Catch Up with Louise McSharry

I simply had too many Lily Allen thoughts to share anywhere else than a solo episode. I also needed to talk about the worst case of sexual assault I've heard in years, and why we simply have to do more to change attitudes towards gender and equality. CW: Sexual assault and gender based violence.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

Lots to discuss from the world of entertainment this week including lots actors saying apparently controversial things, Esther O'Moore Donohoe was on-hand to take us through the stories.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

There was a lot of ground for Carl Kinsella to cover this week from the ongoing events in the Middle East to updates on some stories closer to home like the impact of the new rent rules to The Rotunda Hospital staying where it is.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

This week I caught up with journalist and author Ailbhe Malone, who shared with me what motivated her to edit her new anthology of Irish myths and fairy tales - Banshee: Mythological Irish Women Retold.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

The awards continue with the Brits and the Actor Awards happening over the weekend, Cian Sullivan and I also discuss Connor Storrie hosting SNL and Rihanna once again easing us by being in the studio.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

This week Carl Kinsella and I have a lot of ground to cover, from the worrying expansion of bombing in the Middle East, to Ireland's new rent rules as well as the erection and removal of a giant statue of St. Patrick in Temple Bar.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

Jen Bray is Political Editor at The Sunday Times. Her 18-year journalism career includes work with the Irish Times, The Times, the Sunday Tribune and the Irish Daily Mail. We’ve met a few times but there was lots I didn’t know about her, and I massively enjoyed learning more in this conversation which we had in relation to her debut novel, The Lies Between Us. We discuss struggles with confidence, big sibling age gaps, and how sometimes you can think you can just push your way past a traumatic experience, but it will often come back to haunt you when you least expect it.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

James O'Hagan and I cover the week's biggest entertainment stories from the BAFTAs to the Foofighters and Zayn Malik's baffling tooth fairy behaviour. To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.

Carl Kinsella and I have news coming out of our ears this week, from the arrest of Andrew Windsor-Mountbatten to Barack Obama's chat on aliens.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here.