The Hard Shoulder

The US midterm elections are currently ongoing as the polls are open. What do we know so far, and who are we expecting to win and lose?

Joining Ciara to discuss and give the latest updates is Niall Stanage, White House Columnist at The Hill, Matt Mayer, former Senior Official in the Bush administration & Political Commentator and Brett Bruen, White House Advisor during the Obama administration.

John Lewis released their 2026 Christmas advert today, but what makes a Christmas ad great and how has the criteria for a great ad changed in the age of AI?

Joining Shane to discuss this is John Fardy, Presenter of Screentime on Newstalk.

Women farmers are challenging an Agri system that was built on growth and control, forging a more resilient future for Irish farming. So writes former Green Party Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dr Pippa Hackett in The Journal.

But, is this true?

Dr Pippa Hackett joins Shane to discuss.

The funeral for Irish champion athlete Ciara Mageean took place today in St Patrick’s Church in County Down, with hundreds of mourners gathering to pay their respects…

Barry Whyte, Newstalk's Chief Reporter, is there, and joins Ciara Kelly to discuss.

Several flights across Europe have been forced to emergency land after receiving a series of bomb threats. So far, 7 planes have been affected in the last 24 hours.

A Ryanair flight from Dublin was escorted by the Italian Air Force until it landed in Rome.

For the latest, Shane is joined by Aviation and Travel Journalist. Eoghan Corry…

The Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly ‘Locked Out of the Market’ report, shows that just 12 properties were available to rent within any of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme limits in September…

Joining Ciara for more on this is Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, Ber Grogan.

Newstalk's Chief Reporter Barry Whyte joined us on the show to discuss the Covid-19 evaluation.

According to new research from the Annual Leave Report found that more than 40 per cent of us in Ireland don't use up all our leave. Louisa Meehan, HR and Dispute expert from Woodview HRM joined Shane on the show
to discuss.

For this week’s Kids Clinic, Ciara was joined by Clinical Psychologist, Tara Logan Buckley to discuss how to stop your kids from cursing.

The last remaining objector to a proposed ring road in Galway city has withdrawn a High Court challenge questioning elements of the planned route. Sean Canney, Minister of state at the Department of transport joined Ciara on the show to discuss.