“Everyone who goes to midnight mass is half-cut anyway.”
The Late Late Show took a philosophical approach this week as Ryan Tubridy was joined by Blindboy Boatclub, Stefanie Preissner (creator of the TV show Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) and actor Michael Harding for a discussion on the concept of post-truth  in the modern world.
The political sphere of 2016 was dominated by Brexit and Trump, resulting in a a 2,000% rise in usage of the word post-truth from last year. In fact, it became the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year. It’s literal definition is “rather than simply referring to the time after a specified situation or event – as in post-war or post-match – the prefix  in post-truth has a meaning more like ‘belonging to a time in which the specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant’.
Over to the guests to pick the bones out of that one.
While discussing the post-truth world, the conversation proceeded to turn towards the concept of spiritual sustenance and the Rubberbandits man had plenty of things to say about midnight mass and the Eucharist.
He said: “a lot of people are turning to mindfulness, meditation and exercise. I don’t know a lot of young people who are into the church we’ll say. I mean, anyone who I know that goes to midnight mass, they’re not going for the haunted bread. They’re going there because their grandmother made them go, their whole family is there. Everyone who goes to midnight mass is half-cut anyway.”
Regarding the concept of holy communion, Blindboy said “The language doesn’t want us to use critical thinking about it, but they’re asking us to eat the ghost of a 2,000-year-old carpenter, you know? And then at the same time, he’s not actually a ghost but he’s actually real. It’s a ghost and it’s human flesh at the same time.”
Take a look.
.@Rubberbandits Blindboy Boatclub and @StefPreissner on taking communion. Did someone say haunted bread? #latelate pic.twitter.com/w4I0IenEKS
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 6, 2017
Our New Year's panel @StefPreissner @hardingmichael and @Rubberbandits Blindboy Boatclub on the post-truth world #latelate pic.twitter.com/JsJfu0Cl7j
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) January 6, 2017
Here’s what some viewers made of the discussion.
I've listened to every word of this interview and I have no idea what's going on #latelate
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) January 6, 2017
The glorious honesty and wisdom of Michael Harding could buy and sell the rest of guests on tonight's #LateLateShow #latelate
— Eamon Lowe (@EamonLowe) January 6, 2017
Blasphemy complaints winging their way to RTE right now with all this cannibalism talk. #LateLateShow #latelate
— Brian O'Reilly (@Brian_O_Reilly) January 6, 2017
Most academic discussion I've ever seen on the #latelate and some of the post-truth stuff went over my head but it was diff – in a good way
— Mary Phelan (@MaryPhelanMP) January 6, 2017
On the lighter side of things, we did love Michael Harding’s no-frills approach to Christmas dinner.
.@hardingmichael had a takeaway for Christmas! #latelate pic.twitter.com/Ukm9t1VEqw
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) January 6, 2017
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