The Echo Chamber from Tortoise Shack

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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 Affairs, and We Are Not Numbers. She joins us from Gaza City to share her story, discuss the most recent events including the "double tap" bombing of Nasser Hospital and her hopes for the...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this podcast we are joined by two School Secretaries, Luisa Carty and Noreen O'Callaghan, to discuss the reasons for their upcoming indefinite strike action and why it is a workers rights issue that all of us have a stake in. They discuss the inequality in the current system, the impacts the lack of entitlements have had on them and their colleagues and they are calling on us all to support them as the look for what is only fair. Up the Workers. Support our friend Hana Salah's family:https://www.gofundme.com...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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 worsening environmental disaster, the political panto in lieu of action and what, if anything, is likely to happen next. No eels were injured in the making of this podcast. Book Preorder:https://www.irishacademicpress.ie/product/troubled-waters/ Recommended Coal...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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 another wave of mass expulsion. Tune in for more. Editors Note, I have cleaned the audio up so we can hear Nadera, but I also have the audio...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack We've just seen Keir Starmer's government threatening Irish writer, Sally Rooney and 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 also have seen hundreds of people arrested on the streets of London for peacefully protesting while holding signs saying 'I Support Palestine Action.' This is absolute madness. Joining me on the podcast is another brave Irish woman who was one of the people who arrested at the recent protest, Sinéad Nic Shiacais. S...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack It was a great pleasure to be joined by Shahd Alnaami, who 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. She tells us how two houses belonging to her family were also destroyed and how her family was displaced multiple times. She speaks of the children of Gaza and their big dreams now consist of simply having a piece of bread, while still trying to cling to their childhood. Tune in for her story. Yousef on...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack without doubt 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 plan. A belter. The Christy Moore podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-135485064 Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Adam Mohamed is someone who we love and admire in the tortoise shack. His new project, A Ballymun Blend, is a written, spoken and sung history and stories of the much maligned area that we love. He is having a launch in the Axis, Ballymun on August 29th. Go. Tickets:https://axisballymun.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows The Christy Moore podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-135485064 Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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 powerful first person testimony. Tune in for full story The Christy Moore podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-135485064 Dignity for Palestine...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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. The Christy Moore Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/135485064 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Dima Al-Madhoun is a translator in Gaza and joins us from her displacement tent in Al-Mawasi. She speaks of losing her home, moving from place to place, the heartbreaking loss of some members of her family and how she is greatly concerned that the current generation of children have now lost two years of their education. The occupation is all about brutality and destruction on every level, as she keeps repeating. Tune in for the full story. Note: We had a lot of connection issues here, so please be patient with the audio. ...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack 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. The latest SWF with Black 47's Chris Byrne is out now:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-135125057 To support Dignity for Palestine click here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack The Self-Critical Columnist - Colin Sheridan Colin Sheridan is a writer, journalist and columnist with the Irish Examiner. He is also a former Irish Army Officer and it is perhaps this lived experience that shapes his writing in ways that you don't read too often in our opinion pages. This is the first of what we hope will be more conversations with a person who it turns out has a lot of interesting views on a lot of topics that we care about. Enjoy. Dr Ciarán O'Carroll on how Class War and C...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Ahmed Al-Najjar is a Palestinian journalist and academic based in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip. He is reporting on the ongoing Israeli genocide and rapidly growing famine. He joins us on the PalCast to discuss the latest developments on the ground, his own heartbreaking personal loss and why those “who slaughtered with their weapons, and those who slaughtered with their silence” are equally guilty. Please listen. Irish Examiner's Colin Sheridan podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-134353764 Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Echo Chamber Pod we’re joined by economist, author and editor of the Irish Marxist Review, Dr. Brian O’Boyle to discuss how, even now, in the depths of despair during the ongoing genocide and famine in Gaza, we can see the cracks developing in the settler colonial project. There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in... Irish Examiner's Colin Sheridan podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-134353764 Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-two-134250846

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Huda Skaik is a writer from Gaza, who was displaced 12 times during the ongoing genocide. After being under siege in Gaza City for 9 unrelenting days, the Israeli Military forced her and her family to move to the south. She started writing in a tent and returned to her home a year later to find it in rubble. Despite these conditions, Huda remains hopeful, and she continues to tell Gaza’s story. Tune in for the full story. Latest Echo Chamber RTE-An Post podcast:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-134177046 Donate to Dignity for Pa...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Echo Chamber podcast Soc Dem Senator, Patricia Stephenson joins us to discuss the EU’s ongoing drive to undo the human rights and environmental protection policies that they signed up to in the last EU parliament term. Read more here:https://eeb.org/omnibus-a-trojan-horse-for-aggressive-deregulation-say-ngos/ And here:https://corporatejustice.org/news/joint-press-release-scrutiny-over-omnibus-proposal-grows-as-eu-ombudsman-opens-inquiry-after-ngos-complaint/ Latest Echo Chamber RTE-An Post podcast:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-134177046 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Echo Chamber Podcast, the peerless Emeritus Prof Richard Murphy rejoins us to talk about the Labour Party's first year in Government in the UK, the lack of a plan, the dearth of ambition and how the political polarisation means the need for real radical change is becoming more urgent by the day. Another great conversation with one of our listeners favourite guests. Latest Echo Chamber RTE-An Post podcast:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-134177046 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Journalist Ahmed Aldremly joined us from Gaza to discuss the latest massacres at the so-called Humanitarian Zones, Israel’s latest concentration camp plan, the daily search for food and to talk about his own experiences of the last 20+ months. The Prof Richard Murphy podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-133571593 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack It was an fantastic to be rejoined by Academy Award nominated filmmaker, former stuntwoman and fellow troublemaker, Lexi Alexander, to discuss the role of art, acts like Kneecap, Bob Vylan, the use and misuse of cultural capital and the distraction theatre that Govts use in order to not address the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Lexi is the best of us! The Prof Richard Murphy podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-133571593 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this very special podcast Martin sits down with MEP Luke Ming Flanagan, in a place that is now dear to them both. This is a conversation about politics, the personal and potentially the presidency. That's far too much alliteration. Enjoy. The Prof Richard Murphy podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-133571593 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this PalCast, Yousef and Tony are joined from Gaza by musician, teacher and father, Ahmed Abu Amsha, to discuss his experience of the ongoing genocide and how he and some of his musician friends are using song as therapy for those carrying far too much trauma. A wonderful man who will light up your day. Thank you, Ahmed. His own fundraising details are here:https://www.gofundme.com/f/hello-peace-help-innocent-people-to-survive?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer The Lexi Alexander Podcast is out now here:https://www...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this echo chamber podcast exclusive Martin chats with employment rights activist Matt McGranaghan about Martin and Joey’s big day out last Thursday at the WRC. Step behind the curtain and listen to how RTE, the State and Arthur Cox all got their asses handed to them by someone who knows that he has truth on his side. Glastonbury, Cultural Capital and Gaza with Lexi Alexander is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-133114376 Support Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-132827532

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack For weeks now we've seen housing experts, industry insiders and academics try and fail to make sense of the Government's new on/off housing plans. So in this podcast, housing expert and academic, Prof Lorcan Sirr, attempts (and fails) to decipher the chaos and put some shape on the entire crisis that has ssen homelessness rise to almost 16,000 people in this "wealthy" country of ours. I think it's really good and that Lorcan almost gets there. Almost. My sincere apologies to Orla and Mel. Martin vs RTE at the WRC podcast:https://www...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack The news keeps coming and it don't stop coming. In this member-only pod Martin explains in proper detail why even the highly paid broadcaster, Sarah McInerney is a victim of RTE’s rogue employment practices and then we look at the Leo Varadkar vs Keir Starmer, Kneecap situation, as well as some thoughts on the troubling US-Israel attacks on Iran and the devastating results of the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Liam Cunningham on Displaced in Gaza is out now:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-131053187 Donate to dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.co...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack “In 2015, while at home looking after our new baby, my wife received a letter from the Department of Social Protection telling her that she needed to attend a social welfare office to be photographed for a Public Services Card or have her child benefit payment cut off. As she did not want to drag an infant out to a government office she solved this problem the sensible way. She handed me the letter and said "Deal with that."” These are the opening lines of the latest Gist with friend of the shack, digital righ...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this PalCast, Yousef talks to Tony about the latest news and events in Gaza, the cost of famine, Israel funding a proxy militia and the hope that comes from even the seemingly failed people-led initiatives like the Freedom Flotilla and the Global March to Gaza. Liam Cunningham on Displaced in Gaza is out now:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-131053187 Donate to dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack It was a great pleasure to be rejoined in the shack by writer, commentator, activist and mammy, Elaine Crory. It’s just a pity that it was to discuss the (bullsh1t) “protect our women” race-riots that have taken place in Ballymena, Larne and in other parts of the North. Elaine breaks it down in her brilliant way and explains why this is something that goes beyond flags and into deprivation, inequality, poverty and a lack of leadership in the politics of these areas. Liam Cunningham on Displaced in Gaza is out now:https...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack On June 12th, 2025, people from around the world will participate in the Global March to Gaza, from Cairo to Rafah crossing marchtogaza.net, in an apolitical, peaceful, coordinated, civilian action, demanding immediate humanitarian intervention in Gaza. Joining us on the podcast are two of the remarkable people who are participating from Ireland, Maureen Almai and Geraldine Murphy. Please listen to hear why they are going, what is planned and how we can all help. Dr Michael Byrne and Rory Hearne on the new Housing Plan is out now here:https://www.patreon.com...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this very special PalCast, Yousef Aljamal, as part of his book tour is joined for the first time in-person ever by PalCast producer Tony Groves. They discuss the latest news from Gaza, the horrendously militaristic "humanitarian aid" program and the need for more action from civil society. The March to Gaza podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-131207390 Please support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this episode Martin is joined by RTE worker Maebh Keary and his workers rights comrade, Matt McGranaghan to discuss RTE's latest day in the Oireachtas. Whilst there seems to be media consensus that they emerged unscathed, Maebh, Matt and Martin pick out some of the most interesting moments and go a little deeper into what some statements actually mean for workers at RTE, the govts comfort levels with rogue employment practices and for the public purse. An exclusive interview with Liam Cunningham on Displacement in Gaza is here:https://www.patreon.com...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack On this episode we are joined in the tortoise shack by activist, podcaster and former US army veteran, Greg Stoker and actor and activist Liam Cunningham to talk Gaza, the military industrial complex, the freedom flotilla and the intersectionality between all struggles for human rights and freedom. We also discuss international law, the occupied territories bill and more. The Yousef Aljamal in Belfast podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-130618100 The Frances Black podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-130406374 Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this echo chamber pod Martin and Tony are joined by Madrid-based journalist Eoghan Gilmartin to discuss the huge power blackout in Spain, how it’s been weaponised by the far right, what impact it and similar events are having on politics and ask if the last lefty leader standing, Pedro Sanchez, can navigate his government through it all. Check out Eoghan's podcast Sobremesa here:https://open.spotify.com/show/7ogRBLVUKaIUahKnlbkJsz The Liam Cunningham podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-129443800 Donate to Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.pa...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this PalCast hosts Yousef and Helena are joined by producer Tony to talk about the cruel and disastrous "aid plan", the ongoing genocide, the change in rhetoric from some western leaders and why even in a week of unbearably devastating news there are some reasons to feel hope. Music at the end is a new song by recent Sparks Will Fly guest Tadgh Conroy. Donate to Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Alexa Moore is the Policy Campaigns and Communications Manager at the Rainbow Project in Northern Ireland. She's also an LGBTQ activist and a formidable Trans woman. She joins us to talk about Trans Rights on the island of Ireland, the UK Supreme Court decision, the turbulent politics of this time and why Brexit is actually a good thing for LGBTQ people in the North. Exclusive RTE Media Committee Podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-130160241 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack US-based Dr. Feroze Sidhwa has travelled to Gaza over the course of the ongoing Genoide to heal the wounds of many, many Palestinians. As a trauma surgeon, he has witnessed many multi-fatality events, including the bombing of the surgery department of the Nasser Hospital and an airstrike that killed a patient, a young boy, whom he saved only a few days earlier. He joins this PalCast episode to speak of why he went to Gaza, what he saw there, the US's complicity and the strength of the Palestinian people who he worked alongside. ...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Lexi Alexander is the daughter of a Palestinian father and German mother; she is also a former World Kickboxing Champion and close-quarter-combat instructor, who worked her way up from stunt woman to Oscar-nominated director. In fact you've probably watched a few episodes of that kickass show that she directed. (Tony was a big Arrow fan) But when the genocide in Gaza continued and barely any of her peers spoke out, she decided to walk away from Hollywood and move to Ireland. So you know we had to chat with her and this is...

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this Reboot Republic Rory & Tony talk to the incredible young Gazan journalist Abubaker Abed about his journey from Gaza to Ireland, the importance of solidarity and speaking up, the daily reality of surviving a genocide, and what Ireland can do to show a common humanity when the world turns its backs on the Holocaust of the 21st Century. Liam Cunningham on Gaza and the cost of speaking out:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-129443800 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack You asked us to look closer at the Trade Union movement in Ireland, so consider this an opening conversation with two Union stalwarts, Scott Miller and Paddy Cole, who are also two of the main organisers of the Tressell Festival. Some mild disagreements. Talk soon again, lads. Limited tickets:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-robert-tressell-festival-2025-tickets-1270717663739 Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641 The Abubaker Abed podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-129356565

Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack In this podcast we are joined from Gaza by teacher, storyteller and mother, Banyas Abu Harab, who focuses on educating, comforting and inspiring young learners in Gaza, even as the bomb blasts are audible above her voice. This is a very different insight into the reality of the ongoing Genocide in Gaza. Thank you, Banyas Donate to Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/dignity-for-129326641 The Abubaker Abed podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-129356565 English Translation of the story Banyas tells in Arabic below The Woodcutter and...