Edna O’Brien’s early novels shocked Ireland which plotted its revenge. Her first novel The Country Girls was banned and she had to withstand the whispering of the establishment that she didn’t write her own novels.Her career would be a rebuttal to the cynics and the priests, but her life had its share of trauma and despair. In the 1970s she began an affair with a renowned and married British politician whose identity has never been revealed. She was consumed by the relationship, unable to work or think of anything else. A new documentary Blue Road tells the remarkable story of Edna O’Brien. On Free State today, Blue Road’s director Sinead O’Shea talks about the Edna O’Brien she got to know at the end of her life and why she remained so fiercely independent. She looks at O’Brien’s life ridiculed and castigated by the establishment, firstly for writing about sex and then for writing about Gerry Adams. Sinead also tells the story of the acid trip that altered Edna O’Brien’s life forever when she had to be rescued by James Bond.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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42:07
iPhones, groceries & tinned cats. The truth about Trump’s tariffs.
When Donald Trump paused tariffs for 90 days after a week of chaos, once again the world tried to interpret his actions. When people tell you who they are believe them and Trump has told us plenty of times. These were not the actions of a man playing 4D chess but of an infant trying not to choke on the pieces. Trump is the idiot wind blowing through America bringing anarchy and misery across the world. On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the man behind the actions and those who have decided to support him. They identify the grift in the middle of the pandemonium and wonder if the bully who wants the world to grovel will be undone by the chaos he can’t control.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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44:08
Long Orgasms and Golden Years. The Secrets and Myths of Mick O’Dwyer
As the world sinks deeper into madness, Joe and Dion remember the time of wonder that was the Kerry team under Mick O’Dwyer. What was it that drove O’Dwyer on? Joe recalls his own encounters with Mick O’Dwyer. Dion tells of when his father lined up alongside O’Dwyer in a Kerry team in 1960. They look at what drove Mick O’Dwyer and that Kerry team to greatness and why certain myths had to be rejected. Joe also reveals some non sheep nuts related news about his sex life that absolutely nobody will be interested in.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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30:59
‘I betrayed women all over the place’. Author John Banville on hating the Catholic Church and his terror of eternity
“I thought I came here to talk about books.” John Banville is one of Ireland’s great writers. He won the Booker Prize for his novel The Sea and he has remained one of the foremost figures in Ireland since. John Banville will turn 80 this year. In an extraordinary interview on Free State today, he talks about life, death and why we live too long. He has lived a complicated life and he discusses those complications, the hurt he caused his wife and the other women in his life. He speaks about his hatred of the Catholic Church, how his mother was cheated by the clergy and why he feels the church has never really gone away. He explains why he wants to be cancelled and what will be left when he is gone. “The work will be forgotten and my sins will be remembered.”Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1:02:03
Rebel With a Cause. How Martin Galvin galvanised Irish America
In 1984, the British government banned Martin Galvin from entering Northern Ireland. Galvin was a key figure in Noraid, the American organisation raising funds for Republican prisoners. In an explosive appearance on today’s Free State, Martin Galvin tells the story of his journey in the republican movement. Ahead of a brilliant new RTÉ documentary he describes the events of that summer in 1984. Galvin was smuggled into the North and made an appearance at a rally where one man was killed by the RUC as they tried to arrest Galvin Joe and Galvin clash with Dion over the events of that day. They also discuss his work to get Gerry Adams a visa in America and how Sinn Fein went in another direction when they decided it was a time for pragmatists.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/ 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 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.
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