Highlights From Moncrieff

Author Anthony Horowitz has revealed that he writes a letter to his wife with details of how his book ends, just in case he gets hit by a bus before finishing it.The novelist doesn’t want to leave his readers in suspense if anything happened to him, and confessed to this habit. So, what other weird and wacky writer superstitions do authors follow?Bestselling novelist Liz Nugent joins Seán to discuss.

If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you may have noticed that emotional intelligence is in short supply, and apparently only 36% of us actually qualify as emotionally intelligent.It seems an unlikely solution, but could AI help us to empathise better with our fellow humans?MarieToft is a Generative AI Thought Leader and Consultant and Founder of Emotionise AI. She joins Seán to discuss.

Whether you blame them for the black death, or you just think they’re a bit gross, rats don’t have a fantastic reputation among us humans.And maybe that’s part of the problem.In an effort to rehabilitate the image of the humble rodent, PETA have written to the Cambridge dictionary asking for them to change the definition of “Rat”...Jennifer White from PETA joins Seán to discuss.

Are misinformation and body shaming continuing to cause problems for women and their menstrual cycle? Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh, Doctor and Columnist with the Irish Independent, has been writing about her thoughts on this in the newspaper and she joins me now…

Teeth are all anybody is talking about these days when it comes to TV and film, thanks in part to the fascination with Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus... but, for many years, we have seen actors get a set of false teeth and transform into new characters.Remember Mike Myers in Austin Powers and Jonah Hill in Wolf of Wall Street?The man behind those teeth is Leading Dental Technician and creator of SPFX Teeth, Gary Archer. He joins Seán to discuss.

Life has a funny way of working out, but if you’ve just been dumped, lost your job and have nowhere to live, things can feel pretty miserable.Aoife Dunne came to terms with the grief of losing her mother and built a loyal following online sharing the highs and lows of navigating life in your late thirties when you’re still just figuring it out...She joins Seán to discuss.

As the weather improves, many people will be digging out their summer whites. But, how do you revamp these garments to make them look as good as new, after spending last summer sweating in them?Joining Seán to discuss is Laura de Barra, author of ‘Garment Goddess’...

Alarming price increases in both chocolate and butter are having a major impact on the baking and chocolate industry in Ireland…Joining Seán to discuss this is Graham Herterich, AKA the Cupcake Bloke, owner of The Bakery in Rialto…

It's been a bumper season for sightings of the Eurasian Hoopoe on Ireland’s south coast, an exotic bird with a pink mohawk.Joining Seán to discuss the sightings is Paul Connaughton, an Ornithologist who sits on the Irish Rare Birds Committee…

While the ongoing pedestrianisation of many towns and cities around Ireland since the pandemic often brings benefits, it can put a toll on retail businesses. One particular street in Dublin City, Drury Street, has exploded in popularity over the past two years, leading to large crowds of people congregating.Joining Seán to discuss this is Clare Grennan, co-owner of Irish Design Shop…

A new book claims that the French president Emmanuel Macron wears so much aftershave that his staff can smell him before they see him coming. So, how should aftershave be worn and should Irish men follow the French way of doing it?Joining Seán to discuss is Sadie Chowen, Creative Director of the Burren Perfumery…

A major part of our public discourse in recent years has been about the so-called ‘culture wars’.These discussions seem to exhibit an ever increasing toxicity which likely doesn’t help anyone.So, how do we make peace?Professor AC Grayling, Philosopher and Author of ‘Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars’, joins Seán to discuss.

Could having more male teachers help with toxic masculinity?Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson sparked a discussion with her comments calling for more men to become teachers, so that young boys have better role models.Is this the case here too? And what can be done to attract and encourage men into classrooms?Principal and Host of ‘If I were Minister for Education’ Podcast, Simon Lewis, joins Seán to discuss.

The recent debate on Dáil speaking time wasn’t exactly a shining example of parliamentary decorum, but it was far from the first time such behaviour reared its ugly head in Leinster House…Diarmaid Ferriter is Professor of Modern Irish History in UCD, and he has been looking at some of the more colourful exchanges down through the years. He joins Seán to discuss.

Temperatures are the highest so far this year, reaching up to 20 degrees in the midlands. But, are you wearing sunscreen, or is the stint of nice weather so good that you’re forgetting the basics?Henry McKean hit the beach to find out, and joins Seán to discuss.

The typewriter was patented by four inventors in Milwaukee in 1868, and today, the machine is having something of an unexpected revival, with the city even hosting a convention for typewriter enthusiasts called Qwertyfest.Lisa Floading is one such enthusiast and collector, and joins Seán to discuss.

Has the gym replaced the pub for the younger generation?According to new figures, more young people are going to the gym now than ever before, and Gen Z could just be the healthiest generation ever... or at least, much more fitness focused than the baby boomers and millennials before them.But, is spending so much time in the gym really good for you? Or is it making people lonelier?Reporter, Content Creator and Gym-goer Padraig Wilson McCarthy joins Seán to discuss.

It’s Wish Day! This week marks Make-A-Wish Ireland’s annual fundraising week, which raises money to grant life-changing wishes to children facing critical illnesses nationwide.Since 1992, Make-A-Wish Ireland has granted wishes for more than 3,350 children across Ireland, including 214 wishes granted in 2024 alone. Henry McKean joins Seán to do multiple challenges - including sucking on a lemon, doing jumping jacks and wearing as many underpants as possible!

A new citizen science project in UCC called the Great Irish Fossil Hunt aims to catalogue the fossils of Ireland. But, how will it work?Joining Seán to discuss is Maria McNamara, Professor of Paleontology at UCC...

It is something nobody likes thinking about, but what happens if someone has a medical emergency on a plane and passes away mid flight?You might have heard about the Australian couple who complained about enduring a ‘traumatic’ experience after sitting next to a body for four hours on their long haul flight...So, what’s the protocol?Former cabin crew and host The Red Eye Podcast, Ally Murphy, joins Seán to discuss.