Filed under: Radio | Tags: American Politics, Anarchists, Belfast, Bombings, David Holmes, Gary Lightbody, Good Vibrations, Ian Paisley, John Peel, Nazis, Northern Ireland, Nuclear Weapons, Paisleyites, Punk, Radio Caroline, Rock in the North, Rory Gallagher, Rudi, Snow Patrol, Special Branch, SS RUC, Stiff Little Fingers, Taste, Teenage Kicks, Terri Hooley, THe Audiables, The Clash, The Electric Prunes, The Seeds, The Standells, The Troubles, The Undertones, Them, UDR, Van Morrison, Viet Cong, Vietnam War
Terri Hooley
Terri Hooley, purveyor of the Good Vibrations record shop in Belfast, and the man who released The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” talks about the evolution of the music scene in the city. Even as his contemporaries abandoned Northern Ireland for less bombs and more culture, Terri stuck to the city. From Them + Van Morrison playing the Martime Hotel in the 1960s, through the coming of punk with shouts of SS RUC, to the current crop of young Belfast talent, he walks us through his unprofitable, trouble-making, fame-brushing career.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Belfast City Hall, Body-building, Donegal, Hunger Strikes, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Republicanism, The Troubles, UK Strongest Man, Weightlifiting
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Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Bodhrán, Irish Drum, Irish Music, Northern Ireland, St. Malachy's, The Markets
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Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Egypt, Immigrants, Kebab Shops, Marriage, Northern Ireland, Sopranos, Teachers
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Filed under: Radio | Tags: Belfast, Falls Road, Ireland, Northern Ireland, University of Ulster, PSNI, Queen's University Belfast, North Belfast, London, Northern Irish Accent, Bombs, Marks and Spencer, Shankill Road, Nervys Young, Jordanstown, Sectarianism, RUC, Cliftonville Road
Belfast past midnight
Thriteen years ago, Nervys Young came from a village outside of London to Northern Ireland. She intended to stay for a three year degree program and has not left since. Ned talks about how totally naive she was when she first moved here, whether she’s ever considered herself a local, how people react to her accent, and why she hasn’t run for the hills yet.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Ancient Order of the Hibernians, Belfast, Bikers, Hitchhiking, Ireland, Irish-Americans, Kornel Andrys, Mt. Lebanon, Normandy, Northern Ireland, Pittsburgh, Poland, Service Stations, Smoking, The Celtic Cross, Tom Macic, Truck Drivers
Kornel in Normandy
This summer Kornel Andrys quit his job as an architect in Belfast and hitchhiked back home to Poland. In today’s episode, he recounts his journey: how he found truck drivers to take him, which countries were best and worst for hitchhiking, how he stayed hygienic, and whether he’d ever trade office work for life on the road.
In the second half of the show, Tom Macic, the owner of The Celtic Cross, in the South Hills of talks about his Irish shop. He sells all kinds of Irish clothing, sweets, music, and miscellany to Pittsburghers and Irish and British expats. Tom explains what sells, what tea makes American tea taste like boiled popsicle sticks, and what the Irish American scene in Pittsburgh looks like.
Filed under: Radio | Tags: Ballymena, BBC, Belfast, Bill Hicks, Clerical Work, Colin Murphy, Comedy, Dublin, Gender, Humor, Insecurities, Iris Robinson, Jackie Hamilton, Jokes, Laughter, Les Dawson, Liam Watson, Lies, Matthew Collins, Nausea, Neuroses, Northern Ireland, Paddy McGaughey, Puns, Queen’s Student Union, Rubix Cubes, Seinfeld, Sitcoms, Stage Fright, Stand- Up, The Black Box, The Empire, The Money Pit, The Pavilion, The Safehouse, Tom Hanks, Vulgarity
Liam Watson
Two Belfast stand-up comedians on today’s episode. First, Liam Watson, who started performing earlier this year and now is organizing and compering a fortnightly gig at the Pavilion. Liam talks about when he learned he was funny, what finally pushed him into taking the stage, and what he envisions for the future of Belfast comedy.
Then Paddy McGaughey sizes up how tortured his soul is, why he’s invented a girlfriend, whether he can perform with a stomachful of beer, and why stand up comedy is the best career ever. Plus!: his newest joke, written fresh that day.
The comedy night Liam organizes is every other Monday night at the Middle Bar at the Pavilion on the Ormeau Road.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Cafes, Catholic Chruch, City Planning, Cork, Drinking, Dublin, Gaelic, Galway, IRA, Ireland, Loyalits, Nationalist Pubs, Northern Ireland, Northern Irish Accent, Republicans, Sandy Row, Shankill Road, The Troubles
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Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Comedians, Laughter, Liam Watson, Northern Ireland, Ormeau Road, Paviliion, Stand-up Comedy
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Filed under: Radio | Tags: Baltimore, Belfast, Blitz Chess, Caffeine, Chess, Chess Tournaments, Chris Millar, Drunkenness, Energy Drinks, Northern Ireland, Poker Face, Postal Chess, Queen’s Chess Club, Queen’s University Belfast, Sheep, Smiling, Students, Ulster Club Championship
Chess in Bar Sub
It’s all about chess on episode 36, with interviews with three members of the QUB Chess Club, Chris Millar, Steve Scannell and Ciara Pugh. Since the club was brought back to life in 2005, its players have found great success, winning the title of Irish University Champions last year and Ulster Club Champions this year. This month, several of the Queen’s players head to Greece for a Europe-wide tournament. In today’s episode, Chris, Steve and Ciara talk about their entry into the world of chess, their stress levels, their game faces, their addictions, and their strategies for victory.
Filed under: Radio-Video | Tags: Belfast, Cappucinos, Coffee, Common Grounds, Jobs, Marks and Spencers, Northern Ireland, Sandwiches, Service Work
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Filed under: Radio | Tags: Alcoholism, Belfast, Drinking, Foreigners, Immigration, Islam, Kebab Shops, Northern Ireland, Protestants, Religion, Shankhill Road, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Weekends
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Filed under: Radio | Tags: Afghanistan, Ahmad Seyar Zia, Architecture, Art, BBC, Belfast, Cartoons, Environmentalism, Fenian Elements, Gerry Adams, Global Warming, Gordon Brown, Hearts and Minds, Ian Knox, Islam, Journalism, Laziness, Love, Mad Magazine, Northern Ireland, Orange Order, Pakistan, Philadelphia, Politics, Religion, Sammy Wilson, Seamus Kilters, Sky News, Socialism, Tae Kwan Do, Terry McLaughlin, The Irish News, Thomas Nast
Ahmed Seyar Zia
Ahmad Seyar Zia is, as he has proclaimed himself to be, the King of Love. He is a young Afghan man, studying abroad in India now. Born in Kabul, raised in different places around Afghanistan and Pakistan, he has developed his own life philosophies that, he finds, hold him apart from most other young people around him.
In today’s interview, Ahmad talks about growing up in the tumultuous past decades of Aghanistan, of the religious and philosophical system he’s developed, of taking up Tae Kwan Do after his brother lost his leg in a mine explosion, and why he’s intent on returning to his country.
Ian Knox is one of Northern Ireland’s premier political cartoonists. After studying for a career in architecture, he made his way into the world of cartooning and now contributes to a whole array of outlets – including The Irish News, Hearts & Minds, Sky News, and The Guardian. He talks about why he likes to annoy people, how he knows if his cartoons succeed in their attempts to shove his opinions down the audience’s throats, which politicians he most likes to draw, and how he survives his daily threat of a heart attack.
