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

Roger Waters on war, religion & Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters joined Sean Rocks on Arena for a chat about his latest tour, Us + Them.

Remembering Philip Roth: "Sex was his abiding theme."

The death of Philip Roth was announced last week and to commemorate him, Sean Rocks was joined on Arena by Dr Michael Hinds to talk about his life and legacy.

Books • 28 May 18

Sinead Gleeson on motherhood in life and literature

Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty by Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities at Birbeck Institute for the Humanities, examines expectations and representations of motherhood in life and in art.

Books • 25 May 18

Amanda Palmer on doing it yourself & her #MeToo anthem

From street artist to rock star to Kickstarter and TedTalk legend, Amanda Palmer has done it all and she has done it her way.

Music • 24 May 18

RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival takes centre stage

The RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival has officially kicked off and the crème de la crème of amateur dramatics find themselves in Athlone, waiting for their moment in the spotlight.

Theatre • 08 May 18

Listen: Sondheim's Assassins - killing it at The Gate

Arena's Kay Sheehy spoke to director Selina Cartmell, actor Dan Gordon and musical director Cathal Synott at rehearsals for their production of Assassins by Stephen Sondheim, now playing at Dublin's Gate Theatre.

Theatre • 25 Apr 18

Celebrating 100 years of the spy novel

From Rudyard Kipling to Ian Fleming, the great spy writers have kept us on the edge of our seats for over a hundred years. Declan Burke joined Sean Rocks on Arena to pay homage to the trailblazers and best-loved figures in this genre.

Books • 09 Apr 18

Vivienne Westwood uncovered - inside her new documentary

Despite her protestations, the life, times and achievements of the fashion icon are anything but boring, as evidenced in new film, Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist. Director Lorna Tucker spoke to Seán Rocks on Arena.

Film • 23 Mar 18

Watch: Arena celebrates Liam O'Flynn with Christy Moore & friends

On the day his death was announced, RTÉ Arena hosted a memorable celebration of the uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn - watch it here.

RTÉ Radio 1 • 15 Mar 18

A Very Fatal Murder - parodying the true crime podcast

True crime podcasts have dominated the podcast charts in recent years, seemingly coming out of the shadows and gaining momentum with the unexpected success of NPR's Serial - It was only a matter of time before the genre was parodied.

Podcasts • 09 Mar 18

Watch: David Kitt live in session on Arena

David Kitt battled through the bad weather to treat Arena listeners to a couple of tracks on the show on Tuesday night.

Music • 02 Mar 18

Watch: Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader talks to RTÉ Arena

Watch Arena's Seán Rocks in conversation with legendary screenwriter and director Paul Schrader in front of a live audience at O'Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College, as part of this year's Audi Dublin International Film Festival.

Film • 26 Feb 18

Watch: Arena celebrates Tom Murphy at the Abbey

A packed house gathered at Abbey Theatre on Thursday night for a very special live edition of RTÉ Arena celebrating the work of one of our greatest playwrights, Tom Murphy - watch it in full above.

Theatre • 02 Feb 18

Maria Doyle Kennedy - listen to her live at Tradfest 2018

Listen: Tradfest live with RTÉ Arena

Tradfest 2018 takes place this weekend, and to celebrate, Kay Sheehy presented a special edition of RTÉ Arena live from The House of Lords in the Bank of Ireland on College Green.

Culture • 26 Jan 18

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards - does it live up to the hype?

Awards season is in full flight in Hollywood. Hilary White and Arlene Hunt have been perusing some of the nominated films for Arena.

Film • 18 Jan 18

REM's Automatic for the People at 25: Alan Corr on a rock classic

25 years ago REM released their eighth album, Automatic for the People, to widespread acclaim. An anniversary edition of the album has been released to celebrate the milestone - Alan Corr gave it a test run.

Music • 23 Nov 17

Alias Grace is "a masterclass in acting"

Mary McGill joined Seán Rocks on Arena to deliver her verdict on whether the new Netflix show Alias Grace has succeeded.

Netflix • 05 Nov 17

Frank McGuinness on James Joyce's final hours

Studio One was filled with a wide-eyed and captive audience last Monday for a very special live programme of Arena.

Books • 25 Sep 17

Cavan rockers The Strypes are bringing the noise to RTÉ's Culture Night event in Dublin Castle

RTÉ Culture Night events: The Strypes storm the castle!

Although ticketed events are now fully booked, RTÉ has lots more going on in Dublin Castle which doesn't require booking.

culture night • 20 Sep 17

Banksy at 20 - Cristín Leach on the graffiti artist as superstar

Art critic (and regular Culture contributor) Cristín Leach joined Seán Rocks on Monday night's Arena to discuss the anonymous street artist's 20-year career.

visual arts • 12 Sep 17

RTÉ will once again hold court at Dublin Castle for Culture Night 2017

RTÉ at the heart of Culture Night 2017

RTÉ's partnership with Culture Night has provided audiences with some remarkable performances and experiences throughout the years, and this year will be no different!

Culture night 2017 • 15 Sep 17

Jim Sheridan on Daniel Day-Lewis's retirement: "It's definite."

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis caught fans and peers off-guard this week, announcing his retirement from acting following completion of his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread.

Film • 23 Jun 17

The History of Def Jam - 'It was a very, very exciting sound'

Nowadays Def Jam Recordings is owned by Universal Music Group, but it started off as the labour of love of its co-founders, producer and heavy metal fan, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, whose brother was in hip-hop band, Run DMC.

Music • 15 Jun 17

Shane Connaughton's new novel: "Fiction, but it's more friction"

Set on the Cavan-Fermanagh border in the late 1950s, Married Quarters tells the stories of a group of individual gardaí stationed in a fictional town – Butler's Hill – as seen through the eyes of Danny, the son of the local sergeant.

Books • 25 May 17

Star Wars at 40: "We all know George Lucas is a terrible writer"

It might seem hard to believe now, but there was a time when there was no such a thing as Star Wars.

Film • 17 May 17