A brand-new podcast exploring “how the world really works” has gained popular momentum ranking number 1 on Apple Podcasts charts in Ireland, after its first episode aired on Tuesday.

Free State is a “podcast for the curious” presented by award-winning interviewer and author Dion Fanning and barrister, GAA legend and pundit Joe Brolly.

The podcast is described as one that “stimulates, provokes, challenges and entertains, while never taking itself too seriously".

The Free State podcast will be “fearlessly honest,” Joe Brolly tells the Andersonstown News. “We will range through all worlds and look at how the world really works.”

Free State will cover a range of topics “from sport to politics, love to loss, the human condition and how to fix the world".

The podcast will also include notable speakers such as “Nigerian princes, former Prime Ministers, ex-convicts, footballers and boxers".

Podcasters Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning in action
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Podcasters Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning in action

“We have guests coming in from all walks of life, from Presidents of America to inventors, cannabis farmers and sometimes it’ll just be us,” Joe continues.

The first episode of the podcast entitled ‘Smile of Die’ examined how “vulnerable people have been exploited by wellness gurus” and also explored the world of sport. The first episode released on Tuesday has received positive reviews throughout social media, with one user stating “this was an excellent first episode. Well worth a listen.”

“We only have one criteria – we’re going to do it honestly,” said Joe. Dion adds, “and not take ourselves too seriously.”

"There are only two things, there are facts and there is propaganda,” Joe states.

“The podcast is going to be a lot of fun, it is about exploring how the world really works and facts, the way that we must get to a stage where we restore the primacy of facts, so that we can see what is propaganda and what isn’t.”

New episodes of the Free State podcast will be released every Tuesday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.