In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
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In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
Foreign Agent Bonus Episode 2: Hollywood and the IRA’s American Connection
Foreign Agent: The IRA’s American connection
22 minutes 1 second
3 years ago
Foreign Agent Bonus Episode 2: Hollywood and the IRA’s American Connection
*Corrected file* Noraid has been portrayed on screen many times, usually in the background of stories about terrorism and gunrunning. While TV shows and movies like Columbo, Patriot Games and The Devil’s Own aren’t exactly high art, they do reveal how the class politics of Irish America were understood (and misrepresented) by Hollywood. In this […]
Foreign Agent: The IRA’s American connection
In the 1970s, the Provisional IRA was in the early days of its armed campaign to end British rule on Ireland. In the United States, a small group of activists began organising on their behalf. They called themselves the Irish Northern Aid Committee, or Noraid—and they were looking for a fight.
Hosted by documentary filmmaker Nate Lavey, Foreign Agent is a podcast series about the connection between ordinary Irish Americans and a revolutionary socialist guerrilla group. In six episodes, travelling back and forth across the Atlantic over three decades of conflict, Foreign Agent explores how regular Americans became militant advocates for the cause of Irish freedom.
It’s a story of guns smuggled in furniture and wild plots to build homemade missiles. But it’s also about the political and material power that the Irish American community wielded, and how the intoxicating spell of nationalism created a movement out of seemingly irreconcilable social and political positions. And at every step of the way, the US government tried to shut them down. This is the story of the Troubles—as seen through American eyes.
