Skein Podcasts: Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together

As part of Skein’s Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together series, academic Dr Phil Mullen and writer Afua Hirsch came together for a conversation at Dublin Book Festival in November 2025. In this groundbreaking discussion, Phil and Afua reflected on identity, race, nationhood, belonging, emotional labour, what's in a name and much much more. We are delighted to now share this live conversation wit...

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is joined by three young, mixed-race Irish women — Sandrine Uwase Ndahiro , Mercy Kamara and Nana/Amy Lawani  — and together they reflect on mixed-race identity, mother-daughter relationships, Black masculinity, and white beauty standards. Sandrine Uwase Ndahiro is a Rwandan-Irish early-career researcher focused on postcolonial literature, Black environmentalism, an...

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is again joined by Sandrine, Mercy and Amy. This time they reflect on experiences of interracial relationships, both platonic and romantic.  Sandrine Uwase Ndahiro is a Rwandan-Irish early-career researcher focused on postcolonial literature, Black environmentalism, and contemporary Irish literature. She examines representational modes of the political economy of ra...

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is joined by Sandrine, Amy and Mercy for their concluding conversation. Together, they discuss the burden of representation, the importance of Black visibility in education, and the dangers of tokenism.  Sandrine Uwase Ndahiro is a Rwandan-Irish early-career researcher focused on postcolonial literature, Black environmentalism, and contemporary Irish literature. She...

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is joined by three guests who emigrated to Ireland from the African continent. They reflect on ideas of migration, belonging, and the realities of raising children of African descent in a country like Ireland.   Support the show

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is joined by three guests who emigrated to Ireland from the African continent. They reflect on ideas of migration, belonging, and the realities of raising children of African descent in a country like Ireland.   Support the show

In this episode, Dr Phil Mullen is joined by three guests who emigrated to Ireland from the African continent. They reflect on ideas of migration, belonging, and identity  Support the show

In the seventh episode of 'In the Half Light', curator Phil Mullen returns to a conversation with three writers about their experiences of growing up mixed-race in Ireland: Marguerite Penrose (author of 'Yeah But Where Are You Really From?'), Jackie McCarthy O'Brien (author of 'We Made It, Kid') and Leon Diop (author of 'Mixed Up: An Irish Boys Journey to Be...

In the sixth episode of 'In the Half Light', curator Phil Mullen speaks to three writers about their experiences of growing up mixed-race in Ireland: Marguerite Penrose (author of 'Yeah But Where Are You Really From?'), Jackie McCarthy O'Brien (author of 'We Made It, Kid') and Leon Diop (author of 'Mixed Up: An Irish Boys Journey to Belonging')  Support...

In this conversation, we hear from an Irish woman who grew up as a mixed-race child in a country that insisted on a story of itself as white.  These kind of experiences rarely made it into the reports on the state's institutions. Her story illuminates what it meant to navigate childhood in such an atmosphere. Support the show

In this episode, our guest speaks openly and candidly about her childhood in an Irish industrial school.  In recalling the ordinary routines of the home — the mix of care and racialisation — we see how this shaped the way she learned to move through the world.  Support the show

In Episode 3, this series concludes by reflecting on experiences that carried into later life, and what it was like to grow up Black in Ireland before the Celtic Tiger.  In the Half Light: Voices from Black Ireland is curated by Dr Phil Mullen, Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Trinity College Dublin and a leading researcher on the historical experiences of "mixed-race" people grow...

In the Half Light: Voices from Black Ireland is curated by Dr Phil Mullen, Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Trinity College Dublin and a leading researcher on the historical experiences of "mixed-race" people growing up in Ireland. Using the audio format, Phil has created an anonymised, open space for "mixed-race" people who grew up in Irish care institutions to explore...

In the Half Light: Voices from Black Ireland is curated by Dr Phil Mullen, Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Trinity College Dublin and a leading researcher on the historical experiences of "mixed-race" people growing up in Ireland. Using the audio format, Phil has created an anonymised, open space for "mixed-race" people who grew up in Irish care institutions to explore...