My Cultural Life
Podcast host Laurie O’Dwyer with wife Sonya
Cork’s Laurie O’Dwyer hosts the Whiskey Chats Podcast and co-founded Cork Whiskey Festival with his wife Sonya. He’ll host the inaugural Kerry Drinks Festival on November 15. kerrydrinksfestival.com
BOOK: Hidden Life of Trees Once I’m learning something, I’m happy. I’m dipping in and out of The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, which explains the intricate communication of trees and forests through their root and fungus networks. And I find myself constantly going back to Alfred Barnard’s The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom from 1887. He was a British journalist who went on a drinking jolly to visit nearly every distillery on the British Isles, resulting in an untold social and industrial history bible.
TV: The Big Bang Theory I’m currently rewatching The Big Bang Theory, a massively underrated sitcom that’s family friendly to watch with my son Riley and my wife Sonya. And I love watching the crab fishermen on Discovery’s Deadliest Catch. Hardy lads. I do miss Jeremy Clarkson’s car shows, but Clarkson’s Farm is a guilty pleasure of mine. And I do have a soft spot for 1990s action movies, which sit neatly in between 1980s cheese and Noughties CGI overload.
PODCAST: Everything Everywhere I love listening to a great podcast whilst driving. My current playlist includes: Everything Everywhere, a daily deep-dive on a huge range of topics; The President’s Daily Brief, another daily, on world geopolitical events; Lex Fridman Podcast, a long-form conversation with experts in their own fields.
FESTIVAL: Poitín now I do love a good food festival. The amazing food producers we have in Ireland always shine at such events. I loved Cork on a Fork tin August. It was a week-long food celebration across Cork city. The Smokin’ Soul BBQ festival in Wexford in July was spectacular, and the Dingle Food Festival is an October highlight. And the boutique Poitín Now event in Bar 1661 in Dublin city on November 19. Artist Fran Leavey runs this and his passion for one of our native Irish spirits has resulted in this wonderful celebration each year.