Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning cover art

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

By: Gold Hat Productions
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About this listen

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 will never try to sell you a penis scented candle. 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.

Gold Hat Productions Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Eoin Ó Broin - Why the government doesn’t want to fix the housing crisis

    Eoin Ó Broin - Why the government doesn’t want to fix the housing crisis
    Dec 13 2025

    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.
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    57 mins
  • Role Play with AI Girls and Boys - Harmless fun or the end of the world?

    Role Play with AI Girls and Boys - Harmless fun or the end of the world?
    Dec 11 2025

    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.
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    47 mins
  • The Peace President - Infantino drags FIFA to a new low

    The Peace President - Infantino drags FIFA to a new low
    Dec 9 2025

    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.
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    35 mins
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