Reviews and Culture

Review: Obsession directed by Curry Barker

Reviewed by Jonathan Diebold What if wishes really could come true? And what if the power to make such a wish was granted to a man who, behind his “nice guy” facade, feels a deep sense of entitlement and resentment towards the

Jun 14, 2026

Reviews and Culture

Review: Project Hail Mary directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

By Aislinn O’ Keeffe Spoiler Alert Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi adaptation of a novel by Andy Weir, published in 2021. The story revolves around teacher Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who wakes up to find himself alone on a spaceship

May 18, 2026

Reviews and Culture

Review: Akira (1988) directed by Katsuhiro Otomo (re-released in 4K, 2026)

By Jonathan Diebold In the middle-part of the 20th century, as the post-war economic boom took hold, for some, the economic and technological progress of capitalism seemed unstoppable. This idealistic outlook was reflected in what has been described by critics as the

Apr 28, 2026

Reviews and Culture

Review: Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere

Reviewed by Manus Lenihan In the 2007 documentary The Most Hated Family in America, Louis Theroux interviewed members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a hate group that protested the funerals of dead soldiers and did paranoid, homophobic covers of Lady Gaga songs.

Mar 19, 2026

Reviews and Culture

Review: Words for My Comrades: A Political History of Tupac Shakur by Dean Van Nguyen

Reviewed by James McCabe It’s hard to name a rapper who has had more of an influence on popular culture than Tupac Shakur. There have been more than 40 works written about him, and he’s sold 125 million records. It’s impossible to

Jan 2, 2026

Reviews and Culture

Review: West End Girl by Lily Allen

Reviewed by Aislinn O Keeffe West End Girl, the new album by Lily Allen, and her first in seven years, was released on 24 October, setting the internet astir. Voluminous online and media discourse has led to the unusual situation whereby streaming

Nov 11, 2025

Reviews and Culture

Review: One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Reviewed by Jonathan Diebold On 25 September, an icon of the leftwing radicalism which shook America in the 1960s and 1970s passed away. Assata Shakur, a revolutionary, ex-Black Panther and leading member of the Black Liberation Army, died at the age of

Nov 5, 2025

Reviews and Culture

Review: Carving The Stone by For Those I Love

By Kate Quinlan For Those I Love, the musical project of Dublin musician and spoken word artist David Balfe’s August release Carving the Stone is a fierce and unflinching album that cements Balfe as a socialist cultural poet, giving voice to a

Sep 15, 2025

News & Analysis·Reviews and Culture

“Jealousy” and “begrudgery” – the last refuge of the Irish influencer

By Kate Quinlan The backlash against Irish influencers attending Electric Picnic on Coca Cola’s dime has exposed something uncomfortable: the fragility of performative politics in the influencer economy. For months, many of these same figures shared graphics and hashtags in support of

Sep 9, 2025

Reviews and Culture

Review: Euro-Country by CMAT – a pop anthem of political manipulation and collective memory

By Carla Grainger In her latest release, ‘Euro-Country’, Meath-born singer-songwriter CMAT has delivered not just a pop song, but a fierce act of cultural resistance. Beneath its shimmering hooks lies a searing indictment of capitalism’s false promises and Ireland’s recurring betrayal of

Jul 31, 2025

Reviews and Culture

Why does my guilty pleasure feel like a case study in coercive control? – love as labour on ‘Love Island’

By Kate Quinlan and Carla Grainger We used to call Love Island our guilty pleasure. Now the guilt is doing most of the heavy lifting. What once felt like lightweight reality drama has started to look a lot more like televised coercion.

Jul 30, 2025

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