Moncrieff

You might have heard the phrase “free the nipple”, and maybe you noticed a recent fashion trend where women are choosing to go braless. But Kim Kardashian – never one to miss a business opportunity – has launched 'the nipple bra' which does exactly what it says on the tin. Laura Mullett is a fashion expert and journalist  and she explained the trend, and reviews this new product from SKI...

Earlier this week, a Labour MP in the UK was suspended after he used a particular phrase that is igniting controversy: "From the River to the Sea". It's been heard at protest marches but also during political discourse as the Israel/Hamas War continues. But its history and meaning has been exploited on a number of sides. Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at the UCD Clinton Institute...

A pensioner who has effectively walked around the world twice is now chasing a new goal, a Guinness World Record.   Vinod Bajaj, 73, is hoping to beat the record with his total walking distance of 80,204km, which he completed by hiking near his home in Limerick every day for seven years...

When you think of witchtrials, you may think of those in Salem, but did you know, we they took place here in Ireland, too?  And in fact, the first was held here in 1324, 300 years before they took place in America.  Niamh Boyce is an author who has been writing about this in her book 'Her Kind –The gripping story of Ireland’s first witch hunt' and she joined Sean to discuss...

Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, more commonly known as ARFID, is a neurological based eating disorder where the person avoids certain foods or types of food, restricts their food intake, or both.   This can be influenced by several reasons such as avoidance due to the sensory characteristics of food, a lack of interest in eating or worries about the consequences of eating, for...

It's routinely the case that news organisations have an obituary written for people who haven't died yet. When the sad day comes that said person does pass away, the obituary can be published with a minimum amount of updating, but mistakes can happen. Alison Healy, writer and contributor to The Irish Times has written a number of these over the years and she joined Sena to discuss...

Richard Branson, Anna Wintour and Michelle Obama set their alarms by it. There is a new TikTok trend of workouts and early morning planning sessions, hashtag “the five-to-nine before the nine-to-five”. Welcome to the 5am Club. We asked Henry McKean to join this exclusive club for a week and he joined Sean today to see how he got on...

Ballymaloe is about as far away from the 90s acid rave scene as it gets, but those two worlds collided for Arun Kapil in the early naughties.   He’d created a hugely successful record label, helped form the Sugababes and All Saints girl groups, but after 15 years of the Ibiza party scene, it was time for a change.  And so he found himself doing the world renowned Ballymaloe coo...

Ann Marie O'Sullivan has taken a lot of selfies, but as she writes in today's Irish Independent, her phone has been doing something she hasn't been aware of. It was airbrushing her features. Freelance writer, Ann Marie O'Sullivan joined Sean on the show to discuss...

Green Day’s latest album cover has picture from a riot scene from The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It shows a smiling boy with a rock in his hand standing in front of a burned out car. Is this artistic creativity or an exploitation of a very sensitive time in our history on the island of Ireland? Niamh Campbell, Journalist from The Belfast Telgraph joined Sean to discuss... Image: Chris Stee...

Although it sometimes seems as if the housing crisis stumbles from one disappointment to the next, there is now over 100 years of housing planning since the State began. A new programme on TG4 seeks to put the current crisis in a broader historical context. Sean was joined by Paul Webster, Director of 100 Bliain de Thithíocht (100 Years of Housing: Crisis Without End)..  Image: TG4

With Halloween just around the corner and the dark evenings setting in, there’ll be some families sitting down for the annual viewing of Hocus Pocus, but for others this is their favourite time of the year when horror comes into the spotlight.   Author Sophie White is a self-confessed horror superfan, and she’s put together a festival to mark the goriest, scariest and most disturbing fic...

A new survey says Gen Z thinks there is too much sex on TV and sees most relationships on screen as forced. Henry McKean has been looking into this...

With the proliferation of social media, the narrative we consistently hear is that our attention spans are reducing. But is this true or instead, have our attention spans always been manipulated by different forms of media? Sean was joined by Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare studies at Hertford College, Oxford, who has been writing about these issues for the Guardian... 

Researchers from Oxford University found each tantrum on a plane lasts 15 minutes. Parents are being urged to make sure their children nap for 37 minutes, do activities for boredom for 31 minutes, are fed for 19 minutes, and have noise blocked out with music or reading for 14 minutes. Two-thirds of parents surveyed say the idea of flying with a misbehaving toddler fills them with anxiety.  Bu...

As winter approaches, with its gloomy days and longer nights, it's no wonder we can feel a little down.  But experts may have finally found an answer to the 'winter blues' – and it involves having a word with the season itself.  Sean was joined by Professor Hayden Lorimer, Co-investigator on the Living with SAD project – which was a co-study between University of Glasgow and Edinburgh...

A TikTok trend of taping your mouth shut at bedtime to enforce nasal breathing is gaining traction in Ireland, but experts say evidence of the benefits is lacking.  Videos of the practice, favoured by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Bradbury and Erling Haaland, have gained more than 38.5 million views on TikTok. It involves placing a strip of skin-friendly tape over or around the...

When Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena in 1821, something very intimate was removed from his person and has become the stuff of legend ever since. Sean was joined by Historian and broadcaster Ashley Cowie from HistoryFuzz.com... 

One of the main differences between married and unmarried couples continues to be the perceived notion that the tax system favours those who have tied the knot. But to what extent is this true? Some people are calling for change in this area. Sean was joined by Norma Moriarty, Fianna Fail TD for Kerry...

A former senior zookeeper at London Zoo has been collecting animal poo for over 20 years. Now, her extraordinary collection is on exhibition. Tracey Lee, ex-zookeeper and artist joined Sean to discuss... Image: The Origin of the Faeces: Poo from the Zoo

Over half of the 148 regulated bathing waters across Ireland had restrictions during this year’s bathing season.  That’s according to a detailed report carried out by Noteworthy, the investigative platform from The Journal.  They also found that the number of days on which Ireland’s official swimming spots have been restricted has almost tripled in the past decade.  Alice Chambers i...

We used to say that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, but increasingly parenting has become a less community-based process. A new network tries to revive some of these old principals, and saves on babysitting costs too. Sean was joined by Sue Redmond, Co-Founder of Care Shared...

Major websites such as Amazon and and Tripadvisor have recently announced plans to clamp down on fake reviews on their sites. But how big actually is the issue of these fake reviews, and how do we know not to fall for them? Sean was joined by Adrian Weckler, Technology Editor with the Irish Independent.  

Having a nap, sharing a cuddle and watching TV were the situations owners preferred to spend with their pet over their partner – while 31 per cent said they’d even rather share their duvet and bed with their cat. Henry McKean joined Sean to discuss...

They say politics is a game, but an artist from Portrush has designed a set of trading cards, based on what he might call “typical” Catholics and Protestants.   Fergus Boylan has been drawing sketches about Northern Ireland for papers and websites, but his latest venture’s success has come of something as a surprise.   From the Protestant café owner to the Catholic goth, charac...