Hello and welcome to The Tell Me What I Just Missed Podcast. My name is Kevin Branigan, I’m a teacher, singer and writer from Ireland. You can hear my recent CD, The Night Was Made for Loving on all streaming sites. In 2023 I published a collection of poems titled Heart-Feather. And if you are interested in Samuel Beckett, you can read my analysis of his radio plays in Radio Beckett, published by Peter Lang. Over the past few years, I have felt a need to step back from my obsessive consumption of news and current affairs. The conflicts in Sudan, the Middle East and Ukraine have been distressing, to say the least. Combined with recent developments in Ireland and the US, I believe I’m not alone in feeling helpless in an unhinged political climate. On the 20th of January this year, I switched off from the news. Hence the title ‘Tell Me What I Just Missed’. Because, in each of my shows, I will invite a person who, like myself, is deeply concerned with what is happening on a local, national and global level. Someone who is well-informed, reliable, someone who still values truth and fact-checking over dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. Today, I am delighted to chat with a friend who I have known since my school days. John Rynne went to, and survived, my own secondary school, attended TCD, became a social worker and, later, worked as an aid worker. He’s had a fascinating career and I hope to discuss a range of topics with somebody who has experience working in Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan and, most recently, Ukraine.