Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

When the Senegal team walked off the pitch in the last seconds of the AFCON final, were we witnessing a moment of brave resistance or gamesmanship?Was this a stand against the technology which is destroying sport or a stroke?On Free State today we ask if injustice has to be part of sport? Joe makes his case for video evidence in Gaelic football.Joe and Dion also look at Trump’s determination to land the biggest real estate deal in American history as he pursues Greenland. Is this a negotiation or the actions of a narcissist? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What drove DJ Carey? What did he believe of the fraud and deception that ended up with him being sent to prison? And as he faces life as a social pariah, what does he think today of his crimes?On Free State today Eimear Ni Bhraonain, author of The Dodger, the bestselling book about DJ Carey looks at what drove one of Ireland’s greatest sportsmen.She considers the childhood of excellence and isolation and what removed DJ Carey from the world around him and sent him into the field of deception and fraud. She looks at how DJ might redeem himself and considers the question that even asking makes some people angry: Is it ok to feel sorry for DJ Carey? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August Belfast will host Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. More than half a million people will visit the city from around the world for the festival which is a global event. Last year nearly a million people attended the Fleadh in Wexford.But be warned. All this music and culture is not what it appears. A DUP councillor has warned that a spin off event in Bangor has potential to cause ‘ill feeling’ because it takes place on the same day as the Ulster Championships for Pipe Bands.On Free State today Joe and Dion look at how a strand of unionism sees everything as a zero sum game. But it’s a game they are losing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘A society,’ Dostoevsky said, ‘should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but how it treats its prisoners.’In the U.K. Nigel Farage is promising to build bigger prisons and send prisoners to Estonia and El Salvador. There are more people in prison in the US than in any country in the world.On Free State today we look at how society gave up on prisoners. We examine why populism and media scares matter more than any idea of rehabilitation. And there is news on the GAA quiz which was postponed as Joe questioned Dion’s right to even answer the questions. Send your questions to info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In November, 2022, the principals of Blackrock College and its two junior schools issued a statement. It followed a public apology that had been made by the Spiritan Order over abuse that took place in its schoolsThe statement by the schools spoke of the “great harm done” to pupils over an extended period.It added that “Philip Feddis, Corry McMahon, Louis Hoffman and John Coulter, all of whom left school at the end of the 1970s, showed extraordinary courage in bringing the scale of the problem to attention. Over the last number of years the determination these four men and indeed many others have displayed, warrants our collective gratitude.”On Free State today, two of those extraordinarily courageous men Corry McMahon and John Coulter talk to us about their years in Blackrock College and the junior school Willow Park. They talk about the darkness and the light of their schooldays and the joy of friendship which has helped them deal with the horrors.They speak about the restorative justice programme they have worked on for the past four years and what needs to happen next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the US military pursued the Russian tanker Marinera in the North Atlantic, a village in South Tyrone might have been paying close attention.The world is not a safe place for many these days but in this time of danger, the residents of Fivemiletown are particularly at risk.On Free State today we look at why Fivemiletown appeared on a Russian strike list. What does it tell us about the drumbeats for war that the residents of the village are being told to prepare for nuclear annihilation?Meanwhile Dion prepares for a purity test as Joe decides to set a GAA quiz for him. Send your questions to info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Nicolás Maduro, the deposed Venezuelan leader, appeared in a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan, he insisted ‘I am still president of my country.’Maduro was labouring under a misapprehension, not just about his own country but about how things now work.On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the new age of empire as Donald Trump’s gangsterism spreads across the world.America now has Venezuela’s oil but it also has exercised muscle and for a bully like Trump that is its own reward.They explain why international law matters except when it doesn’t and they wonder what this means for the FIFA peace prize. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." On October 25 2023, novelist Omar El Akkad posted this message on X/TwitterOn Free State today Omar El Akkad joins Joe and Dionto talk about how the world looked away. His magisterial new book One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This details the complicity of the west. Gaza is enduring a famine and Israel maintains a blockade where children’s hunger is a weapon of war and an instrument of monumental cruelty. Omar’s voice is a compelling and necessary counterpoint.This episode originally aired on May 6th 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are those who believe Artificial Intelligence will lead to the extinction of mankind. There are those who believe AI will save the world.On Free State today, journalist and author of the Empire of AI Karen Hao explains why AI is an imperialist project and how the colonising is already taking place. She says why she believes the doomer vs boomer debate is a distraction and how Ireland is on the frontline of this imperialist project. Water and energy resources will be drained as empires are built while humans will be expendable.Karen also tells us why the term Artificial Intelligence was a marketing term in the first place which set the technology on a destructive path.This episode first aired on June 28th 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colm Toibin returns to the Free State studio for what is now the traditional Christmas interview.He reflects on the year when he turned 70, why there is too many men watching rugby on television and why it’s important to take the 99 out of Irish politics forever.He talks too about the death of his father when he was 12 and how the great Irish psychiatrist Ivor Browne tried to open him up to the trauma in the most extraordinary way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First there was the music. Keith Donald was always looking to escape. Music offered the first exit. Then came drink.Keith Donald was abused as a child by his headmistress. He found that jazz had the power to transform his existence.As a teenager he began to play music wherever he could. He played for a band on the Twelfth and toured the country with showbands.On Free State today Keith Donald talks about the music and the mayhem and how he found peace. He speaks about founding Moving Hearts and why even now music has the power to transform.This show was originally broadcast on August 23rd, 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do so many of us still cherish Christmas? And why do so many find it a tough time of year?On Free State today, Joe and Dion reflect on the power of Christmas and what it tells us about us as a people.Joe looks forward to a child’s wonder at Christmas while Dion is looking forward to the Ashes over Christmas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When he was 11, Leon Diop had his first experience of aggressive racism. But his identity was something he wrestled with in many ways.In a remarkable interview on Free State, Leon Diop talks about the Ireland he grew up in and being mixed race in that world.He talks about the confusion and shame he felt about his father, a Muslim from Senegal, and how he internalised that shame for many years.He explains how education changed him as he realised the difference between standing up for yourself and fighting for yourself. At a time when Ireland is experiencing more racism, he says he might be frightened but he refuses to despair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Causes, as we know, are notoriously bloodthirsty,’ James Baldwin wrote. What does it do to do somebody when they have crossed the boundary into a world of killing and destruction? How do they enforce their code in a place untethered from the one the rest of us inhabit?On Free State today, Joe and Dion follow on from Tuesday’s episode on Stakeknife by looking at how rules of organisations like the IRA were enforced. Joe talks about what made his father lose faith in the republican movement. He also accuses Dion of deference to the British Empire which leads Dion to launch a verbal attack on Joe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the state sanctions it, is it murder? When the state protects its agents from the consequences of their crimes, how long before cynicism corrupts society?On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the dark and dirty existence of Freddie Scappaticci, MI5 and the British state.They argue about what the report tells us about the IRA and the British government, while Joe tells the extraordinary story of Danny Morrison and Sandy Lynch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1948, Herbert Simms, under increasing pressure from the demands of his job, took his own life.The pressure came from his job as Dublin’s housing architect. Between 1932 and the time of his death, Simms was responsible for building 17,000 homes for the ordinary people of Dublin.On Free State today Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin talks about his beautiful new book on Simms, produced in conjunction with the photographer Mal McCann.He looks at how Simms transformed the city and suburbs with a vision and an ideology that placed communities first. He explains too why the same could happen today and why the question shouldn’t be could it happen but why isn’t it happening? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the heroin epidemic in Dublin in the 1980s, one drug baron infamously remarked as he was jailed, ‘If you think we’re bad, wait til you see what’s coming after us.’Australia banned social media for under 16s this week but will the next wave of online consumption be devastating for us all? If we thought social media was bad, what is coming next in terms of AI and the artificial friendships it promises?On Free State, Joe and Dion look at the next wave of AI and what it means for future generations. Are you afraid of AI? Info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Gianni Infantino created FIFA’s Peace Prize, how could he have imagined that the inaugural winner would be his great friend Donald Trump.But there Trump was on stage in Washington, presenting himself with the peace medal.On Free State, Joe and Dion look at how FIFA cosied up to autocrats, snake oil salesmen and Trump.They examine how money not only drives professional sport but has become the distorting lens. These days Trump may be a fan of the FIFA World Cup but he has always been a fan of money Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.”With these words, in October 2023, Josh Paul quit the US State Department. He was protesting over the Biden administration’s ongoing funding of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.On Free State today Josh Paul explains what led him to take the action he did. He speaks about his time in Iraq. He insists that Ireland must be strong on the Occupied Territories Bill, why the ceasefire will not bring a just and lasting peace and what his new organisation A New Policy is hoping to achieve in Washington. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are there reasons to embrace AI? Are the doomsayers wrong and the apocalyptic warnings overstated? What if an ordinary person can access medical or legal advice for fraction of the cost and difficulty it takes today?But what if there is no room for an ordinary person? On Free State today Dion and Joe look at the next frontier. In the technological revolution, we have allowed ourselves to become the product of the social media companies. AI promise us expertise at our fingertips but will the price be our own obsolescence Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.