"I haven't heard him sing yet," Flannery confesses, in answer to the burning question, when we sit down after a rehearsal in Nuns Island theatre in Galway.
Pitchfork is honored to host one of our favorite bands- Mandy, Indiana-to kick off our inaugural reader Q&A series. Starting right now, you can post your questions for guitarist and producer Scott Fair, and synth player Simon Catling to talk about their outstanding record, Fair's solo project set dressing, or whatever else you want to ask them about the joys and difficulties of music, Manchester, and making art.
These days, American politics is a highly charged and dramatic landscape - and nowhere more so than in the White House press room, which can, on occasion, feel like part reality show, part bear pit. Rarely a day goes by where a press room moment doesn't go viral, for any number of reasons. And, as RTÉ's new Washington correspondent, Galwegian Jackie Fox cannot wait to immerse herself in the belly of the beast.
"It's so evocative. I'm surprised they got rid of it," Duffy said. "It's written by Stockton's Wing, Mike Hanrahan and the boys. I used to meet Mike in the old radio centre when he was in, doing bits of work." "And he'd always say to me, at least once a year: 'Thanks, we got the Lanzarote this year off it'. I just think it's evocative. And the programme is in a very hard time, a quarter to two. So you need something, a call to listen," he told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.
"Well, I have to say we've been overwhelmed by texts coming in from listeners, but I won't read them all out because my late father used to quote the proverb: 'Self-praise is no praise'. "But on the other hand, he used to also say: 'If you want to be a somebody, you've got to bang, bang, bang on the drum'. Bit confusing for a young lad. "I will read, and I have been reading the texts that are coming in, and to be quite honest, I'm a bit overwhelmed. But the time has come to thank a few people."
For years, Irish radio was defined by stability. The voices were familiar, the schedules were predictable, the territory was clearly marked. But, as February 2026 gets underway, the war for Ireland's airwaves is very much on, with RTÉ and Newstalk ready to face off across the chessboard.
I did see him, I was reversing into a parking spot and talking to someone from the Late Late Show, handsfree, and I then did a swear word and said: 'I've almost killed David McCullagh'.