The Echo Chamber from Tortoise Shack

In this Reboot Republic Rory talks to Sean Keyes, financial journalist with the Currency and equity research advisor about the housing crisis, investor funds, neoliberalism, the market and what ways forward to solve the housing crisis.

Sean is @Keyes

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In this episode, Rosie talks with Eilís Ward, formerly of the Department of Political Science and Sociology at NUIG, about her book Self that was published by Cork University Press in 2021 as part of the Síreacht series. Eilís’s book critically analyses the pervasive influence of neoliberal ideas, and how they have reshaped our understandings of our selves and our relationships with others. Against neoliberalism’s privileging of individualism and competition, Eilís highlights alternative and more hopeful ways of looking at ‘self’ as proposed by Zen Buddhist philosophy and practice.

Eilís and Rosie discussed what motivated her to write the book; the burdens neoliberalism places on young people (in particular); the neoliberal self as competitive, autonomous, resilient, responsibilise, perfectible and positive; the trap of therapy culture; the Buddhist concepts of non-self (Anatta) and dependent origination and how they urge us to recognise our inter-relationships with others; what these concepts might contribute to a progressive politics; her experiences of researching Buddhist peace work in Cambodia; some of the misuses of mindfulness; and sources of hope and further learning.

We've seen or heard about the most egregious things occurring under China's Zero Covid policy, and while we have moved on to a Hope-For-The-Best policy, their lockdowns have brought many out on to the streets to protest.

One person who attended one of these protests in Shanghai, is Sligo man, Mickey. (I think the fact that we can't use his full name says plenty)

He tells us about life under lockdown, not been able to leave his building, the daily testing regime and of his friends and colleagues who are worn out and demanding a change of direction.

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Once again we are looking for your help in the run up to Christmas. This Wednesday, having skipped the pre-legislative scrutiny stage, the government will rush through a bill that will entirely change the appointments process for An Bord Pleanála Board members for the worse, and very seriously compromise the independence of the State’s top planning body.

The Minister is ultimately grant himself the power to talk and agree with himself on key issues around appointments to the board, planning, the environment and access to justice. We all know An Bord Pleanála was far from perfect, but this solution is an anti-democratic power grab.

Thanks again to Attract Uí Bhroin for joining us.

Please contact your TD and ask them to not do this without at least more scrutiny.

Contact them here:https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/

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In this episode, Niamh talks with Órla O’Donovan, senior lecturer at the Department of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. Órla is part of a collective working on a project called ‘Living Well with the Dead in Contemporary Ireland’. The project aims to develop new ways of thinking about, researching and responding to human remains, especially those that Órla and her colleagues have called ‘the disenfranchised dead’.

We discussed the genesis of the project, and its emergence at time of deep public disquiet over the discovery of the remains of children in Tuam Mother and Baby Home. We also chatted about the complicity of universities in the exploitative treatment of human remains.

The episode focuses particularly on Órla and her colleagues’ research on a collection of wax moulages housed in the storage facilities of UCC’s Heritage Services. Dating from the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, moulages were constructed from beeswax and other materials using plaster casts of diseased body parts of people living and dead. Typically regarded as inert teaching resources, Órla offers a radically different conceptualisation of their origins and ongoing significance, which draws on new materialist thinking - in particular the work of Donna Haraway - and on the ‘hauntological ethics’ of Jacques Derrida.

We also discussed the value of inter-disciplinary working and its potential to unsettle taken-for-granted disciplinary norms. For more information see Órla’s article Wax Moulages and the Pastpresence Work of the Dead. The interview features an extract from a performance that recreates an imaginary encounter between mouleur Jules Baretta, and a woman called Marie Etsy. The full recording is contained in the paper Sympathetic Vibrations: Sense-ability, Medical Performance, and Hearing Histories of Hurt – GPS (psi-web.org).

This week’s episode is a bit different, it’s a live recording of a show we did for the Ballymun Wellfest. In this episode we talk about mental health, how we handle our mental health and the importance of therapy for POCs. We are very honoured to be given a segment and we had a great time meeting everyone who were able to come and support us. Hopefully everyone enjoys this one!!!

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I watched the wonderful new film North Circular and was left with the sense that we've never had such a love letter written to the darkness that envelopes the road that runs through the spine of Dublin.

Joining me to talk about it is the films maker, Luke McManus. We discuss the themes of holding firm to ghosts of the past and welcoming in the shifts in culture. He explains how sport, activism, art and the bricks and mortar along the road shape the residents and the city. It's a beautiful communal film and you should go see it as soon as you can.

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Ed Spence is the nephew of Gusty Spence. In the late 1960s Ed, along with his father Billy, campaigned for the release of Gusty Spence who maintained his innocence against a murder charge.

When the Northern Ireland conflict began to escalate Ed and Billy started a Loyalist prisoners welfare association called The Orange Cross. In this episode of Shrapnel, Ed talks about the campaign to clear Gusty's murder charge and the issues facing loyalist prisoners in the early Troubles.

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Last week the UK's Supreme Court dealt a blow to those who are seeking Scottish independence. Our guest today, Prof Richard Murphy, outlines the judgement and why it's not quite the end of the road.

We also discuss the UK property market correction/crash, consumer spending deflation, Empires in decline and how car finance is a bellwether for the publics financial situation. A great listen.

Follow Richard @RichardJMurphy

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The Tanaiste has taken a lot of criticism for his comments about young people finding things just as bad should they emigrate. And deservedly so. But our guest today is Primary School Teacher, Podcaster and Cork man in Dublin, Padraig Wilson McCarthy, and he's part of the generation who are watching their ability to live a life less ordinary stifled by rents and inflation.

We talk about the impact the housing crisis is having on the ability of schools to recruit teachers, the stress of getting another notice to quit letter in the Dublin rental market, growing anti-LGBTQ attacks in the city, a life delayed, generation rent or emigration and the craic he has with his mammy.

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The Voice Note Podcast is available here:https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/episode-1-fancy-another-one/id1654487338?i=1000586098805