From Warsaw to Cairo, Birmingham to Porto, this week’s show has you covered if you are thinking about taking a flight. Yes, the Blind Guys have all been abroad since our last podcast. And we are here to tell you about our experiences, good and bad.

Óran says he is dripping in his own sweat since the last podcast. It seems Clodagh has been increasing his workload at home. Booo!!

Jan & Óran talk to Louis Martens from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo, Egypt. Louis is the first Secretary of Economic Affairs and is one of very few blind diplomats in the world. Louis talks to us about his work as a diplomat in Cairo and how he manages to get around Cairo and various diplomatic receptions with his “habibi”. And of course, Jan & Óran want to know what the weather is like, spoiler alert, it’s 28̊°C most days.

We are going to ‘Midnight Mass’ in TV Corner and Óran is moaning again about terrible audio description on ‘Jack Whitehall, travels with my Father’.

The Blind Guys are looking for you to share your daily living tips. This will be a new section for which Óran is going to compose his own jingle. God help us all!

We’ve got voice messages from Saleem from Dublin and Blind Gordon from Scotland, and Stuart has a question for Otis McStroupy-Stroup.

So, move your seats to an upright position, put your tray tables away securely, take note of your nearest emergency exit and let us take you on your flight with the best airline in the world, Air BGC.

Disclaimer: Blind Guys Chat is not an airline and is therefore possibly not the best airline in the world, but if we were, we would be.

…probably.

Don’t worry, the BBC haven’t taken over this podcast and this is not the official Woman’s Hour show, but we do have a Woman’s Hour of our own on this episode, or at least half an hour or so. Anyway, welcome to another show where the guys are in something of a reflective mood, because, believe it or not, it is our first anniversary. Of course the question is, who bought the flowers?

If BBC’s Woman’s Hour are looking for a stand-in presenter, they really need look no further than our very own Clodagh O’Donovan, who has dragged herself away from the email box for a while, to bring together a panel of partners of two of the blind guys and our very own Blind Gordon!

Joining Clodagh are Chantal de Vette and Alaine Anthony. There’s some gems in this piece and we hope you and your sighted partners and family will enjoy it. For example, did you know that Óran O’Neill likes to smack pedestrians with his cane if they don’t move out of his way quickly enough? That Jan Bloem got malaria and had to spend two weeks with his then very new girlfriend? Or, that the wonderful Blind Gordon doesn’t have what it takes to cut it on the dance floor?

Here are links to things that were mentioned during the chat:

• The Ramble tag is available here: rambletag.co.uk
• The iron guard mentioned by Alaine doesn't seem to be available on RNIB.co.uk anymore. We found it on Amazon at this link. It's currently unavailable but hopefully will be back in stock soon.
• We also found a handy page of tips on how to do your ironing safely from Guide Dogs UK which includes a video - check it out here.

After all that, the guys are ready for a few emails and we’ve a request for a follow-on piece to our Soundscape review, which is currently being actioned.

As it is our anniversary show, the guys and Clodagh share some of their highlights over the last year and there’s a quick shout-out for JAWS version 2022, which is now in public beta.

Otis emailed from Maryland (we love hearing from Otis) and talked about how Clodagh could be inspired by Ireland's legendary female pirate queen, Granuaile (Gron-ya-wail).

Don't think we're finished after the emails though, because our wonderful producer Óran O’Neill has been in the archive room and has put together a little montage of some of our best bits over the last year to play us out. Tell us which bit is your favourite!

Remember to keep in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook and email [email protected] with any feedback or complaints. Seriously, we love to hear from you, complaints and all!

Hello blind guys chatters! We start the show with a request for sighted partners who would like to take part in an interview this coming Thursday September 9. Clodagh is going to have a light-hearted chat about the trials and tribulations and funny experiences sighted partners have when living with someone with sight loss. Do you know someone who would like to take part? Email [email protected]!

The guys are talking about the weather again. This time it’s about the names for the upcoming storm season. Will there be a Jan, Stuart or Óran or even a Hector from HR storm? Jan is worried about needing a snorkel soon to live in the Netherlands. He lives 5 meters below sea level and is wondering how much above sea level Dublin is. He might need that zipline to make his escape after all!

We are talking to musician and singer Nicky Kealy about his time working on a cruise ship, how he has been dealing with COVID-19 and about his guide dog Phoebe.

Óran is getting on his high horse (again – cue eye roll!) in our TV corner section. He feels the Blind Guys should talk about content that is badly audio described as well as content that is well described. Have you any thoughts on this? Let us know! Talking about well-described content, Óran also tells us about a new crime drama starting on RTÉ ONE this coming Sunday, Sep 12 at 21:30.

We’ve got emails from our Dublin correspondent, Derry, who tells us about his new podcast ‘The Book Lovers Show’ - give it a listen, it’s great. Stuart has a book recommendation of his own, 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard. Fred in Margate is sympathizing with what Clodagh must put up with when we are very cranky. Blind Gordon lets us know his views on Soundscape. Gary in South Africa has a very special gift for the guys and Óran has great news about his Apple Watch. Clare McLaughlin tells us about SÚIL, Lines of Longitude on Rathlin Island.

So lie back, switch on the autonomous self-drive mode on your couch, take the curlers out of your hair and slip into a vat of double whipped cream while you listen to the greatest show on earth: Blind Guys Chat.

We have some nostalgia on the show this week as we are interviewing the legendary Adam Curry. Yes, the PodFather – co-inventor of podcasting.

Jan and Sjeff are beside themselves with excitement because Adam is their favourite DJ/MTV VJ. Adam talks to us about his life growing up in the Netherlands, his new life in Texas and all about Podcasting 2.0 and his No Agenda podcast.

We asked Jade McCormack to give us a demo of Microsoft Soundscape. Perhaps she can help Stuart find his way home so he can get to that piano for the email jingle. (Boo to the new jingle - Óran)

We have news on a new podcast from HIMS called Sensecast and we’ve got an email question asking the Blind Guys about their favourite music. Does Jan really dislike Run DMC?! And as for Stuart, The Lighthouse Family, really Stuart?!!

We've also got info on the Greenwich Docklands International Festival

So come on - kick off your shoes, whip off your bra, put on a pot of coffee, and give Blind Guys Chat a whirl!

Episode Notes

The day has finally arrived! The Blind Guys get to meet the new Director of Human Resources, Hector; and there are some new promotions and developments coming down the road. Will Stuart be happy? Let's wait and see...

The lads chat about the weather as usual, and Óran tells us that his guide dog Larry has been unwell lately.

Jan is about to head off on his holidays, but before he goes a WhatsApp for desktop demo is in order.

We have an interview with Dr Judy Dixon, who is Head of Consumer Relations at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Washington DC. Judy has written a new book on audio description, which, as you all know, is our constant obsession.

The Microsoft Soundscape app is now available in Ireland. Stuart chats about it, and tells us how he managed to get lost while using it. We've asked him to do a demo for the next podcast, and hope he finds his way back home in time!

Clodagh is here with your emails about airport travel and politically correct language. Please keep the emails and voice messages coming - send them to [email protected]. Clodagh will be so happy!

All this and more in this episode. We hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to another fun-lovin' episode of BGC. We begin the show with some disruption as the builders are in to construct our new Director of HR's office complete with jacuzzi. Guess who is not happy about this...?

We have an interview with Mohammed Laachir who tells us about his life and how he got started working at Vispero. We have a big surprise for Stuart, as we bring on a guest he has a little bit of a crush on. Needless to say, he’s a bit shell shocked. Who could it be…? It's only the lovely Veronika Hyks, audio describer on The Crown and many other shows!

Clodagh is here with emails from Gary in Capetown, Derry from Dublin, Otis Mac Stroupy-Stroup and the guys are even asked for advice on how to follow the ball when watching soccer.

Jan gives us a weather update, Stuart is still complaining about his desk, and Óran is whinging about the lack of sing-ability of the new email jingle. Clodagh has a lot to put up with!

So, sit back, relax, and have a chuckle with the Blind Guys for a little while.

On this week's show the Blind Guys get political as we are delighted to be joined by Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth: Roderic O'Gorman. We talk about how life has changed for him since the Irish general election at the beginning of 2020. We chat about improving the lives of people living with disabilities, and after our chat we learn about a very important vote that took place in the Dáil (our Irish Parliament) during our chat with Minister O'Gorman.

Jan is worried about his house being flooded due to global warming, but Stuart and Óran remind him that he can find sanctuary here in Ireland, all he needs to do is grab hold of that Zipline we installed earlier this year between Jan's house and Stuart's apartment.

The guys are still arguing about Clodagh's new email jingle, but Stuart much like Maggie Thatcher, he's not for turning. We have email messages from Jade (of Ulysses fame), Gary in Cape Town, and from Saleem in Dublin. We talk briefly about Windows 11 and of course, the show would not be complete if we didn't talk about Stuart's counter top dishwasher.

So sit back, cool the jets, and chill out for an hour - let Blind Guys Chat help you relax as if you were in a bath full of puppies.

Huh....?

Welcome to episode 21 of the Blind Guys Chat podcast. That's right, our show has turned 21 and had a huge party last week, breaching all sorts of COVID guidelines.

Whoever said that the Blind Guys don't know their James Joyce? Well, actually maybe we don't know that much, which is why friend of the show Jade McCormack joins us to talk a little about one of Joyce's most famous works 'Ulysses', which she has read in full not once, but twice. Jade is also an avid and fluent Irish speaker and we asked her to bring Jan up to speed on a few Gaeilge basics.

One guest isn't enough for our 21st episode, so we were privileged and very honoured to be joined by Glen Gordon, Software Fellow at Vispero. There's not much about JAWS or its history that Glen hasn't been involved in, and he's also the voice of the hugely successful FS Cast podcast and FS Open Line.

Speaking of technology, Stuart has news about the first face-to-face Sight Village exhibition, which is taking place this year on August 17th and 18th. Please make sure you pre-register if you plan to attend, as places are very limited.

Clodagh is back to read emails and this time we are unveiling her brand new email jingle, which she loves, but it looks as though not everyone is happy with it. News of a recently appointed Director of HR in the Blind Guys Chat office means that some industrial relations issues may well be brewing...

Finally, make sure you stick around to the very end of our show, because Jade popped back into read a short excerpt from 'Ulysses', Stuart and Jan give us the details of their next Clubhouse event, and we've a very special report live from Washington D.C. about U.S. Independence Day, which is being renamed this year, apparently.

As always, we love to hear from you, so please get in touch on Twitter @BlindGuysChat or by email to [email protected].

The Blind Guys are feeling energetic this week as they are talking to Clare and Alex Whelan about blind tennis. What's it all about? How do you play the game? And, is Óran really that competitive?

Yes, of course he is!

Stuart chats to the guys about the World Wide Developers Conference but Óran can find nothing to get excited about. However, he is delighted that everyone on the team has now been vaccinated.

We've got emails from the U.S., the only blind Gordon from Scotland, and India, and we even talk about Bloom's Day.

Stuart has a gripe this week about Netflix and the BBC, oh yeah, and of course Che Martin has to get a mention. That was soooo 2 weeks ago Stuart... get over it!

Finally, Jan & Stuart tell us about a Clubhouse event they are running this coming Friday, June 18th.

So, why not put the laundry to one side, stop cleaning the gutters and mowing the grass, and instead get a glass of Pimm’s, some strawberries, & cream, and chillout with Blind Guys Chat for a little while?

Whether it's too sunny in Miami or you are riding your bicycle topless on a stage in Rotterdam, this week's show has everything. So, sit back, relax and let Blind Guys Chat entertain you. Yes! Stuart has seen the error of his ways and is asking the gang if he can come back to the show. But wait! Is there someone new sitting at his desk? Jan kicks off this week's show by telling us about live audio description on The Eurovision Song Contest and how some moments were a little too hot to handle. Stuart eventually stops sulking and joins in, giving us a little insight into his school days and in particular his Italian teacher. Apparently, she was a wagon. We have a fantastic interview with Dara Ó Cinnéide & Lara Lenehan which you won't want to miss. Stuart is also giving us a demo of the Virgin 360 TV app. We've got news about Clubhouse, emails from Miami, Dublin, Scotland and South Africa and we tell you about the WebAim survey for screen readers. Also we tell you where you can get a Braille Chess set. What a show!