Michael And Benjamin's Podcast

On this episode of Sure Look, Sure Listen, we take a look at the dodgy world of Irish coding your villains and characters in Fantasy settings, starting with the booming popularity of Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses, or as Ben calls it; fairy smut. We take a look at the problematic way in which the author bases her fictional worlds of Hybern and Prythian on real Irish and British History and Geography. This in itself isn't bad but the framing of Irish coded characters as savage and ruddy feels like a clear call back to the grim old days of rampant Hibernophobia, Paddywhackery and Stage Irishness.This leads into a discussion of a few dodgy representations of Irishness in Fantasy settings, including the Harfoots in Rings of Power and Mad Sweeney in American Gods.Following that, Mick reviews the inexplicably real Rings of Power season 2 and gives a masterclass in rolling your R's. We also take a look at Halle Berry's latest horror flick, where a rope is the main character in Never Let Go. Finally, we