RTÉ’s new podcast What Were We Like? sees historians Diarmaid Ferriter and Catriona Crowe take a journey through the hidden histories, humanity, and humour of Ireland’s past.
In a timely five-part mini-series to kick things off, they explore the history of the presidency, and what it means, as Ireland gets ready to choose its next Uachtarán on Friday.
Across the series, Ferriter — one of Ireland’s leading historians — and archivist and author Crowe trace how the presidency came into being.
They unpack Éamon de Valera’s role in shaping its powers and limits, and revisit key moments in the office’s history: Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh’s resignation and Brian Lenihan’s “mature recollection” saga; Douglas Hyde’s GAA ban; Muhammad Ali’s rejected visit to the Áras; and de Valera’s near-miss second term.
Fela Kuti: Fear No Man
A 12-part series from Jad Abumrad, creator of Radiolab, where he worked for 20 years, and more recently Dolly Parton’s America, for which he won a Peabody Award. Now he is tracing the life, sound, and seismic impact of Fela Kuti — the Nigerian icon who fused music and resistance.
Through hundreds of interviews with Fela’s family, friends, collaborators, and admirers — Burna Boy, Paul McCartney, Questlove, and Barack Obama are among the voices heard (the show is created by Obama’s Higher Ground production company) — the series explores the ‘soul’ of Afrobeat.
With its mix of oral history, musicology, and investigative storytelling, Fear No Man tells how a classically trained ‘colonial boy’ travelled to America, in search of Africa, only to return to Nigeria and transform his sound into a battering ram against the state — creating a new musical language of resistance called Afrobeat.
It asks, “In a world that’s on fire, what is the role of art? What can music actually… do?”
All 12 parts are available ad-free on Audible, while the chapters/episodes are being more widely released weekly – the first two episodes are out now.
Conversations with Ghosts
Given the month that’s in it, one show to look out for this week is Conversations with Ghosts, an audio drama about loss, history, and the things we leave behind. It’s from the creators of Archive 81, a found-footage horror podcast that premiered in 2016 and ultimately comprised three seasons and two miniseries. An adaptation of the same name premiered on Netflix in January 2022.
Conversations with Ghosts follows mausoleum attendant Mal Fleming as he tries to convince the spirits of Grey Briar Cemetery to pass on. In each episode, Mal sits down with a new ghost to build a portrait of their life, their death, and their afterlife… all to help them release whatever still ties their soul to this reality.
New episodes are released every Wednesday, beginning on October 22.
