Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

At the age of 45, Leo Varadkar decided to resign as Taoiseach. Many people wondered why.In an extraordinarily frank interview on Free State today, Leo Varadkar talks about how finding peace in his personal life dulled his political ambition.He speaks about his failings as a politician and a man. He explains why he believes in a united Ireland but isn’t a nationalist.He criticises Keir Starmer’s embrace of nationalism in Britain and denies he was conned by Boris Johnson during their summit at the Wirral in 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who was Charlie Kirk and what had he got to do with Ireland?On a heated episode of Free State, Dion and Joe argue about how to respond to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Is it right simply to commiserate or do the ideas he advanced need to be challenged? They look at the rise of Kirk and how the MAGA movement has reacted to his killing.Do people who disagree with everything he stood for need to observe a respectful silence or should they make their case now when it matters most? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Diarmuid Lyng led the life many believe is the dream.But it wasn’t his dream.On Free State today he talks about how there has to be another way. How there has to be a version of ourselves outside the consumer western narrative that occupies so much of our lives.He explains what he is hoping to achieve with Wild Irish Retreats. And why the answers are all around us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is it like to cover the Donald Trump White House?How should the media engage with the presidency in a time of crisis?On Free State today, Niall Stanage talks to Joe and Dion about his time in America speaking truth to power. He recalls his encounters with the Biden official John Kirby over Gaza. Has the deferential nature of the media in America led too many to take a step backwards? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson declared last week that Donald Trump had been an FBI informant working to take down Jeffrey Epstein. He subsequently said he might have got it wrong. In Britain Reform had their party conference with the BBC’s political editor gushing about the ‘insurgency vibe’.On Free State, Joe and Dion ask if the media knows how to handle the rise of figures who peddle nothing but misinformation.Joe and Dion disagree on why this is. As the Irish presidential election comes closer they wonder about the questions some candidates like Catherine Connolly face. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland is a rural country. We believe that the values that sustain us are values that have been shaped by our struggle for land and our struggles on the land.But as the climate emergency reaches a point of no return, how damaging have these foundational myths about Ireland been?On Free State today John Gibbons talks about Ireland’s failure in tackling climate change.He explains why farming today is not what it was when we shaped our romantic view of it and why agribusiness has used national myths to advance one side of a culture war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Nigel Farage arrived in Washington this week, a US congressman Jamie Raskin spoke the truth about this snake oil salesman. In Britain the worst of Farage’s impulses are now indulged.On Free State today, Dion and Joe look at what the writer Tanjil Rashid has called ‘the age of deportation’.How have countries slipped closer to the authoritarian way of life and why is it being allowed to happen?They look at how Nigel Farage dominates the media and how the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer follows Farage agenda. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does Jim Gavin want to be president? What does a man in the prime of his life with a record of success and achievement gain from going to the Aras?On Free State today Joe explains what makes his friend Jim Gavin tick. He explains his gift of leadership and how he serves his ego by giving power to others.Dion offers a reason that a Jim Gavin presidency would be important.They also look at the campaign to discredit Catherine Connolly and wonder what the grown ups have ever done for us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last Monday night, Newcastle United played Liverpool in a game which told the story of the Premier League.One club is owned by Saudi Arabia, the other belongs to an American multisports holding conglomerate.It was played at St James’ Park in front of 50,000 frothing Newcastle supporters who were enraged that their best player had gone on strike because he wants to play for Liverpool.This was a show staged in one of the great cities of industrial England for the benefit of television and with the supporters simply as extras.On Free State today, the great football historian David Goldblatt talks about how football explains so much of where England is today in society.He looks at how the kitsch of poppy commemorations became an opportunity to demonstrate militaristic credentials with Millwall playing a game in a camouflage kit.It has led to the demonisation of someone like James McClean. This Goldblatt says shows that these people, who are also raising flags across England today, are living in “fantasy land” when it comes to England’s history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s." In Donald Trump’s America you can render unto Donald Trump what is God’s as well.On Free State today, Dion and Joe look at the gangsterism that is taking over Britain and America and how the media fail to challenge it.Trump is intimidating and seizing power in America while Nigel Farage is being elevated by a media that knows what it’s doing.The consequences of this are obvious but still so many deny what is happening. Why? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.