In this latest episode of his ‘The Hut near the Bog’ podcast Dr James Hoctor, a past graduate of Carlow College, St. Patrick’s speaks to our very own Dr Noel Kavanagh.

Noel tells us how a packet of peanuts led to his decision to quit his job as a truck driver and instead pursue a career in academia. His grandmother who was a nanny to the stars and his grandfather on his father’s side who was a subsistence farmer from rural Tipperary. James and Noel explore what it means to be Irish and how this has changed over the last number of decades. Noel also tells us about his interest in the philosophy of love and explains why there is a therapy in learning about philosophy. In the final part, he outlines how the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to be a true test to a notion central to Western Liberal democracies, namely—the social contract. Listen to the podcast here.