Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Epizódy

• Why England Lose: the true cost of professional sport 16.07.2026 43min

  England lost at the semi final stage again but what does how players are shaped for professional football tell us about how they perform? England lose when they play a team more cunning than them but they have a system designed for obedience.Kids will be dreaming of playing in a World Cup but what is the reality of professional sport.On Free State today we look at how the attritional nature of succeeding in sport can break so many who try to make it. And we ask what it does to those who succeed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How Mayo can win the All Ireland (don’t walk under any grand pianos) 14.07.2026 33min

  And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. It made sense for Paul McCartney and it makes sense when we consider why we engage with whatever gives us pleasure in life. On Free State today we look at the meaning of sport. Why winning doesn’t matter as much as how sport makes you feel. Does this mean Mayo can win the All Ireland? Does it matter? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Putin's Billions: The oligarchs and stolen riches 11.07.2026 41min

  Martin Sixmith was the BBC's man in Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed and Vladimir Putin came to power. In today's podcast he talks about his time in Russia, the fight for the billions lost and his time working on The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Sir Jeffrey Donaldson. The rise and fall of a God fearing paedophile 09.07.2026 56min

  Jeffrey Donaldson sits in a prison cell, waiting to be sentenced for the most horrific crimes. On Free State today we look at the rise and fall of Jeffrey Donaldson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to buy a World Cup, feat Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino 07.07.2026 37min

  Donald Trump destroys everyone in his orbit. His transactional nature means that eventually whoever is close to him is ruined Gianni Infantino might soon know how that feels.‘I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States,’ Infantino said as he explained how FIFA had lifted the suspension on the USA forward Folarin Balogun. “During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”On Free State, we look at those principles and how they fit in with Donald Trump’s. The White House insists that Trump’s only concern is the American people. As he spends every hour thinking about them, he just happens to have made more than a billion dollars from crypto in his first year back in office. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Original Sin: The man who shaped modern football 04.07.2026 48min

  You might not have heard of Helenio Herrera but without him, you might not have the modern football manager. Herrera was a lowdown and a dirty football manager who wasn't so much a pragmatist as an absolutist. He was full of contradictions: he hated his players having sex but he ruined many lives with his own pursuit of sex. He would do anything to win and stopped at nothing for victory. He wasn't a pragmatist, it was more pathological than that.On Free State today, Dion talks to Richard Fitzpatrick about HH and how he shaped the modern football world, for better and for worse. Although not a lot of it was for the better. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How the Gambling Industry Hijacks Young Brains 02.07.2026 48min

  The World Cup continues to captivate. France stunned the world with their performance against Sweden, with a display of pace and skill that was as good as anything witnessed in the competition.But what is the hidden World Cup? What is the secret anguish that this and all sporting events facilitate.In their final episode in this series looking at the dangers of online gambling, Joe and Dion look at how the dopamine hit is so carefully regulated and how the ebb and flow of sporting events became another hook. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Addiction by Design-How we became the gambling industry’s lab rats 30.06.2026 47min

  How many times do you look at your smartphone each day? How often do you pick it up? How aware are you of how it makes you feel?On Thursday’s Free State we looked at how gambling has got out of control.Today Dion and Joe examine how what we are dealing with is an entirely new phenomenon, a supercharged addiction of smartphone and gambling, a dopamine hit of huge power. We look at the demographic most affected and ask when will people do enough to help them? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why the west stayed silent over genocide 27.06.2026 1h 8min

  When Fintan Drury wrote his first book on Palestine - Catastrophe, Nakba II, the manner in which it resonated with people told its own story. Now he has written Genocide - Sponsoring the destruction of Palestine, another searing and detailed account of how the Palestinian people have been failed. He talks to Dion about why now is the time to act. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Imitation World Cup - Gamble Responsibly (LOL) 25.06.2026 51min

  The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act prohibited betting on baseball, basketball, American football and most other sports in nearly every US state.In 2018, the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional, opening up America to a stampede of betting.On Free State today we look at how the gambling industry achieved such prominence and how they made gamblers feel that the problem wasn’t them it was you. With tens of billions being bet on the World Cup and prediction markets like Polymarket allowing people to take a position on everything, we wonder where it will end? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Can the World Cup save America? 23.06.2026 34min

  ‘I have come to sell a product called soccer.’ The former FIFA president Joao Havelange announced himself in 1974 with these words. They have been the model for the expansionist, grasping FIFA that has existed to this day.But maybe what matters was not the product but everything but the product?On Free State today we look at why the World Cup matters and why it might be everything that Donald Trump’s America is not.From David Clifford and Kerry to Messi and Argentina, sport is what it is because of the communities that are brought together.Could it be that as America experiences the World Cup, they see that the world is a better place than their leaders want them to believe? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• An Actor's Life: Power Ballad start Peter McDonald on working with Paul Rudd, dealing with fame and the Monday Club 20.06.2026 51min

  In Power Ballad, Rick, played by Paul Rudd, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. On Free State today, old friends Dion and Peter McDonald, co-writer and co-start of Power Ballad, discuss their own late night escapades, Peter's time in the theatre and and his extraordinary time working with the legendary Robert Altman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The World’s First Trillionaire and the Truth about Two Tier Policing 18.06.2026 47min

  There are no atheists in the foxholes and in the darkness of the night there is nobody who won’t find consolation in the World Cup.On Free State today Joe talks about his own World Cup journey. Joe and Dion look at why the tournament captivates and what it tells us about communities as opposed to the leaders of those communities.At a time when Elon Musk had become the world’s first trillionaire, we look at the hatred he is trying to foment. And we look at the story of Palestine Action and what it tells us the authoritarian direction of the world today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The hypocrisy of Loyalism and why is Jimmy McGuinness having a meltdown? 16.06.2026 36min

  How have Donegal got themselves in this mess? Has Jim McGuinness’s obsession with Kerry blinded him to the other threats.On Free State today, Joe examines why some counties accumulate All Irelands and others fail, while Dion surprises him with his knowledge of Roscommon’s football history.Joe and Dion also look at how the Belfast Riots happened. For months the PSNI were warned that houses were being identified and that people were stockpiling food for fear their homes would be attacked but according to reports nothing was done.‘My daughter was crying, saying she doesn’t want to die,’ one father said of the terror his family endured during the riots.Why has this happened and what is the hypocrisy at the heart of loyalism that allows this hate to prosper? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Love and Mercy: The Rise and Fall of Diego Maradona 13.06.2026 50min

  The World Cup has begun but will there ever be a tournament like Mexico '86 dominated by Diego Maradona? On Free State today, Dion talks to David Arrowsmith about his book on Maradona, the impulses that drove Maradona and how he escaped from poverty but could never escape the sense of being an outsider. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Belfast Riots and the Spanish Gerry Adams 11.06.2026 42min

  Belfast has burned this week. The horrific knife attack on Monday night shocked everyone. But nobody was surprised by what came next. In Belfast, In Glasgow and around Britain, people came out on the street. Some were there to protest, others were there to intimidate. In Belfast, the intimidation took over.On Free State today, Joe and Dion consider the riots in Belfast and whether there is a difference there than in other places. Joe looks at the inherent supremacy in the loyalist mindset and why it has made that community more susceptible to the hysteria driven by social media.As people take to the streets in Dublin and elsewhere, can any politician challenge the power of the technology and the propaganda advancing this cause? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Put ‘Em Under Pressure. How to Stop Ireland playing Israel with Sinead Gibney TD 09.06.2026 46min

  The FAI have decided to move Ireland’s game against Israel to a neutral venue. But is this a pragmatic move or another attempt to avoid making a principled decision?On Free State today Joe and Dion talk to Sinead Gibney of the Social Democrats about why this is a cop out. Would there be consequences for Ireland if they refused to play the game or would it lead to others following?Sinead Gibney explains why this is a moral issue and even if Ireland were removed as hosts of the Euros in two years, they should refuse to play. The decision to move the game doesn’t address the moral core of the problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Sleepwalkers-John Kampfner on how western democracy will fail 06.06.2026 49min

  John Kampfner doesn’t believe there is a better way, he believes there is only one way for western democracies to survive.On Free State today he talks about what democracies have to do to survive. They - we - are drinking in the last chance saloon he says. He explains why there has to be a reckoning and why so many politicians do not have the capability to change.He speaks about his new book Braver New World which we have discussed on the podcast and where in the world countries are doing things differently. If the rest of us don’t do the same, there will be trouble ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Love Island and the Sorrowful Mystery of Frank McGuigan 04.06.2026 34min

  Have you been watching Love Island? As part of his deep research for the podcast, Dion has and on today’s Free State he shares his concerns about Fitzy and the world he has walked in to.Joe encouraged Dion to watch it but hasn’t done so himself but he marvels at the Love Island universe and what it contains.Yet it is the universe of the late great Frank McGuigan that holds his attention. Joe recalls a player of preternatural gifts whose genius drew people to him and whose vulnerability ensured they always willed him on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• 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.