Bill Callahan: ‘America is a very fractured country. We’re not one people’The pessimism of Bill Callahan, the American singer-songwriter, has been tempered by parenthoodMon Oct 10 2022 - 05:00
‘When people say you’ve got a Rugby World Cup medal I feel like a phoney. I can’t remember it’Television: Rugby, Dementia and Me is a moving portrait of Steve Thompson, the former England hooker, whose years on the pitch damaged his brainWed Oct 05 2022 - 22:05
Monday Night Live: The misery express is chugging straight for your living roomTelevision: Oh for Claire Byrne Live, the plague shed and a sprinkling of lunacy to help the misery go downTue Oct 04 2022 - 11:15
The Two Johnnies could be part of Irish life for the foreseeable futureTV review: In The Two Johnnies Do America their persona is that of minor hurlers who’ve got lost on their J1 holidayMon Oct 03 2022 - 22:52
Suzanne Ciani: Diode diva surfs crest of synth wavePioneer of electronic music has prospered in 50-year career despite often playing into the voidSat Oct 01 2022 - 05:04
The Old Man: For Jeff Bridges, finally free of The Big Lebowski, this thriller feels like the start of something newTV: Disney+'s spy series is slow and talky. But it’s worth slogging through to see Bridges and John Lithgow throw sparks off one anotherThu Sept 29 2022 - 15:10
This England review: If you can stomach the material, this show is hugely watchableMichael Winterbottom’s dramatisation of UK’s Covid response portrays Boris Johnson as buffoonish and vain yet essentially well intentionedWed Sept 28 2022 - 15:11
Budget 2023 on TV: David McCullagh and Vivienne Traynor look frosty. RTÉ must have turned off the heat already Today’s coverage intersperses apocalyptic dread with light banter. Sounds like life in general at the momentTue Sept 27 2022 - 19:43
The Kardashians: Khloé’s pain is real. And, just for a moment, the family’s true emotions break through TV review: The show focuses so tightly on presenting the clan as the ultimate role models that there’s normally no room for any hint of grit or messinessThu Sept 22 2022 - 13:12
Crossfire: The BBC should stick to nature docs, and leave action thrillers to the pros TV review: Not even Keeley Hawes’s committed performance can stop Crossfire missing the targetWed Sept 21 2022 - 13:38
Garth Brooks, Hannah Montana and prescription-medication dependency: The unusual life of Noah CyrusIn The Hardest Part, Miley’s sister — and Billy Ray’s daughter — has made a searing, unsparing album about her journey through the dark side of popWed Sept 21 2022 - 05:00
Hang on, this woman looks entirely normal. Shouldn’t she be on a drip?TV review: How Long Will You Live?, the RTÉ health series, puts perfectly average people under the microscope to remind us all that we can do a little betterTue Sept 20 2022 - 21:00
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on TV: There is a degree of culture shock watching Britain grieveTV review: The BBC coverage is so hushed you wonder if you’ve muted the sound by accidentMon Sept 19 2022 - 16:55
The Grand Tour: A Scandi Flick — Cheerful blokey chaos from Clarkson, Hammond and May. Just leave your brain in the glovebox TV review: This tribute to Nordic rally driving is Boy’s Own stuff starring three grumpy geezers from down the pubFri Sept 16 2022 - 12:18
Great British Bake Off: This is television as metaphor for Britain’s anguished psycheTV review: Outside the tent, Elizabeth is gone and Brexit is back. Inside, all is as it was, the sponges squishy, the lemon drizzle drizzlyWed Sept 14 2022 - 10:54
‘We love Ireland. But it’s not a place for young people to start their lives or careers’TV review: RTÉ's Broke casts an unflinching gaze at ordinary families struggling to make ends meetTue Sept 13 2022 - 16:27
Rings of Power: Why are the harfoots hungry simpletons with stage-Irish accents? We ask the showrunnersThe hit Lord of the Rings spin-off has been criticised for veering into stereotype. JD Payne and Patrick McKay explain what they were trying to doTue Sept 13 2022 - 05:00
Morten Harket of A-ha: ‘We were jealous of U2. They didn’t get that Smash Hits-type fame’ Reluctant teen idols in the 1980s, the Norwegian trio have came to terms with their pop pastMon Sept 12 2022 - 05:00
A brand new Irish sketch show on RTÉ? Have they finally cracked the comedy formula?TV review: No Worries If Not goes beyond the traditional talent gene pool by working with Twitter and TikTok successesFri Sept 09 2022 - 14:48
Stuck TV review: Dylan Moran plays himself, but doesn’t quite nail itAs a young man, he played a middle-aged curmudgeon brilliantly. Now he just is oneThu Sept 08 2022 - 22:30
His Massy was classy: The Irish tractor entrepreneur who took on Ford MotorsTV review: Patrick Kielty sketches with pride Harry Ferguson’s ascent from obscure tinkerer to global industrial titanWed Sept 07 2022 - 13:13
Arctic Monkeys at Electric Picnic: Killer riffs and dark wit in a bone-rattling end to the 2022 festivalHeadliners don’t come more reliable and no-nonsense than Alex Turner and his bandmatesMon Sept 05 2022 - 00:35
Electric Picnic 2022: When this happens it’s normally a signal to run for the hillsA record 70,000 people have come to Stradbally this weekend. For festival veterans, there’s a sense of coming homeSun Sept 04 2022 - 19:15
Tame Impala at Electric Picnic: Stradbally has never seen anything quite like thisWith the rain holding off, this performance is the perfect way to close Saturday nightSun Sept 04 2022 - 01:21
Electric Picnic 2022 day two: The rain falls, the oldies vanish, the spirits soar Rain or not we’ve reached peak festival with headliners Tame Impala and Picture This to enjoySat Sept 03 2022 - 18:32
One franchise to rule them all: New Lord of the Rings spin-off The Rings of Power introduces a new generation to TolkienAmazon Prime’s blockbuster series has an Irish component to it, even if Tolkien may not have liked itSat Sept 03 2022 - 05:00
Dermot Kennedy at Electric Picnic: The ex-busker leads a mass singalong on the Main StageUnsuitable for darkened folk clubs, he is the perfect headline act for the Stradbally festivalSat Sept 03 2022 - 00:30
Pixies at Electric Picnic: Eardrum-shredding pop is just what a reborn festival needs They come roaring onto the Electric Arena like they have gate-crashed their own partyFri Sept 02 2022 - 23:11
Cheap Irish Homes: If there is such a thing as feelgood property TV in 2022, this is itTV review: The host does her best to lift the spirits of all those would-be homeowners out there who have understandably abandoned all hopeThu Sept 01 2022 - 19:30
Rings of Power: The new hobbits are filthy, hungry simpletons with stage-Irish accents. That’s $1bn well spentAfter 20 minutes of this Lord of the Rings spinoff I’m having flashbacks to that EastEnders episode with the fightin’ villagers and donkeys walking the streetsWed Aug 31 2022 - 15:01
When Aidan Turner first turns up in The Suspect I don’t know whether to laugh or order a soy macchiatoTV review: The Dublin actor is virtually unrecognisable behind a vast, loamy craft beard. But his low-key, chill-dude energy keeps this potboiler groundedTue Aug 30 2022 - 16:20
Win Butler sexual misconduct allegations will damage Arcade Fire more than they would other bandsAnalysis: Stories emerge as the band arrives in Ireland to play two nights in the 3ArenaMon Aug 29 2022 - 17:43
Rina Sawayama: ‘I always think it’s important to make light of things’Ahead of her Electric Picnic slot, the pop sensation talks about identity, the trouble with fans and why she loves the CorrsSat Aug 27 2022 - 05:00
After enduring years of gaslighting and vilification, Britney’s back with a new song. So what’s it like?Britney Spears has teamed up with Elton John for Hold Me Closer, a remix of the 1971 classic Tiny DancerFri Aug 26 2022 - 13:00
The killing of Michael Collins: RTÉ takes a long time to reach a conventional conclusionTV review: Cold Case Collins was dramatic and watchable, but shed little new light on the shootingThu Aug 25 2022 - 10:14
Rose of Tralee 2022: The silly, moving two-night marathon ends (finally) on a note of joy TV review: The show achieves “peak Rose of Tralee” early in the evening and never looks backWed Aug 24 2022 - 00:54
Rose of Tralee 2022, night one: They sing, they control falcons, they wield lightsabersIn episode 1, the Rose of Tralee couldn’t have been more Rose of Tralee, writes Ed PowerTue Aug 23 2022 - 00:43
‘My job was touring. I didn’t even know how to cook. There were a lot of adult skills I was missing’Julia Jacklin is about to release her finest, most though-provoking album to date: Pre PleasureMon Aug 22 2022 - 05:00
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law — It’s a hootTV review: Tatiana Maslany is a delight as Jennifer Walters, a striving lawyer who wakes one morning to discover she’s now a 6ft 7in green menaceFri Aug 19 2022 - 09:16
Bad Sisters review: Sharon Horgan’s new Irish-set comedy is dastardly, witty and bingeableTV review: Think of it as a sort of Celtic Little Women that plays out like Maeve Binchy collaborating with Truman CapoteFri Aug 19 2022 - 08:58
House of the Dragon: Ignore the opening bonkalong. This is a thrilling, dazzling Game of Thrones prequel TV review: There’s no Jon Snow, Ned Stark or oversexed Lannister twins. But the dragons — and the skulduggery — are on screen from the outsetFri Aug 19 2022 - 08:01
RTÉ’s Rescue 116 film is packed with passion, but it sidelines the crash and the crew TV review: The Irish Coast Guard helicopter disaster off Co Mayo, in 2017, and the circumstances leading to it remain in the backgroundWed Aug 17 2022 - 13:03
Dr Eva’s Great Escape: Who cares about new curtains when your next destination is divorce court?TV review: This second series plays out like Room To Improve with a script by Werner HerzogTue Aug 09 2022 - 09:47
Fire and Blood: The Vikings in Ireland: Solid filmmaking depicting a warrior society that brought horror and bloodshedTV review: The docudrama suffers the age-old RTÉ affliction of being almost entirely Dublin-centricMon Aug 08 2022 - 11:36
Kasabian: We were ‘a band with our backs against the wall’Kasabian were written off when singer Tom Meighan was sacked, but they’re not done yetSat Aug 06 2022 - 05:00
The Sandman: Netflix nails Neil Gaiman’s ‘unfilmable’ dream odysseyTV review: It’s not perfect, but the 10-part series with a starry cast is enjoyable and imaginativeFri Aug 05 2022 - 09:41
Horse Country: It demands nothing but your time, then rewards you with a soothing portrait of equestrian IrelandTV review: RTÉ's new series, about ordinary people for whom horses mean everything, is winningly slight slow televisionTue Aug 02 2022 - 19:30
Love Island final: Wait for another Irish victory continues as controversial season endsTV review: Tear and cheers flow as Laura Whitmore reveals the winners of Love Island 2022Mon Aug 01 2022 - 23:40
The Dead Zoo: ‘The guy who is doing the whale has a T-rex to put up in the Netherlands’TV review: RTÉ’s film about the Natural History Musem’s restoration captures a sense of the institution’s eccentricityMon Aug 01 2022 - 19:30
Maggie Rogers: ‘I was thinking a lot about Irish folk music because it’s my ancestry’The rising pop star on Electric Picnic, folk music in Ulysses and Pharrell Williams’s endorsementSat Jul 30 2022 - 05:00
