The Echo Chamber from Tortoise Shack

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For the last few years our guest, Audiologist, Frank McGrath, has joined us to discuss a condition that effects over 400k people in Ireland, Tinnitus. And every year someone listens to it and tells us that they or someone close to them took the advice, had a consultation and have seen an improvement in what is literally a pain in the ear.

So here again for National Tinnitus Week is our friend, fellow audio nerd and all round good guy, Frank McGrath.

Visit https://www.ishaa.ie/ for more.

The latest Podcasts for Palestine with Dr Meg Ryan and Martin Leahy:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97823662

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Note: This is a paywall-free version of our regular member-only Sunday Show.

We've watched as polling around immigration has continued to make headlines and be used (and misused) by bad faith actors to advance certain narratives. So naturally we went back to our favourite poll-analyst, Mr Irish Election Projections, Harry McEvansoneya. We are also joined by the man behind the questions that sparked some controversy, Ireland Thinks' own Kevin Cunningham. We get into it all. Sincere thanks to Kevin for joining us at short notice. (Poll Discussion starts about min 22)

In the first half of the podcast we discuss some of the news of the week, including Tom Clonan vs Stephen Donnelly, Cost Rental that is not Cost Rental, the push for poverty wages, Cork watch and a historic day for Michelle O'Neill and Northern Ireland.

The Luke Ming Flanagan interview is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97063426

Read Harry's analysis here:https://irishelectionprojections.com/2024/02/02/january-2024-projections-update/,

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Israel is waging a war against UNRWA to defund it amidst genocide. The world watches as Palestinians are starved in Gaza, and does nothing enough to help people there, not as fast as some western countries rushed to defund UNRWA. China, Belgium, Ireland and Spain and other countries call for supporting the UN agency in the face of a campaign that aims to eradicate it. Here we stand watching more regional developments as Houthis continue to blockade the Red Sea and the UK and the US continue to target them. The Biden administration is trying to convince Arab Americans to vote for them again but this does not seem to be the case. Yousef Aljamal, Helena Cobban, and Tony Groves bring Gaza to the discussion in light of global politics.

Stay tuned for an amazing live performance by Ara, Aziz and the Accidental Rapper as part of Podcasts for Palestine at the Sugar Club.

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CW: Contains subjects that listeners may find upsetting - But I'd urge you to listen.

About halfway through the Podcasts for Palestine show, Mazen Hania, mentioned that his friend, Baraa Al Bayary, who was in audience, wanted to say a few words. We of course obliged. So this podcast wasn't planned or rehearsed; it was simply Baraa telling his story to a room of people who felt every word.

Please listen, please tell people about Baraa and remember that behind the howls about "unvetted men" are people like him. Wonderful people. Baraa's story begins at about 15 minutes.

Also this podcast plays out with a stunning performance of 'It's Ok' by the incredibly talented Ciarán Moran that he played on the night. Tears flowed.

Translations by Aziz Abusharkh

Editors note: Baraa swam from Turkey to Kos in Greece.

For more from the Podcasts for Palestine live show click on:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97471772

More from Ciarán Moran @caiaranmoranmusic

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In Ireland we are constantly hearing about people having to fight and scrap for services and supports that a Government advertising campaign is telling us are only a few clicks away. Luckily, when it comes to their kids, many families have found that the best support is other families who are in the same boat or have been down the same paths. Joining us to talk about that united front are the wonderful Rachel and Faye of https://www.fussireland.com/

FUSS stands for Families Unite for Services and Support. They state that "for too long , services for our disabled and neurodivergent children/young people have been grossly underfunded and neglected. Every child deserves timely access to assessment, interventions and appropriate educational settings." Amen!

Parts 1 and 2 of the amazing Live Podcasts for Palestine are out now:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97482904

In this episode Rosie talks with Emma Dolan, a lecturer in Peace and Development Studies at the University of Limerick. Their conversation centres on Emma’s fascinating book ‘Gender and Political Apology: When the patriarchal state says “sorry”’ which was published by Routledge in 2022. The period since the 1990s has been characterised as the ‘age of apology’, reflecting the frequency and prominence of political apologies internationally. This is something we’ve witnessed in Ireland too through, for example the Taoiseach’s statement on Mother and Baby Homes in 2021 and UK PM David Cameron’s 2010 apology for Bloody Sunday. In the interview, Emma considers the diverse forms that political apologies can take and how complex or controversial they can become. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler and other feminist scholars, she explains how apologies are ‘performative’ ‘excitable’ and ‘gendered’, and why victims of violence or social harms can experience state apologies in contradictory and even troubling ways.

This is borne out in two case studies that Emma has researched in detail: the Japanese Government’s apologies for the treatment and sexual abuse of Korean ‘Comfort Women’ during World War 2; and official US responses to the infamous photos of US Military Police’s sexualised violence against detainees in Abu Ghraib prison during the occupation of Iraq. Emma weighs up the political value of state apologies for activists in Ireland and beyond who are seeking redress for injustices. And the interview closes with some reflections on her ongoing research into the politics and practices of commemoration and representation in relation to the British military.

Múscailt is a tortoise shack production. Support independent media at patreon.com/tortoiseshack

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Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/podcasts-for-palestine-tickets-782538141647

The current UK government seem to rely on an unforeseen f@ck up coming along in order to distract the public from the latest unforeseen f'ck up. But what is the alternative? Our guest, listener-favourite, Prof Richard Murphy, recently wrote 'Five reasons to reject Keir Starmer’s Labour at a General Election' so you know we had to have him back on the pod

As usual with Richard we get stuck into UK politics, the economic outlook and dive-deep in an effort to find some hope for what is or may be to come. Is 2024 the year where something new is born or are we sleep walking into weakening democracy?

The Luke Ming Flanagan interview is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97063426

Tickets for the Live Show:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/podcasts-for-palestine-tickets-782538141647

As the Israeli military advances towards Khan Younis, they are taking more losses, with 24 army personnel killed in one day. Meanwhile over 150 Palestinians were killed last night, including displaced Palestinians in the south and those who had their tents and caravans crushed.

Israeli politicians are causing more embarrassment to the EU by declaring a plan to build an artificial island for Palestinians and Netnatyahu is as clear as crystal, despite Joe Biden's comments, on not having a Palestinian state. All the while, starvation is spreading in the north of Gaza, with Palestinians eating animal food as the entire costal enclave is suffering from a blackout again. Yousef Aljamal, Helena Cobban and Tony Groves talk about this and more.

The Podcast with MEP Luke Ming Flanagan is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-97063426

Tickets:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/podcasts-for-palestine-tickets-782538141647

In this first podcast of 2024, Rory talks with Louisa Santoro, CEO of Mendicity (Ireland's oldest charity), about the homelessness crisis affecting people living in Ireland and newly arrived asylum seekers, and the lack of a whole of Government response. They discuss the real causes of homelessness being in the lack of social and affordable housing. They ask why record levels of homelessness are still not treated as an emergency by the Government? They also delve into the mental health impacts of being in homelessness, and the work being done by Mendicity empowering those in homelessness through supporting services and social enterprise.

To find out more about Mendicity: Home - Mendicity

Sign the Gaffs4All Petition: #Gaffs4All | Uplift

Join CATU- the community and tenants union

If you missed the investor funds live podcast it is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-96782556

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Tickets for Podcasts for Palestine:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/podcasts-for-palestine-tickets-782538141647

You always have to read beyond the headline. But you especially have to go further when it comes to the reports that "Ireland had no excess deaths" during the Covid pandemic.

Rejoining us to make sense of the data and give an expert opinion is Prof of Public Health, Anthony Staines. We also discuss the need for a serious inquiry into Ireland's handling of Covid so learnings can be made.

Couple of key things: Covid is still dangerous. Long Covid is causing economic and social problems. We held together during the pandemic, but the political and societal polarisation is worse now.

The Reboot Investor Fund Special is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-96782556