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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

news politics

All Episodes

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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46:07

Iran's War, Trump's Peace

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/10

“Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by Iran.” When Donald Trump spoke on Air Force One about the bombing of a school in southern Iran, he was, of course, lying.That is what Trump does but in the attack on Iran he has also tapped into the American fantasy about their righteousness that can only be fully displayed through military force.When Stanley Kubrick made Dr Strangelove, he was fascinated by what he saw as ‘the delicate balance of terror’ that was part of the Cold War. To give his satire

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44:16

Why We Drink Too Much

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/08

Professor Charles Knowles is a very smart man. He is a surgeon and clinical researcher. He is able to apply logic and reason to find solutions to most things. But logic and reason made no sense when it came to his own drinking.On Free State today Charles Knowles explains why we drink and why we drink too much.He talks to Dion about his own struggles and why there is a genetic reason for many people drinking.They discuss the line of Kurt Vonnegut that ‘Alcoholics Anonymous is America’s greatest

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44:48

Iran - How to Destroy a Country (Prayerfully). A...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/05

When a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, 150 Iranians were believed to have been killed. ‘It thought it was safe in international waters,” Pete Hegseth the US’s self styled Secretary of War proclaimed. “Instead it was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death.”More than a thousand civilians have been killed since the US and Israel launched their offensive. This is a campaign they are advancing ‘without mercy’ Hegseth said.On Free State today we look at what the US, Israel and

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42:30

Standing with Allianz - How the GAA Became What It...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/03/03

A few minutes before 1pm on the Saturday of the 2026 GAA Congress some protestors forced their way inside.The response to this protest may have far reaching implications for the GAA.On Free State we look at how the GAA has failed to deal with the understandable anger about the Allianz sponsorship deal.Dion and Joe argue about how they should be addressing it and Jarlath Burns’s comments on Saturday.Is this a turning point for how volunteers view the GAA, certainly the GAA as represented by Croke

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44:16

Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented -...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/28

Labour Together was set up in the summer of 2015 as a way of uniting the UK Labour Party, but with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader it soon became something very different. Driven by Morgan McSweeney, it became a means of destroying Jeremy Corbyn‘s leadership ‘by any means necessary. Keir Starmer was the vessel to take Labour away from Corbyn‘s politics.On Free State today,Peter Geoghegan talks to us about the extraordinary and chilling practices of Labour Together. He tells the story about

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41:14

In Defence of the Realm: Prince Andrew, Mountbatten...

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/26

In the House of Commons, a Labour minister described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a ‘man on a constant self-aggrandising and self-enriching hustle; a rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest’.This is undoubtedly true but is Andrew the exception or the norm?On Free State we look how the establishment has protected the monarchy at all costs.We recall the horrific abuse in Kincora and the work done by

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41:44

Bono and Tony Blair's Mission from God

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/24

What links Bono and Tony Blair? You may be asking, what doesn’t?Both men have made the news as U2’s new EP was released and Blair addressed the world as part of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.But what is the fervour that drives them?On Free State today we look at Blair and Bono and what happens when a man believes he can change the world.What is Blair’s goal on the Board of Peace and why is he there? Some people ask the same about U2 and their music…Let us know what you think

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1:03:57

How close did Ireland come to military dictatorship?

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/21

In March 1922, a relatively unknown member of the IRA was asked by journalists if they could take from his answers that Ireland would have a military dictatorship.‘You can take it anyway you like,’ he replied.On Free State today we look at the life of Rory O’Connor who was prepared to go to any lengths for the Republic of his ideals.We talk to the author of a new biography of O’Connor Gerard Shannon about the fanaticism that drove him.O’Connor became the public face of opposition to the Treaty but

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36:49

Jim Ratcliffe and the business of hate

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/19

In the 19th century, Manchester first began to be a destination for immigrants.It was Scottish, Welsh and Irish in huge numbers who shaped the city and made it their home.Over the next hundred years, immigrants from across the world turned Manchester into the city it was. It was this vibrant and complex city that Matt Busby loved and which saw him shape the great Manchester United sides in its image.As a lifelong supporter of Manchester United, Jim Ratcliffe might have known that.Last week the

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41:54

Thoughts and Prayers. Why Ireland WILL play Israel.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/17

When the Irish football team was drawn against Israel last week, many people in Ireland immediately hoped the game wouldn’t happen.Instead as the days have passed, the game seems more likely not less.On Free State today we look at what has stopped Israel being banned from sport while Russia have been.Dion wonders what a boycott would achieve and explains how Uefa and Fifa have failed to act.Joe disagrees and calls on the Ireland team to represent the Irish people and take a stand. Hosted on Acast

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47:39

How the CIA really operates with David McCloskey

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning ·

2026/02/14

David McCloskey says he was once a clandestine journalist. Another way of putting it is that he once worked for the CIA.McCloskey is now a spy novelist. His first book took readers inside the CIA, now he is exploring Mossad, Israel and Iran in his new novel The Persian.On Free State, he talks about the shadow war between Israel and Iran.He explains what has happened to agencies like the CIA under Trump and why as more true Trump believers are appointed, the demand is not for truthful intelligence

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