Moncrieff

In this country we are only too familiar with the problems that can occur when someone draws a new line on the map between two nations, but ours is far from the only complicated border in Europe. Lewis Baston has walked many of them for his book ‘Borderlines: A History of Europe in 29 Borders’ and joins Tom Dunne to discuss. Image: Hodder & Stoughton

What makes a winning cat? Over one hundred cats took part in the GCCFI Supreme Cat Show on Sunday, but only one cat was crowned the overall winner and that was five and a half year old Quevaga, a Maine Coon cat. Her owner, Claudia Wagner, joins Tom Dunne to tell more. Image: Friendly Ghosts

Do you find conversations boring to the point that you are constantly reaching for your phone? Research shows that within two minutes of chatting Gen Z are bored and turning to their phones for entertainment. But are we all as bad as each other? Journalist with the Irish Independent, Saoirse Hanley, joins us now…

As European nations rearm at a rate not seen since the Cold War, one commentator believes that a more insidious actor needs to be addressed first: the algorithms pushing egregious content on social media platforms. Joining guest host Tom Dunne to discuss this is Dr Johnny Ryan, Director of Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

If you’ve been lucky enough to visit Newgrange, you can attest to the fact that it’s a pretty impressive structure - so you can imagine just how impressive it was when first constructed over 5000 years ago. Accordingly, it has often been assumed that those who were buried there were part of some sort of ruling class, but new research from UCD suggests that rather than being a grave for an elite fa...

More and more middle-aged Irish men are investigating the possibility of testosterone therapy, motivated by social media and podcasters such as Joe Rogan. But, can it work? Joining Tom Dunne to discuss is Dr. Emmet Byrne, a GP with a special interest in men’s health, based at the Optiman Clinic in Bray…

While there has been a rise in interest in employees bringing their dogs to the office, should workplaces have a pet policy in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly? Joining guest host Tom Dunne to discuss is Stephanie Rousseau, Dog Behaviour Consultant, Founder of Happy Office Dogs and author of ‘Office Dogs: The Manual’...

How should workplaces manage when an employee has been bereaved, and what supports should be in place to allow those in mourning to deal with their work-life balance? Niamh Finucane is the Coordinator of Social Work and Bereavement Services at St Francis Hospice in Dublin’s Raheny and Blanchardstown, and joins guest host Tom Dunne to discuss.

He finally did it! Rory McIlroy completed a career grand slam in Augusta after coming out victorious in the Masters after a nail-biting play off. But what kind of mental toughness did the golfer need to find to finally secure the win that has been elusive in his rollercoaster career? Sports Psychologist and Lecturer in TUD, Dr Stephen McIvor, joins guest host Tom Dunne to weigh in. Image: Reuters

By choosing his groceries very carefully, and scanning them in a certain order at the supermarket till, a man has managed to get a perfectly alphabetical shopping receipt. Joining Seán to discuss is shopper Graeme Bowman.

An unhoused Irish-American man is currently running for Mayor of Seattle, in order to raise awareness of the significant housing issues facing the population of the Pacific NorthWest. Joining Seán to discuss is Mayoral Candidate, Joe Molloy… Image: Amy Radil

What’s the last record you bought? And do you own a vinyl record player? Taylor Swift is once again proving to be the most popular artist of her generation with three of the top ten best-selling vinyl albums of the last decade being released by the pop superstar. So with World Record Store Day tomorrow, what is driving the surge in vinyl? Music Journalist Louise Bruton joins Seán to discuss.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced a new award for Stunt Design, which will be inaugurated at the 2028 Oscars. Joining Seán to discuss this is Mike O’Shea, an Irish film Stunt Consultant who has worked on movies such as Mission Impossible and No Time to Die… Image: Paramount Pictures

With the weather as glorious as it is, many people will be taking the chance to get out in nature and get hiking. Mountaineering Ireland have issued an urgent appeal for the public to prepare themselves when going on walking trails, and importantly to stay away from the Mourne Mountains because of fire. Helen Lawless joins Seán to discuss.

Seán’s guest lost her son in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack. After campaigning for many years for event venues to be obliged to prepare for terrorist attacks, ‘Martyn’s Law’, named after her son, was signed into law last week. Joining to discuss is Campaigner Figen Murray… Image: Peter Byrne/PA

How long does it take you to fall in love? And, is there such a thing as a slow burn, or should it be a whirlwind at the beginning? Jake Maddock, a Relationship Coach and author, has touched a nerve online declaring that for the first eight weeks of meeting somebody, you should only see them once a week so as not to rush it… Matchmaker Mairead Loughman joins Seán to discuss.

It’s the nature of news that once a conflict has ended, that country seems to slip out of our news feed, as if everything has been resolved and nothing remains to be decided. But, of course, that is far from the truth… Journalist Sally Hayden has visited Syria to see how things are playing out on the ground in the aftermath of the revolution. She joins Seán to discuss.

How do we try to save face when we’ve lost an argument or made a fool of yourself? After Trump’s tariff u-turn, do you apologise? Do you try to change the goalposts or pretend it never happened? Henry McKean has been out asking the public, and joins Seán to discuss. Image: Reuters

Are you any good at solving a Rubik’s cube? And have you heard of speedcubing? The new competition seems to be taking over the country as interest soars in the sport, with children keen to take part and solve rubix cubes as quickly as possible. For more on this, Seán is joined by Kevin Timmons from Speedcubing Ireland…

A new documentary film examines two charity concerts that John Lennon and Yoko Ono organised in the early 1970s, using a treasure trove of contemporary footage. Joining Seán to discuss more is Sam Rice-Edwards, Co-Director of One to One: John & Yoko…

Author Anthony Horowitz has revealed that he writes a letter to his wife with details of how his book ends, just in case he gets hit by a bus before finishing it. The novelist doesn’t want to leave his readers in suspense if anything happened to him, and confessed to this habit. So, what other weird and wacky writer superstitions do authors follow? Bestselling novelist Liz Nugent joins Seán to dis...

Whether you blame them for the black death, or you just think they’re a bit gross, rats don’t have a fantastic reputation among us humans. And maybe that’s part of the problem. In an effort to rehabilitate the image of the humble rodent, PETA have written to the Cambridge dictionary asking for them to change the definition of “Rat”... Jennifer White from PETA joins Seán to discuss.

If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you may have noticed that emotional intelligence is in short supply, and apparently only 36% of us actually qualify as emotionally intelligent. It seems an unlikely solution, but could AI help us to empathise better with our fellow humans? MarieToft is a Generative AI Thought Leader and Consultant and Founder of Emotionise AI. She joins Seán to discuss.

Are misinformation and body shaming continuing to cause problems for women and their menstrual cycle? Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh, Doctor and Columnist with the Irish Independent, has been writing about her thoughts on this in the newspaper and she joins me now…

Teeth are all anybody is talking about these days when it comes to TV and film, thanks in part to the fascination with Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus... but, for many years, we have seen actors get a set of false teeth and transform into new characters. Remember Mike Myers in Austin Powers and Jonah Hill in Wolf of Wall Street? The man behind those teeth is Leading Dental Technician and creator...