If you grew up in Ireland in the 80s or 90s, chances are you spent many an afternoon trying to draw an owl, a dinosaur or a shark along with the wonderful Don Conroy.

For decades, Don was a much-loved fixture of Irish children's television, bringing a little calm to the madness of Dempsey's Den and The Den, alongside Ian Dempsey, Zig and Zag and Dustin the Turkey.

In this episode, Don and I take a trip down memory lane to those brilliant days of Irish TV, including the slagging he got from the puppets and the extraordinary affection people still have for him.

But Don has lived a fascinating life beyond the drawing board. He tells me about acting alongside Gabriel Byrne and Frank Kelly, the day he ended up having tea and biscuits with Laurence Olivier, and a terrifying encounter in Africa involving an enormous owl and two men with rifles.

We also revisit the time I persuaded him to play Denis O'Brien in a sketch, and chat about his new book, The Artist Within, which encourages us all to rediscover our creativity, slow down and take a closer look at the world around us.

COMEDY - Ryan Tubridy might be embarking on a new career in politics - Donald Trump, George Lee, and Bertie Ahern have some advice!

The Mario Rosenstock Podcast is produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Ever wondered why the bookies always seem to come out on top? Or whether those tempting accumulators, bet builders and big-race specials are quite as attractive as they look?

Economist and UCD Professor Karl Whelan joins me on this episode to lift the lid on the economics of sports betting. His new book, Fine Margins: How Economics Explains Sports Betting, explores the mathematics behind the odds, the strategies bookmakers use to protect their profits, and why some of the most popular types of bets offer surprisingly poor value for punters.

There's also a brilliant story involving my great friend, the late Tony Fenton, Paddy Power and a €16,000 win on a Roy Keane Gift Grub sketch reaching Christmas number one. And we'll revisit that classic Roy Keane musical moment from the archives.

Karl previously worked as an economist at the US Federal Reserve, so we also chat about Donald Trump, the state of the American economy and the possibility that the enormous sums being invested in artificial intelligence could be fuelling another financial bubble.

Tour alert: My brand new live stage show ‘Boom’ has just gone on sale Nationwide- Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford. Tickets at Ticketmaster & venue box office. See you there !

Is AI is going to take your job, destroy civilisation or just make you feel completely inadequate?

My chat with Mark Little in this episode might help shed some light on the answers to these questions.

Mark is a former RTÉ foreign correspondent and news presenter, the founder of the very successful company Storyful, and somebody who's been at the forefront of the digital revolution for a long time.

He’s just written a fascinating new book called The Last Good Day on the Internet, about how technology has changed our lives, what we've lost along the way, and why the future might not be quite as bleak as we're sometimes led to believe.

We talk about whether AI could turn against us, why the people building it can sometimes seem a little bit mad themselves, and why the things that make us human might actually become more valuable in the years ahead.

COMEDY link – So it seems anyone who is anyone has a book to promote at the moment – and the intrepid team at RTE's Prime Time is worried...

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

What kind of person voluntarily walks into a Venezuelan prison run by armed inmates, travels to the front line of a war without a flak jacket, or goes looking for drug cartels while supposedly on holiday?

Meet Jeff Farrell, an Irish journalist and author whose extraordinary career has taken him into some of the most dangerous places on earth. And as I quickly discover, Jeff has an almost unnerving ability to recount terrifying experiences as though they were just another day at the office.

Jeff tells me about being held at gunpoint in Caracas, gaining access to a notorious Venezuelan prison, and the remarkable chance encounter that led him to co-write the bestselling The Cocaine Diaries.

He also reveals what it was like working for a fiercely pro-Brexit British newspaper, following Nigel Farage around the campaign trail, and the rather colourful response Farage gave him when asked about the future of Irish people living in Britain.

And there's plenty more: reporting from the front line in Ukraine, a frightening encounter with a Mexican drug cartel, and Jeff's new crime thriller, Bad Blood in Caracas, inspired by his years reporting in South America.

COMEDY - There are new houses being built near the home of Michael D Higgins – and he is NOT happy about it.

My brand new live stage show ‘BOOM’ is going Nationwide from early 2027 -book your tickets now on Ticketmaster or Venue box offices

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

It’s fair to say that Ivan Yates has had more careers, comebacks and reinventions than most. Farmer, politician, government minister, bookmaker, broadcaster, podcaster and political commentator – he's done the lot.

At the height of his bookmaking career, Ivan was making €4 million a year. A few years later, he was bankrupt and living alone in Swansea. But he bounced back, reinventing himself as one of Ireland's best-known broadcasters.

Now he's written a new book, The Game of Life and How to Win It, sharing the lessons he's learned about success, failure, money, relationships and happiness.

Ivan and I chat about the highs and lows of his extraordinary career, his departure from the Path to Power podcast with Matt Cooper, his views on politics, gambling and personal responsibility, and why he believes there's a formula for success.

We also talk about the morality of bankruptcy and whether getting a second chance should mean leaving others out of pocket.

Get ready for plenty of laughs, a few disagreements and some fascinating stories from a man who's rarely short of an opinion!

COMEDY – Its budget day and Minister Simon Harris is under serious pressure

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

You’ve probably seen that iconic black and white photo of Marco Pierre White – long hair, cigarette in mouth, in his chefs whites, and serious attitude in his expression. He was one of the first so-called 'rock star' chefs. But it was all backed up with serious talent - his restaurants were legendary and he even became the youngest chef ever to win three Michelin stars.

Marco and I caught up in the studio while he was in Dublin for his Supper Club at the Courtyard Bar and Grill in Donnybrook, and we had the most fascinating and wildly unpredictable conversation!

We chat about food, his love of long lingering lunches (we share that in common), dealing rude customers in restaurants, the working-class world he grew up in, losing his mother when he was just six, and why he thinks that experience still affects the way he relates to people today.

He also shares brilliant stories about his extraordinary collection of friends and acquaintances. Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Keith Floyd and the wonderful Oliver Reed - one of life’s great characters.

COMEDY – Neven Maguire, Michael O’Leary and Roy Keane leave messages for Marco on The Mario Rosenstock Podcast Hotline

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand

Sophie Morris has become one of Ireland’s most influential voices on food, with more than 650,000 followers watching as she picks apart supermarket claims, exposes questionable marketing and recommends the products she believes are actually worth buying.

But Sophie knows the food business from the inside too – she trained in Ballymaloe Cookery School and then built her own food company, turning down an investment on Dragons’ Den, and the supposedly dream supermarket deal that became one of the most stressful experiences of her life.

We chat about the booming business of “high protein” foods, the psychology behind supermarket marketing, the surprising power Sophie now has to send sales of a product soaring and why she won’t take money from food brands, and her serious concerns about the food being served to Irish children through the school meals programme.

Sophie also talks about her new RTÉ One series, How to Shop Well Now, airing October 5th and 12th.

COMEDY – after a terrible few days, Ed Sheeran is still facing difficult questions, but he’s playing the answers characteristically safe!

Produced by Patrick Haughey, AudioBrand