Whether you’re eight or 18, homework is part of your school day. But should it be? And how much should children be tasked to do? And what is the point?

Irish Times parenting columnist Jen Hogan is clear: primary-school children should not be given homework, ever. She tells In the News that years of parenting and research informs her firm view.

Irish Times education editor Carl O’Brien says that while homework is a heavily researched area in other countries, Ireland is lagging behind when it comes to understanding how much homework Irish children are doing and in measuring the benefit – or the harm.

Now, says O’Brien, Maynooth University has produced a study that shows that 15 minutes is the optimum time for homework – in each subject – for secondary-school pupils.

Produced by Aideen Finnegan and John Casey. Presented by Bernice Harrison.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chinese premier Xi Jinping has a plan to reshape the global security order. His diplomatic initiative is a challenge to the United States-led “rules-based international order” that has dominated since the end of the second World War.

Xi’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) has been gathering support from the Global South. Last month, 53 African leaders met in Beijing and supported the doctrine.

The GSI is built on six commitments which include “abiding by the UN charter” and “resolving disputes through dialogue”. But the implications of the doctrine are more significant than these phrases suggest.

Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton tells In the News how the West lost its influence with the Global South, what China’s “multipolar world” will look like and where Ireland fits in.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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Prospective home purchasers are losing out to cash buyers – mostly overseas investors – on apartments with defects, ranging from minor issues to hazardous faults, because banks will not risk lending to people so they can buy them.

Irish Times journalist Jade Wilson tells In the News about her investigation which found that mortgage-approved buyers are unable to buy second-hand apartments that require remediation works as banks are unwilling to lend on them due to uncertainty around a Government scheme to fix them.

The Government has promised to introduce a €2.5 billion remediation scheme to fix up to 100,000 defective Celtic Tiger-era apartment blocks - many of the developers who built these projects are no longer in business - so that ultimately, the taxpayer is on the hook for the cost.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What did we learn from the budget speeches of Ministers Jack Chambers and Paschal Donohoe? Irish Times reporters fill us in on bonus payments, tax adjustments, welfare increases and a surprise measure. Finally we ask: Is it wise to spend so much money in the way the Government plans?

With Conor Pope, Niamh Towey, Jennifer Bray, Ian Curran, Jack Horgan-Jones and Cliff Taylor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2022, journalists Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin were in Romania filming a documentary about Andrew Tate and his social media influence.

Tate, who had made a name for himself spouting misogynistic content online appeared invincible, but his empire was about to crumble.

As concern about his content began to mount, the controversial influencer was banned from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for violating community guidelines on dangerous individuals and hate speech.

But a social media ban was the least of his problems. Back home in London, as Shea and Tahsin continued their investigation into Tate and his business operations, the sinister truth about his webcam industry and his ‘War Room’ began to reveal itself.

In June 2023, Tate and his brother Tristan, along with two Romanian women were formally charged with rape, sex trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He is currently under house arrest in his compound in Bucharest.

In this episode, (part two), Shea tells Bernice Harrison about the women from Tate’s past who decided to speak out against him and how his fans have reacted to his latest string of charges.

Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere is out now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2019, before Andrew Tate became the household name he is today, documentary makers Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin decided to tell Tate's story and investigate his social media influence and cultural impact. Much to their surprise, the 'king of toxic masculinity' allowed them into his world. But as they delved deeper into his empire and uncovered the sources of his income, their investigation soon turned into a criminal one and something much bigger than Shea and Tahsin could ever have imagined.

In their new book, Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere, they recount their investigation into the former kickboxer, the shocking allegations made against him, and the backlash they faced from Tate and his followers when their documentaries aired.

In the first of two episodes on Andrew Tate’s toxic world, co-author Matt Shea talks to Bernice Harrison about Tate’s background and the influence of his narcissistic father, American chess player Emory Tate. He also examines Tate’s mass appeal and the space he occupies within the ‘manosphere’.

Shea details his visit to Tate’s compound in Romania and explains what happened inside the private ‘War Room’ event, which followers of Tate paid five thousand pounds to attend. Though they were granted access to film the exclusive gathering, their relationship with Tate didn’t last long.

Episode two will be out tomorrow.

Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere is out now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2007 the Press Up hospitality group has been a key and highly visible player in Dublin’s social scene with super-stylish restaurants, popular nightclubs and bars and a cinema.

Founded by old schoolfriends Matt Ryan and Paddy McKillen jnr it changed the face of dining out in the capital, growing fast by developing its own restaurants and buying existing, successful operations including Wagamama, Elephant and Castle and Wowburger. The group also built a large property portfolio.

But its borrowings were onerous and in a debt-for-equity restructuring, Cheyne Capital, a London-based finance house that was owed €45 million took control of the business. Cheyne is injecting €20 million in fresh capital into the group.

For 18 venues, it’s business as usual. But three high-profile brands that operate several venues – Wowburger, Elephant and Castle and Wagamama were quickly placed in receivership with the announcement this week that the long-established and hugely popular Wagamama chain is to close with immediate effect.

So what happened? And what will happen now to the rest of the group’s venues and its 935 employees? Irish Times business editor Ciarán Hancock explains.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week has been the deadliest for Lebanon in decades after sustained air strikes by Israel. Fears are growing for an all-out war between the two sides as the Israeli Defence Forces prepare for a possible ground incursion. It says its targeting Iran-backed Hizbullah and its arsenal of weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the militant group has hidden missiles and rocket launchers in ordinary homes and has warned Lebanese civilians to leave if they want to save their lives. But who or what exactly is Hizbullah, why is Israel attacking its northern neighbour and where does this fit into the broader geopolitical tensions of the region? Sky News' Middle East correspondent, Alistair Bunkall, joins Bernice Harrison to explain the origin story of the Lebanese militia and political movement.

Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.