In a time of crisis, I wondered, is there anything to be said for another podcast?
Given that we already make The Blacknight Podcast, I wasn’t sure Michele would go for it. But he liked the idea and, unsurprisingly, he had the domain name registered in a matter of minutes.
That’s TheLockIn.ie, if you want to make a note of it. It will bring you straight to this section of blacknight.blog. We’re calling it The Lock-In Podcast.
Click on the player below to play the audio (you can download it here: 24:12; 14MB; MP3), or scroll down for the video.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says he is reluctant to use the word ‘lockdown’ – that’s fair enough. Others have suggested that Lock-In might be a nicer term – and we agree.
Let’s call it a “Lock-in” not a “Lock-down””. Lockdown sounds so brutally American with macho SWAT teams shouting at people, but a Lock-in is much more Irish. It’s gentle, homely, evoking craic, chats, slow pints, & small ones. Crucially, it’s all a bit bold too! #CoronaLockin
— David McWilliams (@davidmcw) March 28, 2020
You won’t find the latest news or medical advice here. Like yourselves we don’t know any more about Coronavirus than we hear on the news. But we do know that we all need to stay away from each other, so that health services are not overwhelmed and lives can be saved.
Like many companies, Blacknight has closed its office in Carlow and all our staff are working from home. We’re lucky to be able to do this: the internet is our business. But just because we have the technology doesn’t mean we don’t find it challenging. It is challenging for everyone, and in different ways depending on your individual circumstances.
‘The Lock-In’ is a podcast about How We Live Now, in this new reality. It’s about working from home, social distancing, self-isolation, online classrooms, crying babies, barking dogs and bored teenagers.
It’s about creative cooking, Skyping, Zooming, Teams, Google, gardening and drinking.
It’s about getting out for a walk, staying safe and healthy.
In the first episode we talk to Blacknight CEO Michele Neylon, and to Jonathan Thomas from Indiana, USA, who has worked from home for over 10 years. Jonathan has been sharing his remote expertise in a series of blog posts on this site – and there’s more to come.
Join us tomorrow for another episode of The Lock-In.