Fear/Fun HeadStuff Podcasts

Host Claire Beck is joined by arts journalist and host of Headstuff’s No Encore podcast Dave Hanratty for a frank discussion about everything from mental health and self care, to the treatment of women in film and the art of napping. Dave confesses his arachnophobia and his occasional (and terrifying) fear of dying if he falls asleep. 

A fun fact about Fear/Fun host Claire Beck: when she isn't busy asking people the question "what is your biggest fear?" she spends her spare time in the Circus training aerial acrobatics.

For this episode, she is joined by two incredibly talented circus artists, Aisling Ní Cheallaigh and Ronan Brady.

The tour of their original show How To Square A Circle starts this weekend in Dublin, but they took time out of their busy rehearsal schedule to discuss burning issues such as: how to spin on an aerial hoop really fast without throwing up (Aisling), what it was like getting to the semi finals of Ireland's Got Talent (Ronan), do married people still have sex?, and the fear of getting too comfortable.

For this episode Claire Beck is joined by comedian, writer and actress Alison Spittle and DJ and Today FM-er Ed Smith to answer the question "What is your biggest fear?" 

They start off with a LOT of talk about snacks, before moving on to discuss the correlations between building DJ and comedy sets, the effects of their Irish Catholic upbringings on their fearful childhood selves, Stoneybatter hipsters and more.

For episode #5, Claire is joined by bestselling author of Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling Emer McLysaght and photographer Ruth Medjber. They discuss breezy topics ranging from repealing the 8th to never feeling like your work is good enough, and more serious ones including: is hummus is a condiment or a main food group?, flashing in the shower, and the joy of multiple notebook usage.

Claire is joined by Ireland's reigning queen of Disco, top DJ and Today FM presenter Kelly-Anne Byrne; and songstress, BARQ front woman and all round inspirational human Jess Kav. 

Recorded in front of a live audience in Bello Bar in Dublin, they discuss disastrous gig stories, automatonophobia, invisible Finglas rats, gourmet popcorn, and financial security.

Once again, the Fear/Fun massive gathered with a live audience in Dublin's cosy Bello Bar to ask the question "What is your biggest fear?" 

For episode 3, Claire is joined by:

 DJ, RTÉ 2fm host and writer Tara Stewart and Founder of Girl Crew, an app and community of women which is spreading worldwide, Elva Carri. 

Topics of discussion include: Internet creeping, snakes, feigning interest in others, why Tramore is possibly the fairground capital of the world, fear of intimacy in relationships, and potatoes. 

We'd love you to get involved in the next Fear/Fun Live Recording! We record them once a month in Dublin, Ireland. See Headstuff.org for more information on the next one.