

The Echo Chamber from Tortoise Shack
Tortoise Shack Media
Ireland’s original independent left leaning news, politics, and culture podcast that doesn’t take itself too seriously and still punches well above its weight. Join critically acclaimed & derided hosts, Martin McMahon and Tony Groves as they delve into the news of the day, pull apart the spin and challenge you to be an activist. This is the non-corporate, ad free, non-plastic-podcast reality that the medium is made for. There will be shenanigans!
Episodes
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Dec 13, 2025 • 0sec
Gaza Floods as the Genocide Continues
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
In this PalCast, Yousef talks with Tony about the most recent events in Gaza, including the devastating floods, what's happening in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and how the aid situation is nowhere near where it needs to be. They outline the differences between the reality on the ground and the ridiculous narrative that the ceasefire is holding.
The Colin Harvey - United Ireland Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-145049560
The Leilani Farha Podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-144371201
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Dec 11, 2025 • 0sec
Derelict Ireland – Awareness is Not Enough
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Jude Sherry and Frank O'Connor are the driving forces behind the #DerelictIreland movement. They’ve been working relentlessly for years to bust the myths and political narratives that say that getting vacant or derelict properties back into use as homes is too complex and costly and , despite many hurdles, they are winning. Their recent appearance at the Oireachtas shows that.
So it was a real pleasure to be rejoined by them both, and in-person, for a deep-dive into their work, art, advocacy and even the cost to them professionally for not giving up.
The Colin Harvey - United Ireland Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-145049560
Conor McCabe breaks down the Irish economic "miracle" podcast:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-145126732
The Leilani Farha Podcast is here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-144371201
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Dec 5, 2025 • 0sec
Antisocial Neoliberalism or Housing and Hope?
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Prof Richard Murphy is back and he's not pulling any punches. We talk the UK's self-sanctioning budget, the Labour-becoming-the-Tories, but somehow worse, the fight between Zack Polanski's Populist Ecosocialist Green Party and Nigel Farage's Populist Far Right Reform Party and heck, even Gramsci gets a mention!
The Conor McCabe Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-145126732
The Christy Moore Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/135485064?collection=1509929
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Dec 3, 2025 • 0sec
Cows for Cars
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
A short podcast with MEP for Dublin, Lynn Boylan, on the return (again!) of CETA, the Governments insane push for unconstitutional investor courts, Mercosur's hormone enhanced cows for German cars and how to react to the EPP and Fine Gael joining with the far right in the EU.
The Leilani Farha Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-144371201
The Christy Moore Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/135485064?collection=1509929
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Dec 2, 2025 • 0sec
Balsam eases the pain
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Eva Abu Mariam is a 20 year-old woman from Gaza studying dentistry at Al-Azhar University–Gaza, who is involved deeply in community work in the field in Gaza. She joins us from her family home after 25 months of displacement, famine and tragedy. Please watch this podcast. Yes, the subject matter is heavy. But her spirit is indomitable.
Her poem that we discuss ‘Balsam’ is available here:https://illuminatedcities.org/poems/eva/balsam
The Leilani Farha Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-144371201
The Christy Moore Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/135485064?collection=1509929
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Nov 29, 2025 • 0sec
Thrown Under the EU’s Omnibus
Senator Patricia Stephenson, an advocate for workers' and human rights, teams up with Dr. Ciarán O'Carroll, a climate and industrial policy expert. They discuss the alarming role of far-right politics in dismantling EU protections for the environment and workers. Both highlight the personal dangers of weakened data privacy laws, recalling scandals like Cambridge Analytica. They also explore how a revitalized social contract could address economic injustices and connect immigration debates with broader issues of inequality.

Nov 27, 2025 • 38min
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is a 15-year old sophomore currently residing in Gaza. He came to global attention as the narrator of the award winning documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a War-zone." The BBC later pulled the documentary because of his fathers job in the Dept of Agriculture in Gaza. He talks about the documentary, the "controversy", his experience during the genocide, the impact hunger has had on his teenage development and his commendable plans for the future. Tune in for the full story.
The Leilani Farha Podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-144371201
The Christy Moor Podcast here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/135485064?collection=1509929
Support Dignity for Palestine here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Nov 25, 2025 • 55min
I Hate To Say I Told You So!
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Journalist, writer and our man in Stockholm, Philip O’Connor is back and he had a lot to say. We talk the shift in rhetoric around immigration policy by senior politicians, what the Ivan Yates controversy actually says about our media, the chances of Left Unity beyond the Connolly campaign and some reasons to be optimistic. There are some!
Listen to Richard Boyd Barrett here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-143926042
Support Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542

Nov 23, 2025 • 40min
‘Keir Starmer’s on his way out. Does it even matter?’ with John Harris
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Award winning Columnist with the Guardian, and host of their Politics Weekly podcast, John Harris, rejoined me in advance of the Budget to talk Labour’s lurch to Farage framing, the lack of a plan to improve the lives of ordinary people and the rise and rise of the Greens under Zack Polanski.
The Bernadette Devlin Podcast is out now here:
Richard Boyd-Barrett is here:
Donate to Dignity for Palestine here:

Nov 21, 2025 • 36min
The Seven Stages of Housing Crisis Grief
Please join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack
Fresh from her dalliance with another podcast that I try not to listen to, but sometimes do, is returning champion, UCD's Orla Hegarty. She gives us a great breakdown of where the newest housing plan breaks down, talks cheese sandwiches and procurement, true affordability and even a little Charles Stewart Parnell. Enjoy.
The Bernadette Devlin podcast is out now here:https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-exclusive-143788781
Support Dignity for Palestine:https://www.patreon.com/posts/call-to-stand-143037542


