Secret Phone Notes
Claim This Podcastby Barry Taylor
Podcast Overview
<p>Ready to play roulette with your notes app? We scroll, we stop, we reveal. What we discover is what we discuss –– film reccs to situation-ship break-up texts. Oh, and hi. I am Barry and you are very welcome. New episodes every Tuesday.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
3/29/2026
1 verified contact email on file for Secret Phone Notes
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Recent Episodes
July 21, 2026
Ep 15: Sara's Secret Phone Notes / Grandma's IRA medals, Abbey Road sessions, Japan at Christmas
<p>This week Barry is joined by <strong>Sara Louise</strong> — <strong>Sydney-based brand strategist, singer, musician, and author</strong> — for a roulette through her notes app. In the last thirteen months, Sara has recorded an album at <strong>Abbey Road Studios</strong>, written and released her debut single "Buen Hombre", and self-published May the Road Rise, a book tracing her Irish family roots back to the Cork flying columns and the War of Independence. Her grandmother was a member of Cumann na mBan, awarded IRA medals, and was involved in printing illegal propaganda with Erskine Childers in a cottage outside Kilnamatra, Macroom. Also: working in <strong>Tokyo</strong> and why <strong>KFC is Japan's Christmas tradition</strong>, singing "My Way" in Spanish at a <strong>Bolivian celebration of life</strong>, Barry's overheard Bray prom conversation that doubled as a commentary on <strong>Ireland's cocaine statistics</strong>, and what it means to carry your grandmother's DNA a hundred years after she left Cork.</p><p>Links:</p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.saralouise.me/">https://www.saralouise.me/</a> </li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://barrytaylor.co/">https://barrytaylor.co/</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/">https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/</a> </li><li>Email: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:barrytaylor1993@gmail.com">barrytaylor1993@gmail.com</a> </li></ul><p></p><p><strong>00:00</strong> — Intro / meet Sara </p><p><strong>04:57</strong> — GUEST RANDOM NOTE</p><p><strong>08:18</strong> — Japan: KFC Christmas and NYE traditions: Shinto New Year, Yoroshiku Negaishimasu</p><p><strong>14:14</strong> — RANDOM HOST NOTE: </p><p>Ireland's cocaine stats → Jameson whiskey → the Boston deathbed story</p><p><strong>22:51</strong> — GUEST RANDOM NOTE </p><p>singing at a Bolivian funeral → Irish songs and grief → dream of singing in Irish</p><p><strong>37:54</strong> — GUEST RANDOM NOTE</p><p>Coke for Vinnie → Sri Lankan food in the Hunter Valley → what is jaggery</p><p><strong>46:17</strong> — Irish family history: the flying columns, 8th Battalion, Cork ambush sites</p><p><strong>52:20</strong> — Cumann na mBan → grandma's IRA medals </p><p><strong>56:41</strong> — Erskine Childers, illegal propaganda, TB, and leaving Cork in 1925</p><p><strong>1:00:09</strong> — Wrap-up: May the Road Rise book, the album</p><p></p>
July 7, 2026
Ep14: Niamh's Secret Phone Notes / Oklahoma storm chasing, shooting boygenius, queer representation
<p>This week I sit down with Niamh Barry a Cork-born, Dublin-based photographer and documentary filmmaker and we roulette her phone notes app. Niamh's debut documentary <strong>Something in the Air</strong>, officially selected for Galway Film Fleadh 2026 and GazeFest, follows Raychel Sanner, a storm chaser and trans woman living between Oklahoma and New Mexico. Just last month it won Best Short Documentary at the BAFTA-qualifying Manchester Film Festival.</p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.filmsomethingintheair.com/donate">https://www.filmsomethingintheair.com/donate</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.niamh-barry.com/189a7061fd-content">https://www.niamh-barry.com/189a7061fd-content</a></li></ul><p>We get into Tornado Alley, anti-trans legislation, what surprised Niamh about the LGBT community in Oklahoma, and what it took to finally photograph boygenius, including a last-minute visa scramble and a flight to Philadelphia.</p><p>Amongst other things, we kick off with Barry's (me, host) (not Niamh) awkward opener involving a dermatology appointment and the SH:24 free STI testing service (get checked, folks). Chapter list is below. as well as other links!</p><p>Chapter list:</p><p><strong>00:00</strong> – Welcome & introducing photographer and filmmaker Niamh Barry</p><p><strong>03:40 - FIRST HOST NOTE (RANDOM)</strong></p><p><strong>04:20</strong> – An awkward first phone note: skin checks, STI tests & Irish healthcare</p><p><strong>09:40 - FIRST GUEST NOTE (RANDOM)</strong></p><p><strong>10:20</strong> – The notes behind working with Irish band Sprints</p><p><strong>15:45</strong> – Flying to Philadelphia to photograph Boygenius</p><p><strong>20:45</strong> – Queer representation in music photography</p><p><strong>24:45 – SECOND GUEST NOTE (RANDOM)</strong></p><p><strong>26:20</strong> – Making Something in the Air</p><p><strong>30:10</strong> – Storm chasing, Oklahoma & meeting Raychel</p><p><strong>33:45</strong> – What Hollywood gets wrong about tornadoes</p><p><strong>36:50</strong> – Will & Harper, empathy & travelling across America</p><p><strong>44:00 - THIRD GUEST NOTE (RANDOM)</strong></p><p><strong>44:50</strong> – The Irish Photography Prize & photographing community</p><p><strong>50:30</strong> – Barry's accidental photography exhibition</p><p><strong>55:20</strong> – Wrap-up</p><p></p><p>Social links:</p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/narryphotographyvids/">https://www.instagram.com/narryphotographyvids/</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/">https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/</a></li></ul><p></p><p>Thanks!</p><p></p>
July 1, 2026
Ep 13: Chris's Secret Phone Notes / Biomimicry, Irish polar bears, Tom Crean
<p>Ready to roulette a stranger's <strong>notes app</strong>? Today I'm joined by Chris Barrett, an adventurer who is known for sharing stories of Irish and Arctic nature. He's also a woodworker, conservationist, designer, and many other things. He's worth a listen. It's one of my fave chats so far. Anyway, let's see what we find in his notes app.</p><ul><li>Secret Phone Notes Instagram - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/">https://www.instagram.com/secretphonenotes/</a></li><li>Chris Barrett's Instagram - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/chris_barrett_photo/">https://www.instagram.com/chris_barrett_photo/</a></li></ul><p>Rough overview and chapter list below: A citizen science Arctic expedition off Svalbard, a year bike packing through Patagonia, Bolivia's salt flats and the Atacama Desert, and a near-miss on Bolivia's death road all come up through the notes. So does an autonomous fertilizer ball, a gecko-inspired glove built for his college thesis, and the Trinity College research linking polar bears back to the Irish brown bear. Plus: Tom Crean, translucent polar bear fur, and why biomimicry has 3.5 billion years of R&D behind it.</p><ul><li><strong>00:00</strong> – Welcome & introducing Chris Barrett</li><li><strong>01:20</strong> – RANDOM HOST NOTE</li><li><strong>02:00</strong> – Colour blindness, whiskey ads & Coca-Cola myths</li><li><strong>04:50</strong> – Coca leaves, altitude sickness & hiking in Peru</li><li><strong>06:50</strong> – Bikepacking Patagonia, Bolivia & traveling light</li><li><strong>09:15</strong> – The Pacific Crest Trail & ultralight hiking culture</li><li><strong>12:30</strong> – RANDOM GUEST NOTE: the autonomous fertiliser ball</li><li><strong>16:55</strong> – Nature restoration, farming & rural Ireland</li><li><strong>20:05</strong> – Biomimicry: how nature inspires better design</li><li><strong>24:55</strong> – Gecko gloves, shark skin & everyday invention</li><li><strong>28:10</strong> – RANDOM GUEST NOTE</li><li><strong>31:20</strong> – Cycling the Bolivian salt flats & drunken drivers</li><li><strong>36:20</strong> – RANDOM GUEST NOTE<ul><li>Boxing inventions → Arctic photography</li></ul></li><li><strong>37:30</strong> – Polar bears, climate change & photographing the Arctic</li><li><strong>41:55</strong> – Svalbard expeditions & a life-long obsession with the poles</li><li><strong>44:20</strong> – Tom Crean, Shackleton & Ireland's greatest explorer</li><li><strong>48:35</strong> – Wrap-up</li></ul><p>Thank you for listening!</p>
16 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Secret Phone Notes?
<p>Ready to play roulette with your notes app? We scroll, we stop, we reveal. What we discover is what we discuss –– film reccs to situation-ship break-up texts. Oh, and hi. I am Barry and you are very welcome. New episodes every Tuesday.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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