One Dublin university, heard through the people inside it.
Trinity College Dublin Talks is a run of conversations with the people who work and study at the university, from its Head of Student Health to a cognitive scientist who researches imagination. Research, campus policy and practical student life sit side by side, down to finding accommodation on an Erasmus year in Austria.
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Trinity College Dublin Talks is an interview series built from the people of one university. Researchers, senior administrators, students and founders all take a turn. Tom Molloy is the interviewer in several episodes, and each conversation ends with warm thanks to the guest. He often starts by asking how a guest came to be where they are before turning to the work itself. The episode with Dr David McGrath, Head of Student Health, shows how wide a single conversation can run. He describes the often catastrophic effects of Covid on student mental health and the things students can do to keep both their mental and physical health on track. He also looks back on his time as a student doctor in Kenya in the 1980s, when nobody had heard of AIDS but its effects were already evident. Drawing on the TILDA ageing study, he argues that social connection protects people as they get older. He sees the same thing in young people, especially students who arrive from the country or from abroad without a ready-made circle of friends. Two guests bring their research. Professor Ruth Byrne, Professor of Cognitive Science in the School of Psychology, studies reasoning and imaginative thought, and her conversation covers how people reimagine the past and how that work is used in therapy. Dr Brian Caulfield, of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, works on decarbonising transport. His episode asks whether cars should come out of the city centre. He argues for changes that would make buses more reliable and more attractive, and calls buses the workhorse of the city's public transport. The university also explains itself. Vice Provost Jürgen Barkhoff, the Chief Academic Officer, talks through the strategic plan, from industry placements and career development to the Trinity Education Project and a coming renewal of postgraduate education. Students speak for themselves. Zara Hussey, a third-year student on Erasmus in Austria, answers questions that other students sent in through Instagram, with advice on arriving a few weeks early and getting accommodation right. Luke Lau and Daniel Cosgrove, who met at Trinity, explain how a pandemic donation platform for musicians fell short and pushed them toward a streaming service aimed at independent musicians. For practical help with student life, the McGrath and Hussey conversations are the natural place to begin. For research, start with Byrne on reasoning or Caulfield on transport.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants academics and university staff to explain their work in plain conversation, and anyone considering Trinity or a year abroad who wants practical, first-hand advice.
What sets it apart: It stays inside one institution and ranges across it. A conversation on reasoning and imagination sits next to others on student health, Erasmus housing and the university's own strategic plan.
Trinity is Ireland's top university and lays claim to a beautiful city-centre 16th century campus, notable alumni (Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett to name a few) and world-class research and education. This podcast gets to the heart of what makes this innovative university thrive, its people.
Trinity's conversations have room for your questions about safer cycle lanes and the mind's what-ifs.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Dr David McGrath links student wellbeing to friendship, support networks, and lessons from Covid and AIDS.
Dr David McGrath frames student health as something shaped by both crisis and connection. He moves from Covid's toll on student mental health to memories of Kenya in the 1980s, when AIDS was not yet widely recognised but its effects were already visible.
Professor Ruth Byrne makes reasoning, imagination, and everyday mental habits feel concrete and useful.
Professor Ruth Byrne gives human thinking a practical frame, drawing on her work in reasoning and imaginative thought. Tom Molloy starts with her seemingly accidental path to university, then follows the conversation into heuristics, counterfactual thinking, and the ways…
Trinity's strategic plan ties postgraduate renewal and career preparation to a lived idea of community.
Trinity College Dublin's strategic plan is framed through Vice Provost and Chief Academic Officer Jurgen Barkhoff, whose own first encounter with the university gives the discussion a personal anchor.
A grounded Erasmus account with clear attention to housing, classes, support, and uncertainty.
Studying abroad is often framed as a bold jump into the unknown. This episode gives Erasmus a more grounded shape, following Zara Hussey, a third-year Trinity business studies in German student, through her year in Austria.
A grounded look at how better buses and safer cycling can support transport decarbonisation.
Decarbonising transport is treated here as a matter of practical public policy, not just ambition. In conversation with Dr Brian Caulfield, the episode looks at how transport systems can move toward lower emissions through choices people might actually use: more reliable bus…
Mushroom culture from soil to society.
Clear neuroscience for curious minds.
Plant papers, jokes, and useful uncertainty.
Weed science, from genomes to paddocks.
Biomedical careers, described from the inside.
Human stakes behind biomedical progress.
Dr David McGrath, Trinity College Dublin’s Head of Student Health, ties the new campus health centre to a bigger goal: making students feel valued and building a service that will still fit Trinity 30 to 50 years from now.
Professor Ruth Byrne says reasoning depends on imagination, and Trinity College Dublin Talks ties that claim to her Royal Irish Academy gold medal and her memory of being told fewer than 1 percent of students came from her background.
Trinity College Dublin Talks interviews Vice Provost Jürgen Barkhoff about Trinity College Dublin's Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and how it will change the university.
Zara Hussey says Erasmus in Innsbruck gave her a full third year abroad, cheaper living than Dublin, and a student housing setup that helped her make friends quickly.
["Trinity College Dublin Talks frames Greening transport - where is the sense of urgency?
Luke Lau and Daniel Cosgrove explain how Minim aims to change music streaming by directing each subscriber’s payment toward the artists they actually hear.
Trinity College Dublin Talks marks the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute's tenth anniversary with Dr.
Professor Roseanne Kenny explains findings from Trinity’s TILDA study, which followed 9,000 adults aged 50 and older, on sleep, sex, purpose, exercise, and aging.
Professor Roseanne Kenny explains research from Trinity’s TILDA project, which has followed 9,000 adults aged 50 and over to study aging.
Heather McLean’s Trinity College Dublin policy brief led Head of Catering Moira O’Brien to remove the surcharge on plant-based milks during February.
An interview with John O'Donoghue about his work in chemistry education and outreach, discussing why students should study chemistry.
An interview with Dr.
An interview with Professor Ciarán Brady about Tudor Irish history and the nature of historical study.
An interview with physicist Jonathan Coleman about his career and research on graphene.
Tom Alloy interviews Trinity's Sustainability Advisor Michelle Hallahan about her journey into environmentalism and the university's climate initiatives.
An interview with Professor Daryl Jones about his book on the horror genre and his fascination with horror literature.
Interview with Kevin Mitchell about his book 'Innate' and the nature vs nurture debate.