The VAN Podcast is a new podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland. Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of the VAN. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from their published texts, while also offering insights into their wider practice. Episode 1 features interviews with Cornelius Browne and Frank Wasser both of whom contributed columns for the November – December 2020 issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. Cornelius Browne is a Donegal-based artist whose practice has cultivated a devotion to plein air painting. As a regular contributor to VAN, Cornelius has beautifully articulated the seasonal fluctuations of painting outdoors, as well as exploring the many practical, theoretical and materials concerns in his work. His most recent column for VAN is titled Nocturnes, and focuses on his impulse to paint outdoors at night. Frank Wasser is an Irish artist and writer who lives and works in London. He is a lecturer and art educator at Tate Modern and a PhD candidate at The Ruskin School of Art, which is the Fine Art Department of the University of Oxford. Frank’s column for the November – December issue is called ‘Word Upon Word Upon Fallen Word’ and traces the art historical significance of text-based art in the practice of American conceptual artist, Lawrence Weiner.