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nights in

Sofa Watch: Sharon Stone joins Ryan to discuss her strong ties with Northern Ireland

All you need to know about your Irish and international chat show options.

AS ANOTHER FRIDAY night rolls around, a bit of socially distant light banter might help to break up the monotony.

Here’s our latest round-up of talk show content, there should be plenty here to keep anyone occupied.

  • The Late Late Show, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

Leading tonight’s line up is Oscar-nominated actress Sharon Stone who’ll be chatting about how she rebuilt her life after suffering a near-fatal stroke several years ago and her Irish ‘godmom’ – the Irish connection always comes up. 

Stone says she has strong ties with Northern Ireland through her friendship with the late peace activist Betty Williams. Williams was spurred on by the deaths of three children during the conflict to co-found the Peace People, which held rallies in international cities urging an end to the violence. Her work was recognised when she and Mairead Corrigan became the first-ever Northern Irish recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

After the historic success onboard Minella Times at the Grand National last month, Rachael Blackmore will be in the studio tonight to speak about riding to victory in one of the toughest races in the sport.

All Ireland-winning player and manager Jim McGuinness will also join Ryan to discuss swapping football for soccer.

Meanwhile, with Pieta House’s annual Darkness into Light fundraising campaign curtailed again by the Covid-19 pandemic, Pieta clinical manager Leigh Kenny will be telling viewers why the suicide prevention charity’s services are in demand now more than ever.

Irish country music star Sandy Kelly will be joined by her niece, Sandie Ellis, as they speak publicly together for the first time about the tragic death of Sandy’s sister Barbara.

Westmeath GAA star and former AFL player Ray Connellan, spoken word artist Malaki, and ultra-marathon runner Conor O’Keeffe will speak about their personal experiences with mental health pressures.

Music tonight from Pillow Queens, who’ll be performing The Cranberries single When You’re Gone which will feature on a forthcoming album of covers of songs from The Cranberries in aid of Pieta.

Across the Pond

US President Joe Biden wants 70% of adults there to have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by 4 July, but the pace of the rollout has been slowing lately due to vaccine hesitancy.

According to a survey conducted in March by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 25% of Americans aged 18 to 29 are adopting a “wait and see” attitude towards being vaccinated.

Last Week Tonight looks at why some people don’t want to get the Covid-19 vaccine and how they might be reassured – including some quick debunks around the efficacy of the jabs and the, er, Gates family.

“If your main concern is that Bill Gates could use microchips to track you, he can already do that. That’s what your f**king phone is,” joked Oliver.

LastWeekTonight / YouTube

Meanwhile, former Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner, who is currently running as a Republican for governor in California’s recall election, received some backlash over her comments about the homeless population in the state.

During an interview with Fox News, Jenner said a fellow private plane owner at her airport hangar is leaving California because he “can’t take” seeing homeless people anymore.

Won’t someone think of the private plane owners!?

Reacting to the clip on his show last night, Jimmy Kimmel said:

“Ah homeless people: can’t live with them, can’t fly over them,” adding that Jenner was “an ignorant a-hole”.

Over on the Daily Show, Trevor Noah looks at why schools should teach students about race and why certain parents are opposed to that shift. 

Noah says most students in America are learning more on TikTok than in the classroom when it comes to Black American history. 

 

From the archives

On this day in 1992, Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey, resigned after it emerged he had fathered a child with an American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974.

Murphy wrote a book titled Forbidden Fruit about their relationship and appeared on The Late Late Show for a famous interview with host Gay Byrne.

During the interview, Byrne told Murphy that if her son Peter turned out to be half the man Casey was, he would be doing alright. Peter said in an interview years later that he wanted to ‘deck’ Byrne over the interview with his mother.

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