CultureIn a Word...PhobiaConventional phobias of small spaces, flying or spiders are out. What about arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth? By Patsy McGarryMon Jul 28 2025 - 00:30
StageTracing the real people in Brian Friel’s ‘first great Irish play’'Stock characters' in Philadelphia, Here I Come! were not only familiar Irish small-town figures, but inspired by real peopleBy Breandán MacSuibhneSun Jul 27 2025 - 06:00
Subscriber OnlyThe Colonialist: Gruelling but impressive portrait of the virulent racist who bankrolled ParnellIf Cecil Rhodes was your specialist subject on Mastermind, William Kelleher Storey’s biography would supply the answer to every conceivable question
Subscriber OnlyJoanna Lumley: ‘I love Ireland as much as you can if you’re not an Irish person’Lumley, a dedicated Hibernophile, was delighted to be in Wicklow filming the second series of Tim Burton’s Netflix hit Wednesday
TV & RadioTV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonightJuly 27th-August 1st, including Impact: The Anatomy of a Crash; Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army; and Jason Mamoa’s Chief of War
It’s hard to resist the sense that, deep down, I’m a loserUnthinkable: Toxic positivity may be exacerbating a sense that we’re losing in lifeBy Joe Humphreys
‘Elvis was, in many circles, considered an idiot savant... I wanted to take him seriously as a creative artist’Peter Guralnick completes his biographical trilogy with The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the WorldBy Peter Murphy
Veronica Electronica by Madonna: Lost album is like a postcard from the edge of the rave eraThere has never been a better moment for an outpouring of foot-to-the-floor Madonna nostalgiaBy Ed Power
Billie Eilish at 3Arena review: Weird and bruised and realSinger’s spiky charisma and brightly burning talent make Dublin gig soarBy Ed Power
The Murder Capital at Iveagh Gardens: A killer set subjects leafy Dublin to a satisfying salvo of mosh pit maniaJames McGovern’s onstage persona is a sort of Amnesty International Liam GallagherBy Ed Power
Bill Callahan at NCH review: Intricate guitar and a peerless voice provide a journey to salvation Managing to be both avant-garde and relatable is where Callahan’s gift really livesBy Siobhán Kane
Four new films to see this week: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Gazer, Dying/Sterben and The Bad Guys 2A quartet of movies released in the week of July 25th, 2025By Donald Clarke and Tara Brady
Liam Neeson: From Paisley-loving Catholic boy to actor, then action man, now comedy star While the Irish actor has spent much of the last decade or so leaping from helicopters, evading grenades and putting his foot in it, the Naked Gun lead role is nextBy Donald Clarke
The Bad Guys 2 review: Tolerable sequel is dragged down by an overcomplicated plot By Donald Clarke
The Colonialist: Gruelling but impressive portrait of the virulent racist who bankrolled ParnellIf Cecil Rhodes was your specialist subject on Mastermind, William Kelleher Storey’s biography would supply the answer to every conceivable questionBy Andrew Lynch
Harbour to odyssey: New poetry from Bebe Ashley, Paul Farley, Moya Cannon and Afric McGlincheyReviews of Harbour Doubts; When It Rained for a Million Years; Bunting’s Honey; and à la belle étoileBy Vona Groarke
Joanna Lumley: ‘I love Ireland as much as you can if you’re not an Irish person’Lumley, a dedicated Hibernophile, was delighted to be in Wicklow filming the second series of Tim Burton’s Netflix hit WednesdayBy Ed Power
TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonightJuly 27th-August 1st, including Impact: The Anatomy of a Crash; Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army; and Jason Mamoa’s Chief of WarBy Kevin Courtney
Review: Pat Kenny gets curious, angry and finally jaundiced; an explosively argumentative DrivetimeRadio: If Kenny’s attitude to splashy Government spending plans is jaded, he sounds sickened by the horrors in GazaBy Mick Heaney
One Day in Southport: Heartbreaking, and a chilling insight into the new realityTelevision: Director Dan Reed tries to understand the anger that turned town centres across Britain into war zones last yearBy Ed Power
Tracing the real people in Brian Friel’s ‘first great Irish play’'Stock characters' in Philadelphia, Here I Come! were not only familiar Irish small-town figures, but inspired by real peopleBy Breandán MacSuibhne
FeliSpeaks: Life as a ‘black, Irish, queer culchie’Felicia Olusanya, aka FeliSpeaks, has created a show with thisispopbaby for the Dublin Fringe, exploring what it is like to grow up as a ‘queer black Irish midlands culchie’By Una Mullally
Lost for words: Dublin-born artist Jenny Brady explores the world of interpretationWatching The Glass Booth we discover the subtle, complex and fascinating interplay of power and trust that mediating language orally involvesBy Gemma Tipton
Karl Weschke: Postwar modernist painter who remains criminally under-recognisedReview: Painting order out of chaos - Severe, brooding paintings deserve a wider audienceBy Tom Lordan
