In this episode I was joined on the phone by author and documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. Jarecki began as a director of stage plays before moving to the moving image and his last 2 feature length documentaries, Why We Fight and The House I live In, both won the Grand Joury Prize for documentary at Sundance.

When I hung up the phone from Eugene I sat back in my chair feeling overwhelmed, Jarecki is a force of nature when he speaks about the subjects that inspire him. I was struck by his compassion, empathy, anger, and relentless optimism. That's the beauty of Jarecki's work, for all their quiet rage there's a palpable sense that things could and should be better.

Our conversation covered plenty of ground as always, including:

1. Eugene telling a great story about Paul Robeson.
2. Eugene's description of the birth of The War on Drugs including it's historical racial motivation.
3. Eugene points out that Nixon's take on addiction was more understanding than the version of himself he portrayed at election time.
4. Eugene describes what the Prison Industrial Complex is and how it erodes the integrity of the democratic process.
5. Wealth inequality in America.
6. What we can do to influence our political system.

Eugene was a superb and persuasive guest and I hope you enjoy listening to him as much I enjoyed speaking to him. Dave

For full episode notes check out the blog at inspirelandpodcast.com

For episode 23 I was joined on the phone by the always excellent Oliver Burkeman. Burkeman is an award winning columnist and author writing about the self-help culture, social psychology, philosophy, and the negative path to happiness.

During the episode we discuss:

• The pitfalls of modern positive thinking.
• How the Stoics can help us face the toughest parts of our lives.
• The benefits of embracing insecurity and vulnerability.
• How to reduce our fear of death, even slightly!

As well as his excellent column in the Guardian, Oliver has written 2 books, the latest of which, The Antidote: Happiness For People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, explores society's obsession with positivity and how this obsession might actually make us less happy.

For links to all the stuff mentioned in the interview, as well as all the episode notes for this convesation, please visit inspirelandpodcast.com.

Enjoy. Dave

The episode where the gang, joined by guests Dave O' Connor & Cliona Mannion, discuss:

1. Their attempts to achieve nirvana through daily meditation,
2. Their mixed efforts at some Shim-Sham jazz dancing, and
3. Their (almost) live attempts at some street art.

Enjoy.