Culture File

Paddy Woodworth's latest inclusion for the ideal nature writing bookshelf is Peter Matthiessen's crane chronicle, The Birds of Heaven.

Marise Gaughan explores the possibility of, if not love at first sight, then at least marriage; auctioneer, Philip Sheppard tells tales from The Shamrock Table; we take a few moments for some remote Contemplative Dance; while Rob Long deals with a lifetime of shilly-shallying.

Philip Sheppard, of Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, County Laois, shares some of his favourite reading, watching, listening, eating and smelling.

Writer and producer, Rob Long goes deep into the anti-flow state known as "procrastination".

With some help from Whatsapp and Zoom, dance artist, Bernadette Divilly's work turns out to be gently suited to the socially distanced moment

Eleanor Flegg on the story of a table so beloved when it was shipped across the Atlantic it inspired a ballad, "The Lament On Fletcher’s Shamrock Table On Its Departure for The New York Exhibition"

Philosopher of pain, Jennifer Corns studies what we talk about when we talk about pain to discover what we might be able to do about it; Jennifer Walshe on the protean biography of Eleanor Thornton, and Rob Long's Martini Shot is poured on safari

Experimental vocalist, Loré Lixenberg shares some of the listening, watching, reading, tasting and smelling she's be enjoying

Rob Long has just returned from safari, where the writer encountered creatures both strange and familiar.

Philosopher, Jennifer Corns explores the world of pain, in all its degrees, and all its kinds. (Part 2 of 2)

Philosopher, Jennifer Corns explores the world of pain, in all its degrees and kinds. (Part 1 of 2)

Composer and artist, Jennifer Walshe looks at a woman who is integral to the past, present and future of that Rolls Royce of cars, the Rolls Royce.

We weigh up a little punt on Non-Fungible Tokens with Prof Aisling Kelliher, Marise Gaughan remembers her sparkling, lost future as a child star; artist, Emma McKeagney thinks we might all benefit from a lesson in harvesting clay; and Rob Long has an eye on the chocolatey goodness weighing down the Craft services table of the average film set.

Curator, Jennie Guy offers some of her current favourite reading, watching, listening, tasting and smelling.

Rob Long is here to clue you in to the real value of egg salad sandwiches and chocolate souffles in film and tv production.

Artist Emma McKeagney's lockdown project spreads the gospel of sustainable, home-based clay harvesting.

Digital art emerges as a potential safe harbour for the millions you've made cryptocurrencies. What do you mean you haven’t made millions on cryptocurrencies?

Writer, comedian and failed child actor, Marise Gaughan on her historic streak as a Speech and Drama champ.

Has music found fresh importance in the pandemic era, via its impact on health and wellness? Musician and researcher, Hannah Davis, Goldsmiths' Prof. Lauren Stewart, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance's Dr Hilary Moss, and Shain Shapiro, founder and CEO of Sound Diplomacy dig into the conversation.

The podcast only version of this week's Culture File Weekly featuring the artists putting good grassland into paint and sound, the book that made Italian cooking great, Rob Long on a time when people laughed at the Golden Globes, and Jennifer Walshe decodes Bolshoi ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya.

Visual artist and grass fancier, Mary Burke, on some of her listening, watching, reading, tasting and smelling pleasures.

Rob Long has worked in Hollywood long enough to remember when people sniggered @goldenglobes. But he never joined in.

Painter Mary Burke's journey into daily life on farms surrounding Limerick captures in oils barns and outhouses, milking parlours and cattle, and grass, lots of grass,

Restaurateur, Giorgio Casari and culinary historian, Massimo Montanari, on the first gospel of Italian food, Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well

Composer and artist, Jennifer Walshe tumbles into a Youtube clip of Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer, Maya Plisetskaya.