Brian O‘Donovan: Four Years In The Cauldron

An Irishman Abroad

Jarlath Regan

Society & Culture, News, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture:personal Journals, Personal Journals, Politics

4.8 • 834 Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Brian O’Donovan was offered the plum role of RTÉ News' Washington Correspondent he knew he was taking his family on an adventure. After 2 years of fake news, scandals and turmoil, he had no clue he had only seen the beginnings of the craziness that would follow. With the clarity that Brian’s on site reports are known for, he speaks about what it was like reporting from the front lines of a White House implosion. Brian speaks about adapting to family life in America, why the US media is missing Donald Trump and the challenges of being on duty 24/7 while reporting on the biggest news stories in the world. Later on Jarlath gets an insight into his early media days in Cork's Red FM, the 10 years he spent at TV3, his experiences of living in America when the Black Lives Matter movement began and much more. Very few have been entrusted with the responsibility of reporting directly from such troubling times. This conversation with Brian O’Donovan gives a rare insight into the impact this kind of work has on a person and their family. To hear every episode in full and to gain access to the entire back-catalogue of over 500 Irishman Abroad episodes that are not available on iTunes for just the price of a pint every month visit www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad Supplementary research provided by John Meagher. Our charity partner is jigsawonline.ie. In these tricky times, Jigsaw provides a range of resources, advice and care for your people to help them strengthen their mental health and the skills needed to navigate life. Please visit their website and consider making a donation. For updates on future episodes and live shows follow @jarlath on Twitter, visit www.jigser.com or email the show directly on [email protected]. Disclaimer: All materials contained within this podcast are copyright protected. Third party reuse and/or quotation in whole or in part is prohibited unless direct credit and/or hyperlink to the Irishman Abroad podcast is clearly and accurately provided.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this very special episode of an Irishman abroad with me, Jarleth Riegan,
0:05.5	and our guest today, Brian O'Donovan.
0:07.9	Well, if you've watched news in the last 10, 15 years from Ireland, you'll know exactly who
0:14.0	Brian O'Donovan is and how his lively and authoritative reporting from the front lines of America
0:19.7	and Ireland is absolute must-watch TV.
0:23.1	He spent four years in the cauldron, and that is the title of his new book, four years in the
0:28.6	cauldron telling the extraordinary story of America in crisis.
0:32.5	Of course, was RTE's Washington correspondent for that time.
0:36.2	Seeing everything right from the front row seat,
0:39.3	from the knife edge election to the capital riot to the horrendous murder of George Floyd,
0:44.5	he was there for every step of it. And this book is the first-hand account of what it was like
0:49.7	to attempt to cover this maybe the most rapidly evolving story that the world has ever seen.
0:56.7	But also it's this family account.
0:59.3	Brian, of course, brought his wife and two children to Washington for the time.
1:03.5	And then, of course, became trapped there during COVID-19 and the height of the pandemic.
1:09.4	It's a one-off.
1:10.9	It's a book like no other I've picked up on the subject.
1:13.8	I've always recommended the Michael Wolfe books.
1:16.0	But this is more of an account of what it was like to be that person entrusted with that responsibility of getting that news across and back to Ireland.
1:25.8	While trying to remain impartial in what were really divisive times.
1:31.8	It's available now from Pengren. You can get it everywhere. It was released on October 14th.
1:36.2	It mightn be the worst Christmas present if you can lay your hands on it.
	...

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