Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 10, 2021

Wont somebody please think of the parents? Whatever emotions children might have as Storm Barra shuts schools in much of the country, Clare McKenna, guest host ofLunchtime Live (Newstalk, weekdays), is more interested in the closures impact on mams and dads.

Sitting in on Wednesdays show, she reads tweets about the good old days when children were ushered out to school no matter how apocalyptic the weather, before questioning the necessity of the measure in binary terms: Is it nice that peoples safety has been put first, or do you think its an overreaction by Government?

McKenna admits she hasnt been overly inconvenienced by the closure, thanking her mother for minding her children and allowing myself and my husband to waltz out the door to work. Likewise, despite the alarmist preface, her item on the matter is deflatingly level-headed. The journalist (and mother of seven) Jen Hogan, who writes regularly for The Irish Times,says that while notification of the closedown came late on Tuesday for Dublin schools, shes neither surprised nor especially annoyed: I think theres something to be said about prioritising safety.

This is hardly a revelatory statement, but its telling that the point needs to be made, even allowing for parental frustration at the unexpected burden. The host later concedes as much, when talking to maintenance workers stranded on a lighthouse by the storm. After hearing just how rough conditions are there, she downgrades her own grumbles: Its just us disgruntled parents complaining.

When it comes to other parenting concerns, however, McKenna is more vocal. Discussing the announcement of vaccinations for five- to 11-year-olds, the host asks listeners for their knee-jerk reaction to the news. McKenna, who also presents Newstalks Sunday health show, Alive and Kicking, confesses to doubts about getting her children vaccinated, while fretting about raising the subject.

It is with great hesitation that Im going to talk of vaccine hesitancy, she says, conscious of the anger and vitriol the issue stirs. The host is double-jabbed, her children were inoculated as infants, and her family has just emerged from home quarantine after her son caught Covid-19. But, she continues,As a parent, I do feel differently about vaccinating children. Worrying about possible long-term risks, she continues,We need to ask these questions without being shouted down.

As her tone underlines (You can hear the emotion in my voice), McKenna is undertaking a perilous high-wire act by raising such a charged issue. Admirable though her honesty is, canvassing listeners opinions on public-health matters can backfire if its seen as a gateway to Covid conspiracies. (Just ask the 2FM presenter Jennifer Zamparelli, who got in hot water after appearing to invite anti-maskers on to her show last year.) An on-air storm seems to be brewing.

But hold the popcorn. Far from being controversial, the ensuing discussion has the infectious-disease specialist Prof Sam McConkey making a convincing scientific case for the measure, while understanding the emotional reaction it provokes. I cherish your passion, he tells his host. Even so, McConkey firmly believes that children should be vaccinated, not to shield the elderly but to protect themselves: one in 3,000 children with the virus becomes very ill, he says. Equally, he admits the impossibility of yet knowing any long-term effects. (Though, as McKenna herself points out, the vaccine itself eventually exits the body, leaving antibodies behind.)

As she asks sensibly probing questions, McKenna sounds more reassured by her guest. Meanwhile, the once ubiquitous McConkey proves that hes not just some 2020 nostalgia act, as his calm analysis and empathetic advocacy take the sting out of a potentially tricky item. Its food for thought for concerned parents, spurred by McKennas hesitant candour.

The politics and perils of Covid are highlighted by Brendan OConnor (RT Radio 1, Saturday and Sunday), when he discusses the latest round of pandemic restrictions with his newspaper panel. Much attention is paid to the tensions between the Government and the National Public Health Emergency Team, with Dr Laura Durcan, a rheumatologist at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, decrying the squabbles as big egos in a room. Meanwhile, the economist Dan OBrien opines that the medical advisers should be put back in their box, prompting the host to reply thatmaybe theyre just doctors trying to do the right thing.

OConnor keeps things moving briskly in this fashion, allowing panellists to speak their mindsbut reeling in their shakier pronouncements. When the Irish Examiner political editor, Daniel McConnell, talks of people being beaten over the head with reports about the disproportionate number of unvaccinated patients in intensive care, the host points out: Theyre the facts. Its an approach that allows stimulating debatewithout ever getting too sensationalist.

It also brings forth some sobering testimony. When OBrien chafes at heavy-handed lockdown mandates We need to get it in perspective Durcan agrees that we should congratulate ourselves that mortality has been greatly reduced by vaccination. But she also details the grim toll Covid can take on unjabbed patients. When they deteriorate, they are wide awake, Durcan says, Theyre having a conversation with you while they tank. OConnor puts it more luridly, describing such unfortunate souls as drowning alive, but fully aware of it.

Such moments help explain why his show has become Radio 1s second most listened to programme, bettered only by the stalling Morning Ireland. Aside from his leaner, punchier Sunday newspaper panel, OConnor has other notable encounters, such as Saturdays interview with the chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White. Describing White as the original enfant terrible of British cuisine, OConnor wonders if his guest is mellowing out as he turns 60.When you get to my ageyou start to get nostalgicand reflect back on your life, comes the reply.

Sure enough, their conversation is thoughtful and open. White ruminates in entertainingly stentorian fashion on the influence his tough childhood had on his erstwhile bad-boy behaviour, while sharing tips for the perfect roast turkey (a meat probe is crucial, apparently) and singing the praises of vegan redefined meat. You never cease to surprise, observes the appreciative host. As for OConnor, hes become Radio 1s surprise package.

Always looking to marry pop culture and intellectual fun, Sen Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) comes up trumps on Wednesday, when he interviews the author Roy Schwartz about the Jewish roots of Superman. Schwartz highlights how the all-American superhero was created in the 1930s by two teenage Jewish writers as a reaction to Nazism in Germany and anti-Semitism in the United States.

More intriguingly, he calls Superman the ultimate immigrant, an alien who adopts the waspy guise of Clark Kent while keeping his ethnic garb underneath. Its a deep dive into the comic book, touching on identity, history, religion and philosophy. Typically, however, Moncrieff also delights in other quirky details, gleefully congratulating his guest on his book title: Is Superman Circumcised? That we dont discover, thankfully.

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'With great hesitation, I'm going to talk of vaccine hesitancy' - The Irish Times

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