What's The Story?

After a little break, the lads return from travels and tribulations to the warm embrace of WTSpod's controversial comrade, Gary Mackle.  Over the years, there has been a swell in the demand for Gary to be a permanent fixture of the WTS line-up, and there has been an almost equal demand for Gary to be shot into the centre of the sun and never heard from again... we don't have the technology to do that, but we do have the technology to have him on the podcast regularly so we'll go with that.  

This week's episode of WTSpod is a great lesson in why pre recording a podcast five days before it's due to go out can be a really bad idea...  Through the magic of Skype, Under the Sticks podcast host and Pro 14 Communications gaffer Adam Redmond joined us to talk rugby, wrestling, the world and craic. Of course, we all presumed Ireland would dispose of this year's World Cup hosts and continue their march towards the quarter final... Japan had other ideas and made us all look like ticks.  So... enjoy us showing we know nothing about rugby and come back next week when we'll cover a topic that requires no predictions at all. 

Dr Jennifer Cassidy is a lecturer at Oxford University and specialises in the world of politics. Originally from Dublin, Jennifer tells us how she got to Oxford as we try to understand the chaos of the modern political landscape. From life as diplomatic attache in the UN, to appearing on BBC and fearing she would become a meme, Jennifer covers a lot of ground as we try to understand how the fate of the western world is being determined by Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.   

This week we're joined by the host of Magic Minds podcast Matt Burke.  When he's not podcasting, Matt works with people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries and he tells us about some of the brilliant work being done in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin. 

This week we're joined by Ger Redmond, an endurance athlete with an incredible story. On the brink of fulfilling every boyhood dream of becoming a professional footballer, after signing a contract with Dunfermline in Scotland, Ger recieved news that forced him to leave that dream behind and return home. The next 20 years of his life are filled with trials and tribulations that inspire and show that anybody can change and save a life.    While you're here, why not go back and listen to one of our early episodes from the archives? WTS Chapter 189 live in Las Vegas was recorded 4 years ago after UFC 189. Check it out here. 

He's back, and it's as beautiful as ever.  Fresh from a sun holiday and with plenty to get off his chest, Gary Mackle, our special correspondent, returns due to popular demand.  Despite being rudely interrupted by his parenting responsibilities, Gary gave us his thoughts and opinions on a range of subjects. Sport, music, knife crime, obscenities, gambling, and tapas are just some of the areas we ramble into this week.  It's weird. It's wonderful. It's WTSpod with Gary Mackle.  

Jumpers for Goalposts was back in the Brack this week, so we packed up our gear and went along to chat with some of the people involved.  Jumpers For Goalposts (J4G) is a new volunteer-run movement that encourages men of different ages, races, backgrounds, and abilities to come together for an old-fashioned game of football using ‘jumpers for goalposts’. The idea is the brainchild of Ballybrack mental health activist Keith Kelly. It followed the success of a poem and video he created for World Mental Health Week back in 2018. To learn more about #J4G, visit www.jumpersforgoalposts.ie  

Chef Adrian returns to WTSpod and Fitzpatrick Castle to chat all things food, cooking and deliciousness. We hear about his new book "Create Beautiful Food at Home" which is available  online and in all good bookshops now. and Adrian challenges Danny to make his simple Carbonara...  We apologise to Adrian and you this week, Danny pulled an absolute clanger and somehow forgot the recorder. Still, thanks to the magic of technology we managed to salvage something, but the audio is a little thin - feel free to tweet Danny your favourite disappointed or disapproving gif.  WTSpod is brought to you by Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, go to www.fitzpatrickcastle.com for more. 

This week we welcomed Clelia Murphy back to Fitzpatrick Castle for her second outing on WTSpod, however this time she brought back up! Joining Clelia on the podcast this week is Munster and Ireland hero, Peter Stringer.  Clelia and Peter were both contestants on the hugely popular series Dancing With the Stars and joined us to talk dancing nerves, struggles, Tupperware and heels.Mero gets embarrassed about his arms and Danny hunts for some tabloid dirt from behind the curtain on this season of DWTS.  WTSpod is brought to you by Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, go to www.fitzpatrickcastle.com for more. 

Irivin Muchnick is an independent journalist and author who specialises in sports muckraking. He has written for Sports Illustrated, People, The Washington Monthly, and the Sunday magazines of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among many other major publications. Irv originally joined us back on episode 83 of WTSpod and we caught up with him to hear the latest in the George Gibney saga and find out why 2019 might be the year of reckoning for the former Olympic swimming coach and sex criminal.  We also talk about the Chris Benoit murder suicide - one of the darkest moments in the history of professional wrestling.  If you want to know more about Irvin's work visit www.concussioninc.net

We're back!  After an extended break to allow Danny find himself, WTSpod is back in your life and bringing you an endless stream of tangents, waffles and Mero struggling to say big words.  This week we welcome two of our favourite people to Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Paul Howard and Gary Mackle. Paul is one of Gary's biggest fans, so we agreed to set up a meeting between two of the greatest minds to ever come out of Ballybrack.  Give it a listen, and don't forget to visit www.fitzpatrickcastle.com

Joshua Levine is a writer, broadcaster and historian. He joined us to discuss the topics of some of his incredible books, including: 'Operation Fortitude' and the role of espionage in World War 2 and 'Beauty and Atrocity' which is about the struggle for peace on the island of Ireland. His book and knowledge of Dunkirk landed him the position of official historian for the Oscar winning Christopher Nolan epic, Dunkirk. As always, there's tangents and side tracks including a discussion about Corn Flakes and how Josh put together a documentary about the world's most expensive stamp... If you'd like to see more of Josh's work, and we highly recommend you do, you can visit here and you can follow his twitter exploits here. 

This week the lads have suffered a fatal tech blow as their original podcast recording with Dr Shane Bergin falls foul of tech gremlins.  So, not wanting to leave it too long since the last instalment of WTSpod, the lads scrambled of a Saturday to talk about the FAI and how Mero doesn't watch Game of Thrones. 

This week we're joined by the host of Buckshot podcast and comedian, Tom O'Mahony. 

The crisp world cup is over and we have a champion. The lads react to two weeks of crunching craic and the news that Tayto Cheese and Onion are indeed Ireland's favourite crisp.  The lads also laugh at John Delaney and Mero disputes Danny's ability to judge travel times.  Support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/WTSpod 

Following a suspension from WTSpod for unacceptable behaviour, the original heel of Ballybrack returns.  Gary Mackle is an agony aunt and relationship expert who resides in county Wicklow. The lads caught up with the Love Doctor to tackle some silly, sublime, and serious topics. This week the lads talk #CrispWorldCup, Gary's wedding planning business, Michael Jackson, Mero tries to catch Danny out for removing Morrissey as the podcast's intro, and Gary gives his culinary advice to the masses. 

This week, Sexologist Emily Power Smith returns to WTSpod to help the lads learn more about their favourite topic (outside of wrestling and crisps).  The conversations were ripe and varied on this edition of the podcast, from sex education to sexual health, masturbation classes in New York, never underestimating the importance of lube, and we get a professional opinion regarding Mero's fear of commitment while Danny tries not to embarrass himself laughing at the word anal.  You can learn more about Emily and her work by visiting her website at www.empowersme.com 

This week the lads dream about what they could do with €175m, Danny swears too much while having memory problems, Mero has a "stroke" and we're launching a definitive tournament to decide what crisp is the greatest crisp in the world. 

Seán Sheehan joins the lads this week as they race through some deep MMA talk and take a bump in the world of pro wrestling.  Seán is one of Ireland's leading MMA podcaster hosts and writers. You can check out more of his great work through SevereMMA and Sherdog.