BOLD with Joe McGucken
I am Joe McGucken. This is BOLD! A podcast where I get to explore the stories and perspectives you don’t hear every day. Whether it’s sitting down with someone who works as Santa Claus, chatting with a pigeon racer, or diving into the quirks of modern life. It’s all about conversations that are as entertaining as they are unexpected. Some episodes, it’s just me sharing thoughts, unpacking interesting ideas, or telling stories from the week. Other times, I’m talking to people with jobs, hobbies, or life experiences that’ll make you stop and think - or at least make you laugh. I’m not here to push boundaries for the sake of it. I just want to shine a light on things that are fascinating, funny, or maybe even a bit unusual. If you’re into comedy, good stories, and the kind of stuff you’ll want to share with your friends, give it a listen.
Episodes
This week on BOLD, I head to Corinthians Boxing Club, an institution of the Inner City. I chat with head trainer Kevin Corcoran about the club’s 100-year history, my connection with it as a young person, and how a place charging €2 a session produced Olympic champions like Kellie Harrington.
We also talk about why the HSE is failing families with autistic kids, and h...
I'm Joe, this is BOLD. This week I planned a romantic birthday for Máire. Not a spa day or a European day-trip. Instead, she drags me to the Dublin Criminal Courts of Justice to spectate the high profile Richard Satchwell murder trial. It wasa terrible experience: frazzled barristers, no transcripts, and the judge baffled with the prosecution. I’m paranoid the jury’ll recognize me and I'll cause a mistrial.
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The Pope is dead. Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, the Jesuit reformer, the guy who blessed gay couples and pissed off conservatives, dropped dead on Easter Monday.
So what happens now? This episode digs into the aftermath: the secretive conclave to elect his successor (where the frontrunner is an Italian bureaucrat named Pietro Parolin with tasty bett...
This week I got you good. You thought I was getting deported. Well imagine how I felt when Maire got me with that same April Fools prank. She had me packing my bags convinced ICE were after me. This episode’s a rollercoaster: from fake embassy emails to me packing my bags for El Salvador, to why Washington DC might be the most joyless city.
I have an interesting conspiracy theory about cherry blossom trees, the existential dread ...
On this week's episode of the BOLD podcast I'm still stuck in Trumpland. The city of Hash shops on every corner. But you can't find a shop for a bottle of water! I was parched wandering around this swamp looking for something to drink. I’m halfway through my run of Waiting for Godot here, which is going... Betterish. considering half the audience doesn’t realize they’re allowed to laugh.
Between shows, I’ve been gallivanting aroun...
On this episode of the BOLD podcast we touch on the disappearance of Garron Noone after a controversial video about immigration in Ireland landed him in some hot water after Conor Mcgregor's visit to the White House. Also I go down to a protest outside the Department of Education that Donald Trump is dismantling to speak to one of the organizers of the protest.
In this BOLD episode, I’m recording from a strangely deserted apartment building in Washington DC, where I’m rehearsing for a production of Waiting for Godot that’s been… an experience. Cast members are dropping like flies, the production team are falling sick, and I’m starting to wonder if I should’ve stayed in Ireland.
I’ll also take you on a tour around the gentrified streets of DC, pubs that smell like Dervish and Philly che...
On this weeks BOLD podcast I'll give you a little update on my journey to America for a show I'm performing in. I've been rehearsing for just a couple of weeks back in Ireland, and after one of the rehearsals I went to a pub for a pint. In that pub I met a very interesting character. Colin Judge. He's an Irish Ping Pong Paralympian. He has a rare condition which led him to be born with no legs and only one arm. After sparking up a ...
On this week's episode of the BOLD podcast I'm flying solo. It's been an eventful week. I was presented with an opportunity to play the Co-Lead in Samuel Beckett's play Waiting For Godot. The only issue is that It's a 5 week run in the Land Of Opportunity - USA. I'm making my way over to the Crime Capital, Washington DC on a week were Zelensky was roasted in the White House for not wearing a suit. Exciting times to say the least. ...
In this week's episode of the BOLD podcast, I went to a hotel bedroom to meet Ireland's most successful pornstar, Andy Lee. He talks about his time growing up in Dublin's inner city, getting evicted from his home by the drug marches as a child, Losing his ma, and struggling to settle. Eventually he ended up in London where he would start his porn empire. He talks about it all in this episode and his book Smelly Kid.
"Hear ye! hear ye!" On a cold Thursday night in the backyard of Synge Street National School, a group of people gather together to train for Armoured Combat like the knights of olde. Wearing full metal armour and swinging heavy-ish Swords at each other they practice to win a grand battle at a huge event with hopes of one day becoming king of one of the many kingdoms across the world. They are part of a global organization dedica...
In this episode of the BOLD podcast, I took a trip to the Dublin Wellbeing Centre to meet Debora for a tea leaf reading. I was hoping to get some lotto numbers or maybe an insight into the next crypto boom. But what I left with was a little bit more profound than I expected from a cup of tea. I also talk to her after about her other experiences with shamanic practices, medicines and how grateful she is to help keep Irish tradition...
This episode explores the evolution of social media, from the innocent days of Bebo and MSN to the toxic outrage culture, clickbait, politically driven, divisive social media landscape of today.
I talk with Irish musician Nealo about his habit of stepping away from social media, and Plugging Out for weeks at a time, the impact it has on his mental health, and his concerns about his autistic son growing up in an online world.
I also...
I've been abandoned by my guest in this episode of BOLD. It's brought up traumatic childhood memories of summer trips to Cavan with my youth club. Getting bullied on the regular. And how I learned to stand up for myself, but received a broken jaw for my efforts. I try to ask myself 36 scientific questions that are designed to ask your partner to make them instantly fall in love with you. And by the end of this podcast you can fin...
James MacManus is a Tipperary man with an extraordinary goal: to summit Mount Everest without oxygen! Twice he’s attempted this near-impossible feat, and twice he’s been turned back by the sheer brutality of the mountain. But undeterred, James is gearing up for a third attempt at one of the most dangerous and demanding challenges in human history.
Only 229 people have ever accomplished this, while many others have tried with a la...
There's something special about Irish pubs when we're on holiday. They’re our little piece of home from home. No matter where we go, from Salou to Timbuktu, we're always sniffing out the Molly Malones, or Danny Boy. But what happens when you try to create that magic in… Uganda?
This week, I talk to Nigel Sutton, an Irish entrepreneur who decided to bring the craic to Kampala. In 2003, after Mulligan’s in Drogheda shut its doors for...
Imagine having zero military experience, a slight drinking problem, and deciding to head straight to the frontline of the war in Ukraine... for the craic. That’s exactly what self proclaimed Lord Mayor of Leixlip did.
In this episode, I sat down with this absolute mad lad in the corner of the only pub in Leixlip where he’s not banned. We got into his wild story: from his controversial GoFundMe campaign to almost getting blown up on...
Michael Zervos is an American film director currently attempting to break a world record by travelling to every country in the world in the fastest time. Along the way he has been interviewing people from every country and asking them one question - "What is the happiest moment of your life" During his brief stop in Ireland I caught up with him for this episode. Anyone who knows me will know how miserable I can be. So I thought t...
In this festive episode of BOLD, we sit down with Michael J Sullivan, a Dublin actor who steps into the big red suit every Christmas to become the man, the myth, the legend - Santa Claus! But there's a lot more to Michael's story than I expected from when I first sat down to interview him.
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