Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Would you vote for an AI politician or Simon Harris? Or a robot or Donald Trump?Thomas R Weaver’s dystopian fiction Artificial Wisdom: A Novel imagines a world where by 2050 people are choosing between a human and an AI politician?On Free State we talk to him about the reality of AI and what science fiction can tell us about the world in 25 years’ time. People would never vote for AI to rule them we believe, but is that realistic? Is it any more preposterous than the idea of Donald Trump as president was ten years ago? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you go out to get a pint of milk, do you bring your essential survival kit in case of attack from rampaging gangs or immediate societal breakdown? If not, why not?On Free State today, Joe and Dion are afraid and have recorded from their panic rooms. Maybe they have been watching too much Fox News.Last week the channel asked ‘What Happened to Dublin?’ and rolled out questionable statistics about rising crime in the city.We look at why these stories resonate. Why are so many people determined, not just to believe the worse, but to believe things that aren’t happening at all?But in this climate of fear, opportunists prowl. Men like Conor McGregor are hoping that if people feel lost, they will look for salvation where they have never looked before. On Free State today, Dion and Joe tell us why, actually everything is going to be ok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” These words were published on Anas Al-Sharif’s X account after his death. Sharif was a journalist with Al Jazeera and he was killed by Israel while in a tent for journalists outside a hospital in Gaza.The headlines said that ‘global outrage’ was mounting over the killing of Sharif and six others, but what does that mean?How is that outrage has become so pointless, lacking as it does nothing but the weasel words of support from western governments?On Free State today, Dion and Joe ask if words can help at this point? They look at the post on X from Mo Salah and the impact it had and they consider the statements from Bono and U2.Why does one have the power to make a difference and the other does nothing except salve the conscience of a rock star activist who has stayed silent for too long?Why do the words of Anas Al-Sharif haunt us and the words from Bono remind us of how the west has failed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘I probably need to start with the s***,’ Tim MacGabhann writes in his memoir.On Free State today, Tim MacGabhann talks about the shit and the salvation.His book is a story of addiction and recovery, a life trying to find something and then finding it in the place he didn’t think it would be.It’s a story of replacing the s*** with something better. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Muhammad Ali visited Ireland in 1972, the country was a different place.Nobody believed the greatest sportsman the world has ever seen would fight in Dublin except the men who made it possible.On Free State today Dave Hannigan tells talks about his book The Big Fight - When Ali Conquered Ireland. It is a tale of men with dreams from Kerry and Brooklyn who made it happen. It is also a story of how Ali responded to the unconditional love he encountered and how it changed him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Dion celebrates a personal milestone, on Free State today Joe and Dion look at how to live without drink.They consider how dark it can get for those on the other side and what helps people become free.Joe reflects on those he has seen struggle with alcohol and those he has seen create a new and rewarding life for themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 1976, the world was a different place.In Ireland and Britain, it was a summer of a heatwave. But were there cultural and political changes brought about by the long hot summer of 1976? On Free State today John Williams, author of a new book Heatwave - the Summer of 1976, Britain at Boiling Point, is our guest. John tells us how that summer changed a country and how the heatwave brought people to the brink in ways nobody could have imagined. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you locked yourself in a panic room? Have you got your tinned foods and toilet rolls in for when the Russians invade? If not, why are you so complacent? Why don’t you understand the threats Ireland faces in the modern world? On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at how Ireland is being told to be afraid.Is there anything to fear or are the warnings designed to create opportunities for the defence industry? Their companies have names designed to disguise their true intentions. Are we being asked to surrender to them if not the Russians? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Sunday's All Ireland final proved yet again why David Clifford is Superman in shorts, Joe wonders can any team stop a new Golden Years style reign for the Kerry footballers? On Free State today he also looks back on Knockmore Juniors' win over the weekend and explains why the All Ireland final can never quite measure up to the winning feeling with your club.Producer Cormac O'Malley drops into the hot seat while Dion is away on today's episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a young reporter Phoebe Greenwood worked as a war correspondent in Gaza. She inhabited the world of fixers where journalists stayed at the Al Deira hotel and Israeli government spokespeople provided statements that contradicted what reporters had witnessed.Greenwood was there during the 2012 conflict and now she has written a novel, Vulture, which is described as a satire, but might as easily be described as the truth.On Free State today she talks about how journalism has failed in Gaza, a failure brought about the desire for false balance.She recalls her own time in Gaza and how the place she knew has gone, destroyed utterly in a genocide where once again much of the media have failed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.