Moncrieff

In this week’s episode of Thank You for Holding, our miniseries about the culture and practice of telephone customer service, we are looking at hold music… the tunes that are designed to stop you from hanging up but usually end up driving people mad. Simon Tierney has been investigating and he joined Sean on the show...

German supermarket Penny is conducting a week-long experiment to raise the prices of certain products to reflect their true cost on people's health and the environment. The price adjustments are intended to account for the hidden environmental and health costs associated with food production and distribution. Sean was joined on the show by Amelie Michalke, an Industrial Engineer and sustainability...

Jonathan DeBurca Butler takes listeners through the week's international stories...

Can you have a working relationship with a tricky boss or member of staff with a strong personality? Newstalk reporter Henry McKean talked to experts & co-workers to get their views...

Psychedelics have been tested for use in many mental health conditions, but now there’s something else that may help in the treatment of anorexia. Researchers at the University of California, in San Diego, have been trialing this method. Sean was joined by Dr. Stephanie Knatz Peck, who told us more... If you have been impacted by anything in this conversation, you can call Bodywhys on (01) 2107906...

James Dempsey joined Sean for the weekly TV review slot, TV on the Radio...

Almost two-thirds of 16 to 24-year-olds and almost half of 25- to 34-year-olds have bought goods online because of a recommendation from an influencer or celebrity, according to a survey by An Post. Orla Twomey CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland joined Sean to discuss regualting the influencers...

Alaina Demopoulos of the Guardian joined Sean on the show to discuss why Gen Z thinks smoking is cool again...

There’s a lot happening in our skies right now, and I’m not talking about how much rain is falling or the bits and pieces of UFOs in America. We’ve got supermoons, blue moons, shooting star showers, and even a sassy Venus Retrograde. David Moore, Founder and Editor of Astronomy Ireland Magazine joined Sean to unravel it all...

It may sound like the stuff of Jurassic Park, but a scientist in Germany has managed to bring back to life a 46,000-year-old worm. But how did he do it? Dr. Philipp Schiffer, Group Leader of the Worm Lab at the University of Cologne joined Sean on the show...

Revolut is today launching car insurance in Ireland – with customers able to get discounts by signing up for an in-car device that monitors their driving. The financial app is making the offering available to 3,000 customers as part of this initial rollout and is due to roll it out to the rest of its Irish customers in “the coming months”. Derek Reilly of Nevo.ie joined Sean on the show to discuss...

Sean was joined for Movies and Booze by Fionnuala Jones, Jean Smullen and Esther McCarthy with thanks to Marks and Spencer...

Music festivals are known for being a particularly filthy event, especially if they take place over a few days and campers can’t shower. But the lack of hand-washing facilities might actually be the bigger issue that no one is talking about. Sean was joined by microbiologist, Dr. Joe Latimer to discuss…

People can often train their pets to do certain tricks to impress audiences, but it’s usually limited to rolling over or playing dead. Well, what if your pet could paint pictures worth tens of thousands? For Joanne Lefson, that’s the case with her pet pig, Pigcasso. Joanne joined Sean to discuss...

We’re all guilty of not being able to put our phones down at times, and it’s gotten even more difficult to be without it in recent years, since so many of us became accustomed to working online during the pandemic. But this dependency has led to a new problem: phubbing. Phubbing is the act of snubbing those physically with you, in favour of your phone. Kieran was joined by Paula Cocozza, journalis...

Crosswords are as popular as ever but how do they get created in the first place? Sean was joined by John Halpern, Crossword setter for the Guardian, the Times and the Telegraph...

The cockapoo has now passed out the Labrador on the list of most popular pets in the home. This is a result of the growing demand for designer dogs and the increased accessibility of these breeds. But what happens when you mix two breeds, with two different personalities? Do any behaviour issues result? Suzi Walsh, dog trainer and behaviourist joined Sean to discuss...

Ireland and the world are grieving Sinead O’Connor but most of us have never met her or even seen her play live. Why is it we grieve someone we don’t actually know and is it ok to? Henry McKean has visited Sinead O’Connor’s last address in Bray County Wicklow and spoke to people about how a nation is mourning one of our own...

There’s been an awful lot of talk about Barbie over the last few months, but many women who grew up in Ireland will be more familiar with the 80s doll icon, Sindy. She was the doll to have during that time, and is known for being less sexualised and more suitable for a young, Irish audience. Sean was joined by Freelance Journalist, Erin McCafferty, who believes Sindy deserves more recognition...

When author Amy McCulloch set out travelling South America with her husband and partner of 10 years, she didn’t think she’d return from her trip a single woman, ready to experience some new adventures. Her latest novel Midnight takes inspiration from some of these experiences. Amy joined Sean on the show to discuss... Image: Amy McCulloch via amymcculloch.net

Many of us grew up with comic books, and one that most people will recognise is Beano. Well, Beano turns 85 today, and in order to reflect the society that it now lives in, new characters have been added and old ones have been adjusted to allow the comic to be more diverse. Sean was joined by the creative director of Beano Studios, Mike Stirling to discuss...

For this weeks 'How To' slot we’re looking at how to design your home interior. Sean was joined by Jennifer Sheahan, Home of the Year winner to discuss...

The Taoiseach has rowed back on his stance that Gardaí should be armed in the wake of violent incidents in the capital. But what do the Gardaí feel they need to protect our streets and is enough being done? Sean was joine by Brendan O’Connor, Garda Representative Association President...

Moviegoers were running to the cinemas this weekend to catch Christopher Nolan’s new Oppenheimer, but many people may not have noticed some historical inaccuracies in the film. Novelist and journalist Alisa Lynn Valés and her family are from the the Los Alamos area, where Oppenheimer built the atomic bomb, and she joined Sean to talk about the people who were forced to leave the area, to allow the...

The experience of being put on hold is one which most of us can relate to the exasperatingly long list of options, the tedious music and the struggle to actually speak with a human being. Newstalk’s Simon Tierney has been investigating the best and worst examples of Irish telephone customer service and today he joined Sean to present his findings in the first of a new three part series…