104 episodes
Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning Gold Hat Productions
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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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Big Bad Bill. The greatest captain of them all. Captain Class Part 4.
As a young man, he fled the racism of Louisiana. His father could take no more: violence or exile was the next step. He began what at first was an unpromising basketball career before becoming the most inspirational leader in the history of the NBA.
On the final part of The Captain Class, Joe and Dion look at the extraordinary life of Bill Russell. Russell was the man who shaped the Boston Celtics even as he was being racially abused by his own fans. He had no interest in fame or the trappings of celebrity but as a captain he found a higher purpose for himself and his team.
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Are Leinster cursed or just losers? What causes great teams to become serial failures? Captain Class Part 3
When Leinster missed a drop goal in the final seconds of the European final were they just unlucky? Or were they, like Mayo, missing chances or losing three finals in a row because something fundamental was missing? On Free State today, Joe and Dion continue their exploration of the great teams and captains in sport.
Is team spirit just an illusion glimpsed in victory or is there another reason why these team succeed and others experience relative failure?
They look at what the great teams had in common, the factor that drove them towards relentless success and why luck had nothing to do with it.
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
The Roy Keane Conundrum - The Captain Class Part 2
Roy Keane drove Manchester United and Ireland on through the force of his personality. He was the most important player in Alex Ferguson’s side but was he a man apart or the invisible essence of the team? On Free State today, Joe and Dion debate Roy Keane and where he belongs in the captain class. They look at those who led a different way, who didn’t let heart attacks or jibes about being a water-carrier stop them leading.
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
The Captain Class Part 1
What is it that unites the greatest teams in sport?
What is the factor that ensures a team remains successful over a prolonged period?
When the American journalist Sam Walker began to study the greatest teams in sport, he found a common denominator that shocked him.
On Free State today, Joe and Dion discuss Walker’s book The Captain Class and the individuals who drove the greatest teams, even if, in one case, it resulted in his testicle being ripped out.
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Winners & Losers
The Ulster final was a study in winning and losing. A perfect example of the question everyone in sport has wrestled with for generations: what makes one team win and another team lose?
What makes one team confident as they reach the dying moments of a game while another becomes tense, tight and anxious?
What separates Dublin from Mayo or Donegal from Armagh? What distinguishes Alex Ferguson from David Moyes?
On Free State today, Dion and Joe look at the difference between winning and losing. Joe talks about the time he spent with the men from the great Kilkenny sides recently and what he discovered from those conversations about the secret of success. And when they talk about winning, naturally the conversation leads back to Jim McGuinness.
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Superman. An American football story. Joe Klecko, quarter back killer
Joe Klecko always had mayhem on his mind. Klecko, the legendary defensive linemen for the New York Jets, is regarded as the strongest man in the history of American Football.
When Joe Klecko was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he invited Joe Brolly to Cleveland to be part of the event.
On Free State today, Joe Klecko talks to Joe about his life on the front line of the most demanding sport of all. But it came easy to a man who once wrestled a bear and another time pulled the doors off Burt Reynolds’s tour bus. How he dealt with Joe was another story…
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/
To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.