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It was a pleasure to sit down in the tortoise shack with author and activist, Naomi Klein for what is a great conversation about her new book Doppelganger. We talk about the doppleganger phenomenon in the era of people building personal brands, the wellbeing to far right pipeline, following the white rabbit, liberalism pushback, the nonsense that is horseshoe theory and the need for soft borders,...

Hey folks, a big thank you to you all for being part of this little community you have all helped to build. Without you there is no shack and there are no nights like last night! This is actually part 3 of the show and is a conversation between myself, Aoife Moore and Emmet Kirwan. We talk about accents, class, politics, the far right, online hate, art and why I can't stop trying to be the main ch...

Moore Holmes is a loyalist activist, community advocate and commentator. As a teacher he is passionate about educating the next generation through the think tank and advocacy group, Lets Talk Loyalism about appropriate political steps and articulating a coherent argument for the Union from a loyalist perspective. In this episode we talk to Moore about the Union and community political advocacy at...

Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law, Director of the Human Rights Centre, a Fellow of the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Irish Studies. He is also a Commissioner on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, a campaigner for a new Ireland and member of Ireland's Future. In t...

Listeners would be aware of one of our regular contributors, the young journalist in Gaza, Palestine, Mahmoud Mushtaha and his reports on the events in the area. He rejoined us to bring us up to speed on the latest impacts of the conflict, the growing problem of food insecurity (40% don't know where their next meal is coming from) and the increase in (illegal) settler violence.   We had some probl...

The Liffey was not too long ago a salmon fishing river. But in only a few decades, despite improvements in the water qualit, stocks of fish have fallen from several thousand to around 300. Why and what can be done to fix it? Joining me is Director of Liffey Salmon Project, Mark McAndrew, and he’s a man with not just a plan, but in a fantastic initiative he’s working with about 12 others to bring t...

We have a few things on tomorrow, but rather than leave you without a wrap of the week Sunday Show, we decided to do it on a Saturday.  Joining us is Shrapnel cohost and future leader of lefty Irish twitter, Sam Mcilwaine. We talk libraries unable to buy books, Stormont stalemate moving along the case for reform, the gallows outside the Dáil and the main enablers of the far right, the neoliberal "...

Stephen R. Millar is Lecturer in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology. His research and teaching focuses on music, conflict, and cultures of resistance, with an emphasis on Britain and Ireland. Stephen's first book Sounding Dissent: Rebel Songs, Resistance, and Irish Republicanism (University of Michigan Press 2020) explores how Irish republicans have used rebel songs to resist against the hegemonic p...

We all witnessed the scenes yesterday outside the Dáil and if you're a regular listener to us you won't have been surprising. But how has this happened? Who are the enablers? What can we do about bystanders? And has the left got a plan or vision to help? A very, very member-only podcast  Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tortoise-shack-live-tickets-698299581847?aff=erelexpmlt Promo Code SHACKFA...

In this Reboot Republic, Rory talks to a panel of very special guests form Finland, Scotland and Ireland, who all work in the area of youth homelessness and housing. Joining him are Hilma Sormunen, from NAL, which builds and rents youth affordable housing in Finland (they talk about the Finnish experience of successfully reducing homelessness and their approach to housing as a social right and hou...

Longtime listeners would know journalist and friend of the pod, Hannah McCarthy, for her previous podcasts with us from Afghanistan, Lebanon and Ukraine. Well this time in a rare treat she was back in Dublin and joined me in the tortoise shack to tell us all about her recent trip accompanying Tanaiste Micheal Martin in Israel and Palestine.  Hannah, as always, spoke to some great sources and has g...

In this Reboot Republic podcast, Rory talks with Assistant Professor in Economics from Trinity College, Dr Barra Roantree about the reality of income inequality in Ireland. We discuss what is inequality, wealth and income inequality trends, and look at what can be done about it through taxation.  Barra outlines the main findings of the ESRI report that he co-wrote, 'Poverty, Income Inequality and...

This week we were 6 years old. That's about 137 in podcast years. So before we get into what we got into I just want to say thank you to you all. We really wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you! By way of a thank you I have 4 pairs of tickets for the Sugar Club on Thursday 28th available now here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tortoise-shack-live-tickets-698299581847?aff=erelexpmlt Max 2 per member...

This week RTE went back into the Oireachtas to answer more questions about the malfeasance and dodgy work practices that have plagued them and broken the trust many people had for the national broadcaster.  Martin sat down with musician Matt McGranaghan, who is himself in a dispute about his employment status, to discuss what was said, what was misrepresented and what it means for RTE, its workers...

Eilish Rooney is Emeritus Scholar in the School of Applied & Social Policy Sciences and at the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) in the School of Law at Ulster University. As an academic and social activist from Ballymurphy, West Belfast her pioneering work at University of Ulster on the Transitional Justice Grassroots Toolkit and cross-community dialogue has garnered respect across the sec...

Lough Neagh is one of the largest lakes in Europe and provides 43% of the drinking water for Northern Ireland. Yet it is in such a terrible state ecologically that wildlife are dying from drinking from it. So what gives? We spoke to journalist Tommy Greene, who covered this slowly unfolding disaster before it became BIG news. He tells us about the strange ownership structure of the lough, the reas...

John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy at Queen's University Belfast School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics. In this episode of Shrapnel the lads talk to John about his research on loyalism, encouraging self-discovery and organic intellectualism, agonism, Britishness in a new Ireland and generous majorities.

Joining us in the tortoise shack is Sinn Féin TD and his party's spokesperson for Mental Health, Mark Ward. We discuss his accidental route into politics, his treatment for MS, what he believes can be done now to improve access to mental health services and what he thinks Sinn Féin would do if they were in government. 

In this Reboot Republic, Rory talks with Gráinne Loughran, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer with Alone, the national older person's charity, about the housing crisis facing over 60s in Ireland. The Census showed an 83% increase in numbers of renters over 65 - who face into homelessness if they are evicted. We discuss the hidden housing crisis facing older people and the impact on their health...

If you're listening to this now and aren't a member, please have a look around. There's nearly 1,400 podcasts and lots of extras available right now. It's the easiest bit of activism you can do! 4 new constituencies and the creation of some place called Fingal? Joining us to nerd out on the Electoral Commissions recommendations are Mr Election Projections, Harry McEvansoneya and the fella behind I...

Note: This is the patron-extended version of the podcast that contains the listener Q&A in the last 20 minutes Beano Niblock is a playwright, poet and former loyalist prisoner. His current play, The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary, charts the life of former PUP leader the late David Ervine. In this episode of Shrapnel Beano talks to the lads about how he came to write the play, what his friends...

Settle in for a long but very good one. The Irish-Russian Denver Colorado based Prof of Economics, Constantin returns for a chat about Housing and the Banks. But because it's Constantin and us it goes a lot broader than that. We talk climate change playing out in front of our eyes, NAMA 2.0, Bidenomics and the Presidential 2nd place nominee competition, his local Trumpometer and the media revision...

In this Reboot Republic, Rory talks to Paula Kearney, a community worker in the North East Inner City about the community response to the recent proposals around armed gardai, the reality of life for young people and communities in the inner city, the structural violence of inequality and exclusion that is done by the state to these communities, issues around police violence against young people,...

This is either a quiet reflection on the work of Descartes and how it influences hipster IPA brewing techniques... ..or a very Martin  and Tony member-only podcast on why this Government hate single mothers, how fossil fuel companies are getting $13m per minute from national governments, why the banks are allowed treat customers like shit, the national shame that is the normalising of homelessness...

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has provided an explanation for political donations that exceed the what is legally permissible to the Standards In Public Office (SIPO) that have been contradicted by the company said to have made the donation. Hmmm Joining us on the tortoise shack to discuss this, other donations from now attorney general, Rossa Fanning and what the implications could be are the two journa...