Irvine Welsh: We’re More Addicted Now Than in Trainspotting

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

Global

Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From the high-rises of Muirhouse to the heart of countercultural Britain, Irvine Welsh has built a literary universe fuelled by punk energy, dancefloor euphoria, and radical empathy. In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien meets the novelist and cultural icon to trace a life shaped by rebellion, recovery, and relentless storytelling.

They discuss Irvine’s early years in working class Edinburgh, his brushes with heroin and grief, and the accidental discipline learned on a council computer that helped turn his chaotic brilliance into a career. The pair unpack the emotional weight behind his new book Men in Love, why he believes we’re living in a post-cultural age, and the creative lessons of rave, romance, and rock bottom.

Sharp, soulful, and defiantly untamed, Irvine reflects on belonging, addiction, and the mad joy of letting characters run the show.

Find out more about Irvine Welsh’s book, Men in Love here

Transcript

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0:00.0	Love Q Gardens. Get unlimited visits with a membership.
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0:10.4	Connect with loved ones on the treetop walkway and discover exciting places to play, all with one membership.
0:17.7	Relax, connect, discover, repeat at Q.
0:21.4	Join now at Q.org slash membership from 33 pounds for a young person membership paid annually by direct debit.
0:28.7	Terms and conditions apply.
0:32.3	Tennis is full of noise.
0:35.4	Pressure from Porter. Pressure.
0:37.2	Intensity. But what really makes me feel alive?
0:40.3	It's the focus in that quiet.
0:45.3	A moment to breathe.
0:47.3	To reset.
0:48.3	To hydrate.
0:50.3	That's what really makes me feel alive.
0:53.3	Britta, the official water partner of the LTA.
0:56.9	Pick up Britta's filtration range online or at your local store.
1:02.2	This is a Global Player Original podcast.
1:14.7	Hello and welcome to full disclosure. A podcast project conceived entirely to let me spend more time with interesting people than I would ever get on the radio.
1:21.3	Irving Welsh, welcome.
1:22.7	Thank you, James.
1:23.8	It's lovely to have you here.
	...

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