Brendan O'Connor
Channel Details
Brendan O'Connor
Brendan O'Connor has all you need for the weekend with time to pause and reflect on the week just gone. Featuring a selection of human interest, consumer and lifestyle stories, as well as keeping you up to date on the news stories that matter. Listen live Saturday and Sunday at 11am - 1pm on RTÉ Rad...
Recent Episodes
319 episodes
Pokémon at 30: “I’ve rediscovered it now as an adult and realise it’s a great way of keeping you company”
Novelist and video game critic for The Guardian, Sarah Maria Griffin explains to Brendan how she has rediscovered the 30-year-old Nintendo game recent...
The Watchlist
Joining Brendan to discuss the best TV and films coming this week are Grainne Humphries, Festival Director of the Dublin International Film Festival a...
“I thought art didn’t exist in Ireland” - artist, Dorothy Cross
Artist Dorothy Cross tells Brendan about her Cork childhood, competitive swimming, the thrill of having her art first exhibited by the Tate in London,...
The Newspaper Panel
Joining Brendan to discuss the Sunday papers are Ellen Coyne, Political Correspondent at the Irish Times; Gerard Howlin, former government adviser and...
Eva Pau’s Sensational Stir Fries!
TV Chef & Asia Market MD, Eva Pau, has easy recipes for delicious stir fry recipes such as simple fried rice, black pepper beef and a veggie stir fry....
Ex-Trump advisor, Anthony Scaramucci: “I was in the Epstein Files”
Where is JD Vance? Is Rubio the coming man? One week into the US-Israel war on Iran, Brendan speaks to host of The Rest is Politics US, and President...
Ireland’s Prettiest Towns and Villages
Pól O’Conghaile, Travel Editor of the Irish Independent, joins Brendan with his pick of the prettiest places to visit in Ireland.
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Leo Varadkar: ‘I think the European-Atlantic relationship is changed forever’
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who has recently returned from the US, gives his take on the fall of the Iranian regime as the war enters its second we...
Neil Jordan “Everyone knew what Weinstein was”
Oscar winner and award-winning writer Neil Jordan tells Brendan about his first foray into science-fiction with ‘The Library of Traumatic Memory’. As...
“I was a bit player in my parents’ drama, a parentified eldest daughter”
First-time author Clíodhna O’Sullivan has written a romantasy novel, ‘Her Hidden Fire’ which has been chosen as a Good Morning America Bookclub pick f...
Love is Blind controversy: Body Shaming or Romantic Honesty?
Culture journalist, Zara Hederman joins Brendan to discuss a growing controversy in the latest season of ‘Love is Blind’, a dating show r. After one p...
The Watchlist
Joining Brendan to discuss the best TV and films coming this week, are Business Post film critic, John Maguire and Irish Times arts journalist, Nadine...
Colum McCann “With my brain condition - the medicine altered me more than the pain”
Award winning novelist, Colum McCann joins Brendan to discuss the songs that have formed the soundtrack to his life, including Ray Charles’ ‘Hit the R...
The Newspaper Panel
Joining Brendan to discuss the Sunday papers, are publisher at TheBriefing.ie, Liz Carolan; research professor at the ESRI, Alan Barrett; Sunday Indep...
Quick and tasty homemade dips with chef, Alannah Sheehan
From salsa to tzatziki, and hummus to pesto, Chef Alannah Sheehan gives Brendan a how-to guide to making dips that are quick, simple and super tasty.<...
“De-escalation is out of the question” Middle East Update
Following joint US/Israeli strikes on Iran overnight, Iranian-American journalist Borzou Daragahi joins Brendan with the latest updates, as the impact...
A dietician’s definitive guide to protein
Dietician Sarah Keogh joins Brendan to discuss how much protein we really need, and the impact of eating too much or too little and gives her verdict...
Róisín and Ann Ingle on steady eddies, what makes a good sex scene and why we need to talk about death
Writer Ann Ingle, and her daughter, Irish Times journalist and Co-host of the Women’s Podcast, Róisín Ingle join Brendan to discuss the changing natur...
Colin Farrell - “I have enormous feeling around Emma, love for her, anger for her EB, sorrow for things EB has taken from her”
Actor Colin Farrell and campaigner Emma Fogarty join Brendan to discuss their deep friendship, their campaigning work on EB (known as ‘butterfly skin’...
How AI is changing the face of filmmaking and content creation
Elaine Burke, host of the ‘For Tech Sake’ podcast talks to Brendan about the impact of AI on Hollywood; from this week’s viral video which showed AI v...
The Watchlist
Brendan gets the lowdown on the best films and TV shows this week with Sarina Bellissimo, Broadcaster/Podcaster and Dave O’Callaghan, Host of the Here...
Prof Luke O’Neill - How to get through ‘Sniper’s Alley’ and optimise your health in midlife
Luke O’Neill, Professor of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College, talks to Brendan about ‘Sniper’s Alley’ - the period of time around your fi...
The Newspaper Panel
Joining Brendan to discuss the Sunday newspapers are Adam Harris, Founder and CEO of AsIAm; Brigid Laffan, Emeritus Professor at the European Universi...
Jacqui Hurley previews Ireland v England in Twickenham
Jacqui brings her characteristic optimism to bear on her analysis of today’s high stakes clash between Ireland and England. She says Irish fans are ho...
Do you know your smishing from your vishing? - The top scams to watch out for right now
Irish Times consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope talks Brendan through the most common scams doing the rounds right now and how we can all protec...
Dr. Mike Ryan: “My mother took me by the two hands and said ‘don’t you die over there”
Dr Mike Ryan, former Deputy Director General of the World Health Organization tells Brendan about heading up the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme du...
David Gray “My Dad pulled out his chemo tubes and came and cheered Bowie up”
David Gray’s White Ladder album remains the biggest selling album in Ireland, ever. He talks to Brendan about that time through the prism of five song...
Dads at the cutting edge - the half zip jumper is now fashion!
Life coach and personal shopper Cathy O’ Connor tells Brendan about the new stars of your wardrobe for spring, including the quarter zip jumper, and b...
The only muffin recipes you’ll ever need with Caryna Camerino
Caryna Camerino from The Camerino bakery gives Brendan her all-time favourite muffin recipes. She’s got a savoury muffin and a crowd pleasing classic...
Gruffalo Granny and the enduring appeal of Julia Donaldson
Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson has had her children's books translated into more than 100 languages. Mother of three Sinead Fox AKA parenting blogger...
Painter, Sean Scully: "I wet the bed until I was 20"
Born into poverty in Dublin, Sean Scully is now a widely regarded as one of the world's greatest living visual artists, whose paintings regularly sell...
The Watchlist
Joining Brendan to preview the best films and TV shows this week - including Swindlers, Crime 101 and Eternity - are Director of the Dublin Internatio...
Newspaper Panel
joining Brendan to discuss the Sunday newspapers are commentator and former presidential hopeful, Maria Steen; head of the ERSI's Behavioural Research...
'There's a surge of pleasure writing poetry that's akin to physical eroticism!'
Poet Enda Wyley chooses some 'non-Hallmark' love poems for the day that's in it and quotes Carol Ann Duffy to Adrian Mitchell.
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A Steak Masterclass
Why does steak taste so much better in a restaurant? And are there any easy hacks to replicate the professional version? On Valentine's Day, chef, Bro...
Richard Hogan on family estrangement: "The biggest liberation is finding the courage to forgive"
Psychotherapist Dr Richard Hogan on why you can become estranged from family or friends, when it's worth extending an olive branch, how to do so and h...
Glen Hansard: "My headmaster told me to leave school to busk at 13"
The Academy Award winning songwriter, solo artist and Frames frontman, tells Brendan about leaving school at 13 with the support of his headmaster, fa...
Old songs having TikTok revivals
Broadcaster Aifric O’Connell explains why certain older songs such as New Radicals’ ‘Get What You Give’, Aphex Twin’s ‘QKThr’ and Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow...
The Watchlist
Brendan previews the best TV shows and films coming to a screen near you with Michael Doherty, RTÉ Guide Movies Editor and Fionnuala Jones, Podcaster...
“The first 2 years of my life were a gap – where was I for those years?” - Paul Cullen
Former Irish Times journalist Paul Cullen is adopted and has written a memoir, ‘Outsider’, about meeting his birth mother, finding his birth father th...