Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

The podcast discusses combating hate, using Finland as an example. They also explore racism in sport and the importance of inclusivity. The role of education in combating hate and xenophobia is highlighted. The concept of reaching out to people and the role of Twitter behavior are discussed. There is strong criticism towards 'Connor' for inciting violence in Dublin.

Last Thursday, Joe Brolly was returning to the Stardust Inquest when he witnessed the events unfolding on Parnell Square.On Free State today he talks about what he saw and how humanity and courage revealed themselves at this most frightening moment.Dion and Joe reflect on the riots that followed, how the hate movement needs to be dealt with and why Conor McGregor has nothing to offer Ireland.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Five Derry girls went to the Stardust nightclub. Only four came home.How do people keep going when their lives change tragically in a moment? What is it that defines the human spirit?On today’s Free State Joe talks about the Stardust Inquest, the resilience of people in the worst of circumstances and the quiet heroism that has been revealed. Dion and Joe talk too about Hillsborough and the fight for justice when the British establishment tried to smear them. They look at the state of the British establishment today where Brittania can only waive the rules.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcGFor more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is more mind altering, a trip to Amsterdam or trying to track the lies and deception of the Tories in Britain?On this week’s Free State, Joe has all the information on a hallucinogenic trip - maybe too much information - in Holland. The Covid Inquiry, Suella Braverman’s propaganda and the return of David Cameron tell us everything about the British establishment. Joe also can’t tell the difference between Dion and a humanoid just out of its box.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When did ‘ceasefire’ become a dirty word?In the second podcast this week on the destruction of Gaza, Dion and Joe look at how language has been weaponised during the conflict. How did a desire for a ceasefire come to mean that you are, at best, hopelessly naive and, at worst, a Hamas sympathiser? The barbarity of what has been inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli government is changing that view but too slowly. Is this why those like Barack Obama who speak in riddles prosper. Joe offers his own version of a Barack Obama speech, even if Dion is now ready to embrace Michelle Obama’s solution for world peace.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around the world people are marching in their millions for peace and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. On Free State, Joe and Dion have a difficult conversation about war, peace and propaganda which reflects the difficult conversations people are having everywhere.They ask why are these conversations so difficult and how did calling for peace become such a risky thing to do?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Gough felt sure he would live a life where love was denied to him. But a poem changed his life.In part 2 of Free State, David Gough talks about the sliding doors moment in his life and how it changed everything.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Gough is the most famous and the best referee in Ireland.He grew up in a religious and staunch GAA family and like everyone he wanted to fit in. He was an altar boy and a Gaelic footballer but one day, when he was 15, he saw the front page of a newspaper and it changed everything.David is this week’s guest on Free State. He tells Joe and Dion about his journey. Joe also tries to get David to apologise for the yellow card that led to his sacking from RTÉ, with surprising results…Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the rise of Sam Bankman-Fried, Michael Lewis got closer to him than anybody else. But the fall of the crypto baby gave the Moneyball author a different story. When people turned on Bankman-Fried, Michael Lewis knew they would turn on him too. In the second part of his interview on Free State, Michael Lewis talks about why he took on the story and what kept him going.In May 2021, Michael Lewis’s daughter Dixie was killed in a car accident in California. Dixie was nineteen years old. He talks to Dion and Joe about how he struggled through the jungle of grief, why Dixie’s spirit has sustained him as his book is published and what he told Bankman-Fried’s mother about loss as they prepare for their son’s incarceration.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Free State, Michael Lewis, the author behind Hollywood blockbusters Moneyball, The Big Short and The Blind Side, joins Dion and Joe. Michael's new book Going Infinite charts the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried who within two years of discovering crypto was worth $22 billion. In the first part of a two-part interview, Michael talks to Joe and Dion about why sport in America has become as violent as it was for gladiators in the Roman Empire and why he would give up sex before exercise. After two hours in Joe's company, Michael wants to write his next book about him. But Michael wonders who would play Joe Brolly in the movie now that Tom Cruise is too old?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.