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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
What this show covers
Northern IrelandBorder pollUnionismDrumcreeIrelandsport and politicsHistory writingEspionageIranBen MacintyreCold WarNew IrelandUnited IrelandIdentity politicsOrange parades
What listeners will find here
How one Soviet spy in Iran may have altered the Cold War
This episode explores Vladimir Kuzichkin, a Soviet spy in Iran known as Redwood, and the personal problem that Ben Macintyre argues helped change history. It also gets into why Macintyre was drawn to the story and what makes a gripping book out of real espionage.
Drumcree, unionism, and the argument over a border poll
Drumcree is the focus here, as Dion and Joe examine how a once-violent flashpoint has shifted into legal battles, negotiations, and symbolic politics. They treat it as a sign of strain within old-style unionism and debate what that means for a new Ireland.
Garvaghy Road as a test of confidence, identity, and Irish unity
Garvaghy Road is the focus here, as Joe and Dion explore why it has become a symbol of a new, self-assured community in the north. The episode connects the emotions around Orange parades to a bigger question: not just whether a United Ireland happens, but what kind of Ireland it would be.
Louise Kennedy on emigration, belonging, and the North-South divide
Louise Kennedy discusses her new novel Stations and its focus on the loss and sacrifice of emigration. In conversation with Dion, she also reflects on moving from Northern Ireland to Naas at 12, and on why Ireland still struggles to fully acknowledge the truth of emigration.
Peter O’Mahony on obsession, winning, and a hard professional reckoning
Peter O’Mahony talks about the obsession with winning that shaped his career, alongside a stark November 2023 meeting that brought the realities of professional sport into focus. The episode also touches on his brief spell as a Gaelic footballer and the start of work on his autobiography.
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