Hello you little rascals, are you hot enough? Have you been enjoying the good weather? Well Jan is roasting in his attic studio with 31 degrees of boiling heat and the producer won’t let him leave the fan on during recording, so he’s melting.
 
Speaking of boiling, do you have one of those boiling water taps or a One cup kettle? Check it out here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-HotCup-Dispenser-Variable-Dispense/dp/B078L3WJWM. Well, Óran thinks the kettle is great but Stuart is not too sure if the water will be hot enough for his needs… he has a lot of needs ya know!
 
Have you ever been hit by lightning? What did it smell like? Jan is desperate to know. Tell us all about it on BlindGuysChat@gmail.com.
 
Our guests this week are Dr Rachel Bermingham and Dr Ellen Moran from the research department in Fighting Blindness. They’re chatting to us about the research that Fighting Blindness supports, and about the upcoming Retina International World Congress 2024. This was a highly informative interview – thanks to the two doctors for chatting with us. And if you want more information on what they talked to us about, see these links below:
 
https://www.fightingblindness.ie/how-we-can-help-research-patient-and-public-involvement-in-research-and-development-ppi-for-people-living-with-sight-loss-vip-network/
 
https://www.fightingblindness.ie/how-we-can-help/research/meet-your-researchers/
 
https://www.fightingblindness.ie/news/save-the-date-for-riwc-2024-5-8-june-in-dublin/
 
And finally, in case you are interested, here’s the list of mental health supports that Fighting Blindness offers: https://tinyurl.com/BGCsupports. This list was collated from the mental health panel discussion in Episode 57 of Blind Guys Chat, which you can listen back to here: https://tinyurl.com/BlindGuysChatEp57.
 
 
In TV corner we are talking about:
‘Best Interest’: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10714820/
‘Silo’: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14688458/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
and ‘Wonders of the World I Can't See’: (with blind UK comedian Chris McCausland) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28078974/
And by the way, if you want a quick laugh, check out Chris McCausland and Lee Mack presenting at the BAFTA’S this year here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLhy0Zq95HU&ab_channel=BBC
 
Clodagh and Óran’s friend Antonia Gunko Karelina was featured on RTÉ Radio One’s programme ‘Sunday Miscellany’ on Sunday 25 June 2023. She spoke about how dancing the tango helped her cope with the trauma of having to abandon her home because of the war in Ukraine, and how she feels embraced by the people of Ireland. It’s a beautiful piece and is very moving – you can listen to it here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22266657/  
 
Stuart has news about a webinar he is hosting with Jan next week, see details here: https://www.sightandsound.co.uk/event/webinar-wednesday-catching-up-with-vispero-software-enhancements/
 
We have emails from Nora from Boston, Blind Gordon from Scotland (with a lovely voice message), another lovely voice message from Suave Saleem, and a final email from Aaron Linson in the USA. Poor Clodagh was feeling the pressure!
 
So, forget about slush funds, jump into that paddling pool, and get ready to listen to one of the sweatiest and most awe-inspiring podcasts in the known universe: Blind Guys Chat… 8 out of 10 CFO’s prefer it to a slap on the wrist.
Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat