Two Norries plan to pack a punch in podcast number 100

CORK’s favourite podcasters, the Two Norries, will host their 100th episode from the Lord Mayor’s chambers at City Hall.

The Two Norries, James Leonard and Timmy Long, told The Echo their 100th podcast would feature three special guests.

“The Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Colm Kelleher, very kindly invited us to record the episode in the Lord Mayor’s chambers, and of course we said yes, because it’s such a fantastic location, and such an important part of Cork,” James Leonard said.

Timmy Long said they would be interviewing Cllr Kelleher, as well as two more special guests.

“We’ll be talking with the Lord Mayor, and we’ll also be talking with two of the most inspirational people in Cork City, both of whom are recently back from humanitarian missions to the Ukrainian border,” Mr Long said.

Mr Leonard said their two special guests were friends to the podcast who had helped thousands of people in Cork, and both had travelled far from home to bring humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Caitríona Twomey, co-ordinator of Cork Penny Dinners, is only back from the Ukraine border last week, and Don O’Leary, director of the Cork Life Centre, was in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago, and they both did incredible work helping people, mostly women and children, escaping the Russian attack on their country,” Mr Leonard said.

Mr Long added that both of their guests were “Cork legends” who had saved many lives in the city and beyond.

Podcast success

The Two Norries podcast began in June 2020, and it has grown its audience since then, earning a reputation for insightful, empathetic interviews with a strong social conscience, while regularly topping audience figures of 20,000 listeners.

The Hollyhill natives recently signed a distribution deal with podcasting giant Acast, and since they began their podcast, they have had revealing interviews with figures as diverse as Taoiseach Micheál Martin, broadcaster John Creedon, Cobh-born singer-songwriter Vickie Keating, homelessness advocate Father Peter McVerry, Hungarian trauma expert Dr Gabor Maté, and Cork Sexual Violence Centre founder Mary Crilly.

Both men have spoken very openly about their own experiences with addiction, imprisonment, and recovery, and they have rebuilt their lives, they say in large part thanks to the care of their loved ones.

Mr Leonard is team leader with the Cork City South Drug and Alcohol Service, and Mr Long owns a construction firm, Revive Me Building Contractors, and, with his wife Nicole, Mr Long runs the Revive Me Carwash in the Marina industrial park.

The Two Norries’ 100th podcast will film early next week at the Lord Mayor’s chambers, and their 99th is due this Friday, featuring an interview with Ukrainian journalists Yevgeniy and Svitlana Ikhelzon.

“Yevgeniy and Svitlana have come to Ireland as refugees, and I think their interview is one of the most interesting we’ve ever had,” Mr Long said.

“They gave us incredible insights into the politics behind Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and I think it will be an interview a lot of people will find fascinating.”

The Two Norries podcast is available on Acast and Spotify, and is released on YouTube three weeks after its initial broadcast.