The Shrapnel Podcast

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CW: Topics that some listeners may find upsetting. Editors note: We had an issue with Sam's mic, but this is an important conversation. Please listen.

In this episode the lads chatted to Alex Bunting, Group Director of Care & Support (Mental Health & Addiction Services) at Inspire. Alex talked about his passion for helping people with addiction and mental health issues and the need to address the long-term impact of the Troubles on divided communities in Belfast. We chatted about the "psychological terror" and feeling of being unsafe, and what people lived with during the conflict and Alex's experience of his own father being seriously injured in an IRA bomb.

If you want to find out more about the work of Inspire: https://www.inspirewellbeing.org/

If you are in distress and need help with any of the issues raised in this episode: https://www.lifelinehelpline.info/

Latest Shrapnel with Rev Chris Hudson: https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-156421373

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In this episode of Shrapnel Sam and Gareth were joined by community worker and host of the Made to Parade podcast, Glenn Millar.

They chatted about the band scene, its evolution, traditions, and work in the community especially around mental health. Glenn discussed the impact of oral history and preserving the legacy for generations to come.

Shrapnel is hosted by Gareth and Sam and produced by Tony Groves @ the tortoise shack

In this episode of the Shrapnel Podcast, hosts Sam and Gareth discuss their return after a long hiatus due to personal challenges, including Gareth's loss of both parents. They reflect on the stagnation of societal and political issues in 2025, the importance of legacy discussions, and the hope and need for future dialogue. The lads talk resilience, the soapbox and the value of revisiting oral histories from the past.

Next Episode with Glenn Millar -Made to Parade is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-151665617

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In this episode we welcome back friend of the pod, researcher and writer Iain Turner. Iain chatted to the lads about progress on his book which is an authoritative history of the UVF; we talked about the Dublin & Monaghan bombings 50 years on; the difficulty of obtaining records for research; the NIO public history project; loyalist paramilitaries and truth recovery and a whole lot more.

The latest Shrapnel Fragments Special Episode is out now here:

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The lads did their second live show as part of the Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics at Belfast's Crescent Arts Centre.

We were joined by a panel of three previous guests representing alternative voices from within the broad spectrum of loyalism.

Beano Niblock is a former loyalist prisoner and the writer of the acclaimed play The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary (2023) about the life of his former comrade David Ervine. Niblock is a vocal advocate for loyalist storytelling and the power of arts as means of communicating historical experience.

Emma Shaw is the founder and CEO of the Phoenix Education Centre, a profit for purpose community interest company in East Belfast that nurtures community self-help and promotes strategies to tackle low educational attainment and barriers to the workforce.

David Adams is a former spokesperson and councillor for the UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party who was heavily involved in negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement. Having experienced what he described as a ‘messy divorce’ from loyalism in the mid-00s, he has spoken openly about the need to have informed conversations about reconciliation as a priority in any debates over the constitution.

The Shamim Malekmian immigration reporting interview is out now here:

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Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack

The lads did their second live show as part of the Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics at Belfast's Crescent Arts Centre.

We were joined by a panel of three previous guests representing alternative voices from within the broad spectrum of loyalism.

Beano Niblock is a former loyalist prisoner and the writer of the acclaimed play The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary (2023) about the life of his former comrade David Ervine. Niblock is a vocal advocate for loyalist storytelling and the power of arts as means of communicating historical experience.

Emma Shaw is the founder and CEO of the Phoenix Education Centre, a profit for purpose community interest company in East Belfast that nurtures community self-help and promotes strategies to tackle low educational attainment and barriers to the workforce.

David Adams is a former spokesperson and councillor for the UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party who was heavily involved in negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement. Having experienced what he described as a ‘messy divorce’ from loyalism in the mid-00s, he has spoken openly about the need to have informed conversations about reconciliation as a priority in any debates over the constitution.

The latest Fresh Batch is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-101021413

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We were delighted to be joined by author and academic Paul Burgess for our inaugural live show.

Paul discussed his new book Wild Colonial Boys (Manchester University Press) - a revealing and no holds barred autobiography charting his early life growing up in loyalist north and west Belfast, his passion for class politics and music and his ascent to fame with Ruefrex.

The Working Class Activism in Academia Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-98820246

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Please support us in 2024 by clicking: patreon.com/tortoiseshack

Welcome to our end of 2023 special. In this episode the lads chatted to two former guests: one from series 1 and another from series 2. Eddie Kinner is a former UVF prisoner, who became an important figure in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement on behalf of the PUP. Davy Adams is a former UDA member, who as a contemporary of Kinner's in the 1990s was heavily involved in negotiating the Agreement on behalf of the UDP. Eddie and Davy chatted with the lads about 2023, the challenges facing unionism and loyalism and the need for proper reconciliation to be embedded in NI.

There's also a few other voices at the start. Happy New Year!

The Climate Wrap of 2023 podcast is out now:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-94993349

Note: We had some bad weather during recording and it did impact the connection.

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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.

How better public services is the antidote to the far right podcast with Prof Catherine De Vries is out now here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-94992075

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Ed Moloney is one of Ireland's most famous journalists and the author of a number of books about the conflict in Northern Ireland. In this episode he talks to the lads about legacy and reconciliation, oral history, notable characters that he has met over the years, what it was like reporting on subjects such as Kincora and how he avoided assassination by the UDA after a dirty tricks campaign against him in the early 1980's.

The Ditch wrap of 2023 podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-94831589