Brendan O'Connor

Dave Hanratty, Irish Independent producer and No Encore podcaster, profiles Clavicular, a looksmaxxing streamer. He outlines extreme beauty hacks, toxic rhetoric aimed at young men, ties to the manosphere and racist figures. Hanratty also covers Clavicular’s online reach, alleged arrest in Fort Lauderdale, and a bizarre alligator shooting probe.

Scott Lucas, UCD politics professor offering geopolitics insight; Alison O'Connor, newspaper columnist on domestic politics; Peter Brown, investment boss with market and economic know-how; Sinead Keane, youth mental health and online safety advocate. They dissect modular garden homes and housing policy. They debate big tech’s legal and regulatory turning point and compare it to gambling and tobacco. They assess Gulf shipping risks and energy consequences.

Rita Ann Higgins, an Irish poet and writer known for frank, working-class and women's voices, reads from her new 'greatest hits' and reflects on beginnings. She talks about leaving school for factory work, finding poetry after illness and motherhood, using humour and overheard speech, erotic poems in conservative Ireland, grandchildren's lessons, aging with gusto, and a dark comedy TV project.

Previews of standout TV and film picks including The Young Offenders season five and a gritty medical drama. Discussion of a sympathetic Tourette’s-centered Netflix film and a vulnerable Rory McIlroy documentary. Takes on a time-travel mob comedy, a glossy dark Apple TV+ drama with John Hamm, and a ballerina action thriller. Quick thoughts on Super Mario and The Magic Faraway Tree.

Donal O’Shea, specialist in obesity and academic clinician, explores how modern food is engineered for cravings. He discusses ultra-processed foods, palatability tricks like combining salt, fat and sugar, and pervasive marketing that targets kids. Policy solutions and personal strategies to navigate this environment are also covered.

Colm Tóibín, acclaimed Irish novelist and short‑story writer, reflects on a childhood stammer, family silence around grief, and his formative years in Barcelona. He discusses music that shaped him, from Bizet and Pablo Casals to Catalan protest singers, and explains why he tackled a story about a controversial ex‑con and the question of guilt.

Stefanie Preissner, screenwriter and actor who loves order and clever gadgets. She talks about owning six vacuums, slow-hoovering technique, and even vacuuming fake grass. She explains cordless battery tips, robot vacuums, mapping and avoiding Lego, and how robots reshaped household chores.

Anne Abberton, founder and CEO of FiXX Coffee and coffee expert, shares practical tips for making great coffee at home or work. She talks grinders, why fresh grind matters, ideal water temperature, brewing ratios, and compares moka pots, French press, AeroPress and filter or automatic brewers. Short, usable advice for better everyday coffee.

Caroline Reidy, Head of HR Solutions at NFP and pay negotiation specialist, explains when to ask for a review and how to prepare. She covers upcoming pay-transparency laws, benchmarking your salary with data, linking raises to employer benefits, and alternatives to threats like bonuses or discreet market testing.

Eoghan Cleary, a Wicklow teacher turned child online-safety advocate with the Sexual Exploitation Research & Policy Institute, discusses rising legal accountability for tech platforms. He covers a landmark $6m California verdict, links between algorithms and harms like drug-related content and self-harm, EU rules vs enforcement, and calls for safety-by-design, age checks and executive liability.