Pressing Pause...

Pressing Pause... by Una & Andrea's United Ireland

It's our 2022 Summer Jam! On this episode, we give you our on top 20 cheerful summer vibes; things to look forward to, positive changes a'coming, good vibes to soak up, and all round Positive Pam feelings. Enjoy!

What makes a city sing when it comes to biodiversity? We're joined by Dublin City Council's biodiversity officer, Lorraine Bull to talk about wilding, bees, otter surveys, and making the capital greener. Also, Andrea is raging with Apple, our queen JLo ties the knot, and the plans for "culture" at the former site of the Tivoli theatre stall.

BONUS EP: The Uber Files with Simon Carswell by Una & Andrea's United Ireland

Attention paid to dereliction across Ireland has increased hugely during the pandemic, with a grassroots anti-dereliction movement emerging from ordinary people interested in addressing the scourge of vacancy and dereliction, but also offering solutions that should be acted on now, which would address aspects of the housing crisis, improve villages, towns and cities across Ireland. On this episode, we speak to James McGauran who has launched Dog House, a portal for derelict properties, and also Jude Sherry, one of the people behind #DerelictIreland which took off on Irish Twitter in 2020.

It’s a time of great distress and anger in the US and beyond, as Roe V Wade was overturned by a Supreme Court once again throwing the future of American democracy into turmoil. But don’t despair. In this episode we turn to hope, tactics, strategy, and mobilisation with the great Ailbhe Smyth. Instead of repeating the same conversations rattling around, could this be a moment for radical change? Also in this ep; the airport and airline breakdown, Una reflects on Neale Richmond’s grievances, and Andrea calls for a Head of Aesthetics for Dublin City.

For our final episode before Dublin Pride's biggest weekend, we're talking to Philly McMahon and Philip Connaughton about their new production, Party Scene, which examines chemsex and community. Plus, Andrea and Una give their verdicts on J Lo's Halftime (and her giant bejazzled coffee cup), and Roisin Murphy held hands with Andrea, so now they're best friends.

This week Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer was put on leave after he claimed an AI program, named LaMDA, had become sentient. We've all seen the movies where AI becomes sentient, turns on humans and machines take over the world - is this what's happening now? In a word, no. But we are joined by Dr William Ratoff, Asst Professor at the Department of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Trinity, who has a focus on current various issues in the ethics and regulation of artificial intelligence to discuss the possibility and implications of machine sentience. We're also discussing the frustration of being a lesbian journalist listening to & reading all the anti-trans sentiment coming through Irish media; wondering if the SocDems have all the solutions ready to roll for the housing crisis, nay disaster, that President Higgins so spicily called out and how the lack of confidence in ABP has gone official as Cork County Council passes vote of no confidence. Plus great art at the RHA, techno & great stages at AVA and obviously, JLo. You can sign up for William's course: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Ethics in Trinity this August here: https://www.tcd.ie/courses/hci-cpd/az-of-cpd-courses/big-data-artificial-intelligence-and-ethics/index.php

Mick Clifford is one of the most experienced and dogged journalists in Irish media. He is a special correspondent at the Irish Examiner, and author of several books, in genres as broad as political analysis and crime novels. On this episode, we talk about Mick's career, and his focus on corruption, especially the Garda whistleblower scandal. But our main focus is on planning, from Mick's time at the Mahon Tribunal to his current reporting on An Bord Pleanála. What's going down in ABP as the wheels come off, and is Ireland as corrupt as many people think it is?

We begin June with a different look at Pride. What happens when queer activists use their learnings to tackle issues that wouldn't be traditionally seen as LGBTQ+? We're joined by Irish filmmaker Paul Rowley in New York, who has been documenting the protest and creative activist group Gays Against Guns, in the wake of more horrific mass-shootings in the US. Plus, the ABP tea keeps spilling, the country is in a weird blend of 2007+2010 energy, and it's festival season and we're getting ready to rave.