What's The Story?

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. 

This week the lads are joined by League of Ireland legend and RTÉ pundit Alan Cawley. Mero is like a kid at Christmas as we are just a few short sleeps away from a brand new SSE Airtricity League season. So, with that in mind we brought Al back to look ahead and see what we can expect from the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld.    *We're sorry if the audio sounds a bit off on this week's podcast, we had some serious gremlins in the editing process... and no, the gremlin wasn't Danny trying to replace all mentions of football with rugby. 

On this week's podcast Danny continues his run as WTSpod's resident heel, Mero is not happy about being fouled out of basketball matches and the lads are not happy about nasal hair.  There's talk of Brexit, the Royal Rumble, the Six Nations and everyone is a friend of the show. 

Heather Hardy is a professional boxer and MMA fighter from Brooklyn, New York. She is one of the biggest names in women's boxing and boasts a 22-0 record with a world title or two thrown in for good measure.  The lads caught up with The Heat to discuss her career, boxing, unifying the women's featherweight championships, fighting in the Bellator cage again (and maybe in Ireland), and the possibility of facing off against Katie Taylor.     

This week the lads caught up with friend of the show, Stephanie Roche.  It's been three years since Steph first appeared on WTSpod and a lot has changed for the Irish striker. Following a year of highs and lows, Steph recently made the move to Italy where she is applying her trade with CF Florentia in Florence.  Steph tells us how the move to Florentia came to be, the frustration of being injured, covering the 2018 World Cup with RTÉ, the heartbreak of Club 92 in Dublin closing its doors, and loads more.       

Following a festive fiesta the lads have returned to podcasting with a little warm-up ahead of 2019's real launch. There was some 'ring rust' as the lads try to adjust to normality and the dread of holiday season being well and truly over. 

Our guests this week really need no introduction, which is why the lads made absolutely no effort with the this week's intro.  Phil O'Connor made his WTS debut earlier this year and warmed the hearts and minds of the lads and their listeners. You can get your fill of Phil by checking out 'Our Man in Stolkholm' on Patreon.  Petesy Carroll is Europe's best (and most handsome) MMA journalist. He has done wonders to improve Blanchardstown's reputation in light of it being part of Leo Varadkar's constituency. You can hear more of north Dublin's sexiest man (2015) by checking out Eurobash Podcast.  Mero attempted to make this show a year in review but that went out the window very early and was exchanged for general waffle, craic and what may turn out to be the first movements towards an official Ken Early fan club. 

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if the lads didn't invite their great friend Paul Howard to the fabulous and famous Fitzpatrick Castle, to record their annual festive podcast.  It's been another great year Paul, Ross O'Carroll Kelly continues to have a place in Irish hearts, and Copper Face Jacks the musical was one of the most popular stage shows of the year - so popular it will return in 2019 for its second outing.  This episode of WTSpod is brought to you by Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, go to www.fitzpatrickcastle.com for more. 

Off the New York's Bronx coastline is an island that is home to the remains of over 1 million people.There are no gravestones, no memorial services and you cannot attend funerals there. Each grave contains 150 people, pine box caskets are stacked three-high and two-deep as they fill the giant holes with little room to spare. Hart Island is the world's largest publicly funded cemetery, and for years it has been shrouded in secrecy and associated with the poor, criminals, insane, and diseased. But is the more Hart Island and is it as dark and sinister as some press reports have portrayed it?  Since 1994, The Hart Island Project has independently assisted families in obtaining copies of public burial records. The group also helps people track down loved ones and negotiate visits. The Hart Island Project was founded by New York artist Melinda Hunt in an effort to aid the loved ones of the dead buried on Hart Island. 

Alan Gernon is a comedian and author. His first book, "Retired: What happens to footballers when the game is up?", was released to rave reviews in 2016.  Two and half years later Alan is back, and this time he's had a little look into the transfer market. His book, "The Transfer Market: The inside stories" will be available from December 1st, you can pre-order it ahead of the Christmas rush to be guaranteed your copy.