Rebel Matters Podcast

Today's episode, the 92nd in the series, coincides with International Women's Day. To mark the occasion we are joined by life-long civil rights activist Bernadette McAliskey and her daughter Deirdre McAliskey.

Bernadette discussed the work she is currently undertaking with the South Tyrone Empowerment Program (STEP), her tour of America in 1969, the new generation in Ireland, and the local and lesser-known women who put their bodies on the line during the war, yet given little space in official accounts of the struggle. Deirdre discussed seeing the events of the time through a child's eyes, the experience of visiting South Africa alongside her mother in 2011, and her current work at the National Children's Bureau. This is a unique conversation with Bernadette and Deirdre about community organising, béaloideas, women's work, solidarity, childhood experiences & childrearing. It is an episode about family, home, and learning to dig where you stand. We hope you enjoy it.

We're so pleased to get to speak with the relentlessly prolific underground Irish hip-hop artist and producer Craic Boi Mental. As well as being one half of Whip Mental (his project with his wife, Whip Girl), Craic Boi has released countless tapes, tracks and music videos under a multitude of distinctive hip-hop aliases such as Oscar Benso, Yung Gowl, Dudewithswag, Mili$, and King Flora. Humour, hooks and vibes abound! Craic Boi also pioneered the $quick movement, a supportive community platform for underground and uncategorisable rural-based artists in Ireland.

Craic Boi Mental talks to Rebel Matters about being diagnosed with autism in his late teens, his personal creative process, and how to deal with the haters. Dismissed and rejected for years by national mainstream music circles for being too outside the box, even the Gardaí couldn't hold Craic Boi Mental back. Despite existing on the fringes of Irish hip-hop for years, Craic Boi has always had a devoted international online cult following. Now he is thriving and surviving in deep West Cork, trying to find a balance in life as an autistic activist, a hit-maker, a G, and a champion for neurodiverse people everywhere. Ferociously DIY and never afraid to call out ableism and misogyny in the scene, Craic Boi's constant musical evolution stretches back from those early diss track days, to a personal hip-hop that is far more conscious, critical and vulnerable. It's high time we caught up with this enigma, to see what he might do next!

We are very proud to be part of #DouglassWeek, the weeklong, wide-ranging celebration of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass's visit to Ireland over 175 years ago. For this episode, we speak with historian Laurence Fenton, the author of Frederick Douglass in Ireland: 'The Black O'Connell' and 'I Was Transformed' Frederick Douglass: An American Slave in Victorian Britain.

#DouglassWeek runs between 8-14 February, 2021 and is an all-island, collaborative event series that celebrates the arrival of Frederick Douglass in Ireland between 1845-1846. Douglass had been born into slavery but escaped bondage on a plantation in Maryland by fleeing to the North, where he became a prominent anti-slavery activist. Douglass lectured to large and enthusiastic audiences in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, met with Daniel O'Connell, and reflected upon the devastating effects of the famine then beginning to sweep the nation.

Laurence talks us through Douglass' life, and that memorable Irish visit.

For full #DouglassWeek programme information and resources, see www.douglassincork.com

This week's episode is with artist, actor, peace activist, playwright and pirate radio queen, Margaretta D'Arcy. Margaretta has campaigned for decades on issues related to global peace and civil liberties. In 2014, Margaretta, then aged 80, served two prison sentences resulting from her opposition to the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.

Over the years, her activism has taken many forms. She was a member of Bertrand Russell's Committee of 100 group. She participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, and took part in the H-Block women's protests in Armagh. Broadcasting from her kitchen in Galway, she operated a long-running women's pirate radio station, which served to give a platform to lesser-heard and marginalised voices in the community.

She wrote and devised a large body of 'Loose' theatre, often working in collaboration with her late-partner, the radical playwright John Arden. Together, they created the much-celebrated The Non-Stop Connolly Show, the story of James Connolly told in six parts over 24 hours.

In this episode of the podcast, Margaretta talks to us about how she was arrested during a peaceful demonstration in Belfast on International Women's Day 1979, which lead to her taking part in the no-wash protests in Armagh Gaol. She describes the brutality and humiliation of invasive strip searches by male prison guards on women prisoners, and asks questions of whether women are given their proper dues when it comes to acknowledging the place of profound feminist resistance within our complex history of revolutionary struggle.

We look at artistic censorship, political complacency, our complicity in war, and our inability to empathise with strangers in other lands. Is imagination enough to fight back against neoliberal Ireland? And just how is Margaretta D'Arcy still finding ways to resist during these lockdown times?

Investigate this hideous din.

We welcome Ian Lynch as our first Rebel Matters guest of 2021! Many listeners will know Ian from the acclaimed folk group Lankum, and more recently from his podcast Fire Draw Near, a monthly show which investigates Irish traditional music and song in all of its myriad forms.

Try on the boots.

Ian opens up about an unseen aspect of being in a regularly gigging band, giving us a sense of the havoc that a heavy touring schedule can wreak on the body and mind. Just what has he been doing with all this free time, now that gigging is off the cards for the foreseeable future?

Check the wall for secret passages.

We went down a pretty unconventional path with this episode, discussing the fantastical world of Fighting Fantasy role-playing gamebooks that Ian has been a fan of since he was eight years old. We even played a bit of one of them during the episode! We talk about the role that mythologies play in helping people make sense of the world and their place in it. Listen in to hear more about the sub-underground genre of music that Ian has recently been exploring in a solo guise!

Check the tools more carefully.

Ian also speaks about the stark difference for artists between music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp, and we share our experiences of making connections with others through Patreon.

You'll need stamina, luck and skill to make it through this episode. Good luck!

This weeks show is a solo run episode with Ainle taking a news year's look at health. A kind of crossover episode encompassing Ainle's professional experience of over 15 years in the strength and conditioning field, personal thoughts on the health and fitness industry and how it often serves to exaggerate our insecurities for the benefit of selling us more rubbish, and some practical suggestions on wholesome exercise, nutrition, and self-care.

In this episode, I talk to Kate McGrew (also known as Lady Grew) about sex work in Ireland and SWAI, the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland. SWAI is an organisation that works with sex workers for better access to rights, health and justice in Ireland. SWAI believes sex workers themselves should be at the centre of the development of policy which directly impacts upon their lives.

We spoke about Kate's own background as a performer, how she went from working as a Greenpeace 'chugger' to working in a house of domination in New York, before eventually settling here in Ireland and getting involved in SWAI. Kate talks about the laws that surround sex work here in Ireland, and explains how this year has drastically affected sex workers in Ireland - from the complete lack of support from the state with regards to emergency payment, to the realities of workers who were forced to risk their health by going back to work during the pandemic. (SWAI crowdfunded during this emergency, to help workers with small payments to help flatten the curve and to cushion the financial blow of lockdown for sex workers.)

As I mention in the intro to this episode, I went into this conversation a little bit blind, not knowing a whole lot about the sex work industry in Ireland or how the current laws and behaviour of the Gardaí leave workers vulnerable and put them in real danger. Talking with Kate was a real eye-opener, and she left me with a lot to think about.

Find out more about SWAI here: https://sexworkersallianceireland.org

Stevie G is a DJ, radio presenter, a producer, a promoter and a youth worker who, for the past number of years, has been helping to nurture and amplify the creative expressions of Cork's young migrant communities.

Many people will be familiar with Stevie from his long-running show on Cork's RedFM and from spinning records in clubs all over. He started out DJing back in the early 90's at many legendary club nights and is a generous and respected figure in the Cork arts community, using his wide platform to help, encourage and open doors for the next generation.

We talked about the legendary Sir Henry's nightclub in Cork and why it's important not to wallow in nostalgia, we learn how Stevie got deep into music in the first place (did you know that Stevie G was originally a punk?) and we talk about the various projects Stevie is involved in, including the dynamic and important Cork Migrant Centre Youth project. As often happens during Rebel Matters chats, we delved into some of the current issues facing our society and the wider community today, and Stevie outlines why there needs to be a necessary shake-up of festival programming here in Ireland, in a post-pandemic future.

This week's guest is Virginia O' Gara who co-founded the vegan food company My Goodness in Cork in 2014. We chatted about the Food Not Bombs movement, how Virginia learned Spanish from guerrilla fighters in Guatemala, the intersection of business and revolutionary politics, and the Cork Urban Soil Project. It was recorded in the social space of ACLAÍ in Cork while sipping on some lovely My Goodness kombucha.

This weeks episode is a solo run with Ainle and is the first show in 5 weeks on account of a family bereavement. Ainle chats about a few aspects of his experience over the last month or so including thoughts about acceptance, meditation, and the importance of community.