Whenever anyone asks me for a good podcast recommendation, I go on a forty minute ramble about the excellence of The Blindboy Podcast. The weekly podcast, which was initially created to promote his book, The Gospel According to Blindboy, has grown into the 7th most popular podcasts in Ireland, with over 1 million worldwide monthly listeners.
This is of no surprise, as the podcast has a little something for everyone. The podcast covers topics such as art, mental health, “Irish-ism”, pop-culture, and more. Which each topic having the potential of falling prey to one of those juicy hot-takes.
However, with the podcast totalling in over 200 episodes, and with Blindboy himself often being heard at the start of episodes proclaiming to any new listeners to go back and listen to previous episode to “familiarize yourself with the lore of the podcast”, beginning the podcast can be daunting.
This is why i’ve devised a list of 3 episodes I think you should listen to first. Hopefully giving you a good foundation for your long voyage ahead through the Blindboy universe.
Number 1
The podcast begins with a beautiful piece of pros sent in by Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender (not really), and wanders through topics like bee’s, smoke alarm’s, hurl’s and ghosts. Starting at this podcast helps you understand the process of Blindboy’s often meandering, but nonetheless entertaining, creative flow.
Number 2
In this episode, Blindboy outlines how our modern perception of Hell comes from 12th century Cork. Blindboy retraces Dante’s Inferno, to Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, all the way back to a Cork Knight, whos visions of a fiery land, devoid of God are the first account of what we now perceive as Hell. Blindboy puts his Masters in Art History to good use in this episode, making for a thoroughly enthralling listen.
Number 3
This episode gives you three hot-takes for the price of one. Hot-takes are very well researched educated guesses that are used in lieu of concrete evidence being available and are a staple of The Blindboy Podcast.
This is in no way a definitive list of the episodes that you HAVE to start with, merely a suggestion to get you familiarize with the main topics and components of the podcast, from my own personal experience with it.
Before you know it, you yourself will be a “Fussy Duncan” or even a “Steamy Caoimhe”.
Dog Bless.
