2018 has been a great year for alternative media in Ireland. The podcast scene, in particular, has provided an important anchor in a year of political turmoil.
Beyond the spun headlines of rage and fury, simplistic panel set-ups for and against, the cat-fights of social media, podcasts have have created space for challenging conversations and depth of analysis.
They have provided journalists with a platform to tackle difficult questions, given all kinds of activists a voice, brought historical depth to current issues, and arguably done a better job than traditional broadcasters at getting to the heart of what matters on the ground.
Here are some of my highlights from the year…
1. The Irish Passport Podcast started in 2017 and remained pretty peerless in 2018. Naomi O’Leary and Tim McInerney’s blend of journalism and history is the perfect antidote to an often nonsensical news cycle. They unpick current events, peeling back historical layers of meaning, getting to the heart of…
