https://tortoiseshack.ie/feed/podcast/

Bashar Murad is a Palestinian singer, lyricist, director and composer born and raised in Jerusalem. Bashar uses pop music and art as a vehicle to challenge stereotypes, normativity and to highlight social issues facing young generations of urban Palestinians. He’s also an icon. He joined us to talk about the pain of watching the suffering in Gaza and the survivors guilt that has developed in the s...

As Israel's genocide in Gaza continues, PalCast's Dr Yousef Aljamal and his co-host Helena Cobban survey the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank and the waves of pro-Palestinian sympathy that have swept around the whole world, including throughout the Global South and even at the grassroots level within most Western countries. They note the continued ability of Washington DC to block...

We can't lose sight of the housing crisis that continues to make life miserable and unaffordable for tens of thousands of our citizens, and while the housing crisis was created by bad policies, our guest, Sinn Féin's Housing Spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, thinks (if given the chance) it can be fixed with good policies. We look at some of the key areas, making rent affordable and secure, cutting down...

One week before the Hamas attacks on Israel, Mohammed Elkhatib's dad pleaded with his son to "get out of Gaza" and go start the life they'd saved up for him to live. So, against his own wishes, he drove to the Rafah crossing and began the journey to London, not knowing the destruction that was to become of his home as he went. Mo joins us now to talk about his fear for his family, the dark humour...

I was thrilled to be asked if the tortoise shack would help produce a podcast that would be about Palestine and be hosted by Palestinian refugee (and friend of the shack) Dr Yousef Aljamal.  The result is the PalCast, a collaboration between us and Just World Educational. Hosted by Yousef and his longtime collaborator and friend Helena Cobban, herself an activist and author of great renown, this t...

Martin Doyle is the books editor of The Irish Times and author of Dirty Linen: The Troubles In My Home Place (Merrion, 2023) In this episode Martin talks to the lads about researching and writing the book which is a deeply personal and intimate excavation of the toll that the conflict took on the parish of Tullylish, part of the notorious Murder Triangle in the north of Ireland.

CW: The podcast opens with a voice note sent from Zak Hania that some listeners may find upsetting I was rejoined on the podcast by our friend and young Gazan journalist, Mahmoud Mushtaha, from inside Al-Shifa hospital. He reports on the awful decisions doctors and nurses are been forced to make because of a lack of medical supplies, he outlines the horrendous conditions people are living in, the...

In this Reboot Republic podcast, Rory and Tony, talk to Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, a lawyer by training, he is an expert on many areas of human rights. He outlines how Israel is committing genocide and war crimes in its attacks on the civilian population and infrastructure in Gaza. He also explains that there is more the UN...

Asad Abusharkh is a legend in the anti-apartheid movement. Himself a child of the Nakba, he has dedicated his life to fight for not just Palestinian freedom, but the freedom of all people. So it was very upsetting to read in a Facebook post that his family home was destroyed in Rafah by the Israeli airstrikes.  An emotional, angry and unbelievably resilient Asad joined me to discuss this "war" on...

Note: The first 15 minutes of this podcast are more about domestic politics.  As the world watches events in Gaza, the West Bank is also in a state of chaotic violence. Joining us on the podcast for the first time in a while is Ramallah-based journalist, Gareth Browne. He explains the problems in the area with settler violence, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government. Gareth also outl...

Note: Just this morning the IDF bombed and destroyed Muhammad's family home. He's not a terrorist. Why was his home targeted?  It was a great pleasure to be joined on the podcast by Gazan writer, analyst and researcher, Muhammad Shehada for a barnstorming podcast on the events right now in Gaza, the history of the conflict, the geopolitics of the "war" and the best explanation of the factions, gro...

Our friend and young journalist in Gaza, Mahmoud Mushtaha, rejoined us from Al-Shifa Hospital to tell us about the latest inside the hospital. He explains how Doctors are dealing under the most difficult of situations. He talks also of the loss of his friend, Yousef and how it made him want to quit his work. Mahmoud said recently that "Gaza is where dreams go to die." There is so much bad right no...

CW: You will hear the sound of explosions in the background on this podcast In the latest update from Gaza we are joined by Dr Refaat Alareer to discuss the last few traumatic days that he and his family have gone through and his hope for a ceasefire once people around the world stand up and say that Never Again means Never Again to Anyone.  Then you'll hear from our friend Zak about the latest sh...

Billy Hutchinson is the former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party and was a key figure in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In this episode Billy talks to the lads about the current state of unionism and loyalism, class frictions within the pro-union body politic in NI and the importance of grassroots voices.

Hi folks, This is a 3/4 part podcast. The first part is a report from journalist Mahmoud Mushtaha in Gaza (via eSim thank you all very much) about the latest in his area, then Senator Tom Clonan joins us to talk about the military aspects of this tragedy and outline the failures and dangers that lie ahead. Then Martin and meself chat a few minutes about the war online and in mainstream media and f...

Short update: Earlier this morning Loay found out that his cousin, Ashraf El-Basyouni, was killed by an Israeli airstrike. May he Rest in Peace. Hi folks, Our friend, NASA Engineer and Palestinian, Loay Elbasyouni rejoined us late last night to talk about the ongoing plight of his parents who are trapped in Gaza, the lies and half-truths that are reported in the media and how only people not from...

Note: The podcast opens with a voice note sent by Zak in Gaza and you can hear the bombs.  It was a pleasure to be rejoined by the best reporter on immigration in Ireland, the Dublin Inquirer's Shamim Malekmian, to discuss the case of Abdullah Musleh, who finds himself trapped in Gaza because of the inefficiencies in the Irish immigration service. We also discuss the latest from Gaza, the generosi...

"Why do they say 'Hamas run Ministry of Health? They never say Fianna Fáil run HSE." Hi folks, As Gaza comes back online we are hoping to connect with people in the coming hours, but in the meantime this is a more general news week. I mean, we can't lose sight of the fact that there are now nearly 4,000 children homeless, that the US Speaker is MAGA Mike and some other things that deserve a mentio...

CW: This podcast contains subjects that some listeners might find distressing. Palestinan-Irish man, Zak, lived in Dublin for 17 years. He's in Gaza City now with his family and describes in the most powerful and heartbreaking way what a struggle it is right now in Gaza and how he feels (correctly) betrayed by the international community and Western Leaders. He talks about the impact this is havin...

Jordan Dunbar is a Northern Ireland born and London based BBC journalist, presenter and documentary maker. His recent documentary for BBC Sounds 'Blood On The Dancefloor' looked at the life and murder of gay RUC officer Darren Bradshaw. The lads spoke to Jordan about how he came to tell this story, storytelling and memory with Belfast's queer community and some of his investigations into criminal...

" I ran from death in Gaza City to find it in Rafah" If you've been with us a while you'll have heard from author, academic, researcher with Politics Today and proud Gazan, Dr Yousef M Aljamal, before. Sadly and tragically he rejoins us today to talk about how the Israeli bombing of Gaza has killed nine of his family and what that brutality is doing to his home and any sense of hope for a peaceful...

The Citizens Assembly for Drugs has delivered it's report and the results are.. ..well we aren't to sure. So we got the Irish national treasure, UCC Snr Lecturer, Dr Sharon Lambert to come back on and tall us what her expert opinion is. Her verdict is cautiously heartening, but because she is an expert Sharon talks us through what is said and what was maybe left out.

In this podcast Rory talks to  Niamh Thornton and John Dermody from DePaul who are senior service managers working in homelessness services. Niamh talks about the specific experiences of women in homelessness, with one woman describing it as 'being stripped of her motherhood',  and how De Paul work to support them, and John explains the trauma of homelessness, particularly for children, and what i...

This is a podcast of hope, alternatives and solutions for the housing catastrophe in Ireland, and indeed for housing crises all over the world. In this podcast Rory speaks with Michaela Kauer, Director of the Brussels Liaison Office of the City of Vienna, about the famous Vienna housing model, where half of all housing in the city is public affordable housing. Michaela outlines how the Vienna hous...

Shrapnel presents Fragments - a new series of intermittent one-off episodes where Sam and Gareth answer questions about the past, present and future in Northern Ireland posed by you, our members, listeners and followers. It'll be available in the regular Shrapnel podcast feed on all streaming platforms. Get your questions in for the next episode at shrapnelpodcast@gmail.com