During the summer months, many people gravitate towards ordering salads when out, but they are actually dishes that can easily be made at home and with choosing good quality ingredients can make a delicious and filling meal. Gareth Mullins, Executive Chef at the Anantara Hotel joins Pat with some fabulous salad suggestions for the summer months ahead.

When it comes to preventing heart disease, one of the most important factors is cholesterol and new international guidelines are rewriting how we think about it. Experts now say the focus should be on lifetime exposure to ldl cholesterol (the “Bad” cholesterol) and on lowering it earlier, for longer. That shift has led to a major update in global guidelines, including new risk calculators, lower target levels, and greater use of earlier screening and preventive medication in some patients. Joining Pat to explain what this means for patients in Ireland is Dr Roisin Colleran, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Mater Private Network.

UK politics has entered a new phase of volatility following Keir Starmer’s resignation, leaving Labour in a leadership contest and raising immediate questions about direction and stability. Andy Burnham has quickly become a focal point in the realignment, while Nigel Farage continues to reshape and upend the traditional two-party duopoly. What emerges is a political landscape that remains institutionally intact, but increasingly fragmented in authority, narrative, and purpose. To explore that wider sense of unease, Pat is joined by novelist & satirist, Jonathan Coe.

As Americans celebrate the 4th of July and the many events marking the 250th anniversary of creation of the United States, the country's founding ideals of liberty, democracy, and freedom are once again taking centre stage. But there's another story running through America's history - one not of peace interrupted by war, but of a nation shaped by almost continuous conflict. David Vine, author of the United States of War, argues that war has become deeply embedded not only in American foreign policy, but in its politics, economy, and national identity. So, as the US reflects on 250 years of independence, we ask whether the culture of perpetual war has become one of the defining features of the American experience. He joins Pat to discuss.

This weekend on the Pat Kenny Show:

• As the US celebrates 250 years, Pat asks why so many of them have been spent at war

• Dr Roisin Colleran answers your heart health questions

• Motoring correspondent Ger Herbert on the best EV for you

• Paul Harrington is here with a stone-cold Elton John classic

• Professor Luke O’Neill on how music changes our brains

• A UN commissioner on its latest report into Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children

• As the World Cup heats up, John duggan gives a roundup

• Plus, we look at the top stories in the Sunday papers

That’s the Pat Kenny Show this Saturday and Sunday morning from 10am.

Bestselling thriller writer Karin Slaughter joins Pat to talk about her new novel, The Secrets We Hide, set in the small-town world of North Falls. With more than 40 million books sold and TV hits like Will Trent and The Good Daughter, she explains why she loves writing rural America and more.

Pat is joined by broadcaster and author John Suchet, who looks back on his years reporting for ITN and News at Ten, covering stories from Iran to Afghanistan, and how television news has been transformed by satellites, 24-hour rolling coverage, and the mobile phone.

As relations between the US, China and Europe keep shifting, Pat Kenny asks what it means for the EU’s balance between security ties with Washington and economic links to Beijing. He is joined by George Yin, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China Studies at National Taiwan University, to unpack China’s strategy for Europe, the race for dominance in key technologies like AI, and why “reliability” matters when you’re choosing partners.

The group stages of the FIFA World Cup are complete and the knockout picture is finally taking shape, with the last 32 promising some fascinating ties and potential heavyweight clashes further down the road. Joining Pat to look back on a busy sporting weekend and ahead to what's coming next is Off the Ball's John Duggan.

Joining Pat to run through the main stories in the Sunday papers is Jack Horgan-Jones, Political Reporter at The Irish Times.