Culture | Business Post

Robocobra Quartet reveal their musical inspirations

Ryan Burrowes and Chris W Ryan of the Belfast post-punk collective have a new album out and sat down to discuss the music that shaped their creative path

Classical Notes

New stars shine for Veronica Dunne at Killruddery opera

A year after her passing, the spirit of one of Irish music’s greatest forces of nature is being kept alive by the Veronica Dunne Festival of Opera in Killruddery House in Bray

School’s in for summer at the Bord Gáis Theatre

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of the 2003 Jack Black musical comedy School of Rock is rough, ready and riotous

The Last Days of Roger Federer – A fine rhapsody against the dying of the light

A contemplation of the ageing process and its effects on creativity lies at the heart of Geoff Dyer’s new collection of essays

Elvis needs a little more conversation, a little less action

Baz Luhrmann’s heavily-hyped biopic of Presley isn’t quite saved by Austin Butler’s splendid performance as the King

His Name is George Floyd – The hard life and sad death of one man who became a civil rights icon

Murdered in Minneapolis in May 2020 by a police officer, George Floyd became an emblem of a community’s refusal to accept state oppression. A new book looks at the man behind the symbolism

Chums – The elitist breeding ground that spawned Britain’s modern-day ruling class

Simon Kuper of the FT takes a deep dive into the culture of the upper-crust public schools and university that produced Boris Johnson and ten others of the UK’s 15 post-war prime ministers

Nadine O’Regan: Perfect but plastic, surreal scenes in Ken and Barbie world

As the furore over Ryan Gosling’s role as Ken in the Barbie movie shows, we’re equal opportunity objectifiers in today’s world. But is that a good thing?

The best children’s book ever – and how to write it

Nadine O’Regan asks nine of Ireland’s most popular children’s authors to put pen to paper – and offer their take

Children’s books: All that’s glorious about reading and writing

Young readers will be delighted to discover this selection of children’s books that cover from the earliest ages to those confident enough to read on their own

Dick O’Riordan: INO’s first youth opera talks to the animals

The world premiere of Horse Ape Bird, the INO’s first ever youth opera, will be performed this week at Solstice Arts Centre in Navan and St Patrick’s College in Maynooth

The Shortest History of the Soviet Union – a nimble guide through 74 tumultuous years

Australian historian Sheila Fitzpatrick recounts a hugely complex story in an accessible way without sacrificing any of the accuracy

The assassination of Sir Henry Wilson – the spark that lit the flames of Ireland’s Civil War

Journalist Ronan McGreevy skilfully lays out the repercussions felt in Ireland after the murder of an Anglo-Irish MP by the IRA in London in 1922

Kathleen MacMahon: In the great Irish tradition of social mapping the funeral is a festival

Navigating the social tributaries of this densely networked nation means becoming an encyclopaedia in human form

Paddy O’Flynn: The best wine I ever drank? A 1945 Mouton Rothschild brought tears to my eyes

The owner of the Wine Buff on his earliest ambition, founding a successful wine business and turning down Keith Richards

Tanya Blount and Michael Trotter jr on their musical inspirations from Barbra Streisand to Eminem

The Michigan duo who make up the blues outfit the War and Treaty play their Irish debut at Whelan’s this Wednesday. Here, they pick the ten tracks that mean the most to them

Jessie Buckley is in fine voice while Foals pay homage to Talking Heads

The Kerry actor’s contemplative collaboration with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler puts her in contention for album of the year

Living with My Century: A deeply humane memoir from a trailblazing female academic

Eda Sagarra, a former Professor of German at Trinity College Dublin and the first-ever registrar at an Irish or British university, has written an intelligent account of her upbringing, travels and life in academia

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: Thompson shines in a story of frustrated sexuality

The veteran actress is compulsively watchable as a middle-aged former schoolteacher in Sophie Hyde’s new film

Climate & Environment

Hometree: A west Clare tree-planting charity that’s growing into a movement

The government has identified afforestation as a key element in the fight against climate change and Hometree, a charity in west Clare, is helping that effort through tree planting and education