Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

July was the driest July on record in Ireland and the second hottest since 1900. Most of us have enjoyed this summer but should we just now accept our Mediterranean climate and whistle past the climate graveyard.On Free State today we look at how climate and migration became weapons to protect the elites and sustain inequality. Dion and Joe look at the way the events in Ceuta were seized upon. It provided a backdrop for misinformation and fear and another chance to tell you your freedoms were under attack while your freedoms were being trampled on somewhere else.

In the 1980s, there were 21 days when the temperature in London reached 30 degrees. In 2026 there have been 24.In Greece, two died in a midair collision between helicopters fighting wildfires. France has seen the greatest civilian evacuation outside wartime as people flee the danger areas. And yet people will take issue with what they are seeing.On Free State we look at the movement that turned climate science into a climate debate. We examine how the methods that were used by big tobacco transferred to the climate arena. We look at how Brexit may be the model as the same alliance that drove the UK out of the EU, question the science as the world can burn so long as it doesn’t affect the bottom line

Running agents during the Troubles has become one of the darkest element of the history of the north. John Ware has covered this story since the 1970s and produced a ground breaking Panorama on the topic. Ware talks to Dion today about a lifetime covering this subject and the stories of Brian Nelson and Freddie Scappaticci.

Can you put a price on what we watched at Croke Park on Sunday? What would you sell a Mayo victory in the All Ireland for?We know that what we watched affects us in ways that money can’t buy but Gianni Infantino thinks he can sell the essence of sport.On Free State today Dion and Joe look at why sport is so important and why men like Infantino are a danger to the things that are most important in our lives.

Everybody wants to know how Mayo did it, but when something like this happens what is more important is why Mayo did it.Why did these players play without fear? Why did the world weep along with Mayo people on Sunday when they won the All Ireland?On Free State today we look at why Mayo were able to do what they did against Kerry.In a county that has been waiting for so long, Joe and Dion look at how Andy Moran didn’t run from the emotion but instead made it an ally and created an adrenaline loop for his side.Joe reflects on his comments about Mayo earlier in the year - and earlier in the decade and earlier in the century - and talks about what it was like to watch it unfold on Sunday.

Will the world have changed thanks to the World Cup? Or did the world change while the World Cup was taking place and people were too busy watching the World Cup to notice.On Free State today, the great novelist Joseph O’Neill talks to Dion about what he learned watching the World Cup and how the authoritarian US regime prospered during the tournament as other authoritarian regimes prospered in the past.He talks us through his own views on the tournament and tells us the identity of the one team he can support unconditionally.

Mayo have been denied in All Irelands in every way possible - balls bouncing over the bar, the referee blowing up early, own goals... they've also taken a few pastings along the way, but what will they do with the freedom they will have on Sunday?Somehow Mayo have reached an All Ireland final this year against all odds, but does that make this year different? Does everything change because it would be one of the most stunning shocks in history if Kerry lost? Does that give Mayo a freedom they’ve never had before or will it make no difference?On Free State today, we look at the lengths some teams go to win and the ways some find to lose. Does luck play a part when you lose by a point or is it about something more.Joe explains too why he will have a Mayo jersey with him on Sunday and why he hopes that finally the curse is ended.

Did the World Cup final hit different from the million dollar seats or was the best thing about them the helicopter that flew you back to New York City?On Free State, today we ask who mourns the end of Gianni Infantino’s dance with Donald Trump and the depraved nature of football today?Dion does and he explains why football still matters despite the decadence at the top of the game. Things get heated as they discuss it and Dion wonders if he’s talking to Joe or Fr Dougal.

On the weekend of the World Cup final, Eamon Dunphy is our weekend guest. Dunphy reflects on his astonishing career in journalism, the price he paid for being an outsider and why he didn't care when he left the RTE panel.