Cinema The Lost Boys come of age: Looking back at the ultimate American gothicShot on a small budget with a relatively unknown cast, Joel Schumacher’s 1987 tale of youth and rebellion continues to occupy a unique place in the pantheon of pop culture, teeming with subtexts that remain relevant today
Interview Tadhg Hickey: ‘The combination of me and drink stopped working and was threatening to kill me’The Cork comedian and actor is riding high, with a steadily growing fanbase and the lead role in a new production of a John B Keane play – but he’s had to contend with personal burnout and an over-reliance on alcohol along the way
Magdalene Laundries Magdalene memories: Institutional victims deserve justice as much as a memorialCampaigners have asked that the former Magdalene laundry on Sean McDermott city in Dublin’s north inner city be turned into a ‘site of conscience’ that will address both past events and their contemporary legacies
Appetite for Distraction What to watch, listen to and play this week: A transgender story from the 1960sA one-off documentary follows the life of April Ashley, a model and dancer who was one of the first British people to undergo gender reassignment surgery
LIFE & ARTS Basic income for artists: ‘The idea is great, but the challenge is making sure it is going to the right people’ A pilot scheme to pay 2,000 Irish artists a weekly allowance has been broadly welcomed for the financial security it will afford those lucky enough to get it, but there are others who do feel it will not solve their problems
Book Review: Seven Steeples – Quiet, magical novel shows we are never truly alone in natureSara Baume’s chronicle of a couple living in not-so-splendid isolation in rural Ireland is rendered in hypnotising, inviting and reflective prose
Dick O’Riordan’s Classical Notes: The masks are off as Cork returns to choral gloryThe Cork International Choral Festival will make a welcome return to the streets and stages of Cork city and county over the May bank holiday weekend
Oliver Callan interview: ‘I always find Leo Varadkar and Mary Lou McDonald are hilariously quite similar in that we don’t really know what their ideology is’The political satirist on his culchie background, the various accidents and surprising twists of his career and how he managed to find more work by not looking for it
Nadine O’Regan: Forgive us our frivolities, we need some respite from real-world issues Between Covid, a general feeling of unease and war, who can blame us if we take occasional refuge in celebrity weddings and Derry Girls?
Anton Savage: Don’t let Le Pen and Putin ride high on anti-EU rhetoricIt is time we stopped taking Europe for granted and acknowledged all the benefits it has brought us
One more tune: How Ireland’s nightclubs are fighting for survivalWhere once we could dance the night away, offices, hotels and apartment blocks are springing up. But can Ireland’s nightclubs and late-night venues make a comeback and have they been given a lifeline by proposed new licensing laws?
Books: Never So Close, a poem by Dermot BolgerNever So Close is from Dermot Bolger’s new collection, Other People’s Lives, published by New Island on April 7 at €12.99. For more details, see: newisland.ie/poetry-drama/other-peoples-lives
Taste Maker: Hugh Wallace, architect – ‘White paint is an opt-out. People need to challenge their creativity and I don’t think white paint does that’The award-winning architect on the teacher who encouraged him, the best Scotch broth and learning to be patient
From one life to another: The Ukrainians finding their feet in a new landIrish businesses and organisations working to support refugees are drawing on the expertise of new arrivals
Kathryn Thomas interview: ‘It’s important to ‘work, rest and play’, but resting is just as important as the other twoThe TV presenter has lost none of the energy that propelled her to TV fame in her early 20s
Rachael English and Zara King: ‘There’s a responsibility in what we do, giving people a voice and an opportunity to tell their stories’It’s been called the ‘first draft’ of history, but is journalism in the modern age still a desirable or even viable career? Seasoned journalists and broadcasters Rachael English and Zara King offer their take
Online dating for the over-50s: You hear horror stories – d**k pics, lies and scams – but my impression was that Irish men are basically decent and just looking for a human connectionMid-life break-ups are on the increase and many people might be thinking about dipping their toe back in the dating pool, but with most relationships now being initiated online, Estelle Birdy looks at how to go about it
What to watch and listen to this week: Hugh Wallace returns with a new series of The Great House Revival The well-known architect runs the rule over a Victorian house in Cork, while consumer journalist Conor Pope takes a look at the ongoing cost of living crisis in The Price of Everything
Book review: Red Carpet – How Hollywood gambled big on not upsetting ChinaA new book lays bare the complex picture of the US film industry’s relationship with the Asian superpower
Salvatore Fullam: ‘Art just haemorrhages money. I haven't managed to work out how you’re supposed to make a living from it’The proudly Lucan-born and based artist had his first solo show two years after graduating from art college, was last year’s winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize exhibition and is preparing for an exhibition at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery
