Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning
Episodes
RTÉ The Musical: Part 5
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The RTE scandal is not about pay-offs, flip-flops or Ryan Tubridy’s salary, it’s a story of how the media was manipulated in Ireland. From the Tro...
RTÉ The Musical: Part 4
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
RTE can’t escape scandal. The controversies of the last six months have demonstrated how the organisation operated in the dark.But there is a bigger...
And God gave his only son Bono to the world. Part 2
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Having dealt with the question ‘What is Bono?’ on today’s Free State, Dion and Joe ask the more important question: why? Why God why? They ...
And God gave his only son Bono to the world. Part 1
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is Bono and who is he for?On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe look at Bono’s activism, what he has said and, as importantly, what he hasn’t...
Ulster Says YES - Part 2
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How close are we to a United Ireland?The unionist voices that said ‘no terrorists in government’ and no Sinn Fein First Minister have been margina...
Ulster Says YES - Part 1
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michelle O’Neill’s election as First Minister of Northern Ireland made worldwide headlines.On today’s Free State, Joe reflects on the importance...
KNEECAP Part 2
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Northern Ireland prepares for a Sinn Fein First Minister, but why has it taken so long?On today’s Free State, Joe and Dion look at how culture was u...
KNEECAP Part 1. Get your Brits out for the lads. Kneecappings, Klopp & Gerry Adams on ketamine.
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Anarchy is always a threat to the establishment. Joyous anarchy unsettles them even more.Kneecap are annoying many of the right people as they aim for...
SuperValu GAA: Part 2
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you can’t spot the sucker at the poker table it’s you.Today’s 'Free State' tells the story of how the GAA surrendered to corporations and how...
SuperValu GAA: Brands are burrowing into the GAA’s culture. If they are not checked, soon they will become the culture.
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The GAA occupies a special place in Irish life. But that special place is what makes it so attractive to sponsors.Today Joe and Dion look at the plan ...
Who wants to be a (Swiss) billionaire? Part 2
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sportswashing works. From the English Premier League to the World Cup to golf, sport is being transformed by countries whose main interest is transfor...
Who wants to be a (Swiss) billionaire? From Ireland..
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When JP McManus donated €32 million to the GAA last month, people were falling over themselves to hail his generosity.JP didn’t need to do this, t...
The Lonely Crusade Of Sally Hayden, The African Queen, For Those Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe are joined by Sally Hayden, a remarkable journalist covering the story of our time.Sally’s book My Fourth Time...
Bullseye: Luke Littler, the 5 year old grandmaster, the baby Jesus & other child prodigies
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Luke Littler was magnificent as he reached the world darts championship final. On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe look at a special kind of sportin...
Review of 2023. Gaza, doubting priests, disloyal managers, Irish funerals & a fairytale ending
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s brand new episode, Joe and Dion intended to look back on 2023 and anticipate 2024. They celebrated the return of Ryan Tubridy and wondere...
Blazing Saddles: A country music odyssey through Trump land
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s Free State, Joe is looking for America as he takes a belated honeymoon across the US. From Music Row in Nashville, Joe and Dion talk abou...
Best Of ‘Free State’ Volume 2
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe select more of their favourite moments from 2023. They choose from their most enjoyable guests to those occasion...
Best Of ‘Free State’
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Free State, Dion and Joe have selected their favourite moments from the first eight months of the podcast. From hallucinating ten Joe Bro...
POSH Part 2: with Paul Howard, Ross O’Carroll-Kelly & Roddy Collins
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Howard and Roddy Collins are back for the second part of the Free State Christmas Special.Roddy remembers how he tried to take a bit of the Dubli...
POSH: The tongue twisting world of Dublin 4 with Paul Howard, Ross O’Carroll-Kelly & Roddy Collins
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Roddy Collins and Paul Howard join Dion and Joe for the 'Free State' Christmas special.They explain how Medjugorje is a good place to go on the lash, ...
Deep Fake, The Many Masks Of Al Foran: Part 2
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, Al Foran recalls the good and bad in the celebrities he has encountered. He takes us inside the mechanics of creating an impress...
Deep Fake, The Many Masks Of Al Foran: Part 1
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week's Free State welcomes figures from politics, sport and entertainment. From Donald Trump to Katie Taylor to Tyson Fury, Al Foran has an unpar...
Fantasy: Ireland is in flames. Reality: Ireland is not in flames
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why has Ireland caught the attention of Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk? In today’s Free State, Joe and Dion look at how the stability of...
The Twilight Zone (An Imaginary World Where Ireland is At War)
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What attracts people to conspiracy theories? In an uncertain world is it certainty or do they offer excitement missing in their lives? In today’...
In Dublin's Fair City
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do we combat hate? What happened in the Dublin Riots was driven by far right agitators but how do we fight their message? Dion and Joe a...
God save Ireland, said the heroes - Dublin Riots
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Derry Girls
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Thick Of It
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ha...
Wounded Child No Surviving Family - Part 2
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 we...
Wounded Child No Surviving Family (WCNSF)
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 con...
The Secret Life Of David Gough Part 2: Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Blue Moon. The Secret Life Of David Gough
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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....
The Unbearable Lightness Of Living. Michael Lewis talks life, love & the death of his beloved daughter Dixie Lee.
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
Who wants to be a billionaire? The rise and fall of crypto king Sam Bankman Fried
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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.&...
Netenyahu And The Coffin Of Peace
29 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Where is the way out of the horror in Gaza? When the Shankill Road bomb killed ten people in Frizzell’s fish shop 30 years ago there seemed to be no...
The Nuclear Tiger And The Hungry Alleycat
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How much is enough? With the threat that things will worsen even more in Gaza, what will it take for those with influence to intervene. The US and Pre...
Oh What A Lovely Genocide
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The world is watching as terror and suffering come to the people of Gaza once more. In this terrible war, there is also a propaganda war. This war is ...
The Israeli Death Star: The Tragedy Of Palestine, Gaza and Israel
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Israel commits war crimes in Gaza, can anyone persuade the country’s government to stop the slaughter?On part 2 of this week’s Free State, Joe ...
Dancing Among The Corpses
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Israeli government - emboldened by politicians in the west - is committing war crimes. Gaza is a human catastrophe where the horrors will echo thr...
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - Part 2
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the second part of 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service', Peter Taylor discusses the attempts of the British establishment to censor & intimidate...
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Late in the night following Bloody Sunday, a young reporter arrived in Derry. ‘If you want to know what’s going on here,’ John Hume told him, ‘...
Fellas! Are you having any fun?
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the end, Pat Gilroy will remember the fun more than the winning. What is sport for except those moments shared among a team that will never be forg...
Derry Boys: Mickey Harte & The Caravan Of Fools
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the news broke that Mickey Harte was the new manager of Derry, some accepted it as part of how the modern GAA operates. But for others it struck ...
Hate. The Shit Magnificent Seven - Part 2
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew Collins was dead inside. This is where hatred led - to a library with mothers cowering in fear, sheltering from an attack from his far right g...
Hate. The Shit Magnificent Seven - Part 1
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Once upon a time, Matthew Collins would have been standing with the mob outside Dáil Éireann erecting gallows and spitting hate. This unexcepti...
Unquiet Graves - Part 2: Smiling Like You’ve Never Been Gone
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the families of those murdered by security forces collusion, the truth was all they had left.In Part II of Unquiet Graves, Joe and Dion look at th...
Unquiet Graves - Part 1
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The past lives in everyone traumatised by the Troubles. The Legacy Bill has layered misery and anxiety on top of suffering and injustice. For the fami...
Wrap The Green Flag Round Me Boys - Part 2
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With around 35% of people north and south supporting the Sinn Fein movement, Dion & Joe wonder why there isn’t a single person from a Republican...
Wrap The Green Flag Round Me Boys - Part 1
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is ‘Ooh Ah, Up the Ra’ the best the Irish establishment can do in the face of the existential threat posed by Sinn Fein? In the week that Mic...
Who says there’s no talent in Longford?
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is the Rose of Tralee a national embarrassment or does it represent something precious? On this week’s Free State, Joe and Dion look at Irish cultur...
Roddy Collins Is A Wanker - Part 2
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Part Two of Roddy Collins is a W****r, Roddy Collins talks to Joe and Dion about his failed attempt at an IRA hold up as a teenager, his days going...
Roddy Collins Is A Wanker - Part 1
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t mess with the Cabra boys. In the first of a two-part interview, Roddy Collins joins Dion and Joe on Free State. He talks about the confidence ...
Death On The Mediterranean
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Stalin said one death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic. On Free State this week, Dion and Joe discuss the tragedy of tens of thousands d...
Hate, Housing & Happiness - Pat Gilroy’s Roadmap to Utopia
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fresh from Dublin’s triumph in the All Ireland final, Joe and Dion welcome an old friend back to Free State. Pat Gilroy returns to talk about why th...
Don’t Cry For Me, Falkland Islands
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump continues to demonstrate how reality can be hijacked by lies. This week Dion and Joe look at how America and Britain have been lost to po...
Unleash the superhero within: How to become a multi millionaire, a wonderful lover and a complete a**hole.
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can you sustain an orgasm for 15 minutes? Joe and Dion help you unleash the superhero within and they disagree about the power of the mind. Joe also r...
The Surprising Truth About Champions feat. Philly McMahon & Ger Brennan
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a champion? Philly McMahon and Ger Brennan talk to Joe and Dion about what they were prepared to do as they helped to shape that great Dubl...
RTÉ The Musical - Act 2
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve got to pick a pocket or two...You can say what you like about Ryan Tubridy but do not question his soul, his love for the decent people of Ir...
RTÉ The Musical - Act 1
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Show me the (taxpayers) money...What does the RTÉ scandal tell us about Ireland? Joe and Dion explain why this was always about more than Ryan Tubrid...
The Inglorious 12th
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know the words to The Sash? Is it culture or hate that sees effigies of politicians including Leo Varadkar burned on bonfires? This week Joe an...
The Sportswriter
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Ford, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, joins Joe and Dion on this week’s Free State.Before he became a novelist, Richard was a sportswrite...
The Ultimate Gunfighter
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have always been drawn towards violence but is there a limit to the licence to thrill? Violence has always been a part of sport but now with ev...
The Headless Men
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What happens if you speak out against the tribe in Unionism? Is there only free speech for Catholics in Northern Ireland? Joe and Dion argue about com...
Our Friends in the North
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dion and Joe debate and disagree about friendships and links between the north and south. They recall some fascinating incidents from the Troubles, in...
The Reverse Cowgirl
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you achieve the perfect orgasm without a sexual partner? What precisely is the reverse cowgirl? Where can you buy an orgasmatron? Dion & Jo...
Searching For God
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to confront addiction? Do we still have a stereotype when it comes to imagining what somebody with a drink problem looks like? This ...
The Roman Catholic Breeders Association
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Birds do it, bees do it, but nobody does it like northern catholics, even the educated ones. Once again the demographic changes in the north have been...
The Lonely Passion of Patrick Gilroy
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Before Dublin became the greatest Gaelic football team ever seen, they were the best known failures in Irish sport. Pat Gilroy was the manager who tur...
The Trouble With Supremacists
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What unites the US Republican Party, Brexiteers and the DUP? This week, Joe and Dion look at the magical thinking that has replaced reason among those...
Curb Your Enthusiasm Father
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you were offered a lift on Air Force One would you take it? Joe talks to Dion about his time with Joe Biden in Ireland and the extraordinary empath...
Ooh Aah, Up Which Ra? - Part 2
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the second part of Ooh Aah, Up Which Ra, Dion and Joe wonder what being honest about history really means and if Ireland wants to be Austria or Ger...
Ooh Aah, Up Which Ra?
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the Irish women’s football team qualified for the World Cup, their achievement was overshadowed by a video of them singing ‘Ooh Aah, Up the R...
The Nigerian Prince
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Anyaegbunam had a privileged upbringing in Nigeria as a Nigerian prince. His first meeting with Joe Brolly took place either during an escapad...
The Optimism Muscle
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know where to find your optimism muscle? In this week’s episode Joe and Dion look at how the 21st century has become a factory and why a bana...
Smile Or Die
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody wants to be happy but what if simply wanting to be happy is as crazy as simply wanting to live on Mars? In the first episode Dion and Joe ex...
This is Free State Podcast
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Free State is a podcast for the curious that stimulates, provokes, challenges and entertains, while never taking itself too seriously. Free State cove...