Radar was a pivotal military development of the Second World War. Until now, the normal place to read about radar would be in the pages of a history of the war or of the history of engineering. But media theorist Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan suggests here that a different kind of history of radar can be […]

The artist Anselm Kiefer was born in Germany in 1945. In this interview, Caitriona Leahy opens up a new sidelight on the work of Kiefer, who is now one of the most prominent figures on the international art scene. When he appropriates the work of the poet Ingeborg Bachmann in his own artworks, argues Leahy, […]

The provocative and inflammatory punditry of Jordan Peterson is coming to Ireland. In this interview, Tina-Karen Pusse sketches and critiques the politics of libertarianism and the New Right and anti-feminism that will draw crowds to Dublin’s 3Arena on 14 July. ‘Winning the War of Ideas’ will feature Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, and Douglas Murray.  Anticipating […]

How does a political outsider establish himself as the leader of a modern democracy? In this episode, historian Laura O’Brien of Northumbria University analyses 5 key moments in the short political career of Emmanuel Macron, the current president of France. O’Brien parses Macron as a choreographed confection who consciously echoes other grand homme leaders of […]

How we can blend the study of literary history with literary geography and political economy? Professor Joe Cleary of Yale University tackles this question by guiding us through the World Literary System, which is a mode of  analysis associated mainly with the literary critics Pascale Casanova and Franco Moretti. Cleary shows how this approach can […]

Edmund Burke lived from 1729 to 1797, a period of great expansion of the British Empire and of revolutions in America and France. More a working politician than a systematic philosopher, Burke responded to the turmoil of his times by formulating a unique brand of political conservatism that has been interpreted in many ways down […]

Would there have been a Good Friday Agreement without John Hume? Maurice Fitzpatrick tackles this question in our second episode to mark the 20th anniversary of the historic agreement that marked an end to the Troubles. From his early involvement as an activist in 1960s Derry, Hume the pacifist schoolteacher transformed the corrupt state that

Seán Ó hUiginn was probably the most important voice speaking on behalf of the Irish state through the years leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. Here the former ambassador gives his unique view of the long run-up to the negotiations that led to the final peace agreement that was signed in 1998. This fascinating

What help is philosophy in the face of climate change? Norah Campbell of Trinity College Dublin explains the basics of the philosophical movement known as Speculative Realism. She makes the provocative claim that the tools for thinking that we get from Speculative Realism are the only way to comprehend climate change. This interview traces a

Architectural historian Merlo Kelly relates the story of Georgian Dublin. Who were the developers? Who bought these houses? And what explains their slow demise over the centuries? The leading authority on the history of the north side of the city in this period, Merlo Kelly puts these elegant buildings and streets in their social, aesthetic