Radio Mad
10th October 2002, 23:28
It wasn’t until I switched on the radio, while travelling in my car earlier this week, that I realised how much I had missed the Vincent Browne radio show. While it isn’t flawless, nevertheless, it is in my view the pre-eminent show of its type anywhere on radio. I was a regular listener before it went off air for the summer, and I suppose you could say I got used to not hearing it on. However, I am now hooked again. It has also cured me of the dreadful addiction to watching all things shite on TV, a condition I have suffered from of late. Now there is a reason to get up off my lazy arse and switch on the radio.
Tonight’s programme featured a single subject - an interview with Gerry Adams. And while it may not have broken any new ground it was the type of interview that drew more out of its subject than any I have heard in a long, long time. Mr. Adams isn’t the easiest person to interview; like all politicians, he is well versed in the art of hyperbole. For this reason it’s always refreshing to hear someone who has both the insight and skill to conduct the soft type of interview on one hand and the hard quizzical one on the other. This isn’t easy and is an art to which not too many can aspire to mastering.
What I do find annoying about the programme, though, is that it is far too short. I feel another thirty minutes would make all the difference. At present, the show concludes at 10.55 to facilitate the playing of classical/operatic music up to the news. This is a blatant waste of precious time and one that, to be perfectly honest, is beyond my comprehension. I also get irked when Vincent Browne announces towards the end of each show that he’ll back after the break with a look at the morning newspapers, only to discover that he only ever deals with two or three papers at the very most. Interestingly tonight's show featured that of Belfast’s Irish News paper only – hardly a representative perusal of the morning papers I would have thought.
Anyway, these minor gripes could and should quite easily be addressed by the powers-that-be in the very near future. The programme itself and more importantly its presenter are the best thing on radio by a long shot – and I’m including the BBC here.
I know not everyone by any means will agree. I realise that others will prefer the type of late night talk shows broadcast on the likes of FM 104 and 98 FM in Dublin and Red FM in Cork, but they are totally different, and if you’re a fan of them (which I am not) you won’t like Vincent Browne.
Tonight’s programme featured a single subject - an interview with Gerry Adams. And while it may not have broken any new ground it was the type of interview that drew more out of its subject than any I have heard in a long, long time. Mr. Adams isn’t the easiest person to interview; like all politicians, he is well versed in the art of hyperbole. For this reason it’s always refreshing to hear someone who has both the insight and skill to conduct the soft type of interview on one hand and the hard quizzical one on the other. This isn’t easy and is an art to which not too many can aspire to mastering.
What I do find annoying about the programme, though, is that it is far too short. I feel another thirty minutes would make all the difference. At present, the show concludes at 10.55 to facilitate the playing of classical/operatic music up to the news. This is a blatant waste of precious time and one that, to be perfectly honest, is beyond my comprehension. I also get irked when Vincent Browne announces towards the end of each show that he’ll back after the break with a look at the morning newspapers, only to discover that he only ever deals with two or three papers at the very most. Interestingly tonight's show featured that of Belfast’s Irish News paper only – hardly a representative perusal of the morning papers I would have thought.
Anyway, these minor gripes could and should quite easily be addressed by the powers-that-be in the very near future. The programme itself and more importantly its presenter are the best thing on radio by a long shot – and I’m including the BBC here.
I know not everyone by any means will agree. I realise that others will prefer the type of late night talk shows broadcast on the likes of FM 104 and 98 FM in Dublin and Red FM in Cork, but they are totally different, and if you’re a fan of them (which I am not) you won’t like Vincent Browne.