The 7 best episodes of The Blindboy Podcast as it hits special milestone

The show has garnered acclaim from listeners all over the world.

Diving into topics like art, mental health, “Irish-isms,” pop culture, and more - with each subject ripe for a famous Blindboy “hot-take” - the show has garnered up to 75 million listens to date from people around the world.

This is all the more impressive given the podcast's humble origins.

In its latest episode - which sees host Blindboy Boatclub in conversation with Irish Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy - the presenter kicked off by explaining how he initially started the show with the intention of just drawing attention to some short stories that he had written.

He explained: "When I began this podcast, I thought that my career was over. I'd spent my 20s trying to make it in television and music and it didn't work out. My book of short stories was like a last shot in the dark.

"[In] my first ever episode, I read out a short story that I wrote because I didn't think anyone would be interested in my short stories. So, I created this podcast with the intention of just drawing attention to some short stories that I'd written.

"I never really intended the podcast to become a regular weekly thing and here we are seven years later and I haven't missed. I've delivered a podcast every single Wednesday since 2018 and I'm going to continue doing that so long as somebody's listening."

Blindboy often encourages new listeners at the start of episodes to go back and explore earlier ones to “get familiar with the lore of the podcast”.

And as starting from scratch can feel a bit overwhelming, the team at JOE has picked out our seven favorite episodes of the show.

With the list available to check out below, the selections give a good impression of the scope of the podcast:

Did you read about Erskin Fogarty?

The podcast episode that started it all. "In Episode one, Blindboy debuts a short story from his upcoming book, while also discussing the psychology of creativity." The story is getting a TV adaptation soon starring Robert Sheehan.

Sinead O’Connor

A wide-ranging discussion with Sinéad O’Connor/Shuhada Sadaqat about her memoir, music, the creative process, and religion. Including amazing stories about her at the Grammys.

Cillian Murphy

His latest episode celebrates seven years of continuous podcast-making. Blindboy has Cillian back on the podcast to talk about the Oscar-winner's new film Small Things Like These. A great example of the “podcast hug” that Blindboy often delivers.

Bonus Porpoise Torture

“It’s the true story of an Irish-speaking man from Waterford in the 1800s who was forcibly sewn into a bear costume and cruelly made to perform as a bear for French people who’d never seen a bear."

Creaking Ditch Pigeon

“Do you feel like you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, and don’t know why? Click here to find out why, you p***k (Transactional analysis)." One of Blindboy’s many episodes on mental health. He explains this in brilliant detail, with many believing podcasts like this, should be taught in schools.

The return of Manchán Magan

In this episode, writer and documentarian Manchán tells Blindboy this swirling, wonderful story of a trip he took as a young lad across Congo. Wild!

Poltergeist of a Builder

The episode kicks off with a lovely piece of prose from Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender (not really) and meanders through topics like bees, smoke alarms, hurling and ghosts.

During his latest episode, Blindboy thanked his listeners - saying they have changed his life.

"[This podcast] has allowed me to earn a living for the past seven years and that's all I want to be honest. I don't want much more than that," he said.

"I want to write. I want to be creative and I want those things to be my job and that's what my podcast is. So thank you so much to every single listener."

Check out The Blindboy Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and do say hello to Yurty Ahern (the famous Limerick otter) while you’re at it!

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