{"podcast":{"title":"The Explainer","slug":"the-explainer-1063834","podcast_index_feed_id":1063834,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/66f2a0897a3d63d20ff54509","website_url":"http://thejournal.ie","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/66f2a0897a3d63d20ff54509/1765793812580-5cd8fe19-5170-4d0c-8527-121c6e6fa022.jpeg","author":"The Explainer","episode_count":422,"summary":"The Explainer is a weekly podcast from The Journal that takes a deeper look at one big news story you need to know about. What's the background? Why is this in the news? Get the facts behind the story from Ireland's biggest news website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T04:20:16.018886+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-explainer-1063834"},"episode":{"title":"What does a Limerick refinery have to do with a Russian sanctions row?","slug":"what-does-a-limerick-refinery-have-to-do-with-a-russian-sanctions-row","published_at":"2026-06-11T11:28:10+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-explainer-1063834/what-does-a-limerick-refinery-have-to-do-with-a-russian-sanctions-row","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-explainer-1063834","url":"https://shows.acast.com/the-explainer/episodes/why-is-a-limerick-refinery-the-focus-of-a-russian-sanctions","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/66f2a0897a3d63d20ff54509/e/6a2a9ae4438158000bd68485/media.mp3","summary":"Alumina is the fine white powder needed to make aluminium, and Ireland is home to Europe's largest producer of it. Aughinish Alumina's ownership by Russian giant Rusal has put the Limerick plant under intense scrutiny, with a recent investigation tracing its product all the way to the Russian military. Niall O'Connor, News Correspondent with The Journal, joins us to explain who owns the refinery, how its alumina allegedly ends up in Russian weapons, and what it all means for the hundreds of people who work there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Alumina is the fine white powder needed to make aluminium, and Ireland is home to Europe's largest producer of it. Aughinish Alumina's ownership by Russia…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1089,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-explainer-1063834/episodes/what-does-a-limerick-refinery-have-to-do-with-a-russian-sanctions-row/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-explainer-1063834/what-does-a-limerick-refinery-have-to-do-with-a-russian-sanctions-row.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}