Rebel Matters Podcast

This week I chatted with Rebecca O Keefe who is an ex-international basketball player and who is involved with Irish Sport for Palestine and the Stop The Game Campaign, calling on the FAI and Irish soccer governing bodies to boycott the scheduled international fixture against Israel later this year. Link to full video episode here: https://www.youtube.com/@rebelmatters  Help us to build a radical...

Before the end of 2025 we stopped publishing the show to Spotify because of the links between its then CEO Daniel Ek and arms manufacturers. Spotify has also censored pro-Palestine voices and is known for its exploitation of artists when it comes to remuneration for the use of their art.   As part of our process to move away from the platform, we spoke to Kelly Early who co-hosts the For Tech's Sa...

Our guests for this episode are Niamh Ní Bhrian, Fionn Wallace, and Rory Rowan. This conversation was recorded in December 2025 after our guests had presented the Neutrality Roadshow in the Cultúalnn here in West Belfast. During this chat we discussed the current threats to Irish neutrality, the prospect of a united Ireland and what that might look like in terms of Irish neutrality, and the seemin...

This week's guest on Rebel Matters is Turkish-American political commentator Hasan Piker. We discussed politics, the United States and Palestine solidarity during Hasan's brief visit to Ireland. This is our first full-length video episode recorded in the new Rebel Matters studio. You can find the full episode on our Youtube channel. Huge thanks to all our Patrons who have supported the show throug...

This week we speak to American political sportswriter Dave Zirin about the overlap between sports and politics. Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website  www.rebelmatters.ie . The show is gratefully supported in full by our followers over on Patreon. Visit  www.patreon.com/rebelmatters   see our various tiers of support and find out how you can become a Pat...

This episode is a conversation with Palestine Action prisoner Amu Gib, and was recorded on the 18th day of their hunger strike in HMP Bronzefield.  Demands of the strike are: an end to the censorship of letters and books, and freedom of expression; immediate bail; the right to a fair trial; the deproscription of Palestine Action; and the closure of all Elbit weapons factories in Britain. Rebel Mat...

This week we hear from Hazem Jamjoum, a Palestinian cultural historian, educator, editor, and translator. He has recently launched Safarjal Press, a publishing house with a focus on publications for communities in struggle, which we discuss during the conversation.  His translation of Ghassan Kanafani's  The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine was published by 1804 Press in 2023, and his translat...

This week's guest is Moana Maniapoto, Māori musician, songwriter, activist, documentary maker, journalist, and  TV presenter. Moana's music has been described as a politically charged Haka-funk-dub-fusion. She also hosts her own weekly current affairs show, Te Ao with Moana , which that examines local, national and international issues through a Māori lens, and screens on Whakaata Māori , Māori+ a...

This episode is also available in English wherever you listen to podcasts. An tseachtain seo labhair muid leis an Iarrthóir Uachtarántachta Catherine Connolly. Míle buíochas léi as am a chur ar leataobh don chomhrá seo le linn tréimhse gnóthach feachtasaíochta agus an toghchán le titim amach ar an 24 November 2025. Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website ...

This week's guest is Irish Presidential Election Candidate Catherine Connolly. Massive thanks to Catherine for taking time out of her schedule at this busy lead up to the election, which will be held on Friday 24th of October 2025. Tá an t-eagrán seo ar fáil as Gaeilge freisin ar do rogha ardáin phodchraolta.  Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website  www.r...

This week's guest is Mansoor Ahmad Adayfi, whose memoir Don't Forget Us Here recounts his experiences during 15 years spent in the prison at Guantanamo Bay. In this first part of the conversation he explains how he came to be detained and the treatment of prisoners in the camp.  Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website  www.rebelmatters.ie . The show is gra...

An update from Ainle who has been working in the Lajee Centre in the Aida Redugee Camp in Bethlemhem for the past seven weeks with the Aclaí Paelstine Project. You can learn more about Aclaí, the work that's being done on the ground, and how you can support or volunteer at aclai.ie. Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website  www.rebelmatters.ie . The show is...

In this episode we hear from Greg Stoker. Greg is an anti-imperialist left wing activist and US veteran with a strong presence on social media since October 2023. We speak about the state of play in Palestine since begining of the genocide, with a focus on US involvement, and also touch on other aspects of activism out likely outcomes of the current situation in Gaza and for the rest of the world....

This week's episode is with Mars Verrone, producer of the documentary Union which is a fatastic film about the Amazon workers labour union, which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. We discussed the conditions that the people in Amazon factories are working under and their fight for better working conditions, making this film and the importance of independent filmmaking, as well as...

This week's episode is with Belfast author Michael Magee who released his acclaimed debut novel Close To Home in 2023. We discussed West Belfast in the 90s and beyond, the challenged of authors from working class backgrounds to break through in the publishing world, Michael's process for writing Close To Home and his plans for future work.  Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast p...

This week's episode is a conversation with the director of the Lajee Centre in the Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem Palestine. We discuss the situation in the West Bank, ongoing work at Lajee Centre, the western media portrayal of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority, and the international solidarity movement. Long -time listeners of the show may remember Mohammad from Episode 41 back in 2019.  It has...

This week's episode is with Eoghan McNeill from The Ditch. We discussed the recent Ditch reports on the use of Irish airports and airspace for the transport of weapons being used directly in the genocide in Palestine, and how these reports have been received by both the mainstream media and the government parties who have it within their power to end Ireland's complicity in genocide. Rebel Matters...

Salah Hamouri is a Palestinian lawer from West Jerusalem. In this episode we discuss the events that led to Salah's arrest and deportation, the currrent situation in Paletsine, and priorities for international Palestine solidarity.  Rebel Matters is available on many of the usual podcast platforms and our website www.rebelmatters.ie . The show is greatefully supported in full by our followers over...

Ed Horgan is a founding member of the Shannon Watch campaign and has been monitoring the use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace by the US military over the course of the last 25 years. Ed is a former Commandant and former UN Peacekeeper and has consistently highlighted the illegality and breaches of Irish and international law as the US continue to use Shannon airport for the transport of troop...

This is a special episode, and one that was a long time in the making. Síomha Brock and I sat down by the fireside and recoded this conversation while a storm raged outside. During this episode we talk through the process of the creation of Síomha's maiden album 'Infinite Space'. The chat navigates through the unique process in which the album was made, a discussion on the merits of community fund...

This weeks episode is a solo run discussing strategies and routines to handle periods of high workload. I discuss the idea of checking in with ones-self when the going gets tough, actions that create maximal results in relation to the effort it takes to carry out the actions, the transience of stressful periods, and the importance of reminding ourselves that our self worth is more valuable than ou...

We are back on the road! This is the first episode in a while after my 3 month spell living and working in the Aida refugee camp on @aclaipalestine Today's guest on the show is Echlas Al-Azza, a Palestinian refugee with muscular atrophy living in the Alazza camp. Echlas is also my Arabic teacher whom I visited twice per week to start my Arabic learning journey. The Alazza camp is less than a 10 mi...

Today we have an International Women's Day special with Caoimhe Butterly. I first met Caoimhe when we hosted a delegation of Zapatistas at ACLAÍ in 2021, and was really happy to get a chance to chat to her at length for this episode.  Caoimhe is a human rights campaigner, educator, film-maker and therapist who has spent over twenty years working in humanitarian and social justice contexts in Haiti...

This week's epsiode is with my long term friend Conor Hammersley, and in this episode we discusses the isssues of male violence towards women and men's health.  Conor has extensive experience in the area of men's health at a research, policy and advocacy level. He is a PhD Scholar with Teagasc and the National Center for Men's Health and his work looks at the socio-cultural context that shapes gen...

Fidelma O'Kane from the Save Our Sperrins anti-gold mining campaign is our guest on episode 106. This chat was a massive eye opener for me. What I thought was a big gold-mining company picking on a small rural community was way off. The success of the Save Our Sperrins campaign is critical to close the door on gold mining prospects popping up all over the country. If the gold mine goes ahead in th...