On today’s Inside Politics podcast Hugh Linehan is joined by Pat Leahy and Jennifer Bray to discuss the week in politics:

• The crisis at RTÉ is entering its third week but, with appearances by Ryan Tubridy and Noel Kelly before an Oireachtas committee and the takeover by Kevin Bakhurst as Director General all happening next week, the story is not going away, much as weary RTÉ executives and politicians might want it to.

• The Summer Economic Statement prompted some criticism from economists opposed to excessive spending - but little from opposition politicians. Why?

• Opposition to hate speech legislation currently making its way through the Seanad is filling up the inboxes of politicians like Fianna Fail’s Lisa Chambers. But do people’s concerns have much to do with what’s actually in the bill?

Plus the panel recommend their Irish Times articles of the week:

• Newton Emerson on the complexities of talking about how a United Ireland would actually work

• John Fitzgerald on whether the IDA’s current strategy is right for an Ireland of inflation, full employment and overstretched services.

• Patrick Freyne’s guide to the year’s best TV

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