The Jessie Burton Interview

Posted Rick O'Shea

Started off with the usual me tarting myself up and then sending pics to my wife to make sure I don’t look like an idiot and then her pondering clues for our books for the blind book swap after… It was brilliant to see that Dubray are now dedicating a table in their stores to the Book Club’s books of the month every month from now on. Feels weird to see them out there in the real world… The event itself was just super – Jessie was a great interviewee with tons of stuff to say about The Miniaturist, pressure, […]

Summer Reads 2016

Posted Rick O'Shea

As has been the fashion over the last few years I throw up a bunch of titles I think you might like to bring away to whatever Spanish resort, Galway gaff, Tuscan villa or Tibetan monastery you’re heading to for your holiday 🙂 They vary wildly in tone, genre and even when they were released but they all come with a personal stamp of “well worth your time”. The only criteria I’ve used is that I must have read them this year. Enjoy. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave  Set in World War II the story of Mary North who starts the […]

Bad Ambassador Playlist – Friday July 1st

Posted Rick O'Shea1 Comment

The Fratellis – Creepin’ Up The Backstairs John Lennon – Instant Karma (We All Shine On) T-Bone Burnett – Humans From Earth Lewis Del Mar – Loud(y) Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand Damon Albarn – Lonely Press Play Tori Amos – Silent All These Years KRS One – Sound Of Da Police Weezer – Pork And Beans Portishead – Numb Barenaked Ladies – Pinch Me Lamb – Angelica The Presidents Of The United States Of America – Video Killed The Radio Star Green Day – Longview The Heavy – Since […]

July 1st 2001

Posted Rick O'Shea

I’ll keep this brief because, realistically, the only person this matters to is me. However, tomorrow, July 1st, is the 15th anniversary of the day I started working for RTE back in 2001, a date so auspicious that not a single trace of it remains anywhere on the internet because nobody noticed at the time 🙂 Some pictures from that year sadly do survive… I started here playing loud things I liked between 11 and midnight for the first year or so before rattling on through 9-11pm, 8-10, breakfast, 10-midnight, 6-9 and three(?) separate shifts on daytime before coming to rest, for now, […]

Book Review – Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Posted Rick O'Shea

I was honest with Chris Cleave when I met him and interviewed him a while back for one of my book club public events. If I hadn’t needed to read it for the sake of research, a new novel set in the midst of World War II might not have been at the top of my list of priorities. It’s a crowded field. Good thing I did, so. Mary North starts the story skiing down the side of a mountain (almost James Bond-like!) to enrol in the war effort the day hostilities break out. She thinks that, perhaps, as the […]

Bad Ambassador Playlist – Friday June 24th

Posted Rick O'Shea

DJ Shadow – Six Days (remix feat. Mos Def) OK Go – Here It Goes Again Young MC – Know How Django Django – Default Kings Of Leon – King Of The Rodeo Alt-J – Left Hand Free Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky Aimee Mann – One The Dead Kennedys – Too Drunk To Fuck The Streets – Let’s Push Things Forward Ciarán Lavery – Return To Form Timo Maas feat Kelis – Help Me Busta Rhymes – Gimme Some More David Holmes – Sugarman Elbow – An Audience With The Pope Regina Spektor – Machine Stevie Wonder – Higher […]