x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

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

news politics

All Episodes

39:06

Roger Casement - Rebel and Traitor? With Rory Carroll

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/25

“The bravest man it fell to my unhappy lot to execute.” These were the words of the hangman who took Roger Casement to the scaffold in Pentonville Prison in 1916.Roger Casement’s final years were lived in pursuit of Irish independence. But was he a driver of rebellion or a hopeless romantic whose brainwaves did more harm than good?On Free State today, Rory Carroll talks about his book A Rebel and a Traitor about Casement and Reginald Hall, the man who pursued him.He talks about the lover who

en

45:08

Power and Control: How a manager falls to earth

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/23

What allows a manager to bring a group with them? What is it? How do they possess it and what happens when they lose it? On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at how managers fall to earth and consider how Ger Brennan can make it work as Dublin manager. They look at the power and control Alex Ferguson had and what happens when a manager becomes toxic and indiscipline spreads. They also consider the shocking developments in Howth where people aren't saying hello to Vogue Williams. Hosted on Acast

en

1:03:20

The Premature Birth of a Nation with Sinead O'Sullivan

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/21

When Sinead O'Sullivan created a graph which she believed illustrated the problems in Ireland, she hadn't realised what would happen next. She found herself in the middle of an argument about data with many including Leo Varadkar. It raged over what Ireland did and didn't do well. But did it highlight the real problem in Ireland today? A defensiveness from the establishment which could be seen in a broader context in relation to the protests.Sinead O'Sullivan joins Dion and Joe on today's Free State

en

54:50

Why some people fail and some succeed. The story of...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/18

As a young Roy Keane headed on the train to Dublin from Cork for a coaching course, he saw some railway workers toiling by the track.‘Look at them fuckers out there and they’re going like the hammers,’ he said. ‘I have to make it as a footballer.’On Free State today we look at what drives a man like Roy Keane and how is the boy the father of the man?Dave Hannigan, author of We Need to Talk About Roy, discusses how Ireland and Keane have got along and not got along. He explains the force that took

en

47:47

Fuel me once: When Leo Varadkar ran out of diesel

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/16

This week Irish life returned to normal and Irish politics resumed its normal parlour games.The resignation of Michael Healy Rae was described repeatedly as a ‘bombshell’ and the political parties shouted at each other in the Dail.Outside protestors and malcontents hovered but will their protests take on those who are really exploiting the ordinary people?Since Israel and the US launched their war against Iran, the top 100 oil companies are making an additional unearned ‘war profit’ of $30 million

en

43:52

How the fuel protests exposed the myth of Irish...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/14

‘Nobody has a right to blockade our country,’ Micheal Martin stated when announcing what the government would be doing in response to the protests that brought the country to a halt.But what does it tell us about the fraying of the social contract that people felt they had to take to the barricades in their country to demonstrate how desperate things have become?On Free State today Joe and Dion look at a week that might have changed Ireland and why the establishment doesn’t know how to respond. We

en

43:23

The Killing Fields of Oil and Gas

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/11

“It is a low bar to ask that people aren’t killed so that I can fill up my car.” Alex Perry is an investigative journalist who has uncovered an extraordinary story.It is a story where the backdrop is the new imperialism. If the first scramble for Africa was led by the imperial nations in the 19th century, the second has been by the oil companies that have so much power in the world today.In Ireland, we have seen this week the power of oil and gas, but on Free State today, Alex Perry talks about the

en

44:29

Trump’s Derangement Syndrome

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/09

How close did the world come to annihilation this week? What will happen the next time Trump parades his negotiating skills and can the world always be sure that Trump Always Chickens Out?On Free State, Dion and Joe reflect on a ceasefire which was a defeat for Trump and ignored by Benjamin Netanyahu.Does this mean peace or does it mean we should enjoy the little things that make life worth living?Since the death of his friend Michael Lyster, Joe has been reflecting on what made Lyster the man he

en

36:31

Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy bastards: Who will...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/07

Stalin was reported to have asked ‘How many divisions does the pope have?’ when told of the Vatican’s view on world affairs.On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo addressed the crowds at St Peter’s Square and said, "Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace."Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump gave his view on world affairs. “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”On Free State today we ask

en

47:59

The country that defied an empire

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/04

Olivier Norek says he has never met a killer who wasn’t eaten inside by what they’d done. Before he became a writer, Norek was a policeman in the most dangerous parts of Paris and a humanitarian worker in the former Yugoslavia.On Free State today, Norek tells the story of Simo Hayha, the sniper known as the White Death, who fought for Finland during the Winter War when the Soviet Union invaded the country.He tells the story of how Finland, abandoned by the world to fight alone, stood against the Red

en

45:26

Victims in the Age of Perfection: The Social Media...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/04/02

When a California court ruled that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed addictive products, many declared that this might be the Big Tobacco moment for the tech companies.The plaintiff was awarded $6 million damages. Meta’s revenue in three months last year was 60 billion dollars. Their share price was unaffected.On Free State today we ask what will it take to make a difference?If the social media companies are relaxed about the finding, is it because they know that there is no appetite to

en

38:54

Why Ireland Lost - Living in the Age of Anxiety

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/31

Trust the process has become one of world’s worst cliches. But what if the alternative was worse? What if ‘trusting the emotions all around’ was the other option?On Free State today Joe and Dion wonder why Ireland lose.The country will not be at the World Cup this summer. How much was this down to the Irish players’ inability to keep their heads and be led by the emotion that was all around them?Are teams more susceptible to this in an age when information and anxiety are all around them?What is the

en

54:03

Prince Andrew and Bandit Country

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/30

Toby Harnden was sent to Northern Ireland for the first time in 1995. A reporter for the Daily Telegraph, it was an assignment that was not expected to produce much at a time when the peace process was the dominant story. But Harnden became fascinated with the republican movement and in particular how South Armagh had become a place that, not only could not be touched by the British government, but was controlling much of the IRA’s military campaign in England and Ireland. On Free State, Toby

en

40:01

The Wolves of Wall Street - How Trump & Co are making...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/26

“The White House does not tolerate any administration official illegally profiteering off of insider knowledge, and any implication that officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”Fifteen minutes before Donald Trump posted that there had been ‘productive conversations’ with Iran, $580 million in oil bets were made in a period of 60 seconds.Who knew to place those bets? Did anyone have insider information?“The only focus of President Trump and

en

36:02

Michael Lyster: When We Were Kings

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/24

When Michael Lyster started presenting The Sunday Game, Ronald Reagan was seeking reelection as president of the United States. When he stopped presenting it, Donald Trump was president for the first time.For 34 years Lyster was the presenter who shaped our summer days. He was the accompaniment to the drama and the tension, the celebration and the argument. It is no wonder that when his death was announced, the country felt as one,On Free State today Joe remembers his friend Michael Lyster. He

en

33:38

How To Make the World A Better Place

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/21

Adam Doyle, the artist known as Spicebag, achieved some notoriety when his art depicting evictions became a talking point in the national media.He is an artist of significance and he is also doing significant work.On Free State today he tells us about the project he is involved where his merchandise has funded a centre for children in Gaza The Ionad Hind Rajab is an Irish–Palestinian solidarity initiative based in Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Gaza.Adam tells us the story of Hind Rajab and why art is

en

39:44

World For Sale. The Real Truth about Oil Prices

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/19

Micheal Martin emerged from his meeting with Donald Trump on St Patrick’s Day with the commentariat purring.He had stood up for Europe, for Keir Starmer and, in part, for Winston Churchill but that didn’t matter. He had survived.On Free State today we ask does any of it matter. As oil and gas fields in Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are attacked, oil prices rise and governments insist they will protect their people. But what can they do?On Free State, we look at how commodity traders control the

en

42:17

Poems for a world gone to shit. And Conor McGregor’s...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/17

When the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licences because of their coverage of the war, some complained that it violated the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of speech.On Free State we look at what those rights mean in a country where Trump must get what he wants.We go back to what happened in Iraq when the country was broken apart, its resources plundered and its people scattered. Is Donald Trump following in that tradition or is what he is

en

46:23

Gaza. A fantasy ceasefire

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/14

Riham Jafari has heard the stories of her grandparents. The stories of a time before the Nakba when her family lived a simple existence in a village outside Jerusalem. They enjoyed farming the land and their independence.It was a “beautiful life” her grandparents said before occupation came.After the Nakba, they lived in a camp one square kilometre, crowded with nowhere for children to play.Riham was born in the Dheisheh camp near Bethlehem. Today Riham Jafari works for Action Aid and when she came

en

48:44

What Casement Park tells us about a United Ireland

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/12

The story of Casement Park is a metaphor for post conflict Northern Ireland.Once there was a dream about a shining stadium on a hill, a stadium which would benefit everyone in the north when it hosted matches at the European Championships in 2028.Two years ago, that dream ended when the British government said they would not fund the cost of the stadium which had ‘risen dramatically’ during years of obstruction and resistance.The benefit to all communities of Euro 2028 was gone but for some it

en

376 results

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

PBS News Hour - Full Show

PBS News

CD Voice

China Daily

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

Noa Levi

Jeffrey Epstein: The Coverup Chronicles

Bobby Capucci