Pat Shortt: The Wellness Hour with Paaah & Sile
Saturday, February 20th, 7pm, €12, pat-shortt-the-wellness-hour-with-paaah-sile
Bet you didn't know comedian Pat Shortt was also a world-renowned wellness guru. No, neither did we – but anyone who listens to Shortt's new podcast, The Wellness Hour with Paaah, can attest to the healing powers of the local Tipp DJ and his supporting cast of quacks, charlatans and snake-oil merchants. Now Paaah has brought his Wellness Hour to the screen, with help from his daughter Faye, who plays reporter Sile, in this madcap melange of dodgy health advice and dubious self-improvement tips.
Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye
Saturday, February 20th, 2am $10, pattismith.veeps.com
The Earth Mother of punk teams up with her longtime collaborator Lenny Kaye for a livestream to celebrate 50 years since they first got together and jammed. Back in 1971 Smith was a budding punk poet in New York, and Kaye was a writer for such rock mags as Rolling Stone, Melody Maker and Creem, and working at a record store in Greenwich Village. When Smith gave a poetry reading at a local church, Kaye provided musical backing, and thus began The Patti Smith Group. Smith and Kaye worked together on such seminal albums as Horses, Radio Ethiopia and Easter, then reunited in 1995 and have been together ever since.
An Evening with Red Bull Racing
Tuesday, February 23rd, 7pm, £50, eventbrite.ie
Want to get right into the paddock with the Red Bull Formula 1 racing team? If you've got about €60 to shell out on this virtual event, you'll get to hang out with champion drivers Max Verstappen, Alex Abon and Sergio Perez, along with Red Bull Racing Team principal Christian Horner. Verstappen, the Dutch 23-year-old, is tipped to succeed the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes' star driver. This evening of anecdotes and tales of Formula 1 racing will include a chance to quiz the drivers and bid for some racing memorabilia – plus a Zoom call with Tottenham head coach José Mourinho – via a silent auction to raise funds for research into spinal-cord injury.
5x15: Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat, Amelia Gentleman and Peter Geoghegan
Thursday, February 25th, 6.30pm, free-£16.76, eventbrite.ie
In this age of data-trawling, presidentially incited insurrection and government-sponsored assassination, it's never been more important – or, perhaps, more perilous – to hold those in power to account. This online event features three people on the front line. Eliot Higgins is the founder of Bellingcat, the investigative website that uncovered the truth about the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 over Ukraine and the identity of the Russian agents responsible for the Salisbury poisonings. Amelia Gentleman is the award-winning Guardian investigative journalist who broke the story of the Windrush scandal. Peter Geoghegan is the Irish writer and editor at the award-winning news website openDemocracy and the author of Democracy for Sale.
The Unthanks Winter Weekend Online
Friday, February 26th-Sunday, February 28th, various times and prices, crowdfunder.co.uk
With live concerts shut down for the foreseeable future, musicians are having to come up with creative ways to engage with their fans, and the Unthank sisters – Rachel and Becky – are putting their talents to work for this weekend of performances, short films, podcasts, workshops, archive performances, Q&As and even family events such as cook-alongs. Basically, this is an online folk festival, headed by The Unthanks, but also inviting you to participate in different ways. There will be interactive chat rooms and themed sing rooms that you can hop back and forth between, and you can take up musical challenges such as recording yourself singing from your favourite spot (not the shower).
Rada Talks: Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes in Conversation
Friday, February 26th, 8pm, £6, dice.fm/event
This could be an exciting, intellectually stimulating meeting of great theatrical minds or an insufferable luvvie-fest. I'm betting it'll be the former. Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes have starred in some of our favourite movies, Branagh in Death on the Nile, Thor and Dunkirk, and Fiennes in The Dig, The English Patient and The Grand Budapest Hotel. They've both been in the Harry Potter series, too. Both actors will be sharing insights from their careers and some of the secrets of their craft.
Pokémon Day Concert with Post Malone
Sunday, February 28th, 12.01am, pokemon.com/25 stream on YouTube and Twitch
It's 25 years since the Pokémon phenomenon wormed its way into our collective consciousness, and we still haven't caught 'em all. Never mind. To celebrate the first quarter-century of the addictive little critters, this virtual concert features the Texas hip-hop/R&B artist Post Malone. Surprises are promised, so be ready to stream on YouTube or Twitch, or get on pokemon.com/25. And don't rush off before the encore is finished: if you stick around after the gig, you'll get exclusive announcements on Pokémon's P25 Music programme.
