'Kiss the Ground' Regenerative Agriculture Documentary Trilogy - Highlights 15:03

1M ago15:03

15:03

"For the last two decades, I've made over 20 films about the environment, starting with oil and carbon emissions. Those films, Kiss the Ground and now Common Ground, talk about how we can stabilize the climate, reverse climate change, grow nutrient-dense food, and help farmers make a profit through biodiversity and regenerative practices and princi…

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All About Bees, Soil & Regeneration with Documentary Filmmaker REBECCA TICKELL 1:00:46

2M ago1:00:46

1:00:46

“I didn't really appreciate bees until I became a farmer, and then I started to understand how essential bees are for our food. They pollinate 70% of our food, and that feeds 90% of the world. There's a whole world of insects that creates the color in our food; it's what creates the flavor in our food. It's part of our biodiversity, and it's essent…

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All About Bees, Soil & Regeneration with Documentary Filmmaker REBECCA TICKELL 1:00:46

2M ago1:00:46

1:00:46

“I didn't really appreciate bees until I became a farmer, and then I started to understand how essential bees are for our food. They pollinate 70% of our food, and that feeds 90% of the world. There's a whole world of insects that creates the color in our food; it's what creates the flavor in our food. It's part of our biodiversity, and it's essent…

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AI, UFOs, Perception & Reality with Artist, Geographer, Author TREVOR PAGLEN - Highlights 14:14

2M ago14:14

14:14

“If we look at the entire history of the human experience, if you saw some text or you heard some spoken language, you could 100 percent reliably infer that there was a human who created that. Our experience of having that text or that image generated for us is very akin to the experience of a magic trick, and we sort of pre-subconsciously want to …

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How AI is Shaping Perception, How Deception is Sculpting Our Reality with Artist TREVOR PAGLEN 55:26

2M ago55:26

55:26

“There's a word for this brain rot, right? I think that's very real. There are studies coming out now that are showing that the more and more of our cognitive labor we offload to AI systems, the less creative we become, the less critical we become, and the less of our human faculties for reason we use. There's something sad about that, but there’s …

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Art, Empathy & Resilience with CADY McCLAIN, Actor, Director, Writer, Artist, Musician - Highlights 11:20

2M ago11:20

11:20

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing wo…

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Art, Empathy & Resilience with CADY McCLAIN, Actor, Director, Writer, Artist, Musician - Highlights 11:20

2M ago11:20

11:20

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing wo…

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A Life in Acting with Emmy Award-winning Actor, Director, Writer CADY McCLAIN 1:06:02

2M ago1:06:02

1:06:02

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a …

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A Life in Acting with Emmy Award-winning Actor, Director, Writer CADY McCLAIN 1:06:02

2M ago1:06:02

1:06:02

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a …

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Revolutionizing Investment Strategies with Carbon Tracker - MARK CAMPANALE - Highlights 11:11

2M ago11:11

11:11

“We're living in a fascinating time, and unfortunately, to an extent, Europe and, very much so, North America are trying to hold onto the past while other parts of the world, like China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, are looking to the future. As an Italian citizen and an English citizen, I feel that we’ve left ourselves behind and that others are taki…

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Can Finance Revolutionize Climate Action? with MARK CAMPANALE, Founder of Carbon Tracker 45:54

2M ago45:54

45:54

“Carbon Tracker is a non-profit financial think tank focused on change and the energy transition. I set it up because I spent 20 years working in the financial world, and I noticed that a lot of coal, oil, and gas projects, even with all the evidence we know about climate change, were getting financed through banks and the stock market. It was almo…

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Exploring Organic, Biodynamic & Regenerative Agriculture with LOUIS DE JAEGER - Highlights 11:50

2M ago11:50

11:50

“We as humans can destroy things in a couple of years that have taken thousands or even millions of years to form. So in the snap of a finger, we can destroy so much work. That's an observation I’ve seen in all biomes, and it's pretty scary. On the other hand, nature regenerates pretty fast. It heals itself. If humans help this healing process, it …

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SOS: Save Our Soils: How regenerative food & farming will save your health & the planet w/ LOUIS DE JAEGER 1:02:35

2M ago1:02:35

1:02:35

“The Earth started as one big rock, and soil did not exist. Without soil, you can't really grow trees or any crops whatsoever. We are depleting soils super fast, and it is predicted that in less than 25 years, 90% of our soils will be degraded. We as humans, we can destroy things in a couple of years that have taken thousands or even millions of ye…

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Abolish Silicon Valley—How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism 48:54

2M ago48:54

48:54

“Abolishing Silicon Valley means freeing the development of technology from a system that will always relegate it to a subordinate role, that of entrenching existing power relations. It means designing a new system that isn't deluged in the logic of the bucket. It means liberating our worlds from the illegitimate ring of capital. Perhaps this sound…

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Abolish Silicon Valley—How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism 48:54

2M ago48:54

48:54

“Abolishing Silicon Valley means freeing the development of technology from a system that will always relegate it to a subordinate role, that of entrenching existing power relations. It means designing a new system that isn't deluged in the logic of the bucket. It means liberating our worlds from the illegitimate ring of capital. Perhaps this sound…

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Life As No One Knows It - Exploring AIR Aspen with NICOLA LEES - Highlights 9:04

2M ago9:04

9:04

“For us, I think it really is about trust and commitments, and I don't think that has necessarily changed over the years. As we work on that, obviously, we are very much invested in how we can engage an audience and spark the curiosity that people are looking for. The most important thing often is how we can spark that curiosity in ourselves. As a …

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Life As No One Knows It - Exploring AIR Aspen with NICOLA LEES - Highlights 9:04

2M ago9:04

9:04

“For us, I think it really is about trust and commitments, and I don't think that has necessarily changed over the years. As we work on that, obviously, we are very much invested in how we can engage an audience and spark the curiosity that people are looking for. The most important thing often is how we can spark that curiosity in ourselves. As a …

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To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other with Author VIET THANH NGUYEN - Highlights 15:29

2M ago15:29

15:29

“As a writer, I do believe that art and literature in and of themselves are important. I'm going to keep on writing novels, and one of the most important reasons why is because, as you mentioned, language is crucial. Part of the way that states and authoritarian regimes exercise their power is not just through physical violence and intimidation, bu…

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The First Artist-Led Global Summit & The Future of Museums - NICOLA LEES, Director, Aspen Art Museum 46:04

2M ago46:04

46:04

“It's a complicated time to think about how we can slow down, be still, and bring a brilliant group of people together to do something that feels purposeful and can be productive. It's a moment where things are moving so fast. When I brought up the idea of a hinge generation, I think it's impossible to know how we will look back and reflect on this…

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The First Artist-Led Global Summit & The Future of Museums - NICOLA LEES, Director, Aspen Art Museum 46:04

2M ago46:04

46:04

“It's a complicated time to think about how we can slow down, be still, and bring a brilliant group of people together to do something that feels purposeful and can be productive. It's a moment where things are moving so fast. When I brought up the idea of a hinge generation, I think it's impossible to know how we will look back and reflect on this…