The Clear Lens Podcast

The Clear Lens Episode 8: Reconnecting to the land through colour and Textiles

Malú Colorín's work connects people to the land through colour.
As a natural dyer, she uses plants and nature to transfer colour.
In doing so, she uses colour as a catalyst to remember her connection to the land.
She helps others to do the same through her workshops. She's building networks across Ireland to revive and rejuvenate a textile system based on local fibre, local dyes and local labour.
If you listened to my chat with Dr Rupa Marya and her food-as-medicine pilot project in Ireland, you'll recognise a recurring theme of remembering the value of local production and how they are built on the principle of care and not exploitation.
It's profoundly beautiful that Malú, a Mexican woman, and Rupa, an America woman of Indian lineage, are helping Irish people to shake off the scars of colonialism and remember our connection to - and trust in - the land.
I see both women as healers, helping Ireland to heal from the wounds of colonialism by building new and better systems built on care.

The Clear Lens Episode 7: In Defence of Irish Neutrality

This is the first live recording of The Clear Lens podcast with Head of The Transnational Institute Peace and Pacification Programme, Niamh Ni Bhriain. 
We talk about the myths surrounding the removal of the triple lock and the dominance of opinion in Irish media in favour of a more militarised Ireland - despite the fact that 75% of Irish people cherish neutrality. 
We have some good laughs along the way as we confront the scaremongering and outright lies from the government and the academic commentariat. 
Thanks so much to Hurst café in Clarecastle for the beautiful venue. If you haven't tried their ginger kombucha warmed up with dehydrated orange toppings, you've not yet lived!

The Clear Lens Episode 6: Decolonising Food, Medicine and Our Minds

Dr Rupa Marya is what you’d call “some woman for one woman.” A physician, an author, a musician and an activist, her work studies the impacts of colonialism and structural racism on health outcomes.
She was persecuted in the US after speaking out against Zionism and the genocide of Palestinians. As well as being fired from her post as a professor of medicine at UCSF in California, she received multiple death threats.
She’s recently relocated to Ireland, where she is part of a new and innovative food-as-medicine project. Under the Trinity College-led project, local farmers will be resourced financially to produce organic food for Saint James’s hospital patients. The impact will be measured on multiple fronts and, if (when) it proves successful, the hope is that it will roll out as a model for a fairer and healthier food supply chain in Ireland.
We also touch on some profound things along the way, such as the deep colonial wounds in Ireland that led to separation from the land. Ultimately, a closer relationship with the land is key to returning to health, wholeness and happiness. Rupa’s work is testament to that.

The Clear Lens Episode 5: Capitalism in Crisis

When capitalism is in crisis the ruling elite resort to fascism.What does participation in a live-streamed holocaust mean for the world? Is the destruction of international law all part of the plan to manage the impending crises facing humanity?
 
Listen to these topics and more with Professor Daragh Cogley in his second episode with The Clear Lens.

The Clear Lens Episode 4 - Part 2: Palestine is Forever: From Awakening to Lifelong Commitment

This is a two-part podcast with psychotherapist Karen Garven, founder of Irish Psychotherapists for Palestine.
 
Karen and I talk about imperialism as the root cause of genocide and the fear we both have of our children growing up in a world intent on militarization. We talk about the role of the witness, capacity for activism, and what we both recognise as a lifelong commitment to end Ireland’s complicity in the g-cide and its march towards militarization.
 
In part two, Karen talks about her experience visiting the West Bank, the heart-breaking things she witnessed, and the people she met there - who have become friends for life.

The Clear Lens Episode 4 - Part 1: Palestine is Forever: From Awakening to Life Long Commitment

This is a two-part podcast with psychotherapist Karen Garven, founder of Irish Psychotherapists for Palestine.
 
Karen and I talk about imperialism as the root cause of genocide and the fear we both have of our children growing up in a world intent on militarization. We talk about the role of the witness, capacity for activism, and what we both recognise as a lifelong commitment to end Ireland’s complicity in the g-cide and its march towards militarization.
 
In part two, Karen talks about her experience visiting the West Bank, the heart-breaking things she witnessed, and the people she met there - who have become friends for life.

The Clear Lens Episode 3: Ireland's Double Game: Anti-Colonial Rhetoric Meets Neoliberal Imperialism

Daragh Cogley deals a punch to two-faced government rhetoric that betrays a shocking truth: Ireland is the greatest contributor - per capita - to the Israeli economy than any other nation on earth. Ireland's trade with Israel is 12 times higher - per capita - than even the US.
 
What's going on? We look at the neoliberal structures that run the Irish economy and examine how they betray core Irish principles and identity.
 
It's not all grim. We also look to new ways and alternative visions that put human rights and human dignity before profit.

The Clear Lens Episode 2: Ireland's History in Today's Palestine

Episode 2 with Tomás MacConmara.
In this episode, Tomás and I had a wide-ranging and, at times profound , conversation about the origins of the occupation of Palestine and how the historical record is much simpler than portrayed. We connected Ireland's history to today's occupation of Palestine, discussing the many reasons why Ireland and Palestine are natural allies.

The Clear Lens Episode 1: Neutrality and Irish Sovereignty

A wide-ranging discussion on Irish neutrality with Uplift Programme Director, Brian Cuthbert, also know as The Accidental Rapper.