In this episode, author and People Before Profit County Councillor Madeleine Johansson joins Barbara to talk about her new book which details, in every day language, the history and origins of the welfare state in Sweden and its demise. The book is a great reference for any worker who wants to understand how the welfare state is destroyed by neoliberals and the destructive nature of capitalism. It serves as a warning to every Irish worker when it comes to the idea of left government and the very real challenges of reform or rupture concepts under a system that's beyond repair!

The book is available to purchase at Red Network's online store, or from the Rebel Telly crew by DMing them.

There is also a book launch on Friday 2nd December at 6pm in The Teachers Club on Parnell Square in Dublin city. A later date for launches in Waterford and Cork are also planned and details will be published on all Rebel Telly social media platforms once confirmed.

Renters in 35 flats in Tathony House in Dublin 8 received eviction notices. Around 100 people, families with children and workers all being thrown out of their homes by a landlord who doesn't have a care in the world and wants to contribute to a serious housing and homelessness crisis.

Barbara speaks with two of the tenants of Tathony House, Madeleine Johansson and James O'Toole. Madeleine is a People Before Profit Councillor on South Dublin County Council and James is a Socialist activist.

Along with their fellow tenants, they have organised themselves to fight this appalling situation. They have already held a very well attended protest outside the council offices and are planning more action on November 7th outside City Hall on Dame Street in Dublin city.

In this episode, they discuss the situation and the awful system that allows this kind of thing to happen in the first place.

In this episode, Barbara chats with Colm Flood who is after completing his first year as a student nurse and he shares his experiences, his views and his thoughts on the future for people in his shoes who are left undervalued by the government and the very system that is supposed to be there to support them and deliver for the sector, the public and most importantly, patients.

In this episode, Barbara talks to the Cost Of Living Coalition coordinator Eddie Conlon and People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett about the upcoming major protest on 24th September in Dublin and on 17th September in Cork. People Power is once again rising like it did over the attempt to bring in water charges in 2014 and 2015. This coalition includes unions, retired people's groups, disability campaigning groups, political parties like Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and The Social Democrats as well as other left groups, elected reps and parties as well as MICA campaigners and many more, growing every day.

This week People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy joins Barbara to discuss the massive rise in the cost of living, the causes, the potential solutions, the inaction by government and the massive protest that the recently formed Cost of Living Coalition of Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, Spark, various trade union branches, student union groups, retired people's groups and many others have united to organise nationally for people powered revolt and to demand action on the spiralling cost of living crisis that is impacting everybody. 

This is a "Red Talks" podcast series, produced by the Red Network which is an integral part of People Before Profit.

Friday 22nd April marks the launch of a new and important book that all workers should read and keep among their arsenal as we face into massive inflationary times, rising energy costs and a culture among today's union leaderships to capitulate rather than revolt.

James is a Socialist activist and an author. In a personal capacity, he is also a shop steward in the union SIPTU. With many years of experience campaigning for better conditions for workers and fighting in solidarity with strikers, James brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and keen observation to the topic of class war and trade unionism.

The book is available for purchase from the e-Store section of www.rednetwork.ie

This week Barbara is joined by Abduliziz who is a Saudi activist highlighting the ongoing war in Yemen by Saudi Arabia with backing from the USA.

In this episode, you can hear details of the awful atrocities being inflicted on Yemeni people by a monarchy with no regard for the value of human life.

Much of the current mainstream media is currently taken up with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the horrors being visited on the people of Ukraine. The people of Yemen have been bombed into famine and suffered incredible numbers of innocent death, including thousands of children, for SEVEN YEARS now and it continues to this day.

On March 26th, the Irish Anti-War movement is holding a protest. It begins at 1pm at the Spire on O'Connell Street and will march from there to the Saudi Embassy. As many people as possible will be pulling specially commissioned body bags to represent and highlight the incredible death toll of this awful war.

Join them if you can and please share the podcast episode to generate awareness and express solidarity.

In Ireland we have a unique voting system called PR-STV. Only Malta and Ireland use this system and it seems quite simple until you understand the method used to count the votes.

The phrase "vote in order of your preference" is trotted out by mainstream media and mainstream political parties, but it's actually not quite that simple.

This week Barbara teases out the way the count works and why that is such a significant factor in how we should all consider the way that we complete our ballot papers. In many countries, voting results are available just a few hours after the polling stations close but in Ireland it's often days and sometimes weeks before final results are known and that's all down to the unique way that votes are counted, distributed and transferred in our complicated count process.

Barbara is joined by Anne Wall and David Smyth. Anne is a retired civil servant who has worked at many count centres as part of her job. David is a Socialist activist and former elections campaign manager in several local and national elections.

This episode reveals some of the interesting aspects of this count process and relates them to how you, as a voter, can use your ballot paper in ways that you might not have realised.

Enjoy!