BOLD with Joe McGucken

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...

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. ...

"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...