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 thinker with a fascinating backstory, who donated a kidney to a stranger and then led a crusade to transform organ donation on the island of Ireland, and Fanning is an award-winning interviewer and author. They are not motivational gurus or life coaches. They will never try to sell you a penis scented candle. They are two people from very different worlds, with one core belief uniting them - this is not a high performance podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 12, 2026 • 49min
What Casement Park tells us about a United Ireland
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 mattered more that a GAA stadium would not be built. On Free State we look at what the ongoing battle to build Casement tells us about Northern Ireland. Gordon Lyons, the minister responsible, says there is a ‘funding gap’. But is the real chasm something more fundamental? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 10, 2026 • 46min
Iran's War, Trump's Peace
“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 power he realised it needed ‘inspired lunacy’. That inspired lunacy now drives Trump’s military strikes where satire is meaningless and death is what happens to other people.On Free State, we look at how far America will go in Iran. What happens when Trump loses interest? What happens when Netanyahu wants something else?Let us know what you think - info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 8, 2026 • 44min
Why We Drink Too Much
Dr. Charles Knowles, surgeon, clinical researcher and recovering alcoholic, blends personal experience with scientific insight. He discusses why intelligence cannot simply stop addiction. He explains alcohol’s brain rewards, genetic and early-life risks, habit formation, cues that trigger relapse, and why community and action-based recovery matter.
Mar 5, 2026 • 45min
Iran - How to Destroy a Country (Prayerfully). A Trump-Netanyahu production
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 Donald Trump want. Are their aims of total control in the Middle East achievable? Or will the ambitions of the US and their allies spiral out of control as they have before but not before there is endless human misery? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 3, 2026 • 43min
Standing with Allianz - How the GAA Became What It Once Loathed
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 Park? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 28, 2026 • 44min
Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented - The End of Keir Starmer
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 the decision to hire a PR firm to investigate the motivations of journalists who were reporting on their funding. As Keir Starmer faces threats from all sides, will this be the scandal that upend him. Is this the scandal that is grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 26, 2026 • 41min
Defence of the Realm: Prince Andrew, Mountbatten and the British Establishment’s protection racket
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 Chris Moore to uncover Louis Mountbatten’s part in that scandal.When the future of the monarchy is discussed, is what has been revealed in the Epstein files an aberration or simply another chapter in a long history of self enriching hustle and worse? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 24, 2026 • 42min
Bono and Tony Blair's Mission from God
A sharp take on Bono and Tony Blair's public roles and the fervour that drives them. A debate over political songs, celebrity philanthropy and whether good intentions mask profit. Scrutiny of a controversial Board of Peace and the money and power behind it. Comparisons between political salesmanship, reputation laundering and real-world consequences.
Feb 21, 2026 • 1h 4min
How close did Ireland come to military dictatorship?
Gerard Shannon, historian and biographer of Rory O'Connor, maps the life of a militant revolutionary. He recounts O'Connor's engineering skills, dramatic turn from politics to armed action, the Four Courts seizure, capture and execution, and the personal ironies with Kevin O'Higgins. The conversation highlights why O'Connor faded from memory and the coincidences that followed his death.
Feb 19, 2026 • 37min
Jim Ratcliffe and the business of hate
A sharp discussion of a billionaire's inflammatory remarks about immigration and the awkward apology that followed. Conversations probe how wealthy figures use racist rhetoric to protect wealth and the human cost of cost-cutting at a football club. They examine how shocking language gets normalized, how social media amplifies the far right, and how austerity fuels hate.
