Local man's straight-talking podcast earning an audience

A Westmeath man has been developing a following with a podcast in which he talks about his experience of living with depression, among other topics.

Mark McCormack, from College Park, Athlone started 'The Clockwork Junkie Podcast' in June after losing his job due to the pandemic.

The 43-year-old is a former member of the Defence Forces who studied in AIT and became a quality technician.

He draws on his life experience in the podcast to give his perspective on a variety of issues such as the existence of God, relationships, racism, social media, reincarnation, and the supernatural.

"It feels like I've been rehearsing and researching this podcast for the last 15 years without even realising it," he says.

Mark started out with a handful of listeners, but the podcast began to gain traction after the release of the fourth episode, entitled 'Living Strong with Depression'.

In that episode, he spoke frankly about his own experience of depression and how he has been coping with it over the last eight or nine years.

It was a personal account which resonated deeply with many listeners.

"I talked about exactly what it was like for a grown man, who's very confident in himself, to be nearly a wreck (due to depression).

"I always leave my email address during the podcast, and the email blew up after that episode. I got emails from everywhere, with people saying things like, 'I can't believe you said what you said... that's exactly how I feel...'"

Did he find it hard to speak about such a personal subject?

"No, I found it very easy," he replies. "I had decided, very early on, that if I live to be 100 years of age, I'm not going to take my own life.

"Even if I never get better, at any stage, I'm going to deal with this and make the best I can out of it.

"I got out of it myself and I'm in a much better place now, and have been for years. That's not saying every day is good, but I know how to deal with it, I live strong with depression, and I'm as happy as I've ever been in my life."

Mark's podcast isn't just about mental health - it focuses on many other subjects also - but he says there's a general theme or narrative running through the episodes.

"The narrative I try to get across with the podcast is one of hope. You're not alone, it's ok to talk.

"If you have depression and you're feeling really down, feeling suicidal, or feeling that you can't talk to anybody, whatever the situation is, it's not a sign of weakness to tell someone, it's a sign of strength. I think that's very important."

Mark weaves his sense of humour into the episodes, even when talking about serious topics. He generally records the podcast in his car, and the subject for discussion is sometimes decided on the spur of the moment.

"A lot of the time, it's just me shooting from the hip," he says. "I don't over-think it. Nine times out of ten, I don't even know what I'm going to be talking about until five minutes before I press 'record'.

"I will joke about anything, so it's not all doom and gloom. It's an easy listen at times. I'm one of those people who thinks you can talk about anything. I don't think there are any taboos whatsoever."

Episodes of the Clockwork Junkie podcast have now been streamed over 4,700 times, with around half of that audience based in Ireland. Some listeners have been tuning in from unlikely corners of the globe, such as Bolivia and Honduras.

New episodes are released every Monday and Wednesday. While the podcast is available on a variety of platforms, most of the listens have come through Spotify, and he also has a 'Clockwork Junkie Podcast' channel on YouTube.

Looking ahead, Mark is planning a special 10-day event over Christmas, in which he will record and release a podcast every day from December 23 to January 1.

He came up with this idea as his way of helping people through a time of year which some find particularly difficult.

The episodes of the podcast are freely available but anyone who wishes to support it financially can now do so (at: buymeacoffee.com/clockworkjunkie) and in return they will receive additional updates and a bonus episode each month.

"I had two goals starting out," Mark said. "The first one was to see if I could make 30 episodes, and see if I could build any kind of following at all, which I thought that would be next to impossible.

"My next goal is to have made 100 episodes, and I want to make them as entertaining and as topical as they have been so far."

He is also planning to have more interviews on the podcast, having spoken to his friend, Dolores, and his Toronto-based brother, James, in previous episodes.

"I want to have people on it who are like you or me, who might have had their heart broken, who might have done something good, who might have overcome adversity, and can tell people exactly what happened, warts and all. And we'll talk about it."

* 'The Clockwork Junkie' podcast can be found on YouTube, Spotify, and other popular podcast platforms.