Una and Andrea's United Ireland

This week, we delve into the world of QAnon. Una and Andrea discuss the genesis of a conspiracy turned community turned cult-like structure that has seen an increased real-life impact, from its followers running for public office in the US, to people losing family members and friends who are falling down a Q-shaped rabbit hole. Aoife Gallagher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue joins us to talk about where QAnon came from and where it’s going. Also, in this episode, Andrea is out and about while Una remains in her bunker, a new government is formed with some very random ministers, and the Great Hotel Buffet Debate.

The overspill of people on to the streets as a result of our socialising being restricted to public space because cafes, pubs and restaurants are closed has really highlighted the lack of amenities we have in our towns and cities when the commercial providers are taken out of the mix. Which begs the question, who is public space for (or not as the case may be) and can we enjoy it if we're not spending money? We talk to Joan O'Connell from Streets Are For People and Green Party Cllr Claire Byrne about the seating situation as well as the anticipation around the PfG votes.

This month on BYLINE, we're joined by one of the most vital voices in American journalism today, Sarah Kendzior. Kendzior is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America, and her latest brilliant assessment of American carnage, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. Kendzior rose to fame as the urgency in her voice grew throughout 2016 when she warned about the likelihood of Donald Trump's election win, and has since laid out - with terrifying accuracy - his kleptocratic actions since then. She is also the co-host with Andrea Chalupa of the podcast Gaslit Nation, which you can support on Patreon. BYLINE is our monthly series where we talk to excellent journalists reporting on the stories that matter. In this episode, we talk to Kendzior about her formative years in journalism, the power of being an outsider, the transnational crime syndicate that is the Trump administration and its hangers on,

One of the biggest talking points during this pandemic has been about the reopening of hairdressers and the greater beauty industry. Beauty is important to Irish people. But what is beauty? As beauty ideals constantly evolve and change, has our time in lockdown- staring at ourselves on zoom calls -changed our perception of how we relate to these ideals? And even if we think we reject these beauty ideals, is that a moral statement in itself? So often the subject of beauty and its industry is overlooked by philosophers, but what greater definition of self is there than the visual one we project to the world? So we were extremely happy to be joined by Heather Widdows who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and Co-lead of the Beauty Demands Project and #everydaylookism activist. She is also the author of Perfect Me.

This week’s episode is about how Ireland is racist, how and why it’s up to white people to sort that out, and how constantly asking black people and people of colour to hand-hold, educate, and “help” white people do that work is part of the problem. D.I.Y. We also discuss the impact of the Black Lives Matter protest in Dublin, the generational shift in visibility, solidarity, and anti-racist activism, how young black people and people of colour in Ireland have become the backbone of contemporary Irish pop culture, and the tensions in Insta-activism.

Una initially planned to speak with the actor Jonny Beauchamp (Penny Dreadful, Katy Keane) about the impact of lockdown on the film and television industry. A Puerto Rican New Yorker, Jonny is a rising star in television. So what happens when production stalls? But as New York became the epicentre of the covid-19 pandemic and Jonny’s family was impacted, and then the Black Lives Matter protests took hold of the city, this conversation grew into a snapshot of what it’s like to be an artist in NYC right now. It’s hot outside, and tensions are rising. Here’s Jonny’s view from Washington Heights.

Curtain twitchers, lockdown Stasi, narcs and snitches; the lockdown has caused many people to internalise surveillance, compete for social capital through rule abidance, and assert themselves by shaming others. But where does surveillance capitalism fit in all of this? Should we be worried about contact tracing apps - and not in a tinfoil hat kinda way? We’re joined by the mighty Liz Carolan to talk about tech and tracing.

EPISODE 51: 32 questions for Mary Lou McDonald by Una & Andrea's United Ireland

Byline is a new bonus series from United Ireland, where we speak to journalists working on important stories. We take a deep dive into those stories, and the journalists’ working processes, and tack how they brought the issue into the public sphere, and the impact it had. The covid-19 pandemic has created a huge appetite for quality breaking news, reporting, and investigative journalism, but it has also caused advertising revenue to collapse, leaving many media outlets in precarious positions. At a time when trust is at something of a low in media, and where tech companies that participate in undermining democracy, promoting misinformation and disinformation and benefiting from advertising that previously went to newspapers and other traditional media outlets, and where mainstream media outlets are often subjected to attacks from several quarters, we want to get back to the story and highlight the decent work and hard graft that often goes uncelebrated. Byline is about good journalists doing the hard yar

With the iconic Grafton Street cafe unable to afford its rent and closing, what does this say about how businesses and retail are coping with rent, landlords, and survival in the pandemic? We’re joined by Irish Times Business Editor Ciarán Hancock for the lowdown on the landscape of retail rent in Ireland, and Rosie from Hen’s Teeth gives her perspective as one of those involved in running a small but vibrant creative space in Dublin. Plus, Una finally coins a JLo-related republican slogan, and Andrea is ragin about Boris.

You’ve probably heard a lot about how Sweden approached the covid-19 pandemic differently, and it’s an approach that is providing media and amateur covid-commentators with a rake of hot takes and opinions. But what’s really going on in Sweden, and what can the rest of the world learn, positively or negatively, from their approach? On this bonus podcast, Una talks to journalist Philip O’Connor in detail about the Swedish pandemic experience. This is a fascinating conversation, and we learned A LOT.

This week, Una and Andrea assess how the lockdown has impacted how they think about the world and are sharing some lockdown learnings. Are you seeing the world differently? What has lockdown brought up for you. Meanwhile, the Greens are running in the burning building otherwise known as the It’ll Be Grand coalition, Leo Varadkar thinks handing out food parcels is Trumpian, SOUND, and every teenager’s dream comes true as the Leaving Cert is cancelled.

Sean Byran aka Seany B of Cut & Sew joins us to discuss the drama of blokes having to forgo haircuts in lockdown, as well as assessing the impact on the barber industry as a whole. If you’ve ever thought of giving yourself a DIY fade, this episode is for you.

As a glorious bonus accompaniment to this week's fashion episode, Andrea is talking to the king of bold colour and luxuriously voluminous silhouettes, Christopher John Rogers. After recently winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and presenting his exquisite Fall 2020 collection with the fabrics of his dreams and seeing his clothes on powerhouses like Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Lizzo and Tracee Ellis Ross, we find out how Corona is impacting him as a designer both creatively and commercially.

With the fashion industry in flux, this week’s episode is inspired by Saint Laurent’s announcement that the brand is bowing out of fashion weeks, taking back control of its own schedule, and focussing instead on creativity. At the start of the pandemic people were rushing to create and fill the pause with content, but now it seems lots of industries are taking stock. Could it be that the pandemic will change the fashion industry forever? We speak to the fashion writer and editor Sarah Schijen about how the industry is responding to the pandemic, and the Chief Product Officer for LVMH’s private equity firm, Jemma Cassidy. Also this week, Una has her eye on pandemic surveillance capitalism, and Andrea is bopping to the BBC.

We are facing into a musically barren summer as festivals are cancelled across the land and around the world. With the live music industry hugely impacted by the pandemic, we check in with someone who runs a festival and someone who plays one, to talk about the logistics and learnings of live music pressing pause. Avril Stanley who runs Body & Soul talks about her experience of putting a massive amount of work on ice and wonders what festivals really mean now, and Krystal Klear gives us the lowdown on the disruption so many touring DJs are experiencing. Meanwhile, Andrea is gunning for the 2k Stasi, and Una is drinking wine.

With lots of time to think in lockdown, Una has been wondering what the future holds for Dublin. Time to imagine a Dublin utopia.

We’re back in the government formation limbo this week. Una and Andrea are joined by top buzzer and artist Emmet Kirwan to discuss the FF-FG pre-nup, and the consequences of the pandemic on government formation, collective political amnesia, and the “venus fly trap” the framework document creates in an attempt to lure smaller leftwing parties into their clutches. Plus, the discourse around Keelings gets in the sea, Andrea is enjoying dry-quari life, and Una made the mistake of drinking margaritas

Right now, we are going through an awful pandemic. But one of the things it has given us is the chance to see what would happen if the world simply stopped. And when we start it all up again we’ll have the opportunity to shape what the restart will look like. With that in mind and before we get to that point, we’re looking back at the TEDx talk Andrea did in 2017 and spoke about in her last bonus ep. Why now, more than ever, we need to redefine what success looks like as a business owner post Rona. This talk was originally given as part of TEDxDublinInstituteofTechnology

What does normal even mean any more? There’s no way we can go back, we don’t know where we’re going, yet somehow we all seem to be adapting to this weird stasis. We talk to Finian Murphy from Core about its research into the current sentiment being experienced by Irish society right now. Like Rihanna found love in a hopeless place, are we finding contentment in an isolated place, once all the factors trying to sell us back the idea of happiness have been stripped from our daily repertoire? For more information on the Core report Finian spoke about visit https://onecore.ie/blog/