James Plunkett, Banjo Paterson And CNN's Expose On Rape Academy Artwork

The Poetry's Dead Podcast

Ryan and Leon are delighted to bring you your NEW favourite poetry podcast, exploring the work of poets old and new, with a little bit of craic mixed in.

We'll share our love of poetry every week, taking you on a journey through work from poets you'll have heard of, as well as poets you may not have heard of and even people you had no idea wrote poetry.!

We'll also help with our Agony Poet part of the show where we'll accept any challenge of solving a problem with a poem. Nothing is too trivial or too serious.

Ryan Duggins is a published English poet based in Dublin, with work found in journals Dreich, Flare and his first collection 'You're Never Too Old To Know Better' was published in April '23. He's also performed at Electric Picnic and is a regular on the open mic scene in Dublin

Leon Dunne is a spoken word artist and cornerstone of the poetry scene in Ireland. He is the 2022 All Ireland Poetry Slam Champion and co-founder of Rising Tide, an events company hosting the best spoken word performers the country has to offer out of Pearse Street library

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Original music by Matthew Keating
Introduced and co-produced by Lisa Downey

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The Poetry's Dead Podcast

James Plunkett, Banjo Paterson And CNN's Expose On Rape Academy

April 27, 2026 • Ryan Duggins and Leon Dunne

0:00 | 1:04:10

Trigger warning: This episode includes subjects that some listeners might find difficult to listen to, including sexual assault and rape.

If you are a long-time listener, you'll know that we like to keep it light. However, we felt after reading the CNN Rape Academy expose that there was a duty to add to the conversation with the help of experts in the field to hopefully raise awareness and, maybe, change a few lives in the process.

Aside from discussing the actions of awful men, we discuss our trip to Wolverhampton to see Jan Brierton and Henry Normal, which was just class.

We talk about the excitement of being a child at IKEA with the help of Charlotte McDermott, read a section of Strumpett City by James Plunkett and wrap up with one of the most fun-named poets we've featured so far - AB Banjo Paterson.

Thanks again for listening guys. As always, if you do like the show and joining us every week, please like and share the show :)

Ryan and Leon

Poems from the show

Isle Of Tiles - Charlotte McDermott

https://www.instagram.com/charley_mwc/

Strumpet City - James Plunkett

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/strumpet-city-the-impossible-irish-novel-1.1343043

Unmasking - Kemi George Simpson

https://www.instagram.com/kemigeorgesimpson/

AB Banjo paterson - A Mountain Station

https://englishverse.com/poems/a_mountain_station

Music by Saibhin - Absence Of Touch