Episodes
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Never was so much opportunity for so many squandered by so few. Joining us on the podcast is Economist with NERI, Ciaran Nugent and we go deep into what was in #Budget25, asking was it enough to sway undecided voters, explaining the lack of vision given the amount of money at the Governments disposal and showing why, despite their fancy graphs, this is NOT a progressive budget. Ciaran also talks about what he thinks should or could have been done...
Published 10/03/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Ayah Arafat has been organizing for Palestine in the Washington DC Metropolitan area for over 7 years. She has been organizing with the Palestinian Youth Movement and Students for Justice in Palestine. She joins PalCast co-hosts to talk about how the organizing landscape works but also changes in the US in light of regional developments in the Middle East, the upcoming election and the disconnect between politics and the people. We also discuss the...
Published 10/02/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack With the death toll now over 1,100 is less tan two weeks and with almost 1,000,000 people displaced, not too mention the fears of the Israeli ground invasion, people in Lebanon are deeply concerned about the what is being called 'the Gaza-fication' of their country. Rejoining us to talk about the situation is Beirut-based journalist with the Economist and regular tortoise shack contributor, Gareth Browne. He explains the factions, fears and the...
Published 09/30/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Asem Alnabih is an engineer and a PhD candidate from Gaza. He currently serves as a member of the emergency committee, the spokesperson and the Director of Public Relations and Media at Gaza Municipality. He speaks to PalCast about the role the Gaza municipality plays during the genocide, his close relationship and last moments with Dr. Refaat Alareer, and the impact he had on him, finally pushing him to start publishing his work earlier this...
Published 09/29/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack This week this very podcast triggered several Parliamentary Questions to Ministers about illegality in the "gig-economy". So we're lifting the paywall so as many people as possible get to hear what is for workers an important and must-listen podcast. This was recorded in front of a live audience in the Sugar Club, where Martin and Tony talk with former RTE worker, Angie Mezzetti and current workers, Maebh Keary and (joining us for an impromptu few...
Published 09/27/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this packed podcast US-Based, Russian-Irish Professor of Economics (and listener favourite) Constantin Gurdgiev talks Trump v Kamala, the broader context of US politics, the Apple Tax in the US and Ireland, his thoughts on Sinn Féin's housing plan, Ireland's ongoing corporate tax take, the BRICS working to become a rival to US hegemony and much, much more Simon Harris and the Half Truth Prince...
Published 09/25/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack It was a great pleasure to be rejoined on the pod by Dr Musallam Abukhalil, from Dignity for Palestine in Gaza and activist-artist Adam -SpiceBag- Doyle, to talk about the incredible work the volunteers do on the ground and the importance of art and Irish solidarity to their work. Thank you to everyone who has donated. Don't stop talking about Gaza. We Won't. SpiceBag Scarfs:https://spicebagmerch.bigcartel.com/product/an-phalaistin-scarf Gaza...
Published 09/23/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Most of our listeners know and love Mr irishelectionprojections.com, Harry McEvansoneya. They know he's as good a poll aggregator as any and has an astute eye for political trends. But this is not one of those podcasts. This is a podcast about Antisemitism, how it exists across the political spectrum, the ways ignorance and (sometimes) malice spreads it and what we can do to counter it. It should go without saying that Harry is our friend and we...
Published 09/20/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Rawan Yaghi was a student of our dearly missed friend, Dr. Refaat Alareer. She holds an MA from CUNY in the United States and she is launching a newsletter titled “Refaat Writes Back.” The Initiative aims to nurture young writers from Gaza and to help get their message out to the world, a mission Refaat himself dedicated his life to Rawan speaks to PalCast co-hosts about his own journey as a writer who centered the voices of children in Gaza, and...
Published 09/19/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Echo Chamber Podcast, Beirut-based Irish journalist, Hannah McCarthy rejoins us to talk about the extraordinary 'Pager Bomb' attack directed at Hezbollah (but was without doubt indiscriminate) that has left over 2,900 injured, 150 in critical condition and 9 people dead. How did this happen? How do you blow up a pager? What will be the Lebanese/Hezbollah response? What will Iran do? We talk about it all until the power went in Beirut! The...
Published 09/18/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this very special live podcast Martin outlines how the “gig economy” was concocted to reduce costs for certain employers and reduce benefits for workers. He explains the 25 year journey he’s been on to expose the illegal practices that underpin the Bogus Self Employment system and how very recently himself and Matt McGranaghan won a case that changes everything. Don’t miss it. Gaza Appeal:https://www.patreon.com/posts/111983961 The Future of...
Published 09/16/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this in-depth podcast Martin and Tony speak with Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, about his plan to help fix our broken housing system. We parse/debate/dig into the 112/109 pages in detail and delve into whether it is, as Eoin suggests, a radical plan or just more business as usual. Talking everything from financing, the commons, paying the brickies and much, much more; this is an honest, critical and fair conversation about the...
Published 09/14/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Malak Mattar is an artist from Gaza, known for her incredibly colorful paintings. She is now struggling to paint the Gaza that she knew. That Gaza is no more, and for this reason, Malak wants to document what she knew, having left on October 5, 2023. For her, documentation, baring witness and her art is a national duty, an obligation of her heart and a continuation of a legacy started by many Palestinian artists. Malak hails the works of...
Published 09/12/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Shortly after the European Court of Justice ruled that the Irish State had given illegal state aid to Appple, via what was a sweetheart tax evasion scheme, we spoke with one of the people who has being covering this and studying tax, tax justice, corporate power and its impact on democracy, UCD's Assoc Prof Aidan Reagan. So now we know, Ireland is legally adjudged to be a tax haven. What happens now and who will be held accountable? We get into...
Published 09/11/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Editors note: Tony misquotes In this tortoise shack exclusive, Roman Shortall and Eoghan McNeill of The Ditch rejoin us to discuss what has been revealed by their reporting into the transfer of US weapons to Israel through Irish Airspace. We discuss the mainstream reaction and how the framing has been unhelpful in informing the public on the reality of the situation. They also reveal the shocking numbers of exemptions coming from the desk of...
Published 09/06/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Dr. Mohammed H. Alaqad is a distinguished academic from Gaza, now based in Malaysia. In the Autumn of 2023 he went to visit home after 14 years of being away. Having received a red carpet reception by family and friends, he wanted most for his wife and kids to meet his extended family, including his mother who had only recently being diagnosed with cancer. A few days later on October 7, his kids woke up the sound of rockets and a war that still...
Published 09/04/24
Please join us patreon.com/tortoiseshack A Radol is a Ridiculous Argument Devoid Of Logic. Bear that in mind as you listen. In this short podcast Martin reveal the "legal opinion" sent to Irish Postmasters by their Union that contradicts previous Judgements like Denny and Karshan and flies in the face of an ongoing Postmaster High Court Case where employment status is on the table. Why? The Ditch on Israeli weapons in Irish Airspace: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47414904 The Workers...
Published 09/03/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack You might have seen the headlines across Irish media about the blow struck to the Gig Economy and bogus self employment by musician and workers rights activist, Matt McGranaghan. But only here will you hear from Matt himself. This is a huge result that will help thousands of workers currently misclassified and therefore denied their rights as employees. Well done Matt and Martin. Up the Workers! Tickets for...
Published 08/30/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Anas Abu Samhan is a Palestinian writer and translator with a deep focus on the decolonization of mind and language, as well as decolonial epistemology. Anas talks about language, literature and translation during genocide and he narrates how his family was displaced multiple times and lost all their homes. In between, Anas brings in the memory of Refaat Alareer, his late lecturer from Gaza. Helena Cobban touches on regional developments, the...
Published 08/28/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack As promised we are rejoined by the best person on the planet currently covering the decades old SpyCops Units, who have done some deplorable things to people in predominantly left wing movements in order to maintain some false sense of State order and power. You all need to listen to this and check out Tom on twitter @tombfowler Limited Tickets for the Live Show are available now...
Published 08/27/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Echo Chamber Pod we are rejoined by writer, actor and activist, Noelle Brown to discuss the Mother and Baby Home Redress Scheme that has effectively excluded 40% of the people impacted by the National Scandal, while also seemingly indemnifying the Catholic church. Noelle talks the politics of injustice, the State working against her and her fellow survivors and the sense that this is penny-pinching cruelty. Trauma informed solidarity...
Published 08/24/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Ibrahim Alsemeiri is a PhD Candidate at the University of Utarah in Malaysia. Being from and living in Gaza, with four children, he has been displaced 5 times since October 7th. He lost his home and as you'll hear, is doing his best to comfort his children. He joins the PalCast co-hosts, yousef, Helena and Tony to talk about the daily struggles in Gaza and an academic initiative he started along with other colleagues to help Gaza rebuild. Helena...
Published 08/21/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this peek-behind-the-paywall Echo Chamber special, Martin and Tony talk the news of the week and things get a bit heated. Which is a good thing. We cover Trump, RTE, transphobic journalists, Coolock Says No to Ireland and the awful behaviour of legacy media in both race-baiting and our politics. CW: contains traces of Irish Times FG hagiography. Gaza Appeal:https://www.patreon.com/posts/look-what-you-us-109090405
Published 08/17/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Dr. Hani Albassous is an Associate Professor in Security and Strategic Studies, he taught in Gaza, Qatar and Oman. He joins PalCast to talk about recent developments in Gaza and Israel, his view of the ongoing negotiations, the possible regional war breaking out between and Iran and Hezbollah on one hand and Israel on the other hand. This is all in light of the next National Democrat Convention in Chicago next Monday. Tune in for more detail! Gaza...
Published 08/14/24
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack When is austerity not austerity? When it’s done as part of “grownup” politics or so we’re told. Rejoining us is the wonderful Prof Richard Murphy and he paints a picture of the economic future that is unwelcome (and in our opinion one of the drivers of far right hate) in the new era of the new NEW Labour Party. Enjoy. Gaza appeal:https://www.patreon.com/posts/look-what-you-us-109090405
Published 08/13/24