The Sleepwalkers-John Kampfner on how western democracy will fail
06/06/2026 | 49 mins.
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 Bracer 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 | 34 mins.
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 | 47 mins.
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 | 37 mins.
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 | 32 mins.
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.
Free State is a podcast for the curious that stimulates, provokes, challenges and entertains, while never taking itself too seriously. Free State covers topics from sport to politics, love to loss, the human condition and how to fix the world, with guests from across the planet including Nigerian princes, former Prime Ministers, ex convicts, footballers, boxers and extraordinary people from every walk of life. Free State is presented by Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning. Brolly is a barrister, an original thinker with a fascinating backstory, who donated a kidney to a stranger and then led a crusade to transform organ donation on the island of Ireland, and Fanning is an award-winning interviewer and author. They are not motivational gurus or life coaches. They are two people from very different worlds, with one core belief uniting them - this is not a high performance podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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