Latest news with #HotAir
Extra.ie
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Who is Philip Boucher-Hayes? Liveline's temporary replacement
As RTE's iconic broadcaster Joe Duffy bows out after an incredible 27 years hosting Liveline, it seems someone else is ready to jump in the hot seat. Acclaimed broadcaster Philip Boucher‑Hayes is taking over the coveted job, at least for the first week of the post‑Duffy era, as RTÉ begins its search for a permanent successor. Here's an in-depth look at the Irish journalist and why he's the natural choice during this pivotal moment in Irish radio. As RTE's iconic broadcaster Joe Duffy bows out after an incredible 27 years hosting Liveline, it seems someone else is ready to jump in the hot seat. Pic: Ruth Medjber Born in County Kildare in 1971, Philip went on to study History and Politics at UCD. He then launched his journalism career writing for local newspapers in 1987, before joining RTE in 1993 when he began reporting on RTE Radio 1's Five Seven Live and RTE 2FM's The Gerry Ryan Show. Since October 2022, he's been the host of Countrywide on RTE Radio 1, and continues to present documentary series on climate, food, and consumer affairs (Hot Air, Buyer Beware!, What Are You Eating?) Acclaimed broadcaster Philip Boucher‑Hayes is taking over the coveted job, at least for the first week of the post‑Duffy era, as RTÉ begins its search for a permanent successor. Pic: RTE An occasional stand‑in presenter for Liveline long before Duffy's retirement, it's clear Philip brings credibility and a measured approach to the phone‑in format As for his personal life, Philip lives in County Wicklow with his wife, author Suzanne Campbell, and their two daughters. The broadcaster rarely opens up about his private life, having briefly spoken on his family after his wife fell ill after contracting Covid 19. Joe Duffy presenting his final farewell show in Studio 1 at the RTÉ Radio Centre. Pic: Andres Poveda In a piece for RTE, Philip said she was still 'struggling to get back to full health three-and-a-half months later.' 'And to add to the injustice while she ended up in hospital, apart from a loss of smell, the girls and I had a pretty much symptom-free experience of the disease. 'I make light of it now, but it was a scary and disconcerting time. The news from outside was grim. And what was going on behind our front door confirmed that the world had turned bad.'
New York Times
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
2 Middle-Aged Couples, a Hot-Air Balloon Crash and Many Bad Decisions
Marcy Dermansky's new novel, 'Hot Air,' begins with a hot-air balloon falling out of the sky and into a suburban swimming pool. The tech billionaire piloting the balloon, Jonathan Foster, is dumped out of the basket head first, and a bystander — our unlucky protagonist, Joanie, who is in the middle of a first date — dives in to save him. The billionaire's wife, Julia, alights to dry land safely, aided by Joanie's date, Johnny. To recap: The four main characters are named Joanie, Johnny, Jonathan and Julia, for reasons I could not discern. These names, and the novel's pared-down, childlike prose, give the book, Dermansky's sixth, the feel of a nursery rhyme, despite some of the adult subject matter (notably, swinging). After Joanie determines that the tuxedoed billionaire does not need CPR, she realizes that she recognizes him: 'from the news, yes, but also from sleep-away camp, a long time ago.' He was her first kiss, it turns out, and (unlike her first kiss with Johnny, which has been interrupted by the balloon's arrival) 'it had been a good kiss, even — Joanie had felt her skin tingle.' But afterward he'd cruelly ignored her for the rest of the summer, then disappeared from her life. If the multiple coincidences of this opening set up expectations for an antic, high-energy comic novel, readers will be surprised to find that what follows is mostly interior and meandering. The inverted structure is thrilling in concept — the climactic crash comes first, and the rest of the story is aftermath — but it can feel slack in execution, reading at times like protracted denouement. Following their abrupt introduction, the two couples change into sweats, drink wine and sit around Johnny's pool discussing a partner swap. 'Do you remember,' Julia asks, 'back in the '70s, how our parents used to have key parties?' It's the tail end of the pandemic, and they are all relearning how to socialize, weighing what they want from life, romantically and professionally. The close third-person narration alternates among these four characters, as well as Joanie's 8-year-old daughter, Lucy, and Jonathan's 20-something personal assistant, Vivian, whom the Fosters think of as 'their Vietnamese orphan.' But the novel's emotional core is the melancholic Joanie, a failed writer with a 'not-that-fancy apartment' and a couch mended with duct tape: 'She had published a novel, but that was years ago; the advance was spent, the royalty checks smaller each time.' While the adults decide whom to sleep with, Lucy longs to go to Harry Potter Land and Vivian considers leaving her claustrophobic life in the Fosters' guesthouse. When careful, put-upon Joanie makes a bad decision at last — 'the stupidest but also the most exciting thing she had done in a long time' — it results in the most interesting scene in the novel. Dermansky's books have an appealing unpredictability. Her most recent novel, 'Hurricane Girl' (2022), follows a woman who has escaped an abusive boyfriend only to have her house blown down in a hurricane. Later, a cameraman for a local news station bashes her over the head with a vase, giving her a traumatic brain injury. As in 'Hot Air,' the plot bucks narrative convention and leans on the absurdities of repeated names and implausible coincidences. 'Hurricane Girl' succeeds by juxtaposing the childlike surface with violence and real consequences. By contrast, the stakes of 'Hot Air' feel low: Will Julia, a famous philanthropist who is unable to have children of her own, take Lucy to Harry Potter Land? Will Vivian quit her job to get an M.F.A.? Jonathan's plan to have her instead take private writing lessons from Joanie fizzles when Vivian refuses: 'This is not like learning the piano. I told you already, I'm applying to graduate school.' Even the problem of the balloon in the swimming pool, which you have to figure is a worst-case scenario for a pool owner, is dispensed with frictionlessly. Who cares about plot or stakes if the book is funny enough, stylish enough, subversive enough? 'Hot Air' has plenty of quirky style and humor. Dermansky lands some funny jabs, especially at Harry Potter. In one section, Julia refers to the Rainforest Cafe as a 'contemporary version of hell, comparable to Hogwarts.' But the book's revelations hew closely to what is already well known: that billionaires are awful, that theme parks are hot and loud, that raising children is more difficult than it might appear. The prosaic language is sometimes funny but sometimes trite. A character 'turned beet red' in embarrassment. Narrating the balloon crash, Joanie notes with curious flatness: 'It was crazy.' Inwardly admiring his assistant, Jonathan observes, 'She had that pretty, pretty shiny silky hair.' 'Hot Air' is a novel of sex, class and envy. Juicy topics to be sure, but it's all a little deflated.
Boston Globe
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A kiss, then a disaster — welcome to the world of Marcy Dermansky
The promise of a nice dinner at his place and no need for a baby sitter — her daughter, Lucy, could hang out with his son, Tyson — make it hard for her to say no. A post-dinner backyard stroll seemed like another innocent, anodyne act. 'The sky had turned pink. The light sparkled over the lawn, onto the swimming pool that Joannie did not know he had.' But is this generic romantic moment worth leaving the apartment? Is this what she had been missing all those years? She was someone who 'as a rule' didn't like rich people, but 'thought she could change her mind if she were to become one.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Before another existential thought crosses her mind, she's interrupted by an 'oppressive' kiss immediately followed by something else: 'Joanne was realizing that she would have to forcibly end this kiss, because she would soon need oxygen, when a hot air balloon came veering down toward Johnny's very large backyard.' Talk about a twist! If this seems like a swerve to you, get ready for more. Just as Joanne concludes this moment 'was crazy' and that 'she was never going to kiss this man, Johnny, again' she turns to witness a couple in the balloon basket falling toward them, screaming less out of fear and more out of hatred for one another. After the man falls into the pool, Joannie dives in to save him. Because absurdity is the name of the game, he happens to be Jonathan, the first boy she ever kissed. He's now a billionaire married to a supremely frustrated philanthropist and painter named Julia. It's an awkward situation. Advertisement And it only becomes more complicated when, after the four adults change into dry clothes and settle down with a round of drinks, Julia suggests that the couples switch partners. Joannie's take: 'They were middle-aged white men in decent shape. Maybe they were all interchangeable. Maybe,' she thought, 'this date was getting interesting.' Would you like to proceed? I'll let you pick up where I've left off to find out what other curveballs Dermansky throws at these characters. You'll finish this visceral punch in a sitting or two. It's an ideal power punch novel. However, do not classify this as a screwball comedy; this is not a lighthearted adventure. 'Hot Air' is a romp that fixes you in place with outrageous humor that matches the characters' unbelievable behavior. Faced with the aftermath of crashing a hot air balloon in a stranger's swimming pool, Jonathan leaves the clean-up effort to his assistant Vivian. If spouses are interchangeable, imagine what Jonathan and Julia think of assistants or children. If you find yourself squirming, that's the point. Dermansky finds the bruises made by unchecked capitalism and applies firm pressure to make you wince. You'll be cheering her on until you're faced with the mockery of your own vulnerabilities or desires. The dynamic shifts, but her narrative grasp never wavers. She paints an unsettling portrait of a world where winning looks like the ability to get whatever you want, whenever you want. This stark world doesn't need much explanation. Advertisement In 'Hot Air,' her sixth novel, Dermansky is at the top of her game: an iconoclastic writer whose deadpan delivery and spartan writing succeed because of her confidence. Her jokes land without an excess of development or explanation — much like her characters' actions. Dermansky doesn't flinch from the seedier side of wealth or the permeable limitations of desire. Money still smooths a path to getting what you want, but it can't always deliver what one needs. It's almost too trite to quote the Rolling Stones and Joannie would be the first to make note of that. Leave it to Dermansky to set me up for the obvious joke and get the last laugh. HOT AIR By Marcy Dermansky Knopf, 208 pages, $27 Lauren LeBlanc is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle.
