Culture | Books, Music, Theatre, Film & The Arts

The cover image from Sabrina Carpenter's forthcoming album Man's Best Friend (Pic: Island Records)

Sabrina Carpenter's new album cover: satire or self-degradation?

Sabrina Carpenter's Man's Best Friend album cover has fans divided.

CMAT on the red carpet at this year's Brit Awards ceremony in London

Summer of CMAT: the rise and rise of Ireland's gobbiest pop star

It's out with the cigs, the Bic lighters, the "strappy white tops with no bra" and all the other garish lime green accoutrements; time to drag out the cowboy hats and boots, tooth jewels and brightly coloured tights from storage.

The Lauren Murphy Column • 14 Jun

Sly Stone performing with The Family Stone at the Cape Cod Coliseum in July 1973 (Pic: Getty)

Sly Stone remembered: the influential funk pioneer took us higher

There's immense variety in popular music careers, even beyond the extremes of one-hit wonders and the long-haulers touring stadiums into their dotage, writes Adam Behr...

In Memoriam • 12 Jun

Colin Firth in the BBC's celebrated 1995 TV adaptation of Pride & Prejudice

Why Jane Austen novels make perfect period adaptations

Announcing its new six-part adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Netflix quoted screenwriter Dolly Alderton as saying: "Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story."

Opinion and Analysis • 11 Jun

The Maestro and The Mosquita by Carmel Winters, a winner at last year's Dublin Fringe

Support, don't star: rethinking the Arts Council's role

Theatremaker Dan Colley asks: Has the Arts Council of Ireland taken on too much 'main character energy'?

Opinion and Analysis • 07 Jun

Jazzy - the first Irish woman to top the Irish Singles Chart in over 14 years

Why it's time to tune into Ireland's female musicians

We present an extract from Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Culture Change, the new book by Linda Coogan Byrne.

Opinion and Analysis • 26 May

AI, journalism and the importance of human voices

It was inevitable, but it doesn't make it any less terrifying. Most people working within the creative arts - musicians, animators, filmmakers, designers - have already felt the ramifications of AI within their industries.

The Lauren Murphy Column • 24 May

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Patrick O'Donovan

Future of Basic Income for the Arts scheme remains uncertain

Via The Journal Of Music: With just over three months until the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme comes to an end, a government decision on its future has yet to be made.

Opinion and Analysis • 21 May

'In recent years, Attenborough has taken on a new role – not just as a broadcaster, but as a powerful voice in environmental diplomacy.'

How David Attenborough reshaped how we see the natural world

Over the course of seven decades, Sir David Attenborough's documentaries have reshaped how we see the natural world, shifting from colonial-era collecting trips to urgent calls for environmental action

Opinion and Analysis • 20 May

DJ Proval of Kneecap performing at Glastonbury in 2024 (Pic: Getty)

The world can criticise Kneecap, but they have started something

The controversy surrounding the Irish rap band has obscured deeper questions about power, conflict and resistance, but they won't go away, writes Toner Quinn.

Opinion and Analysis • 03 May

Nosferatu was a surprise blockbuster at the box-office

Why Hollywood is finally taking horror films seriously

Horror films have always held an interesting place in cultural and cinematic circles, writes Reece Goodall.

Opinion and Analysis • 28 Apr

We're gonna say it... Even Baby Reindeer could have done with a wee trim.

Have we already passed peak TV?

It was Ardal O'Hanlon who provided the voice of reason...

The Lauren Murphy Column • 19 Apr

The cast of The White Lotus Season 3 attend a screening of the finale (Pic: Jeff Kravitz/HBO/Getty)

All the Shakespearean references in The White Lotus S3, explained

Warning: this article contains major spoilers for the ending of White Lotus season three.

Pop Culture • 15 Apr

Ryan Adams' recent Belfast and Dublin shows divided audiences (to say the least)

Ryan Adams, bad gigs and the fine art of the sh*t show

It was clear from the first few seconds that this was not going to be an ordinary gig...

Opinion and Analysis • 10 Apr

Sally Rooney is one of the Irish authors whose work has been 'scraped' to train Meta's AI programme

How did Irish authors' books end up in Meta's AI data?

We've been here before. Remember the 'You wouldn't steal a car' piracy ads in the early noughties, ushered in by the increase in dodgy DVD copies of the latest Hollywood blockbusters?

Opinion and Analysis • 08 Apr

Babe: 'It shouldn't work ... but it really, really does.'

That'll do: Babe at 30 - the perfect book-to-film adaptation?

This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995...

Film • 03 Apr

Conleth Hill stars as King Lear at The Gate Theatre (Pic: Ros Kavanagh)

The promised land? King Lear and the shape of tragedy

Dr. Miranda Fay Thomas explores the history behind William Shakespeare's masterpiece King Lear, currently playing at Dublin's Gate Theatre.

Theatre • 31 Mar

Dysttopian game show from hell Squid Game is a Netflix smash

Why we love the escapism of apocalyptic dramas

Disney's streaming hit Paradise – a political thriller that sees the murder of a former president in a peaceful community – leans into dystopian themes around apocalypse survival and living in a sealed world, writes Scott Jones.

Opinion and Analysis • 31 Mar

What do you mean you haven't watched Adolescence yet?

Does binge-watching ruin the way we watch TV?

Like almost everyone this month, I've been transfixed by Adolescence, now out on Netflix.

Pop Culture • 25 Mar

Naoise Dolan: 'It's been wonderful being back in Dublin'

Naoise Dolan on Dublin life and her grá for the Irish Language

Author Naoise Dolan is the inaugural IPUT Writer-in-Residence at Wilton Park in Dublin, awarded on an annual basis to a published writer to enable them to live and make work in Dublin, and contribute to the life of the city.

Opinion and Analysis • 25 Mar

Careless People: Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg

Careless People: the Facebook exposé everyone's talking about

If you happened to find yourself perusing Dublin's bookshops over the weekend looking for a particular tome - Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work - you would have come away empty-handed.

Opinion and Analysis • 26 Mar

Are 'stans' taking the fun out of being a fan?

At last weeks Brit Awards it was announced that Charli XCX would be receiving the Songwriter Of The Year award.

Opinion and Analysis • 08 Mar

'Actors want concrete assurances that their voices or likenesses will not be replicated through AI without consent or fair compensation.' (Pictured: League of Legends)

GenAI in video games: Is it game-over for creativity?

Artificial intelligence - there is no escaping those two words now.

Games • 07 Mar

I'm Still Here has been playing to sold out houses nationwide

Ireland's love affair with cinemagoing never went away

Last week, I did something on my day off I'd never thought I'd ever do again: I snuck into a film underage.

Opinion and Analysis • 04 Mar

Irish culture has enjoyed a 'green wave' of success in recent years

What's going on with all the Irish arts scandals right now?

The last year or two has seen endless column inches devoted to the so-called 'Green Wave', a movement apparently kick-started by the success of The Banshees of Inisherin that has seen Irish artists of all disciplines dominating global culture.

Opinion and Analysis • 26 Feb