Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York. Why is corporate America so terrified of a 34 year old Muslim?
In numbers not seen for half a century, New Yorkers went out and voted for Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor.Mamdani becomes New York’s first Muslim mayor. He came to America at the age of seven and he has created a sense of the possible that was once at the heart of the American condition.On Free State today we ask how did Zohran Mamdani do it? How did he overcome the campaign of demonisation that branded him a dangerous antisemite? He was called a ‘communist lunatic’ by Donald Trump, who threatened to revoke his citizenship.But Mamdani delivered a message of change but one of substance. Joe and Dion also look at the constant emails discussing Joe’s compassionate stance on DJ Carey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Simon Harris, Elon Musk & the Stranger Danger Delusion
On Halloween night, a fire broke out an IPAS centre in Drogheda. Four children, including a 20-day-old baby, were among those rescued from the top floor of the building. The next morning the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan condemned the attack and said that fireworks had been thrown into the building. There were no fireworks, CCTV footage showed a figure setting fire to the staircase. Police believe it was arson and the nature of the attack may justify attempted murder charges.On Free State today, we ask if this will be a turning point in the demonisation of asylum seekers or is Ireland heading down the same road as other countries?Dion and Joe disagree about the direction the country is going. They look at Simon Harris’s comments about immigration and ask what responsibility politicians have in a febrile atmosphere to lead rather than to stoke fears? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Learning to cross the road. A life ruined by Opus Dei
On the day of the All Ireland football final in 1978, Anne Marie Allen believed she was beginning the life she dreamed of.She was 15 years old and wanted to be a chef. When two visitors came to her house promising a catering course and a job, it seemed like too good to be true.It was. For the next seven years she entered into the secretive world of Opus Dei. On Free State today Anne Marie Allen tells her extraordinary story. She talks about how she entered into a world of servitude and domestic slavery.From the age of 16, she had to do mortifications which meant wearing a barbed wire chain around her leg for two hours every day. She explains how the mental anguish of what she endured stayed with her for a long time and she talks about the courage of her father in standing up to Opus Dei.But it is her own courage that is the most astonishing thing of all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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DJ Carey - The rise and fall of hurling’s first superstar
DJ Carey’s sentencing hearing was postponed until Friday. In July, Carey had pleaded guilty to defrauding 13 people.On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the rise and fall of hurling’s first superstar.They examine the drive and determination that took DJ to the top and the restlessness that was always part of his personality as well.Joe talks about his own dealing with DJ and wonders if there is room in the world today for compassion and mercy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How racism became respectable.
When the shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick visited Handsworth in Birmingham he complained about ‘not seeing another white face’.Many were angered by his comments, but what do they tell us about how the mainstream has absorbed extremist postions?On Free State today we consider how racism has become respectable.What is happening in the U.K. and the US is taking hold here, with the demonisation of the other, a story as old as time, but given fresh energy through social media. Dion looks at the career of Robert Jenrick and what his own journey in politics tells us about the move to the right. 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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