Actor, comedian, satirist and activist, Tadhg Hickey, has had a very big 2023. Whether it was a sold-out tour, viral sketches or appearances in some controversial places, he's still as he says himself, a work in progress.

In this podcast Tony and Tadhg talk about everything from Gaza to George Galloway and from recovery to helping others who have their own mental health struggles. I hope you enjoy listening to this chat as much as I did recording it.

Happy Christmas to all of you and sincere thanks for sticking with us through what has been the most challenging year since the tortoise shack became an accidental platform. Love to you all.

Tony

When (now former) founder of Circle CI, Paul Biggar wrote his blog "I can't sleep' about the Israeli "war" on Gaza, and the fear of many in the tech and venture capital industry to speak up, he knew it would have repercussions. But he did it anyway because he believed it was the right thing to do and that silence was a form of complicity.

He joins us from New York to explain his reason, the overwhelmingly positive (if sadly privately expressed) response he's received and the maybe worse than expected reaction of his peers in an industry where he has build startups valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The piece is available here:https://blog.paulbiggar.com/i-cant-sleep/

PalCast co-hosts Yousef Aljamal, Helena Cobban and Tony had a wonderful and uplifting discussion with Philip Farah, who is a member of the Christian Palestinian community and who lived in Jerusalem until the age of 27.

Philip still has family in Gaza, of whom some have been killed of during the current genocide, and his warmth for the land shines through. He recalls celebrating Christmas in Palestine, walking from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and visiting family in Gaza. He sang for us some of the songs he learnt from his mom, cracked some jokes and told us that baby Jesus would be under the rubble in Gaza today. While Christians across the world celebrate Christmas, they should remember Palestine that gave Christianity to the world and Gaza is home to one of the oldest churches in the world that is now sadly in ruins.

Tony Novosel is the author of 'Northern Ireland's Lost Opportunity: The Frustrated Promise of Political Loyalism' and has been a frequent visitor to NI since 1974. Over the years he has been recognised for his cross-community peace building work. In this episode he talks to the lads about the challenges facing progressive loyalism.

In this podcast Rory talks with Dr. Meg Ryan about our different emotional responses to the Genocide in Gaza, the psychology of the de-humanisation of the people of Palestine, finding ways to sustain ourselves through conversations, bearing witness, taking collective action, and why Psychologists in Ireland have come together to form Psychologists for Palestine. Dr. Meg Ryan is Assistant Professor in Global Health, and Director of the MSc in Global Mental Health in Trinity college and a practicing Chartered Counselling Psychologist.

You can find out more about Psychologists for Ireland here:

https://www.instagram.com/irishpsychologistsforpalestine

Note: This is a series of voice notes and you can hear the constant sound of the drones and the people who are displaced in the background.

Hi folks,

This is a very different podcast. Zak speaks about how he is still hearing nothing from the Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs, the death of his sister and the awful tragedy of what was a preventable death, his fear that death has become the norm and the very legitimate question of what would the international reaction be if Ireland prevented an Israeli citizen from returning home by detaining them in Ireland. "They buried her in an empty land." - This has to stop. 

Education has long been a top priority in Palestinian society and Gaza has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Sadly, and criminally, Israel’s war on Gaza has ruined the education system by targeting educational infrastructure. The three main universities were destroyed, hundreds of schools are reduced to rubble and hundreds of educators were killed, while over one million shelter at the remaining schools. Yousef Aljamal is joined by Helena Cobban and Tony Groves to talk to Ayman Qwaider, a Palestinian educator, based in Perth in Australia about the tragic loss of his family in Gaza and the impact that the genocide is having on the educational system. Teachers are heroes.

The Ditch have had a year. From exposing political corruption to getting smeared by the Tanaiste and that's before we get to the Paddy Cosgrave stuff. But there's no doubt they've shook up people who were complacent and upset some parts of legacy media that needed to be reminded of what they're supposed to be about.

Rejoining us for a wrap of the year are the now 3 Snr Hurlers, Roman Shortall, Eoghan McNeil and 'Big' Paulie Doyle. Questions asked and answered. Support them into 2024.

A short Martin and Tony podcast that went longer than short and is probably a bit too ranty...

We talk Ukraine feeling the cold from the U.S, COP's historic agreement as a historic failure, Gaza getting crumbs from the "aid" table, the far right still getting away with violence and more.

In our recent podcast with researcher on global politics and online subcultures, Josh Molloy, we mentioned that longtime listeners would remember him as the fella who had fought alongside the Kurdish military against ISIS in Iraq.

I got loads of messages asking if the original interview was still available. It wasn't. So I dug it out of the archive. So lets go all the way back to Ep.66 and that first chat with Josh. This is just for you guys. Thanks for all your support.