Television: Behold the idiot’s guide to running an idiotic campaign, brought to you by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil

John Maus’s Dublin gig is half performance art, half exhibitionist freakout

Television: Kielty makes being green seem easy in a Grinch-themed show brimming with tear-jerker moments and celebrity cameos

This brilliantly stark recording from the Accor Arena in Paris in 2024 conveys the scale and bombast of the Wild God shows

Television: Marking the official start of Christmas in Ireland, the toy show arrives this week shrouded in more secrecy than usual

By pushing playlists over albums, Spotify’s algorithm encourages us to outsource our taste and see music as a background distraction

Television: The good work done by Fighting Words on the north side of Dublin is celebrated in this agreeable, if at times workmanlike, documentary

Television: The awfulness of this onslaught of Christmas naffness seems obvious to everyone except poor Meghan

The former GAA star’s new album, The County Star, is a salute to both the Irish midlands and the US state of Texas

Television: David Dimbleby’s rambling survey of the British crown is a free shot of smugness, served just before bedtime

Songwriter was labelled a Trump fan after the January 6th riots in the US – a situation that might have sunk him

Forget Joy Division, New Order or Happy Mondays. Vini Reilly was the real star of Factory Records, according to Tony Wilson

Architect Hugh Wallace had battled career and personal challenges but his ‘second chance’ with Home of the Year made him a low-key national treasure

The longtime Nick Cave collaborator on returning to his musical roots, the ‘horrendous’ aftermath of 10 years on Xanax, and the road back

Television: Netflix has had a patchy year, but its bet on Stranger Things has paid off with a four-episode drop crammed with thrills, spills and chills