Highlights From Moncrieff

We’ve all heard the saying ‘like father like son’ but how accurate is that statement? New research has been carried out to investigate how much of our personality we inherit from out parents. Joining Seán to discuss the findings is the lead author of the study, Dr René Mottus, Reader at the University of Edinburgh and Professor at the University of Tartu.

The Epic Museum in Dublin has put together an exhibit called ‘Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain’ that collects stories of Irish people living in the UK. Seán is joined by the CEO of the Irish in Britain Organisation, to discuss the exhibit and our history.

In the last year, sales of Guinness 0.0 have surged by nearly 50%, highlighting the increased interest in non-alcoholic drinks in recent years. Joining Seán to discuss the drink’s rise in popularity is the Guiness Guru himself, Darragh Curran.Image: Guinness/Diageo

Household chores can be a divisive subject in any relationship, with one person often picking up the slack and subsequent frustration in the process. How do you divide your chores at home? To discuss the topic is Broadcaster, Keith Walsh, who joins Seán. 

As unpredictable weather and summer droughts increase due to climate change, there is now a growing trend for people to use so-called ‘grey water’, rather than fresh tap water, when watering their gardens. But how does this process work? Joining Seán to discuss this is Michael Kelly, Founder of GIY in Waterford.

There’s much debate online on whether it’s important to teach your child to play alone and entertain themselves, or whether you should suck it up and play with them. Irish Times journalist Tanya Sweeney recently wrote an article on this and joined Seán to discuss.

The world’s first AI beauty pageant has been launched, with over 1000 entries so far. The winners are set to be announced next month. Sally-Ann Fawcett is one of the ‘Miss AI’ judges and the author of ‘Misdemeanours: Beauty Queen Scandals’, and joins Seán to discuss the event.

Seán’s guest managed to complete the London Marathon the other day with a little help from an unusual source...wine! Tom Gilbey, a sommelier and wine professional, did a wine tasting at every mile marker during the event, and even managed to get most of the blind tastings correct. He joins the show to talk about the experience - and the most important question: why?

Whether you’re a parent of young children or not, you’ve most-likely heard of the children’s cartoon Bluey, which is taking the world by storm! The cartoon has become the Taylor Swift of children’s television, with its last surprise episode causing numerous discussions online. Joining Seán to chat about all things Bluey is 98fm’s Suzanne Kane.Image: BBC Studios

It’s National Poetry Day, and although most of us think that we’ve not interested in poetry or never consume it, you might be wrong...  To discuss the world of poetry and its popularity, Seán is joined by Newstalk Producer Seán Reidy.

Newstalk is partnering with Make-A-Wish Ireland to celebrate Wish Week. Join us all week as we talk to some incredible children and their courageous families, and hear how Make-A-Wish Ireland have been beacons of light for children facing the toughest battles of their lives. Make-A-Wish Ireland is dependent on the generosity of the public. You can donate online at makeawish.ie/donate. Evelyn O’Byrne has Juvenile Batten disease - she was diagnosed when she was 6. She was able to go to Disney Land through Make-A-Wish and loved the experience.Joining Seán to talk about her daughter’s illness and how they are doing is Evelyn’s mother, Jolene.

Despite Ireland seeing an increase in solo travellers year on year, the lack of single occupancy rooms is a massive problem, with hotels generally charging double room rates across the board. Joining Seán to share her experience as a solo traveller is Travel Blogger Janet Newenham.

Celebrity baby names have always stirred headlines for their often off-the-wall nature. From Gwenyth Paltrow’s daughter Apple, to Cheryl Cole’s son Bear, it seems no parameters apply in the land of fame! Singer Anne-Marie has recently named her daughter Seven. Mum of seven (children!) and journalist, Jen Hogan joins Seán to discuss. 

Limerick is leading a national experiment as the campaign for Ireland's first directly elected mayor is now in full swing. The directly elected mayor model aims to give real power in local government back to those elected by the people. Joining Seán to run everybody up to speed on the campaign and the 13 candidates currently running is News Reporter for Limerick’s Live 95, Nigel Dugdale. 

As part of the foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was passed by the US Senate, Tik Tok has just one year to divest from its Chinese parent company - or else face a total ban in America. Joining Seán to untangle all of this is Adrian Wreckler, Irish Independent’s Technology Editor.

When this guest retired, he decided to drive his motorbike the full length of the Americas, from Chile to the US. Joining Seán is Peter Murtagh, Journalist and author of ‘From Tip to Top: The journey of a lifetime from Chile to Alaska’.

Hozier has become the fourth ever Irish artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.  The Wicklow musician’s song ‘Too Sweet’ has ascended to the number one spot, climbing from the number two spot since last week. Danny McElhinney is a Music Journalist from the Irish Mail on Sunday and joins Seán to discuss the song’s success.

With the increase in outdoor areas for hospitality businesses since the pandemic, is there an argument for putting a roof over streets to stop the pesky rain from ruining our al fresco dining experiences? This is exactly what has happened on Monck street in Wexford town. However, it has divided opinion. Joining Seán is Padraig Byrne, Journalist with the Wexford People to discuss.Image: Visit Wexford

Half of the world’s creatures live under the ground in soil, but have you ever thought about what they sound like? A new project seeks to find some answers...Joining Seán is Dr. Jackie Stroud, soil scientist at the University of Warwick, to discuss.

As discussions continue apace about the prospect of a United Ireland, are there economic lessons to be learnt from the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s? Seán's guest lived and worked near Leipzig during that transition over thirty years ago. Cormac Lucey, Economic columnist with the Sunday Times and Independent Candidate in the local elections, joins Seán to discuss.