The Good Listener Podcast

Send us Fan Mail *** PREVIEW CLIP*** (I usually don't do this but to fill the void this week here's a snippet from the full episode which will be available on YouTube this week and on podcast platforms next Monday) In a clip from our upcoming 3 + hour interview, ex-FRU handler Ian Hurst (Martin Ingram) gives his take on how he thinks the infamous "Agent Stakeknife" was recruite...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with author Henry Hemming about his most recent book “Four Shots in the Night”, an excellently written true-story of a British army agent within the IRA named Frank Hegarty. Henry talks to us about the army unit that recruited and ran Hegarty, the now infamous FRU (force research unit) and their unique approach to running agents, how princess Diana was nea...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with filmmaker Des Henderson, about his recent, extremely powerful documentary "Lost Boys: Belfast's Missing Children" which focus on the disappearances of a number of boys in Northern Ireland during the troubles and explores the dark story of Kincora Boys Home. Des tells us about the links that these disappearances may have had with a netwo...

Send us Fan Mail Ex-IRA volunteer and author of the “Stakeknife's Dirty War", Richard O Rawe returns to the pod to share his analysis on the recently published and long awaited, Operation Kenova (interim report). This was an investigation into the FRU (force research unit) agent code named Stakeknife and the IRA’s internal security unit better known as the “nutting squad”. Richard walks...

Send us Fan Mail Padraig Og O' Ruaric, historian and author of "The Disappeared" speaks to us about his the forced disappearances the have taken place for political reasons in Ireland's often bloody history. We speak about the different reasons for forced disappearances in Ireland's war of independence and civil war committed by both Irish guerrilla fighters and the Britis...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode author David Blake Knox ("Facedown: The disappearance of Thomas Neidermayer") takes us through the tragic case of German man, Thomas Neidermayer, who was living in the north when he was kidnapped (and killed) by the IRA in an attempt to get Marian and Dolores Price moved to an Irish prison after their 1973 London b*mbing attack. We speak about Neidermayer...

Send us Fan Mail Richard Moore grew up in Derry and as a young child experienced life in pre-troubles Northern Ireland before the eruption of a conflict that had been brewing for years.  Richard tells us about his memories of the British army as they first came to N.I following the Battle of the Bogside and how they were originally welcomed by the community and how the murders of Bloody Sunday mar...

Send us Fan Mail David Burke, author of "Kitson’s Irish War: Mastermind of the Dirty War in Ireland" breaks down the work/influence of Brigader Frank Kitson and the infamous "Military Reaction Force" better known as the MRF, The British Army branch who were "there to act like the IRA". David tell us about how Kiston developed the tactics that would used against the IR...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen White is former commanding officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (police force at the time) during some of Northern Ireland’s most violent and volatile years.  Stephen tells us about his early years growing up in an environment where sectarian tension and violence was a constant. Stephen spent time in the Ulster Defense Regiment before he joined the RUC. I asked Stephen...

Send us Fan Mail PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LEAVE A RATING & SHARE TO HELP THE SHOW CONTINUE TO GROW On April 13th 1922 the war of independence era IRA committed their only murder on US soil when they took revenge on a traitor whose disloyalty had cost 6 members of his old unit their lives. Author Mark Bulik, who has written the first book on the incident shares with us the story of 4 men from Sundays...

Send us Fan Mail Julieann Campbell's uncle John "Jackie" Duddy was 17 years old when he was shot dead while running away by British soldiers during Bloody Sunday 1972. Julieann's urge to find out whatever she could about the killing of the uncle that she never got to meet for her family would eventually led her to write an outstanding book called 'On Bloody Sunday". I...

Send us Fan Mail (RE-UPLOAD, RECORDED LATE DEC 2022 & PUBLISHED IN JAN 2023)     The chief suspect for the still unsolved 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, Ian Bailey has died form a heart-attack. I spoke to Ian almost exactly a year ago in what was, I'm fairly sure, his second last long format interview and his last video long format interview. (Video version available on YouTube...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I spoke with Ronan McGreevy, co-author of the recently released book "The Kidnapping", which focuses on the doomed ransom kidnapping attempt on businessman Don Tidey. We discussed the IRA's various methods of fund-raising  during the troubles and their history of ransom-kidnaps. Ronan told me about how Tidey was selected as the target, how the IRA M...

Send us Fan Mail Nick Dunn is a former British soldier and private security contractor who endured nearly half a decade in the Indian prison system after being unfairly convicted while carrying out anti-pirate work. Nick spoke to me about his brief time patrolling South Armagh in post-conflict Northern Ireland and danger he faced in Afghanistan fighting against the tactics/methods of a guerrilla a...

Send us Fan Mail Billy Hutchinson is an ex-UVF member and Loyalist who saw the Troubles heat up and  erupt as he was a teen in sectarian Northern Ireland. Billy told us about his growing up in the Shankill area, a working class Protestant part of Belfast and his community felt uncared for by their government despite identifying as loyal Brits. Billy, in an attempt to join the UVF, set up a youth l...

Send us Fan Mail PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & LEAVE A RATING TO HELP US CONTINUE TO GROW Brian Banks is a former NFL whose life was altered forever when he was the victim of a false-r*pe allegation towards the end of his high school years. We spoke about how he found out that he was being accused of such a horrific crime, the process of being arrested & charged and the legal games that were a...

Send us Fan Mail PART 2 OF 2 PLEASE SUBSCRIBE & LEAVE A RATING TO HELP THE SHOW CONTINUE TO GROW Glenn Bradley was born 1967 in West Belfast and grew up in the loyalist Woodvale area. He is a former soldier, one-time politician and a made-good businessman. Today, Glenn is Chair of Veterans For Peace Ireland and a Board Member of the Belfast Charitable Society. He remains an unapologetic Irish...

Send us Fan Mail Glenn Bradley was born 1967 in West Belfast and grew up in the loyalist Woodvale area. He is a former soldier, one-time politician and a made-good businessman. Today, Glenn is Chair of Veterans For Peace Ireland and a Board Member of the Belfast Charitable Society. He remains an unapologetic Irish peace processor. I was  eager pick Glenn's brain about what it was like to grow...

Send us Fan Mail Graham Linehan is the Irish comedy writer behind behind the legendary sitcom, Father Ted, as well as Black Books and the I.T Crowd. Grahams recent autobiography, “Tough Crowd” takes the reader through Graham’s youth in Ireland, his co-writing of the show that is now embedded in Irish culture and provided laughs the world over. We speak about Grahams influences as he ventured into...

Send us Fan Mail Frank Portinari is a former commander of the London UDA during the troubles and was eventually imporisoned after being caught buying firearms which were to used for the loyalist cause of keeping the 6 counties of Northern Ireland part of the UK. Frank told us about his growing in working-class London in a largely Irish area and how he ended up as a Tottnem football holligan during...

Send us Fan Mail Irish criminologist and co-host of the Real Lives Untold podcast, Sarah O' Conor speaks to us about the recent murders that shocked Ireland committed by Yousef Palani & Jozef Puska whose respective killings have now resulted in life sentences for the murderers. Sarah also told us about Ireland's history of serial-killer types and particularly those who kill women. We...

Send us Fan Mail "Balaclava Street" is a leading blog dedicated to exploring the history of the loyalist paramilitaries in Northern, particularly the UVF. Over the years Iain has gained unprecedented access to ex-UVF members for the book that he is in the process of writing about the loyalist paramilitary's history. We spoke about the various loyalist paramilitary groups and the dif...

Send us Fan Mail Nicola Tallant is one of Ireland’s leading crime journalists and her newest book, “Cocaine Cowboys” presents a history of Ireland’s relationship with the drug as well as the gangland figures that have emerged since white powder hit Irish shores. We spoke about the drug itself, how long it has taken to fully penetrate all layers of society and how it has spread to even the more rur...

Send us Fan Mail Martin Doyle’s new book “Dirty Linen: The Troubles in my Homeplace” details the events of the troubles in his local area and the wide reaching effects that the conflict had on everyone’s lives. In my personal opinion the book is one of the very finest works on the subject of troubles-era Northern Ireland and is a masterfully crafted collections of human stories in a non-partisan f...

Send us Fan Mail Tony McAleer is a reformed, ex- neo-n*zi/white supremacist who now works to help people disengage from violent hate-groups like the one's that Tony used to set-up and run. Tony shares his story of how a boy from a good family & catholic school ended up heavily involved in racist-skinhead gangs even taking up a leadership role and using his intelligence to recruit other yo...