Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

418 episodes

Merchants of doubt. The men who conspired to destroy the planet.
04/08/2026 | 47 mins.
In the 1980s, there were 21 days when the temperature in London reached 30 degrees. In 2026 there have been 24.
In Greece, two died in a midair collision between helicopters fighting wildfires. France has seen the greatest civilian evacuation outside wartime as people flee the danger areas.
And yet people will take issue with what they are seeing.
On Free State we look at the movement that turned climate science into a climate debate. We examine how the methods that were used by big tobacco transferred to the climate arena. We look at how Brexit may be the model as the same alliance that drove the UK out of the EU, question the science as the world can burn so long as it doesn’t affect the bottom line
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How John Ware searched for the truth in the darkness of the Troubles
01/08/2026 | 1h 2 mins.
Running agents during the Troubles has become one of the darkest element of the history of the north. John Ware has covered this story since the 1970s and produced a ground breaking Panorama on the topic. Ware talks to Dion today about a lifetime covering this subject and the stories of Brian Nelson and Freddie Scappaticci. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mayo vs Gianni Infantino
30/07/2026 | 36 mins.
Can you put a price on what we watched at Croke Park on Sunday? What would you sell a Mayo victory in the All Ireland for?
We know that what we watched affects us in ways that money can’t buy but Gianni Infantino thinks he can sell the essence of sport.
On Free State today Dion and Joe look at why sport is so important and why men like Infantino are a danger to the things that are most important in our lives.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How Mayo Shook Up the World (and Joe Brolly)
28/07/2026 | 44 mins.
Everybody wants to know how Mayo did it, but when something like this happens what is more important is why Mayo did it.
Why did these players play without fear? Why did the world weep along with Mayo people on Sunday when they won the All Ireland?
On Free State today we look at why Mayo were able to do what they did against Kerry.
In a county that has been waiting for so long, Joe and Dion look at how Andy Moran didn’t run from the emotion but instead made it an ally and created an adrenaline loop for his side.
Joe reflects on his comments about Mayo earlier in the year - and earlier in the decade and earlier in the century - and talks about what it was like to watch it unfold on Sunday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Joseph O'Neill on how the world got worse during the World Cup
25/07/2026 | 48 mins.
Will the world have changed thanks to the World Cup? Or did the world change while the World Cup was taking place and people were too busy watching the World Cup to notice.
On Free State today, the great novelist Joseph O’Neill talks to Dion about what he learned watching the World Cup and how the authoritarian US regime prospered during the tournament as other authoritarian regimes prospered in the past.
He talks us through his own views on the tournament and tells us the identity of the one team he can support unconditionally.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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About Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

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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