Avsnitt
-
This episode is all about the presence of absence. How are your comfort levels with empty space and dead air? Do you struggle when the void isn't filled with something to stimulate? And more importantly, with what do you fill empty spaces and awkward silences?
Dara reflects on his own tendency to default to anxiety and negative beliefs when uncertain spaces make themselves felt. He wonders how difficult it would be to project confidence and calm as alternative fillers. Examining his own hardwiring is definitely part of the solution.
Considering the pitfalls of comparison, Dara argues that more space is involved when we look at what others have that we don't. He sees a connection between presence and contentment on one hand, and disconnection and the perception of lack on the other.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara is looking for a pulse. After he and his daughter watched Adam Sandler's 2004 romcom, 50 First Dates, Dara was reminded why he wasn't a fan of the comedian's factory line movies - there were too many moments and gags that were completely devoid of life.
He found something similar in the character played by Nicole Kidman in this year's A Family Affair, a film in which Zac Efron's manchild action star falls for his personal assistant's mother, with 'hilarious results'.* The insistence on Kidman being presented as a middle-aged woman who could be mistaken for being twenty years younger was more than Dara could bear. And why does Kidman's upper lip epitomise the problem of the Female Beauty Industrial Complex?
Seeking a life-force elsewhere, Dara found it in two other films, both strong genre offerings. The first was Ti West's retro slasher movie 'X' (2022) which was bursting at the seams with character and vibe and horrific thrills. The second was a brand new Netflix release, Rebel Ridge, a tasty corrupt cops thriller with two really good central performances from Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson, who gets better and better with age.
Dara continues pitting life against death in a concluding reflection on the connective tissue between acting and teaching. He wonders about the stakes, the idea of service, and the pain of 'losing the room'.
*(Not hilarious at all. Dara forgot to mention Efron and Kidman's first onscreen pairing in 2012's The Paperboy, a much more successful serving of gaudy southern carnality and madness from Lee Daniels.)
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
A very simple and straightforward episode this week - Dara reads a lengthy unabridged extract from Marlon Brando's autobiography - Songs My Mother Taught Me, published in 1994. Brando's voice is frank and accessible and he shares his thoughts on acting, fame, and various female lovers during the time of his emergence as America's most captivating actor. He also speaks about being a damaged child and the difficulty he had trying to shake off feelings of worthlessness.
Another distinctive male voice is that of the Irish poet Paul Durcan. Perhaps most commonly connected to his comic surreality, there's still an unmistakable humanity to Durcan's writing, especially in his confessional and vulnerable masculinity and his no-nonsense rebuttals of Catholic hypocrisy. Dara delights in concluding the episode by reading three of his poems.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, prompted by his cat and dog, Dara is considering the idea of essentialism. He talks about core dispositions and the perennial pitching of nature against nurture. He argues that there is very little that is not in the mix when it comes to how our identities emerge. He shares his thoughts about his daughter on this stage of her journey and wonders about her essential leaning.
Along the way, Dara reflects on trauma and demons, the relativising of same, and the importance of doing the work early on to save trouble later. He wonders about the relationship between material gain and credibility and presents his case for the value of the examined life, self-understanding, and bringing the most resolved version of yourself to bear on life's challenges.
As for his own essential inclination - is it defiance? Dara thinks it might be, because it requires a certain bloody-mindedness to stay on a path whose material rewards have been so few! But that's part of the pact he has made with himself. He reveals the pact he has made with his daughter - and the clause he hasn't shared with her...
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
For the second time in the show's history, Dara is considering the questionable value of nostalgia. While allowing that there are wellness benefits to understanding the connection between nostalgia and loss, and the stark reality of nostalgia's relationship to ageing, there is something offensive about a particular brand of generalised nostalgia that regularly raises its unoriginal head on social media.
Prompted by the palpable fragility of the new recording location for the podcast, and the coincidence of this week's episode taking place during stormy conditions, Dara's mind is cast back to a scene from The Blues Brothers (1980) in which Elwood's apartment is shaken within an inch of its life because of its proximity to a city train track. Considering that movie, he reckons it belongs to a special trinity of favourite childhood comedies that were untouchable. But is that just his nostalgia talking? How well have they aged, really? He tried to show his daughter one of them and she walked away after five minutes!
Dara also takes a moment to accuse the positive living/wellness sector of quackery while arguing once again for his own understanding of self-care, something that involves the real work of personal inventory and facing one's historic demons.
The first nostalgia episode from August 2021: https://theclearout.com/podcast/the-nostalgia-shark-is-coming-for-my-squirrels-episode-14/
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara doesn't know whether to eat the food or make love to it. He talks about all three seasons of The Bear, the brilliant TV show depicting the trials and tribulations of genius chef Carmen Berzatto and the colourful people who populate his messy, damaged world. Like the extraordinary food that leaves viewers in a state of mouthwatering wonder, the other elements of the show are beautifully sourced, prepped and composed.
Dara discusses different aspects of the acting and staging of key scenes and episodes and expresses admiration for the cast, amongst which there are no weak links. Special mentions are reserved for Jeremy Allen White as the titular Bear, Ayo Edibiri as his frustrated No.2, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as emotional cousin Richie, and Jamie Lee Curtis for her exceptional work as the demented and haunted Donna Berzatto, as realistic a portrayal of toxic maternity as you will ever see.
At the top of the episode, Dara reflects on his own connective tissue to The Bear in the form of self-doubt, being wrong, and avoidance of the uncomfortable.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara is reflecting on the good fortune of finding a new place to live, but he is wondering how to refer to The ClearOut's new home. His daughter has rejected his suggestions so far as being 'too cringe'. Hashtag Blessed is no more! What to call the new abode...?
After a week off to facilitate the house move, it's back down to business. Dara considers the idea of 'rightness' and the natural state that best serves our happiness and fulfilment. He wonders what our lives would look like if we never faced any obstacles on our path. What would that self look like? And can our true self still emerge and thrive in the face of life's tribulations, rejections and other expressions of adversity?
The Buddhist position of life being suffering flies against Dara's proposition of unbridled advance. Do the contradictory positions have something valid to offer in tandem, or are they mutually exclusive? How do you consider the burdens that you carry - do you have the opportunity to put them down, or are they perpetually obscuring your field of vision?
To conclude the episode, Dara presents some core concepts from the philosophy of karate-do that pertain to larger wellness strategies including, self-respect, integrity and evocative images of mindfulness.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode Dara is giving out about recent bad movies, and not the 'so bad they're good' kind. Kevin Costner's Western opus Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 starts the party with its bloated scale, turgid pacing, and on-the-nose representations of archetypal stories and characters. Far too earnest and self-serious, Dara recommends at least half a dozen alternatives, including Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate and Costner's own Open Range.
Ticket to Paradise, the George Clooney-Julia Roberts rom-com is next and its generic and self-congratulatory tone are a painful reminder of the earlier Clooney-Roberts crimes as seen in Ocean's 12 when we were all meant to be tickled by their being in on the joke of Roberts' celebrity. Dara advises a revisiting of Pretty Woman instead where Roberts' screen presence and beauty were not to be denied.
The recent animated movies IF and Inside Out 2 are compared - one of them had Dara squirming in his seat, but not for the reason you might think.
Finally there's a word for the execrable The Beekeeper and the joyless gurning of its muscular star, Jason Statham.
And in case you're worried it's all doom and gloom, there are at least three recent movies that Dara is more than happy to recommend for their aesthetic pleasures and assuredness of tone.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode Dara is looking at two significant news stories from the big nations to Ireland's east and west. At the weekend just gone, Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and bete noire of liberals and humane humans everywhere, survived an assassination attempt. In Germany not long afterwards, England's national football team contested the final of the EURO 2024 tournament, and lost.
The US and England in recent years have become more and more troubled states with huge social unrest and unconvincing politics and leadership, leaving their respective citizenry highly agitated and discontented. Dara wonders if both countries would have benefited measurably more if the outcomes of both news stories had gone the other way. Would Trump's removal and England's triumph become unifying events for their embattled nations?
Exploring both alternate realities, different things are considered: how can an Irish person be okay with their old oppressor enjoying sporting glory? Why does the England team's uncertain identity reflect that of the country it represents? What dark spell would be broken if Trump was no more? In what way would his supporters awaken and greet the new dawn? Wouldn't people rather get on with their neighbours? Or never hear them?
Further to that last question Dara knows he would much prefer if the US and England were quietly and boringly going about their business.
Also in this episode, doing your best, the ripple effect, the sensitive human race, and the ugly egos of powerful men.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara is wondering about what comes next. We can never truly know what lies in the future so how do we cope with that uncertainty? Are we willing to step into the unknown without the security of a plan? Do we trust we have the resources to deal with what we find?
Contextualising this dilemma in a world that seems to be spiralling out of control, and acknowledging the philosophical belief that the human experience is endlessly and exhaustingly repeated, Dara comes back to elemental grounding and deep listening as key components of the existential toolkit.
Part of this approach includes knowing what to let go of and knowing what to let pass through us. Holding onto things for too long can define us in ways that leave us trapped and unable to grow. We have to step out of suffering and give ourselves permission to be free. If the keys to our liberation are placed in the hands of others, we might be waiting a long time.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara is taking time to express thanks to a place that has served him well over the last few years, and he's so determined to do so in a special way that he moves the podcast to the location he's honouring! At the end, when a certain flying creature appears, it's time to bring things to a close. No, it's not a dragon...
Dara sets up to record in his garden and he explains why it has been such a special place for him over the last three and a half years. That said, it hasn't all been plain sailing. Just ask his chickens! It makes him wonder about the duration of a moment. Can a moment really last a lifetime?
Once the natural world part of the pod is over, Dara discusses a couple of shows he watched in relation to the radically different iterations of femininity they present and prioritise. One of them, a sports documentary about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, is troubling in the version of womanhood it valorises. The other, True Detective Season 4, has at its heart two ferociously tough and uncompromising female cops who don't care who they offend. They're remarkably unapologetic characters who make clear how seldom women on screen are written like that. Written like what? Like men!
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara looks at the Natasha O'Brien case which saw a young woman beaten unconscious in the street by a young man who wasn't known to her, and that same young man been given a suspended sentence so as not to jeopardise his career as an Irish soldier. There is nothing that isn't problematic about these events, but as ever, there are larger social questions to be asked beyond the ugly specifics of the case in question.
Dara considers the messages that are sent by the outcome of the case. Why isn't a higher price put on women's suffering? Why are violent men rewarded by the courts with their careers being prioritised over their abhorrent, life-ruining behaviour? Is the law a male-centric instrument, designed to protect male interests? Is the average man in any way benefiting from this adjudication?
Dara argues that both men and women are done a huge disservice by the ruling. A victimised woman is cast aside by the law, and all men are implicated in a decision that normalises male violence by giving it a pass. It prompts the question - if you're a man, do you care about women? Do you care about those who historically hold less power in society? Do you care about the assumption of male violence? How do you demonstrate that care?
Also covered in the episode - the relationship between fear and hate, the need for positive rites of passage, the importance of men doing deep work on themselves and more.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this hot and bothered episode, Dara tries to address the issue of racism in Ireland in the wake of the hate and racist abuse directed at Rhadisat Adeleke last week after her triumphant performances at the European Athletics Championships. A topic covered on the show before around the Emer O'Neill/Tommy Tiernan story, it seems to need speaking about again.
As part of his anti-racism strategy, Dara advocates a very simple policy before going online. It is a rule that would serve everyone well in all areas of their lives, and one that is antithetical to everything the internet wants us to do. If you put this rule front and centre before jumping into the online cess-pit, a lot of harm could be prevented.
Thinking less reactively to the situation, Dara considers issues of anger and the sense of being owed something and how they might feed into the hatred of others. If a wellness lens is to be applied to the expression of hate, it surely connects to personal suffering of some kind, and possibly the unwillingness to take responsibility for it.
Also in this episode, the magic of Irish summer green, hate for hipsters (again), and exhausted puppies!
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara reads a short story that is new to the listener but not to him. The story has a female protagonist and when he shared it with a female friend a few years ago, he was told that not all women felt the same way as the character he'd written. In reply he said he'd never thought that would be the case.
In yet another example of the way assumptions and conflations are all too easily made, Dara pushes back against the idea of identifying creators too directly with their creations. He argues that other things are more readily identifiable, such as themes, trends, and tropes.
He hopes that his story, 'David Has Been Great', can be enjoyed without anyone thinking that the character's thoughts, feelings and prejudices are his own.
Guardian article on sigma masculinity (2024): https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/12/the-sad-stupid-rise-of-the-sigma-male-how-toxic-masculinity-took-over-social-media
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this final part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to bring things to a reasonable end. He talks about his lifelong attempt to embody a particular type of masculinity that was a direct response to sexist and reductive attitudes to men that he was exposed to in youth and early adulthood.
In the context of the current trends in public discourse, Dara once again pushes against the idea of a single person being representative of their designated identifying group. He argues for personal responsibility, self-reflection, and understanding oneself as a social animal. To that end, he examines the connection between a social and moral imperative and the implications for men.
Related ideas include the burden of responsibility, the expectations of others, the question of approval, and the need for greater consideration of the complexity of masculinity. Dara attempts to lay out a definitive description of ideal masculinity that could appeal to everyone. Amongst other things, this ideal includes an admission of uncertainty and the presence of vulnerability, as well as comfort with others, especially women and children.
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In the fourth part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to point out the hierarchical nature of masculinity when the idea of manhood is being discussed. The legacy of Western European colonial domination has resulted in the idealisation of white, straight, middle class masculinity. In other words, for many people when they're asked to consider men and masculinity, they will default to the aforementioned model. But where does that leave other iterations and expressions of masculinity?
Looking through various 'othering' lenses, Dara considers men of colour, Blackness, queer men, disabled men, and men identified by class and feudality. Arguably, the idea of true equality amongst men is fantastical and utopian, but is there an optimal place to start looking at who gets to be a man and what that means?
Dara asks himself to whom he would deny manhood and finds himself arguing for a 'post-gender' world, again opening up the utopian debate. His own socialist and Marxist leanings inform his viewpoint, raising the issues of power, equal opportunity and economic equity. But he wonders if it is naive to pretend that discrimination and categorical relegation can be so easily bypassed.
Also this week, received cues and signals, the importance of context, and LGBTQ-affirming Eurovision vision!
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this lachrymose episode and further exploration of masculinity, Dara is talking about the benefits of crying. He confesses to being a crier anyway, easily shedding tears over any number of things, but goes on to share an extremely recent loss that knocked him sideways with the tears it provoked. He argues that there is a ranking system that qualifies the when and how much of crying.
For Dara there is a strong connection, verging on causality, between problematic iterations of masculinity and male behaviour and the invalidation of the emotional lives of men. He believes this begins very early in male lives with the three words: boys don't cry. In the past week he was on his knees crying big fat tears. He's a boy. He was crying. What's the problem?
The problem is the conditioning that men receive for most of their lives that tells them it is unmanly to cry. Unmanly to show emotion. That crying is weak and feminine. Dara pushes hard against this rhetoric and performed masculinity and asserts that the emotional richness and vibrancy of men's lives needs to be given licence to express itself. And that includes crying!
Aeon article (2015) on men and crying: https://aeon.co/essays/whatever-happened-to-the-noble-art-of-the-manly-weep
Medium article (2024) on cultural attitudes to male crying: https://medium.com/the-no%C3%B6sphere/real-men-do-cry-why-in-some-cultures-its-actually-manly-to-cry-33ab44023635
Michael Kimmel article (2023) on toxic masculinity and male characteristics: https://iai.tv/articles/toxic-masculinity-is-not-a-useful-description-michael-kimmel-auid-2466
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Continuing his exploration of masculinity and maleness, Dara turns his gaze to movies and how men's stories, especially but not exclusively, straight men's stories have played out on screen. He looks at three totems of masculinity as the main discussion points - potency, violence, and morality.
Dara kicks off with the controversial Straw Dogs, Sam Peckinpah's 1971 examination of neutered masculinity being refused permission to remain inert by sinister and attritional male forces. That movie's star, Dustin Hoffman, embodied a new, sensitive version of manhood that chimed with the times - men in movies no longer had to recall the unambiguous heroic modes of earlier eras. But 70s directors recognised there was a tension that made good drama when these new men were pitched against iterations of manhood more resistant to change. John Boorman played this out to terrifying effect in 1972's Deliverance, for example.
Male cowardice is often a propulsive element in movies, and Dara looks at From Here to Eternity (1954) and the different faces of masculinity presented therein. Key to the piece is Montgomery Clift's Prewitt, the military trumpet player who refuses to box for the army. What does he do when faced with Burt Lancaster's male swagger or Ernest Borgnine's loutish bullying? And what happens to plucky but skinny Frank Sinatra when he sticks up for his pal? Clift's sensitivity and vulnerability, also essayed by Marlon Brando and James Dean, embodied another masculinity shift that paved the way for the male stars of the 70s.
The 80s were another thing completely, and the truly dominant stars of that period reflected a hyper-confidence in American consumption and bloated pride. Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger wore their alpha masculinity as explicitly as possible and audiences loved them for it. But another 80s actor couldn't have been less like them and enjoyed enormous success himself playing characters who were cerebral, sensitive, and importantly, non-violent. In fact, in one of his most acclaimed roles he played a cross-dressing gay seducer of a straight roommate, a subversive expression of masculinity that fascinated Dara as an adolescent.
Also, a couple of Kenny Rogers songs, father-son movie dynamics, modernity as identity eraser, and sneaking nerds into leading parts.
2023 article deconstructing the term 'toxic masculinity': https://iai.tv/articles/toxic-masculinity-is-not-a-useful-description-michael-kimmel-auid-2466
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Dara knew when he started recording this one that one episode was never going to cut it. So it is only the beginning of a conversation about being a man and trying to unpack what constitutes a man.
Before getting into more specific experiences and perspectives, Dara tries to sketch the current landscape, so heavily influenced by the tech age and social media, in which many men feel they have been pushed aside. There appears to be a huge hole in society, and in the discourse cauldron, that men are very unsure how to fill. This uncertainty has been capitalised upon, or catered to, by male figures all too willing to say 'this is how you should be'. But are they really helping?
Dara has embarked on a course of Men's Studies, and that in part is what has prompted this exploration. He discusses in detail his own primary model of masculinity and recognises how much it left a mark on him. He also looks at the centrality of martial arts codes and philosophy in his own conception of masculinity.
Finally, what cartoon figure popped in his head when thinking of a good male role model?
To be continued...
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
In this episode, Dara has an update on the fox situation at Hashtag Blessed and admits he views the surviving chickens differently since last week’s attack. Is it just him, or do they seem to be grieving?
After thinking he was almost out of fuel during an excursion to the mountains, Dara reflects on the benefits of slowing down and lays out a couple of mindfulness exercises to encourage the illusion of stopping time. He looks at the relationship between care and action and acknowledges his own resistance to trying new things. It begs the question – what do you care about enough to take action?
Staying in the area of care, Dara discusses a couple of movies he watched with his daughter over the weekend. The obvious homophobia in one was a stark reminder of how gender politics have evolved since the 90s, when the film was made. Tolerance of homophobic slurs was accepted then in a way it simply isn’t now.
A comment from his daughter raised the issue of the dominance of straight male values in movies in the past. As a corrective, Dara put on a movie with a strong female lead to offer something different, but his daughter didn’t care for it!
Also this week, movies as provocation and social critique. Better than those that moralise?
Website: https://theclearout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/
YouTube: The ClearOut Podcast
Email: [email protected]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Visa fler
