This week we were 6 years old. That's about 137 in podcast years. So before we get into what we got into I just want to say thank you to you all. We really wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!

By way of a thank you I have 4 pairs of tickets for the Sugar Club on Thursday 28th available now here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tortoise-shack-live-tickets-698299581847?aff=erelexpmlt Max 2 per member

Enter Promo Code 6YEARSOLD

And in this weeks for-you-guys-only podcast we talk Election Campaigning, Greens wins in Govt, Ukraine and Elon Musk, Go Home British Transphobes, Mary Lou's return and Tim Scott's girlfriend...

This week RTE went back into the Oireachtas to answer more questions about the malfeasance and dodgy work practices that have plagued them and broken the trust many people had for the national broadcaster. 

Martin sat down with musician Matt McGranaghan, who is himself in a dispute about his employment status, to discuss what was said, what was misrepresented and what it means for RTE, its workers and the publics confidence in this "new broom" era.  

Eilish Rooney is Emeritus Scholar in the School of Applied & Social Policy Sciences and at the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) in the School of Law at Ulster University. As an academic and social activist from Ballymurphy, West Belfast her pioneering work at University of Ulster on the Transitional Justice Grassroots Toolkit and cross-community dialogue has garnered respect across the sectarian fault lines of Belfast and further afield. 

In this episode Eilish talks to the lads about her experiences of the developing feminist movement at the advent of the Troubles, the profound effect that the Ballymurphy Massacre and the recent inquest had on her community and her own creativity and the importance of advocating and articulating your social and political point of view in a way that does not diminish others.

Lough Neagh is one of the largest lakes in Europe and provides 43% of the drinking water for Northern Ireland. Yet it is in such a terrible state ecologically that wildlife are dying from drinking from it. So what gives?

We spoke to journalist Tommy Greene, who covered this slowly unfolding disaster before it became BIG news. He tells us about the strange ownership structure of the lough, the reasons it's inhospitable to life and the need for joined up thinking to fix it. There are, as we discover, two types of chicken shit; one that infects the water and one that sits in our parliaments. 

John Barry is Professor of Green Political Economy at Queen's University Belfast School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics. In this episode of Shrapnel the lads talk to John about his research on loyalism, encouraging self-discovery and organic intellectualism, agonism, Britishness in a new Ireland and generous majorities.

Joining us in the tortoise shack is Sinn Féin TD and his party's spokesperson for Mental Health, Mark Ward. We discuss his accidental route into politics, his treatment for MS, what he believes can be done now to improve access to mental health services and what he thinks Sinn Féin would do if they were in government. 

In this Reboot Republic, Rory talks with Gráinne Loughran, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer with Alone, the national older person's charity, about the housing crisis facing over 60s in Ireland. The Census showed an 83% increase in numbers of renters over 65 - who face into homelessness if they are evicted. We discuss the hidden housing crisis facing older people and the impact on their health of housing insecurity, substandard housing, homelessness and the impact on self esteem and mental health facing retirement with no home of your own.

If you're listening to this now and aren't a member, please have a look around. There's nearly 1,400 podcasts and lots of extras available right now. It's the easiest bit of activism you can do!

4 new constituencies and the creation of some place called Fingal? Joining us to nerd out on the Electoral Commissions recommendations are Mr Election Projections, Harry McEvansoneya and the fella behind Ireland Thinks, Kevin Cunningham. We go into it all, winners, losers, the safe seats getting safer, the conservative increases, Wexilow's destruction of Greystones, the tokenism risks and reuniting Tallaght.

Political Nerds, Assemble!

Note: This is the patron-extended version of the podcast that contains the listener Q&A in the last 20 minutes

Beano Niblock is a playwright, poet and former loyalist prisoner. His current play, The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary, charts the life of former PUP leader the late David Ervine. In this episode of Shrapnel Beano talks to the lads about how he came to write the play, what his friendship with David was like and the way in which former loyalist prisoners are reticent to tell their side of the story.

The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary is written by Beano Niblock and directed by Matthew McElhinney. It is on in the Lyric Theatre, Belfast from 29 Aug - 10 Sept and then goes on tour across NI. The play is produced by Green Shoot Productions.

Tickets available at: https://lyrictheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-man-who-swallowed-a-dictionary

Settle in for a long but very good one. The Irish-Russian Denver Colorado based Prof of Economics, Constantin returns for a chat about Housing and the Banks.

But because it's Constantin and us it goes a lot broader than that. We talk climate change playing out in front of our eyes, NAMA 2.0, Bidenomics and the Presidential 2nd place nominee competition, his local Trumpometer and the media revisionist history commentary following Putin's killing of Yevgeni Prigozhin.