Zara Larsson has entered a new era. The Swedish pop star got her first taste of fame when she was just 10 years old, after winning the Swedish version of Got Talent back in 2008. Her single “Lush Life” catapulted her to international attention aged 17, the first of a series of hit singles including “Ain’t My Fault”, “Girls Like” with Tinie Tempah and “Ruin My Life”. Her fifth studio album, the dazzling Midnight Sun, was released in September 2025 ahead of her spot opening for Tate McRae on her Miss Possessive Tour. Still riding that high, she chats with Roisin about her pop girl status, the support she’s received from her peers and why she can’t help but fire back at the haters.

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Bret. Brit? Britney? Oscar and Grammy-winning Flight of the Conchords star, composer, musician and actor Bret McKenzie is back with his new album Freak Out City, a lush, psychedelic trip of a record that takes its cues from The Beatles and ELO. In this episode, he regales Roisin with tales of his touring misadventures (heard the one about the tour manager who misplaced $5,000?), explains why bakeries are dangerous territory for a Conchord ("baguette?") and reveals how a mischievous Sir Ian McKellen got him scolded by Peter Jackson on the set of The Hobbit. He and Roisin also discuss the perils of dating in a small town, the weird briefs he gets while composing music for Hollywood blockbusters, and whether he and Jemaine Clement are working on a FOTC reunion...

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Professor Stephanie Burt is described by The New York Times as "one of the most influential poetry critics of [her] generation", and in 2024 made headlines around the world when she offered a class at Harvard University titled "Taylor Swift and Her World". Her new book, Taylor's Version, is inspired by that course and offers in-depth critical studies of Swift's body of work for a wider audience. As the pop star releases her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, Professor Burt tells Roisin about how she first became drawn to Swift's songwriting and why she believes it's possible to make comparisons between her work and the poetry of Alexander Pope or William Wordsworth. She also picks her favourite Swift songs (currently) and unpacks "the two sides" of Swift: the relatable and aspirational.

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