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PODCAST

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Gold Hat Productions

Free State is a podcast for the curious that stimulates, provokes, challenges and entertains, while never taking itself too seriously. Free State covers topics from sport to politics, love to loss, the human condition and how to fix the world, with guests from across the planet including Nigerian princes, former Prime Ministers, ex convicts, footballers, boxers and extraordinary people from every walk of life.Free State is presented by Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning. Brolly is a barrister, an original

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All Episodes

47:33

Stakeknife, MI5 and the dirtiest war

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/16

When the state sanctions it, is it murder? When the state protects its agents from the consequences of their crimes, how long before cynicism corrupts society?On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the dark and dirty existence of Freddie Scappaticci, MI5 and the British state.They argue about what the report tells us about the IRA and the British government, while Joe tells the extraordinary story of Danny Morrison and Sandy Lynch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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56:40

Eoin Ó Broin - Why the government doesn’t want to fix...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/13

In 1948, Herbert Simms, under increasing pressure from the demands of his job, took his own life.The pressure came from his job as Dublin’s housing architect. Between 1932 and the time of his death, Simms was responsible for building 17,000 homes for the ordinary people of Dublin.On Free State today Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin talks about his beautiful new book on Simms, produced in conjunction with the photographer Mal McCann.He looks at how Simms transformed the city and suburbs

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47:22

Australia has banned social media for kids but will...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/11

During the heroin epidemic in Dublin in the 1980s, one drug baron infamously remarked as he was jailed, ‘If you think we’re bad, wait til you see what’s coming after us.’Australia banned social media for under 16s this week but will the next wave of online consumption be devastating for us all?If we thought social media was bad, what is coming next in terms of AI and the artificial friendships it promises?On Free State, Joe and Dion look at the next wave of AI and what it means for future

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34:35

The Peace President - Infantino drags FIFA to a new low

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/09

When Gianni Infantino created FIFA’s Peace Prize, how could he have imagined that the inaugural winner would be his great friend Donald Trump.But there Trump was on stage in Washington, presenting himself with the peace medal.On Free State, Joe and Dion look at how FIFA cosied up to autocrats, snake oil salesmen and Trump.They examine how money not only drives professional sport but has become the distorting lens. These days Trump may be a fan of the FIFA World Cup but he has always been a fan of

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42:26

Why I Quit the US Government

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/06

“I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.”With these words, in October 2023, Josh Paul quit the US State Department. He was protesting over the Biden administration’s ongoing funding of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.On Free State today Josh Paul explains what led him to take the action

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35:22

2030 A Space Odyssey - Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/04

Are there reasons to embrace AI? Are the doomsayers wrong and the apocalyptic warnings overstated? What if an ordinary person can access medical or legal advice for fraction of the cost and difficulty it takes today?But what if there is no room for an ordinary person?On Free State today Dion and Joe look at the next frontier. In the technological revolution, we have allowed ourselves to become the product of the social media companies. AI promise us expertise at our fingertips but will the price be

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43:21

Bohemian Rhapsody. Dan Lambert, the powerhouse behind...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/12/02

Daniel Lambert is many things, football man, band manager and activist.Kneecap’s manager was the driving force behind the motion approved by the FAI last month to ban Israel from international football.On Free State today he talks to Dion and Joe about how the motion was about breaking the rules not the genocide in Gaza.He speaks too about Kneecap and the extraordinary resilience they showed when so many in the establishment were out to bring them down.While Dion thinks he has a fellow soccer man to

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37:51

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy on surviving on vodka...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/29

Oisin Murphy has been the Champion Jockey in Britain for the past two years. He will travel the country and beyond in pursuit of a winner. Horse racing is an addiction but it is not his only addiction.On Free State today Oisin Murphy speaks about his alcoholism and how he fooled himself into believing he could drink like a gentleman.He discusses with Dion the ways a drinker will fool himself and how he ended up drunk and asleep at the wheel of a car in April. A moment which scared him and changed

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47:28

A One - AI and the new colonists

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/27

When Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon called ‘AI’ ‘A-One’ it was treated as a gaffe that said a lot about the intellectual calibre of his cabinet.But it told us something else too.On Free State today we look at how the world has been conned by AI to advance the ambitions of the new colonists, the Tech Bros.Does it matter that many expect the AI bubble to burst or is the relentlessness of artificial intelligence pushing us towards extinction?Linda McMahon may not know the difference

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36:52

Arise Knocknagoshel - Why Sport has to be about...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/25

Sport is what sustains so many of us through the winter. Ireland is a sporting country but what does that mean?On Free State today, we ask if Ireland is really a sports mad country or are we just a nation of bandwagon jumpers, willing fleeced by those charging huge money for tickets?We ask if the communities who get so much from sport deserve more support and wonder how much is too much for a ticket for a rugby match.Let us know what you think at info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See

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56:12

Colin Davidson - ‘There were moments of trauma in my...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/22

Colin Davidson is one of Ireland’s great artists.In a raw and powerful conversation, he joins us on Free State today to talk about a childhood that saw him find an escape into art.He speaks of how he approaches his subjects and what he is trying to find when he paints people as diverse as Martin McGuinness and the Queen.And he considers the question, is there anyone he wouldn’t paint? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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39:09

How fortunate it is to be Irish

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/20

What are the things that matter in this world? What do we mean by the common good?On Free State today Joe talks about the extraordinary beauty and grace he is witnessing in the Mayo Hospice at the moment.When life and death visit us we understand what is important and we grasp what is valuable.Joe and Dion also talk more about the extraordinary week of football and the achievements of Ireland and Scotland.Joe also finally gives his views on Troy Parrott and provides some lessons in finishing. Hosted

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37:30

Troy Parrott and the joy of living in the now

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/18

Troy Parrott has transformed the mood of the nation.On Free State today we ask why the player and the Ireland team have had the impact they had?What is it about a game like football, even at a time when it is scarred by money and greed, that brings people together in a profound way?Dion looks at Troy Parrott and wonders about Ireland’s need for a saviour. Parrott was tipped for greatness from a young age but has taken a different route. Yet, he has captured the heart of the country because of more

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44:45

How Ben Dunne bought and sold Ireland

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/15

‘Thanks a million, big fella.’ Charlie Haughey’s words to Ben Dunne summed up how Ireland worked for many.But who was Ben Dunne and what were the compulsions that drove him?On Free State today Matt Cooper talks about his gripping new book Dynasty about the Dunnes family.It looks at how Ben Dunne Senior built an empire and how Ben Jr never recovered from the kidnapping.He talks to us about the scene in Florida where, after taking a mountain of cocaine in a hotel with parrots roaming the lobby, Ben

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40:50

The Legend of the Monday Club

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/13

What is the difference between nostalgia and lamenting the loss of something special?Have we become a society that places too much emphasis on propriety at the expense of the unpredictability that makes life worth living.As Joe and Dion reflect on Monday Clubs they’ve belonged from Mayo to Kilburn, they look at the lives of the great hellraisers.They lament too the decline of sports coverage on RTE. Joe shares a story about a day with Pat Gilroy when he knew the writing was on the wall at RTE

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39:54

How Trump & Israel made the BBC great again

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/11

Donald Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for a billion dollars.On Free State today we ask what is driving this campaign against the BBC?Many studies have concluded that there is a pro Israeli bias at the BBC, but the report that led to the resignation of the director general alleged the opposite. Why has that led to such upheaval when so many say the opposite.Is this the real driver for this coup against members of the establishment and is there ever any point in giving in to the forces that

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1:06:44

‘I know a lot of people think Nigel Farage is an...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/08

Iain Dale knows he is walking on perilous terrain.Dale is one of Britain’s best known broadcasters and podcasters but his new book is about Ireland, specifically Irish Taoisigh.On Free State today Iain Dale has an animated conversation about what has gone wrong in England and the dangers of nationalism. Yet he argues that he doesn’t believe Nigel Farage is an extremist.Dale has recruited some of Ireland’s foremost writers to write about the holders of the Taoiseach’s office. But he talks about how

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33:45

Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York. Why is corporate...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/06

In numbers not seen for half a century, New Yorkers went out and voted for Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor.Mamdani becomes New York’s first Muslim mayor. He came to America at the age of seven and he has created a sense of the possible that was once at the heart of the American condition.On Free State today we ask how did Zohran Mamdani do it? How did he overcome the campaign of demonisation that branded him a dangerous antisemite? He was called a ‘communist lunatic’ by Donald Trump, who

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53:27

Simon Harris, Elon Musk & the Stranger Danger Delusion

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/04

On Halloween night, a fire broke out an IPAS centre in Drogheda. Four children, including a 20-day-old baby, were among those rescued from the top floor of the building.The next morning the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan condemned the attack and said that fireworks had been thrown into the building. There were no fireworks, CCTV footage showed a figure setting fire to the staircase. Police believe it was arson and the nature of the attack may justify attempted murder charges.On Free State today,

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1:01:50

Learning to cross the road. A life ruined by Opus Dei

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2025/11/01

On the day of the All Ireland football final in 1978, Anne Marie Allen believed she was beginning the life she dreamed of.She was 15 years old and wanted to be a chef. When two visitors came to her house promising a catering course and a job, it seemed like too good to be true.It was. For the next seven years she entered into the secretive world of Opus Dei.On Free State today Anne Marie Allen tells her extraordinary story. She talks about how she entered into a world of servitude and domestic

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