Highlights From Talking History

Patrick and his panel reflect on the early history of the Olympic Games, from ancient Greece to the revival in more modern times, discussing their historical significance, cultural impact and enduring legacy. Featuring Nigel Crowther, Emeritus Professor in Department of Classical Studies at University of Western Ontario; Supervising Professor at International Olympic Academy, Olympia, Greece (2004-05); Former Director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies; Dr Siobhán Doyle, Curatorial Researcher at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks; Dr Jim Parry, Visiting Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague; and Dr Nigel Spivey, Senior Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge.

Joining Patrick Geoghegan to delve into the lives and works of the Yeats sisters are: Dr Róisín Kennedy, Assistant Professor, School of Art History and Cultural Policy, UCD; Dr Caoilfhionn Ní Bheacháin, Associate Professor in Communications, University of Limerick; Susan O’Keeffe, Director of Yeats Society Sligo; and Dr Billy Shortall of Trinity College Dublin, who worked on the Cuala Press Project.

Ahead of the reopening of Notre Dame later this year, Patrick Geoghegan looks at the construction and re-construction of one of the most iconic cathedrals in the world. Joining him are: Dr Emily Guerry, Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History at the University of Kent, Dr Caroline Bruzelius, Professor Emerita of Art and Art History at Duke University, Dr Jennifer M. Feltman, Associate Professor of Art History and Medieval Art at the University of Alabama, and Dr Meredith Cohen, Associate Professor of Medieval Art and Architecture at UCLA.

From the marriage bar to unequal pay - we're finding out about the status and position of women in the independent Irish state and the long fight for equality. Patrick is joined by Dr Mary McAuliffe, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, and Director of Gender Studies at UCD, Dr Deirdre Foley, Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, Trinity College Dublin, and Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, Associate Professor in History at the University of Galway.

In this episode of Newstalk's Talking History: From Tudor to Stuart: The Regime Change from Elizabeth I to James I, by Susan Doran, Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of Oxford; The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York, with Prof Tyler Anbinder, formerly of the Department of History, George Washington University; and ‘Reeling in the Queers – Tales of Ireland’s LGBTQ Past’, with Dr Páraic Kerrigan, Assistant Professor in the School of Information and Communication Studies at University College Dublin.

In this episode of Talking History on Newstalk, we're looking at the history of the Leaving Certificate - 100 years old this year - and debating its impact on Irish education .Featuring: Dr Orla McCormack, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Limerick; Deirdre Mac Mathuna, Past President and now Public Relations Officer for the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland and a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin in History Pedagogy; Dr Hazel Murray, cybersecurity lecturer at Munster Technological University; and Dr Colm Mac Gearailt, postdoctoral researcher on the ‘Cartlann’ archive at University of Galway.

In this D-Day special, Talking History explores the D-Day landings on the 80th anniversary of the Longest Day, and how they changed the course of the Second World War.Joining host Patrick Geoghegan is: Prof Richard Overy, professor of history at the University of Exeter, and author of ‘World War II: The Definitive Visual History Volume I: From the Munich Crisis to the Battle of Kursk 1938-43'; Dr Mark Jones, Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global History at University College Dublin; Professor Jonathan Fennell, Professor of the History of War and Society at King’s College London and co-founder of the Second World War Research Group; and Dr Rachel Lance, author of 'Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever'.

Patrick Geoghegan and his panel explore the life, times and legacy of William The Conqueror. Was he a hero who instituted great changes, brought in legal and administrative innovations, and unified England, or a villain and invader who conquered it in a dramatic overthrow?Featuring Prof George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford; Prof Virginia Davis, Professor of Medieval History, Queen Mary University of London; Prof Seán Duffy, Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History, Trinity College Dublin; Dr Marc Morris, a historian who specializes in the Middle Ages; and Prof Hugh M. Thomas, author of The Norman Conquest: England after William the Conqueror.

In this episode, we're telling the story of Ireland through its records with Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives of Ireland; we'll also find out about the life and legacy of Roger Casement, with Roland Philipps, author of Broken Archangel: The Tempestuous Lives of Roger Casement; we'll discuss the formation of the RNLI 200 years ago and its key early personnel with Helen Doe, historian and author of ‘One Crew: The RNLI's Official 200-Year History’; and we'll analyse the Anglo-French War of the late 13th century with David Pilling, historian and author of Edward Longshanks' Forgotten Conflict - The Anglo-French War 1294-1303.

In this episode of Talking History, we're looking at the life and music of Tchaikovsky and debating his remarkable artistic legacy. Joining Patrick Geoghegan is Prof Philip Ross Bullock, Professor of Russian Literature and Music, University of Oxford; Dr Ciarán Crilly, Associate Professor, UCD School of Music, and Artistic Director of the UCD Symphony Orchestra; and Dr Tamsin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Music and Head of the Centre for Russian Music at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In this episode, we're exploring the Library of Alexandria and finding out how it became the ancient world's greatest repository of knowledge. Joining Patrick Geoghegan is Willeke Wendrich, Research Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Digital Humanities, UCLA; Prof Islam Issa, Professor of Literature and History at Birmingham City University; and Dr Cynthia Johnston, Senior Lecturer in History of the Book at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London.

In a new mini-series over the next year, Talking History explores the history of Ireland's political parties, from their achievements in office, to their failures, leaders and legacy. In this first episode, we look back the history of Fianna Fáil: the good, the bad and the ugly of the party which has been in power in Ireland for longer than any other.Patrick Geoghegan is joined by Dr Eoin O’Malley, Associate Professor in Political Science at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Prof Gary Murphy, Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, Prof Eunan O'Halpin, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin, and Senator Lisa Chambers of Fianna Fáil.

Marking the international touring exhibition 'Imagine: 100 Years of International Surrealism', Patrick Geoghegan finds out what this movement meant to the art world and its global significance still today. Joining him is Dr Felicity Gee, Senior Lecturer in Modernism and World Cinema at the University of Exeter, and Vice President of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism; Dr Matthew Affron, curator for modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art who is leading the surrealism exhibition there; Professor Alyce Mahon, the University of Cambridge’s Department of History of Art specialist in Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory; and Dr. Tara Plunkett, Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, at University College Dublin.

In this April Books Special, we'll find out how the Oxford English Dictionary was crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people from astronomers to murderers, with author Dr Sarah Ogilvie, Senior Research Fellow in Linguistics at the University of Oxford; we'll also explore one of the bloodiest periods in English history known as the Anarchy with author and historian Sharon Bennett Connolly; and discuss two centuries of Plantagenet history which included the murder of kings and a devastating pandemic, in the book 'Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State' with Dr Caroline Burt, medieval historian at the University of Cambridge, and Richard Partington, Fellow in History at St John's College, University of Cambridge.

In this episode of Talking History, we're remembering Abba's Eurovision win 50 years ago and finding out how the song Waterloo helped to propel them to global superstardom. Joining Patrick Geoghegan are: Carl Magnus Palm, historian and author of ‘Abba On Record', Ingmarie Halling, Creative Director and Curator at ABBA The Museum, Hedley Swain, CEO of Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, on the Abba exhibition at Brighton Museum, and Dr. Dónal Mulligan, lecturer and researcher at the DCU School of Communication.

On this week's Talking History, we're looking at the creation of the Irish courts system 100 years ago and exploring how our legal system came about. On Patrick Geoghegan's panel: Dr Niamh Howlin, Associate Professor at the UCD Sutherland School of Law and main organiser of the Dublin Castle event commemorating the Courts of Justice Act 1924; Dr Donal Coffey, Lecturer and Assistant Professor, School of Law, Maynooth University; Dr Róisin Costello, Assistant Professor of EU and International Law at TCD; Dr Kevin Costello, Senior Lecturer in the Sutherland School of Law at UCD; and Hon. Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan, Ireland’s foremost constitutional lawyer.

In this World War Two-themed March Books Special, Patrick Geoghegan meets the nephew of Alan Turing to discuss the enigma traitors. We'll also hear about the travels of Winston Churchill from Robin Cross, and debate why the Luftwaffe lost the aerial war over Germany, with Jonathan Trigg.

Happy St Patrick's Day! In this episode, we chart the history of Taoisigh visiting the White House, how the tradition started and evolved, and why Ireland is the only country that gets this special treatment in the United States. Joining Patrick's panel is Marion R. Casey, Clinical Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies and historian at New York University. She is the author of ‘The Green Space: The Transformation of the Irish Image’ and co-editor of ‘Making The Irish American: History and Heritage of Irish in the United States’; Dr Catherine Healy, Historian-in-Residence, EPIC Irish Emigration Museum; Ted Smyth, president of the Advisory Board of Glucksman Ireland House NYU, Chair of the Clinton Institute for American Studies in University College Dublin, and former Irish diplomat; Dr Daniel Geary, Mark Pigott Associate Professor in American History, Trinity College Dublin; and Cian T. McMahon, Associate Professor at the Department of History & Honors College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

On this week's episode of Talking History, Patrick Geoghegan traces the highs and lows of The Oscars, the underrated and underwhelming nominations of the past, and the trailblazers for Irish cinematic success.He's joined by Prof Mark Glancy, Professor of Film History, Queen Mary University of London; Dr Conn Holohan, Director of the Centre for Creative Technologies and lecturer in film and media studies at the University of Galway; Prof Ruth Barton, Professor in Film Studies, Trinity College Dublin; and Prof Kevin Rockett, Fellow Emeritus and former Professor in Film Studies at Trinity College Dublin, and former Chairman of the Irish Film Institute.

In this episode of Talking History, we're looking at FDR and the New Deal as we debate the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his attempts to tackle the Great Depression. Joining Patrick Geoghegan is Iwan Morgan, Emeritus Professor of US Studies at UCL and author of FDR: Transforming the Presidency and Renewing America; Dr Bernadette Whelan, professor emeritus in the Department of History, University of Limerick; Michael Cullinane, the Lowman Walton Chair of Theodore Roosevelt Studies at Dickinson State University, Public Historian for the Theodore Roosevelt Association, and author of 'Remembering Theodore Roosevelt'; and Jonathan Darman, former political correspondent for Newsweek and author of ‘Becoming FDR’.