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

When journalist and accidental genocide correspondent, Abubaker Abed, left Gaza a few months ago the only thing certain was that he would continue to speak up and report on what is happening in his homeland. He rejoins us to discuss his advocacy, campaigning and reasons for hope in the face of so much suffering.

In this PalCast we are joined by Imad Qudaih, who is a 22 year old visually impaired student at the Islamic University of Gaza, majoring in English translation. Another accidental genocide correspondent, he’s been working as a freelance journalist with BBC News since June 2024. He joins us from Al-Mawasi to speak of displacement and his cat, who was killed by an Israeli sniper. Tune in for more fr...

Sara Awad is an English literature student, writer, and storyteller based in Gaza. Passionate about capturing human experiences and social issues, Sara uses her words to shed light on stories often unheard. Her work explores themes of resilience, identity, and hope amid war circumstances. I contributed to The Intercept, Truthout, PRISM, The Electronic Intifada, Washington Report on Middle East Aff...

A short member-only podcast containing some of the speakers from the Justice for Harvey Rally, some thoughts on crony capitalism, Sally Rooney, the UK Fisher Price fascism, a win for harm reduction and progressive psychological services and a beautiful song by former PalCast guest, Ahmed Abuashma and the Gaza BirdSong choir. all feedback welcome!

Journalist and now author, Tommy Greene, rejoins us to talk about the plucky coalmine that is using the investor courts (remember CETA folks?) to sue the British Govt for messing with their profits. Read more here: https://www.desmog.com/2025/08/11/uk-government-to-be-sued-in-secret-corporate-court-by-coal-firm-represented-by-tory-mp/ We also go deep into the green slime that is Lough Neagh, the w...

Nadera Mushtaha is a poet and writer from Gaza and a former student of Dr Refaat Alareer. She talks of losing her family home in Shujayia, her friend Malak Arafat, whose murder she discovered 7 months later because of the rolling internet blackouts in Gaza. In the background, we hear Israeli drones and tank shells as Israel continues to attack the Zaytoun and Sabra neighborhoods threatening anothe...

Adam Mohamed is a poet, playwright and community activist (but he’s not so sure on this one!) from Ballymun. We chat about the far right, racism, immigration, inequality, storytelling, Sparky’s hat collection and much more. *get outta dat garden

Martin is still AWOL, so here's another internal monologue that probably should have just stayed in my rapidly deteriorating head!

Many western governments have decided to take more action against people protesting against the genocide in Gaza than against the Israeli regime that is committing it. You'll have seen hundreds of people arrested on the streets of London simply for peacefully protesting while holding signs saying 'I Support Palestine Action.' Absolute madness. Joining me on the podcast is one of the people who was...

This is the first story read by actor, comedian, satirist and activist, Tadhg Hickey, The Occupation Steals the Dreams of Palestinian Students. Part two along with a conversation with Tadhg will be out shortly. I hope!

This is just me doing a rant about everything that's happening. Therapy with Tony. But only the bad stuff. The cover at the end is a belter, even if the monologue is meh.

Shahd Alnaami is a 21-year-old writer, poet, and translator from Gaza, Palestine. In this PalCast episode, she speaks of losing her sister Rahaf, 13, and her friend Eman 19. Two houses belonging to her family were also destroyed and her family was displaced multiple times. She speaks of the children of Gaza and their dream of having a piece of bread, while still clinging to their childhood. Tune i...

Declan McLoughlan is an Irish singer songwriter from the streets of Free Derry. His songwriting style has seen him dubbed the “Derry Bruce Springsteen” as like The Boss his songs often revolve around characters and social issues. Ray went into the old city for this chat with an old friend. Yup!

Probably the maddest, but best chat we've had the best-maddest US Based Irish-Russian economist there is, Prof Constantin Gurdgiev. Tariffs, Trumpism, immigration, Irish pharma, BRICS and Martin’s viagra economic development.

Taqwa Al-Wawi is a 19-year English literature student at the Islamic University of Gaza. She is also writer out of Gaza, who has published dozens of articles across the globe in the span of 6 months. She speaks of the importance of telling the story of the ongoing genocide, the empowerment of writing, the famine fatigue and how many people are barely surviving on water and maybe some bread. A powe...

Adam Mohamed is someone who we love in the tortoise shack. His new project, A Ballymun Blend, is a written, spoken, sung and performed history of the much maligned area that we love. He is having a launch in the Axis, Ballymun on August 29th. Tickets: https://axisballymun.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows

A bank holiday Monday member-only podcast. Enjoy. And the covers are back. Get your suggestions in!

Here's part of the conversation I had yesterday with Christy Moore and his poignant reading of Creating Joy Despite Displacement. Heavy, but a must-listen.

In this Reboot Republic, Rory chats with Sean McCabe who is Head of Climate and Sustainability at Bohemians Football Club about the potential for community wealth building and cooperatives to create a sustainable more equal economy. We chat about the work that's happening in Spark the Bohs communities cooperative initiative, and hear about a growing community wealth building movement from Clevelan...

Dima Al-Madhoun is a translator in Gaza. She joins us from a tent in Al-Mawasi. She speaks of losing her home, displacements, the heartbreaking loss of some members of her family and how she is greatly concerned that the current generation of children have lost two school years. The occupation is all about brutality and destruction on every level, as she keeps repeating. Tune in for the full story...

Daniel Ennis is what you might call an accidental life-long politician, even if what he works on is not typically part of the political curriculum. He's also 7ft 15", so I had to be careful in my criticisms. This was fun. Not all podcasts with Cllrs are fun.

Growing up Chris Byrne spent his time between New York City and Rural Ireland, he became a Brooklyn Cop, learned the tin whistle and uillean pipes and as part of Black 47, toured with the Pogues. And that was just a little bit of his story. He sat down with Sparky for a chat about it all and more.

It’s a lot at the moment. So rejoining us to wallow in the misery is lecturer at TUD, Dr Ciarán O’Carroll, and to be honest this assessment of where we are and what needs (must) be done was clarifying and somehow hopeful.

In this Reboot Republic, Rory talks to Louise Bayliss, Head of Social Justice & Policy with the St Vincent De Paul. 250,000 people sought support from SVP last year showing the scale of on going cost of living crisis. We discuss the stigma of poverty and its continued pervasiveness despite this country's wealth. The 11,000 volunteers with SVP shows hope in so many people working for social jus...

A Martin and Tony member-only podcast. Don't burn bridges or salt the earth? It depends on the day...