Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Epizodai

• Radical Forgiveness: How a Palestinian and an Israeli want to bring peace to their lands 02.06.2026 47min

  Aziz Abu Sarah’s older brother Tayseer was like a father to him. Azis was ten years old when his brother died after he had been tortured and beaten in an Israeli jail. Aziz says his brother’s death sent him to his own prison where all he wanted was revenge.Maoz Inon’s parents were killed by Hamas on October 7th. A couple of days later, he and his family released a message. “For the death of our parents on October 7,  my family is seeking no revenge. What we are seeking is peace and equality.”On Free State today Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon talk to us about their extraordinary friendship and their determination to find a way to peace in the Middle East.They speak about their attempt to understand each other as Israelis and Palestinians and why there must be justice and equality as well as peace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Love in the Time of War 30.05.2026 37min

  Sally Hayden is a fearless journalist. She has covered war and conflict around the world. She lives in Lebanon where, early in her new book, she notes that ‘in the past fortnight, Israel has killed more than one thousand people’.Her book opens with a quote from Elon Musk: ‘The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy.’On Free State today Sally Hayden explains her journey to disprove Musk’s claim. ‘I encounter love daily - more than fury, revenge, greed or abuses of power.’ She writes about how love endures in the middle of genocide and how the powerful use it, as well as everything else, as a weapon against humanity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Rise and Fall of Sinn Fein 28.05.2026 32min

  What do Sinn Fein stand for? What do they believe? And do the other left wing parties believe they believe it?On Free State Joe and Dion look at the state of Sinn Fein following the recent by-elections. Does it tell us something about the scrutiny Sinn Fein are under that there is more analysis of them than of Fianna Fáil which got a comically low vote?Dion and Joe disagree about what Sinn Féin’s intentions are when they talk about immigration. Joe also responds to the Jim McGuinness developments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Seven Psalms, Paul Simon and the end of Kerry football 26.05.2026 31min

  What do great art and great sport have in common? Why do the moments that transport us to another dimension in sport and art have such power?On Free State today, Dion reflects on the spiritual experience of seeing Paul Simon and Joe reflects on writing Kerry off.What does the game between the All Ireland champions and Donegal tell us about the summer to come? And what does it tell us about Jack O’Connor? Has he been found out by the new dynamic Gaelic football or were the seeds of Kerry’s destruction planted long ago? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Sound of Silence: Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries 23.05.2026 53min

  On today’s Free State, Dion talks to Louise Brangan about The Fallen, her book about the Magdalene Laundries and what they tell us about Ireland, then and now Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Imminent extinction? Never mind, there’s always Love Island 21.05.2026 36min

  Do you feel like lower value human capital or do you believe you should be on Love Island? Who declares who is of value and who isn’t? Will the future belong to those who refuse to be defined by what the tech overlords decide they should be? On Free State we look at how the climate emergency is being accelerated by data centres and why nobody has the will to stop them. And we provide a major update on the potential Love Island appearance of the Galway footballer ‘Fitzy’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• I hear you’re a racist now, Bertie? 19.05.2026 36min

  Bertie Ahern says he rejects ‘racism in all its forms’. So what is it if not racism when a former Taoiseach says ‘we can’t be taking in people from Congo and all these places’?On Free State today we ask how do you talk about immigration and not get mistaken for a racist? Is it best not to say things that a racist might say to begin with?Ahern defended himself by saying ‘I don’t think there is anything wrong talking about what the people are talking about’.But what does this mean? What is the requirement of a leader, even a former leader, when people are troubled and anxious? Do you resort to the lowest common denominator or do you provide a vision? What did Bertie Ahern do? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• What’s Another Year? Israel and the Eurovision 14.05.2026 31min

  When Israel’s contestant in the Eurovision appeared on stage in Vienna on Tuesday night, a lone voice shouted ‘stop, stop the genocide.’ The Israeli contestant kept singing and nothing stopped.On Free State today we look at why the Eurovision became a key part of Israel’s propaganda war.We examine the money that was spent ensuring Israel’s entries got votes and we ask why. We also look at some of the less notable Irish entries over the years and Joe tries out his own power ballad. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Sleeping with the Stars 11.05.2026 38min

  There was a huge response to last week’s episode on Universal Basic Income.On Free State, Dion and Joe look at the arguments made in the emails and comments.But as they go through the comments, the atmosphere changes and Free State reaches another crossroads… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Heads I win, tails I also win: How private equity took over the world 09.05.2026 53min

  A study after the covid pandemic established that in care homes controlled by private equity firms the death rate was more than 50 per cent higher than in other homes.On Free State today we look at how private equity is capitalism cannibalising itself. Hettie O’Brien, author of The Asset Class, is on with us to talk about how this happened, how governments retreated from the public realm and left private equity take over the world.She explains how they took over the things we have to have, electricity, childcare, housing when governments retreated. And as they did, things became worse. She explains how ideology took hold and while the masses were scolded for acquiring debt, private equity found they could live with it, or somebody else could die with it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why Everyone Needs Free Money 07.05.2026 50min

  More than 60 per cent of Irish jobs are in positions highly exposed to the threat from AI. So what do we do in the face of this threat? Give everyone free money.On Free State today we look at universal basic income and how it could transform lives.How does it work and why would it be profound? And why does the opposition to this sound like the opposition to every other great transformations in society?  On Free State today we explain why. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Story of Us, the Story of Gaza 05.05.2026 33min

  What does Ireland in 1926 tell us about Ireland today? What do absences tell us about the lives we live whether it is in Ireland a hundred years ago or at a graduation in Gaza today? On Free State, Joe and Dion look at loss and absence. They examine the emotion that can pack a punch from a hundred years ago and the lives that are ripped apart today Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Living with an AI psychopath 02.05.2026 44min

  It would be harder, Jamie Bartlett says, to open a sandwich shop in Dublin than to release a large language model of near infinite power into general public use. On Free State, Bartlett talks about his new book on how to talk to AI and what we are doing when we hand agency to a personality type that is drawing from the worst of impulses. How do we protect ourselves? Is the only winning move not to play but is that even possible? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Handing the conscience of the world over to a king who has his shoelaces ironed 30.04.2026 39min

  What does the world look like when the world has turned away? On Free State today we ask about the loss of faith that will echo through the generations following the genocide in Gaza. We examine how leaders failed and are left taking comfort in the circus of a visit from a king to the court of Donald Trump. We also wonder how far someone can let themselves go that they don't iron their shoelaces. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Urban-rural toxicity, a Guard's fears for Ireland and the even more toxic Roscommon-Mayo divide 28.04.2026 48min

  “I’m getting in touch because I’ve written the attached open letter as a serving Garda,” this email was one of many we received since Sinead O’Sullivan came on the podcast. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” it continued, “but I felt I had to say something given how things are going. I wrote it out of a genuine sense of frustration with the direction the country seems to be heading. More than that, I’m writing as a father of a young family, and I’m increasingly worried about what kind of Ireland my kids are going to grow up in.”On Free State today we ask why people hurting has been turned into an urban versus rural debate when everyone is affected. Does this tell us something about the inability of the ruling class to see beyond the short term? Why is there always a defensive attack or a short term fudge rather than leadership?And when it comes to lack of leadership? Could things actually get worse for Mayo? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Roger Casement - Rebel and Traitor? With Rory Carroll 25.04.2026 39min

  “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 betrayed Casement, why Irish prisoners of war in Germany didn’t trust him and the complicated legacy that persists to this day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Power and Control: How a manager falls to earth 23.04.2026 45min

  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. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Premature Birth of a Nation with Sinead O'Sullivan 21.04.2026 1val 3min

  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 to talk about what when wrong in Ireland, why the country is like this and how it can be changed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why some people fail and some succeed. The story of Roy Keane and Ireland 18.04.2026 54min

  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 him from Mayfield to England when many expected he would soon be back. But Keane stayed and succeeded in ways nobody could have imagined. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Fuel me once: When Leo Varadkar ran out of diesel 16.04.2026 47min

  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 an hour. There are calls for a windfall tax but who will take the side of the ordinary consumer over big oil?On Free State today we look at the real divide in society and we consider the moment when Leo Varadkar ran out of diesel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.