John Connell is an award-winning Irish author, playwright, journalist, and film producer. A native of County Longford in the midlands, John is from a rural farming background, something that has greatly influenced his work and thinking, as you'll hear in this conversation. John spent several years living and working in Australia where he was a university lecturer, the founder of a media production company, and an investigative journalist. His last book, the Cow Book (called the Farmers Son in the US) was a number 1 bestseller and spent over 6 months in the charts. At the time of speaking to him John was busy working on his first TV drama, featuring BAFTA winner Stephen Rae, while preparing for the release of his new book The Running Book, which you're about to hear more about. Subscribe, share, rate, review and donate to support this podcast. Thanks to patrons who chip in at www.loveandcourage.org Host Ruairí McKiernan is a well-known social innovator, charity founder, campaigner, counsellor, consultant, and author. Find out more via: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn and check out his book Hitching for Hope. He also has another podcast called Creative Souls of Clare.