Moncrieff

For the last year or two the international news feeds have been dominated by a number of seemingly intractable armed conflicts.The UN was founded with a view to preventing further wars, so could a restructuring of the institution end our current tragic inertia?Omar Barghouti is co-founder of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights and a co-recipient of the 2017 Gandhi Peace Award, and joins Seán to discuss.

Scraping fingers down a blackboard, sticking your finger up your nose: there are many things that give people the ick. So, what’s your biggest pet peeve?Henry McKean has been out asking the public what annoys them, and joins Seán to discuss.

We all have habits, whether they be good or bad. But, what if there was a science-backed blueprint to help us not only break the bad ones but make the good ones stick?Groundbreaking research from Trinity College Dublin has just uncovered exactly that. Led by Dr. Eike Buabang, this study reveals how our brain’s automatic and goal-directed systems work together, and sometimes against us, when it comes to habits.Dr. Eike Buabang joins Seán to discuss.

Among the thousands of tomes housed in the National Library of Ireland are many cookbooks, stretching back to the 1660s. The recipes inside offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of our ancestors, particularly women.Two keepers at the NLI have been examining these books for a series of talks called ‘Cooking the Books’. Joining Seán to discuss are Joanne Carroll and Nora Thornton, Assistant Keepers at the National Library of Ireland…Image: National Library of Ireland

A new survey carried out by UNESCO casts a stark warning on the absence of fact checking among online influencers. But, what can be done to rectify the situation? Joining Seán to discuss is Adeline Hulin, Head of the Unit for Media and Information Literacy at UNESCO...

There's increasing debate over Northern Ireland's flag at the Commonwealth Games, with calls for a change to better represent the region's diversity.Joining Seán to discuss this is Conal Heatley, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland.

In recent years there have been calls to include an award for stunts in the Oscars.The idea being that Hollywood should recognise the creative input and the difficulty involved in coordinating and performing these set pieces.Those difficulties are made all the more difficult if what you’re coordinating has to be performed in front of a live audience.That is the role of a Theatre Fight Director. Kate Waters has been a Fight Director for 23 years, working with some of the most famous actors and actresses in the world. She joins Seán to chat.

How far have we come in the fight against HIV in Ireland? To mark World AIDS Day, a powerful new documentary, ‘Memorial – The Story of HIV/AIDS in Ireland’, will be airing this Thursday on RTÉ. This documentary takes a deep dive into the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis on Irish society, telling the stories of those who lived through it, and the newly unveiled AIDS Memorial at Phoenix Park.To tell more, Seán is joined by Liz Martin, HIV Survivor and Advocate…

Ten year old Krish Arora has become one of Mensa’s younger members after attaining the maximum score possible.This means that young Krish scored higher than would be expected of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking…But, does that mean that he’s smarter than two of history’s most gifted thinkers? And what exactly does a high IQ indicate?Seán is joined by Brian Marshall, Publicity Officer with Mensa Ireland, to discuss.

What really happens to your body when you take cocaine? Dr. Chris Luke, Medical Columnist and Podcaster has seen the harrowing effects of this drug up close, and joins Seán to unpack the science, the history, and the harsh realities of cocaine.