Liam Alex Heffron
@liamalex.bsky.social
A skeptical view of Ireland and America from within, by an Irish 🇮🇪 Actor & PhD Historian. 🇺🇸 L.A. Correspondent for the WesternPeople.ie ☘️ LiamAlex.com
A Photo of the Wrong Place
In Northern Cyprus, I took a photograph I shouldn’t have.
Within minutes, I was being questioned at gunpoint.
What stayed with me wasn’t the confrontation, but what it revealed about borders, language and the afterlife of empire.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In Northern Cyprus, I took a photograph I shouldn’t have.
Within minutes, I was being questioned at gunpoint.
What stayed with me wasn’t the confrontation, but what it revealed about borders, language and the afterlife of empire.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A Photo of the Wrong Place
Taking a photograph of the wrong street sign in a divided European capital results in a gun being pointed. How an innocent walk in Northern Cyprus became a lesson in borders and empire.
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:09 PM
A Photo of the Wrong Place
In Northern Cyprus, I took a photograph I shouldn’t have.
Within minutes, I was being questioned at gunpoint.
What stayed with me wasn’t the confrontation, but what it revealed about borders, language and the afterlife of empire.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In Northern Cyprus, I took a photograph I shouldn’t have.
Within minutes, I was being questioned at gunpoint.
What stayed with me wasn’t the confrontation, but what it revealed about borders, language and the afterlife of empire.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In 1864, two women in Ballina calmly corrected outraged men on what the law allowed them to do.
In 2026, a young LA woman calmly explained her income streams, triggering the same panic.
Different centuries. Same moral certainty.
Same outrage.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In 2026, a young LA woman calmly explained her income streams, triggering the same panic.
Different centuries. Same moral certainty.
Same outrage.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Paupers, Prostitutes and Sugar Babies
This isn't a defence or condemnation of prostitution. It is how moral certainty, Victorian or Woke, misunderstands how women understand and navigate social systems better than the people judging them.
open.substack.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:44 AM
In 1864, two women in Ballina calmly corrected outraged men on what the law allowed them to do.
In 2026, a young LA woman calmly explained her income streams, triggering the same panic.
Different centuries. Same moral certainty.
Same outrage.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In 2026, a young LA woman calmly explained her income streams, triggering the same panic.
Different centuries. Same moral certainty.
Same outrage.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
ICE Hot Killings
A woman killed during an enforcement raid.
Officer claims self-defence.
Crowd erupts.
State closes ranks.
That’s not just America in 2026.
It’s Ireland in 1751.
Why history keeps rhyming when power panics.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A woman killed during an enforcement raid.
Officer claims self-defence.
Crowd erupts.
State closes ranks.
That’s not just America in 2026.
It’s Ireland in 1751.
Why history keeps rhyming when power panics.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
ICE Hot Killings
Two dead women, two unpopular enforcement raids, 275 years apart. When state power, meets popular protest and officers lose control.
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:43 PM
ICE Hot Killings
A woman killed during an enforcement raid.
Officer claims self-defence.
Crowd erupts.
State closes ranks.
That’s not just America in 2026.
It’s Ireland in 1751.
Why history keeps rhyming when power panics.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A woman killed during an enforcement raid.
Officer claims self-defence.
Crowd erupts.
State closes ranks.
That’s not just America in 2026.
It’s Ireland in 1751.
Why history keeps rhyming when power panics.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
“Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him”
From bin Laden to Maduro, U.S presidents keep telling us the same message.
With Trump fixated on annexing Greenland, we ignore political memory, force and precedent at our peril.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From bin Laden to Maduro, U.S presidents keep telling us the same message.
With Trump fixated on annexing Greenland, we ignore political memory, force and precedent at our peril.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
“Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him”
Obama never said it. Trump didn’t need to. Yet America keeps proving it can do whatever it likes. It's enemies and friends could do well to notice — and prepare accordingly.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:24 PM
“Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him”
From bin Laden to Maduro, U.S presidents keep telling us the same message.
With Trump fixated on annexing Greenland, we ignore political memory, force and precedent at our peril.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From bin Laden to Maduro, U.S presidents keep telling us the same message.
With Trump fixated on annexing Greenland, we ignore political memory, force and precedent at our peril.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A small Christmas incident turned into a painful reminder that systems, culture and place really matter — especially when something goes wrong.
I still don’t know what bit me,
but I do know I was grateful it happened in Ireland.
New (painful) post 🤕
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I still don’t know what bit me,
but I do know I was grateful it happened in Ireland.
New (painful) post 🤕
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I Still Don’t Know What Bit Me
A Christmas bite, an Irish emergency room and an unexpected lesson in where you want to be when things go wrong.
open.substack.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:10 PM
A small Christmas incident turned into a painful reminder that systems, culture and place really matter — especially when something goes wrong.
I still don’t know what bit me,
but I do know I was grateful it happened in Ireland.
New (painful) post 🤕
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I still don’t know what bit me,
but I do know I was grateful it happened in Ireland.
New (painful) post 🤕
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
After 2 years, “What have the Americans ever done for us?”
Well for my wife and I at least.
I spent a year criticising the US.
Then I tried answering that question honestly.
The answer was… uncomfortable.
New article ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Well for my wife and I at least.
I spent a year criticising the US.
Then I tried answering that question honestly.
The answer was… uncomfortable.
New article ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
What have the Americans ever done for us?
In defence of a country I’ve spent the last year criticising.
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:35 AM
After 2 years, “What have the Americans ever done for us?”
Well for my wife and I at least.
I spent a year criticising the US.
Then I tried answering that question honestly.
The answer was… uncomfortable.
New article ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Well for my wife and I at least.
I spent a year criticising the US.
Then I tried answering that question honestly.
The answer was… uncomfortable.
New article ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
When military service becomes a monetising opportunity, honour turns into a moral problem.
👉 Millions of U.S. veterans receive disability payments for life — sometimes while working full-time — for conditions that are hard to measure and impossible to quantify.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
👉 Millions of U.S. veterans receive disability payments for life — sometimes while working full-time — for conditions that are hard to measure and impossible to quantify.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Is Military Service a Debt America Must Repay?
When patriotism is a monetising opportunity, honouring veterans becomes a multi-billion-dollar moral problem,
open.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
When military service becomes a monetising opportunity, honour turns into a moral problem.
👉 Millions of U.S. veterans receive disability payments for life — sometimes while working full-time — for conditions that are hard to measure and impossible to quantify.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
👉 Millions of U.S. veterans receive disability payments for life — sometimes while working full-time — for conditions that are hard to measure and impossible to quantify.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
☘️ Not everyone loves the Irish.
But many of us simply refuse to believe.
In the U.S., Ireland is increasingly portrayed as extreme, anti-Semitic and radical and it’s landing.
If we don’t understand how the world sees us, we won’t protect our voice or our values.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
But many of us simply refuse to believe.
In the U.S., Ireland is increasingly portrayed as extreme, anti-Semitic and radical and it’s landing.
If we don’t understand how the world sees us, we won’t protect our voice or our values.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Not Everyone Loves the Irish
Behind the shamrock smiles and ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ clichés, a darker perception of Ireland is quietly taking hold in the United States.
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
☘️ Not everyone loves the Irish.
But many of us simply refuse to believe.
In the U.S., Ireland is increasingly portrayed as extreme, anti-Semitic and radical and it’s landing.
If we don’t understand how the world sees us, we won’t protect our voice or our values.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
But many of us simply refuse to believe.
In the U.S., Ireland is increasingly portrayed as extreme, anti-Semitic and radical and it’s landing.
If we don’t understand how the world sees us, we won’t protect our voice or our values.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Thanksgiving Ireland Forgets:
Ireland owes Irish-America far more than Irish-America owes us.
They funded our survival, our independence & half our history—while we laugh at their 'Top O' The Mornings' & green jumpers, while picking their wallets.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Ireland owes Irish-America far more than Irish-America owes us.
They funded our survival, our independence & half our history—while we laugh at their 'Top O' The Mornings' & green jumpers, while picking their wallets.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Thanksgiving Ireland Forgets
A reminder that the Irish nation extends far beyond our shores and we’ve forgotten to say thank you to the diaspora we don’t appreciate nearly enough.
open.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The Thanksgiving Ireland Forgets:
Ireland owes Irish-America far more than Irish-America owes us.
They funded our survival, our independence & half our history—while we laugh at their 'Top O' The Mornings' & green jumpers, while picking their wallets.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Ireland owes Irish-America far more than Irish-America owes us.
They funded our survival, our independence & half our history—while we laugh at their 'Top O' The Mornings' & green jumpers, while picking their wallets.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Who Shot Kim Kardashian?
Hot take: Kim Kardashian’s new show is the most unintentionally honest piece of TV about modern culture and consumerism ever made.
Cold take: It’s also terrible, awful and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Full breakdown on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Hot take: Kim Kardashian’s new show is the most unintentionally honest piece of TV about modern culture and consumerism ever made.
Cold take: It’s also terrible, awful and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Full breakdown on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Who Shot Kim Kardashian?
Or: How I explain to future generations what I have just seen
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Who Shot Kim Kardashian?
Hot take: Kim Kardashian’s new show is the most unintentionally honest piece of TV about modern culture and consumerism ever made.
Cold take: It’s also terrible, awful and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Full breakdown on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Hot take: Kim Kardashian’s new show is the most unintentionally honest piece of TV about modern culture and consumerism ever made.
Cold take: It’s also terrible, awful and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Full breakdown on my Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Teenage Grandmas and Sacrificed Virgins.
Hollywood gave us Lord of the Rings, Casablanca and Dallas.
Now it gives us crazy one-minute smartphone soaps, and an AI actress who doesn’t exist.
The dream factory didn’t collapse — it accidentally ate itself.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Hollywood gave us Lord of the Rings, Casablanca and Dallas.
Now it gives us crazy one-minute smartphone soaps, and an AI actress who doesn’t exist.
The dream factory didn’t collapse — it accidentally ate itself.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Teenage Grandmas and Sacrificed Virgins — How Hollywood Accidentally Ate Itself
When AI actors take meetings and real actors film “Won't Be Your Daughter Tonight”, Tinseltown hasn't just changed — it’s no longer recognisable.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Teenage Grandmas and Sacrificed Virgins.
Hollywood gave us Lord of the Rings, Casablanca and Dallas.
Now it gives us crazy one-minute smartphone soaps, and an AI actress who doesn’t exist.
The dream factory didn’t collapse — it accidentally ate itself.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Hollywood gave us Lord of the Rings, Casablanca and Dallas.
Now it gives us crazy one-minute smartphone soaps, and an AI actress who doesn’t exist.
The dream factory didn’t collapse — it accidentally ate itself.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Day a Boy Beat a Homeless Man with His Shoe.
🔥 “Cruelty Needs No Ideology”
Some cruelty isn’t about racism, politics, or ideology.
Some people hurt the vulnerable simply because they can.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🔥 “Cruelty Needs No Ideology”
Some cruelty isn’t about racism, politics, or ideology.
Some people hurt the vulnerable simply because they can.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Day a Boy Beat a Homeless Man with His Shoe
My wife witnessed a disturbing scene in Los Angeles, which exposes a deeper truth: cruelty is rising not from ideology, but from severe societal stress. Where the US goes, the UK and Ireland follow.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The Day a Boy Beat a Homeless Man with His Shoe.
🔥 “Cruelty Needs No Ideology”
Some cruelty isn’t about racism, politics, or ideology.
Some people hurt the vulnerable simply because they can.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🔥 “Cruelty Needs No Ideology”
Some cruelty isn’t about racism, politics, or ideology.
Some people hurt the vulnerable simply because they can.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
"When Politicians Pick Their Voters: America has rediscovered an old Irish trick: Gerrymandering"
I’ve turned my latest Substack essay into a video — the first of many.
Read Here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🎥 Watch here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I’ve turned my latest Substack essay into a video — the first of many.
Read Here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🎥 Watch here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Watch: "When Politicians Pick Their Voters: America has rediscovered an old Irish trick: Gerrymandering"
Thanks to my subscribers I have uploaded my first visual version of my Substack blog, leading with my latest piece exploring "Redistricting". Let me know what you think in the comments!
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:17 AM
"When Politicians Pick Their Voters: America has rediscovered an old Irish trick: Gerrymandering"
I’ve turned my latest Substack essay into a video — the first of many.
Read Here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🎥 Watch here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I’ve turned my latest Substack essay into a video — the first of many.
Read Here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🎥 Watch here → open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Butt of Nephin & the Borders of the World
From a Co. Mayo mountain to the Rio Grande — when immigration bureaucracy meets real lives, reality and truth slips away.
#Borders #Migration #Ireland #USA
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From a Co. Mayo mountain to the Rio Grande — when immigration bureaucracy meets real lives, reality and truth slips away.
#Borders #Migration #Ireland #USA
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Butt of Nephin & the Borders of the World
From Boghadoon to the Rio Grande — what Irish humour teaches us about bureaucracy, migration and the myth of limitless freedom.
open.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:58 PM
The Butt of Nephin & the Borders of the World
From a Co. Mayo mountain to the Rio Grande — when immigration bureaucracy meets real lives, reality and truth slips away.
#Borders #Migration #Ireland #USA
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From a Co. Mayo mountain to the Rio Grande — when immigration bureaucracy meets real lives, reality and truth slips away.
#Borders #Migration #Ireland #USA
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In LA, there’s an app that pings you every time someone gets stabbed at Trader Joe’s.
In Ireland, we had a banana, a Child of Prague and a warning:
“Ye can’t be doing that lads.”
🔗 America’s Helicopter Paranoia vs. Ireland’s “Ye Can’t Be Doing That” Policing
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In Ireland, we had a banana, a Child of Prague and a warning:
“Ye can’t be doing that lads.”
🔗 America’s Helicopter Paranoia vs. Ireland’s “Ye Can’t Be Doing That” Policing
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
America’s Helicopter Paranoia vs. Ireland’s “Ye Can’t Be Doing That” Policing
A walk in LA, a worried Ukrainian wife, and what an old Irish crime show can teach us about the culture of fear.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
In LA, there’s an app that pings you every time someone gets stabbed at Trader Joe’s.
In Ireland, we had a banana, a Child of Prague and a warning:
“Ye can’t be doing that lads.”
🔗 America’s Helicopter Paranoia vs. Ireland’s “Ye Can’t Be Doing That” Policing
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
In Ireland, we had a banana, a Child of Prague and a warning:
“Ye can’t be doing that lads.”
🔗 America’s Helicopter Paranoia vs. Ireland’s “Ye Can’t Be Doing That” Policing
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🚗📢 Honked at traffic lights?
🧁 Screamed at in the bakery?
🤯 Wondering why everyone is so bloody angry?
Why Is Everyone So Bloody Angry?
👉 Culture clash, retail rage and — what my mother said about strangers and features a Hiace van, a horn and a banana.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🧁 Screamed at in the bakery?
🤯 Wondering why everyone is so bloody angry?
Why Is Everyone So Bloody Angry?
👉 Culture clash, retail rage and — what my mother said about strangers and features a Hiace van, a horn and a banana.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
📢 “Everyone’s Yelling and Nobody’s Listening”
How LA traffic taught me the meaning of guilt, entitlement and why nobody seems to know how to behave anymore.
open.substack.com
October 19, 2025 at 6:21 AM
🚗📢 Honked at traffic lights?
🧁 Screamed at in the bakery?
🤯 Wondering why everyone is so bloody angry?
Why Is Everyone So Bloody Angry?
👉 Culture clash, retail rage and — what my mother said about strangers and features a Hiace van, a horn and a banana.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🧁 Screamed at in the bakery?
🤯 Wondering why everyone is so bloody angry?
Why Is Everyone So Bloody Angry?
👉 Culture clash, retail rage and — what my mother said about strangers and features a Hiace van, a horn and a banana.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🦟 Eaten Alive: An Irishman’s Guide to Mosquitoes and Midgets
A group of American tourists completely misunderstands an Irish myth involving midgets
& I learned the hard (itchy) way about ankle biters
New post on folklore, bites & our burning planet 👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A group of American tourists completely misunderstands an Irish myth involving midgets
& I learned the hard (itchy) way about ankle biters
New post on folklore, bites & our burning planet 👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🦟 Eaten Alive: An Irishman’s Guide to Mosquitoes and Midgets
From the prehistoric murder of an Irish pagan chieftain to climate change-induced plagues, these tiny bastards are coming for us all—and it’s not entirely unearned.
open.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
🦟 Eaten Alive: An Irishman’s Guide to Mosquitoes and Midgets
A group of American tourists completely misunderstands an Irish myth involving midgets
& I learned the hard (itchy) way about ankle biters
New post on folklore, bites & our burning planet 👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
A group of American tourists completely misunderstands an Irish myth involving midgets
& I learned the hard (itchy) way about ankle biters
New post on folklore, bites & our burning planet 👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Politicians love saying “the community.”
Influencers love selling it.
But most of the time, it’s BS.
Real community is messy. It’s not hashtags or labels—it’s stories, struggles, even grudges that bind people together.
👉 Stop Talking Crap About “The Community”
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Influencers love selling it.
But most of the time, it’s BS.
Real community is messy. It’s not hashtags or labels—it’s stories, struggles, even grudges that bind people together.
👉 Stop Talking Crap About “The Community”
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Stop Talking Crap About “The Community”
Politicians love the word. Advocates use it. Influencers abuse it. But only sharing lived stories—whether in Irish villages or in L.A. WhatsApp groups—make a real community.
open.substack.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Politicians love saying “the community.”
Influencers love selling it.
But most of the time, it’s BS.
Real community is messy. It’s not hashtags or labels—it’s stories, struggles, even grudges that bind people together.
👉 Stop Talking Crap About “The Community”
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Influencers love selling it.
But most of the time, it’s BS.
Real community is messy. It’s not hashtags or labels—it’s stories, struggles, even grudges that bind people together.
👉 Stop Talking Crap About “The Community”
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
No longer 'WOKE TIME' in Santa Monica—“The Pearl of the Pacific” has lost its shine. Empty streets, closed shops, and sad clowns having an existential crisis under the American flag. Later came stabbings, closures, and political finger-pointing...
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
September 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
No longer 'WOKE TIME' in Santa Monica—“The Pearl of the Pacific” has lost its shine. Empty streets, closed shops, and sad clowns having an existential crisis under the American flag. Later came stabbings, closures, and political finger-pointing...
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
“This is not who we are.”
It’s said after every shooting, every assassination attempt. But after Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump’s near-death, and the murders of lawmakers in Minnesota — can America still claim that?
Is denial is part of the problem?
substack.com/@hollywoodan...
It’s said after every shooting, every assassination attempt. But after Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump’s near-death, and the murders of lawmakers in Minnesota — can America still claim that?
Is denial is part of the problem?
substack.com/@hollywoodan...
“This Is Not Who We Are” — But is it?
I try to keep myself grounded in history, culture & lived experience. But every so often, a story demands that we pause & ask harder questions. What happened last week in Utah was one of those moments
open.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 8:26 PM
“This is not who we are.”
It’s said after every shooting, every assassination attempt. But after Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump’s near-death, and the murders of lawmakers in Minnesota — can America still claim that?
Is denial is part of the problem?
substack.com/@hollywoodan...
It’s said after every shooting, every assassination attempt. But after Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump’s near-death, and the murders of lawmakers in Minnesota — can America still claim that?
Is denial is part of the problem?
substack.com/@hollywoodan...
Family Secrets: Irish America and IRA guns
I sat down with New York Times reporter Ali Watkins to talk about her new book — a story that began with a deathbed revelation in Philadelphia and ended with the trail of 400 guns smuggled to the IRA.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I sat down with New York Times reporter Ali Watkins to talk about her new book — a story that began with a deathbed revelation in Philadelphia and ended with the trail of 400 guns smuggled to the IRA.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Family Secrets: Irish America and IRA guns
A new book by Ali Watkins uncovers how family lore, silence and republican myth shaped Irish America’s relationship with the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland.
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Family Secrets: Irish America and IRA guns
I sat down with New York Times reporter Ali Watkins to talk about her new book — a story that began with a deathbed revelation in Philadelphia and ended with the trail of 400 guns smuggled to the IRA.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I sat down with New York Times reporter Ali Watkins to talk about her new book — a story that began with a deathbed revelation in Philadelphia and ended with the trail of 400 guns smuggled to the IRA.
👇
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
I once played a delusional banker on TV, whose wine bill was bigger than the mortgage.
Writing about Trump’s “migrant crime wave” felt the same — denial always wins over facts.
New Blog: why immigration debates aren’t about crime, but fear & mistrust.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Writing about Trump’s “migrant crime wave” felt the same — denial always wins over facts.
New Blog: why immigration debates aren’t about crime, but fear & mistrust.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
When Facts Don’t Matter: Trump’s Migrant Crime Wave and Trolls Who 'Proved' It
From immigrant crime myths to Rothchild conspiracy theories, what some readers’ reactions say about fear, identity and the media—and what that has to do with the price of a glass of Bordeaux.
open.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I once played a delusional banker on TV, whose wine bill was bigger than the mortgage.
Writing about Trump’s “migrant crime wave” felt the same — denial always wins over facts.
New Blog: why immigration debates aren’t about crime, but fear & mistrust.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Writing about Trump’s “migrant crime wave” felt the same — denial always wins over facts.
New Blog: why immigration debates aren’t about crime, but fear & mistrust.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Big Bear Lake: How a Beautiful Place Forgot Its Story
New Substack essay: On a trip to Big Bear Lake, I found beauty—but no soul. No trace of the Indigenous people, no history, just kitsch + forgetting. In Ireland, place remembers. In America, it’s erased.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
New Substack essay: On a trip to Big Bear Lake, I found beauty—but no soul. No trace of the Indigenous people, no history, just kitsch + forgetting. In Ireland, place remembers. In America, it’s erased.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Big Bear Lake: How a Beautiful Place Forgot Its Story
Big Bear sells “wilderness” with no wildness and “heritage” with no history. It’s an outdoor mall in the pines — and proof that forgetting pays.
open.substack.com
August 29, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Big Bear Lake: How a Beautiful Place Forgot Its Story
New Substack essay: On a trip to Big Bear Lake, I found beauty—but no soul. No trace of the Indigenous people, no history, just kitsch + forgetting. In Ireland, place remembers. In America, it’s erased.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
New Substack essay: On a trip to Big Bear Lake, I found beauty—but no soul. No trace of the Indigenous people, no history, just kitsch + forgetting. In Ireland, place remembers. In America, it’s erased.
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Migrant Crime Wave That Wasn’t.
Trump praised Hannibal Lecter as a “very important force” in his campaign.
Absurd but politically effective.
There’s no migrant crime wave — 150 years of data proves it. But fear sells better than facts.
My latest Substack ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Trump praised Hannibal Lecter as a “very important force” in his campaign.
Absurd but politically effective.
There’s no migrant crime wave — 150 years of data proves it. But fear sells better than facts.
My latest Substack ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
The Migrant Crime Wave That Wasn’t
From the ‘migrant caravan’ and Silence of the Lambs to the ‘crime wave’ — why Trump’s immigrant scare stories don’t match the facts but tragically meet the moment.
open.substack.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The Migrant Crime Wave That Wasn’t.
Trump praised Hannibal Lecter as a “very important force” in his campaign.
Absurd but politically effective.
There’s no migrant crime wave — 150 years of data proves it. But fear sells better than facts.
My latest Substack ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Trump praised Hannibal Lecter as a “very important force” in his campaign.
Absurd but politically effective.
There’s no migrant crime wave — 150 years of data proves it. But fear sells better than facts.
My latest Substack ⬇️
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
🟢 New on the blog: Cork to Cognac – How an Irishwoman made it in L.A. without losing herself
From Cork pubs to Cognac lounges in Los Angeles… 🍷
Saoirse McCabe didn’t trade her Irish identity to “make it” in L.A. — she used it like a passport.
📖 Read here:
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From Cork pubs to Cognac lounges in Los Angeles… 🍷
Saoirse McCabe didn’t trade her Irish identity to “make it” in L.A. — she used it like a passport.
📖 Read here:
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
Making It in L.A. With an Irish Accent
Why one Cork woman’s success story proves that authenticity still matters — even in Hollywood’s backyard.
open.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
🟢 New on the blog: Cork to Cognac – How an Irishwoman made it in L.A. without losing herself
From Cork pubs to Cognac lounges in Los Angeles… 🍷
Saoirse McCabe didn’t trade her Irish identity to “make it” in L.A. — she used it like a passport.
📖 Read here:
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...
From Cork pubs to Cognac lounges in Los Angeles… 🍷
Saoirse McCabe didn’t trade her Irish identity to “make it” in L.A. — she used it like a passport.
📖 Read here:
open.substack.com/pub/hollywoo...