The ClearOut

In this episode, in honour of the late Gloria Steinem, Dara attempts to mansplain feminism - so women, I hope you are listening! No, rather than that foolhardy exercise, he reads in their entirety two blazing feminist articles from the 1970s. Miami by Nora Ephron documents the dynamics within the National Women's Political Caucus at the 1972 Democratic National Convention and prominently features the animus between Steinem and Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (arguably the core text that ignited second wave feminism).The other is If Men Could Menstruate, Steinem's own satirical piece printed in 1978 which propositioned the very different perspective on menstruation if it were to be located in the male body. Both articles are somewhat timestamped by both tone and cultural references, but in terms of capturing an attitude and a collective energy, they are unimpeachable!Dara prefaces the readings by recollecting his own grasp of the women's struggle as a child and how it seemed to him almost a self-evident position.Nora Ephron's 'Miami' - https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/lets-go-full-crocodile-ladies/essay/Gloria Steinem's 'If Men Could Menstruate' - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23293691.2019.1619050Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is joining the dots between some recent topical news stories. He talks about a female icon of American entertainment - blonde, beautiful, independent, diminutive and unknowable; who else could it be other than Miss Piggy! And what does that embodiment of female power have in common with the late Dolly Parton? Quite a lot actually, but of particular interest is the nature of their apparent agelessness and consistency.Are women allowed to age? What does society give them permission to do as the physical and aesthetic aspects of youth and prime adulthood make way for the gravitational effects of time? And what are the poor men to do who want them to stay perfect forever? Well, they can always turn to sex dolls and contribute to a burgeoning industry that gives free license to its consumers to do anything they want to their female substitute.A weary Dara tries to make sense of the intersection between tech, free market capitalism, radicalised masculinity, and the catering to male sexual desires that seems to create even darker corners for the gender war to express itself.Also, the power of masks, farewell to Tim Curry, and the excellence of Andrew Scott. Oh, and an unexpected review of the podcast!Elevate Society review of The ClearOut: https://elevatesociety.com/the-clearout-podcast-review/ Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is going full listicle and revisiting the albums that made up the soundtrack of his youth, from Michael Jackson's Thriller in 1982 to movie-inspired choices of the late 80s that carried him to university.Reflecting on how much the way we consume music has changed, Dara recalls vividly the experience of being immersed in entire albums at a time, almost like reading a book. Albums made sense in their entirety, not just as vehicles from which to launch chart toppers. And having the right equipment to get the best out of what was being listened to was imperative!There are experiences you can only ever have one time in your life, and hearing great artists for the first time is one of them. Dara tries to capture what that sounded like for him, from listening to peculiar albums recommended to him by an uncle, to really listening to Dylan, to being blown away by Bowie, and to making sure a special Beatles album stayed in the family home, music was always there, carrying the moment, conducting the pulse of living memory.Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara takes the time to pay respects to the recently departed Glen Hansard, whose untimely death shocked and rocked so many, both here in Ireland and further afield. Hansard's band The Frames really were part of the soundscape of 90s Ireland as it emerged out of the dark years of the 80s into a newly discovered energy and confidence that ushered in what felt like limitless frontiers.Although Dara didn't have a big relationship with The Frames, they were close enough in age and through mutual connections that they felt very familiar at all times. There was also a period when Dara was occasionally mistaken for Hansard because of a superficial similarity in appearance, a happenstance that one time led to free food being delivered by a starstruck waitress!Dara tries to articulate what Hansard meant to so many and he reckons it had something to do with the special alchemy that can occur between a live performer and their audience. Do the frontmen of bands have a particular monopoly on this very particular energy? Is it in their gift, or is it bestowed on them by adoring fans? And where does that energy go when the performer is no longer with us?Mojo is a quality that is not reserved for singers, actors, and other public figures. Dara argues that it is a quality of something magical that on some level exists in all of us. He recognises it in his father, who is much diminished by dementia and about to turn 84. How do you quantify that!Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is going full Greek as he embraces the epic telling and retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, now Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Notably, the film is being promoted not with a tagline, but with a declaration of the mode of its making - shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras! But is that the film's only selling point? Surely not.In an epic, spoiler-filled episode, Dara tries to reconcile the film version with the more faithful Homeric renderings of the adventures of Odysseus, with due reference to critiques not just of Nolan's version of the ancient tale, but also of his entire body of work. Eventually other tellings of the story are also considered, including Uberto Pasolini's 2024 film, The Return.Finally, Dara tries to sum up what the lasting significance is of a story as old as The Odyssey. He digs out something he wrote 13 years ago in his attempt to nail it.Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is apologising for going missing last week, but he has a good excuse - he was in hospital! Struck down with a level of pain he had never previously experienced, he had to abandon his journey to get help and have an ambulance come to the rescue. It turned out it was just a little old kidney stone! The disruption to his normally rude good health gives reason for pause. What is it to be well? And what does care look like?Dara shares some principles from his martial arts practice that inform ideas of connectedness and care provision, including self-care. He talks about being grounded, embracing gravity, and holding space, something that he argues is most effective when the ego is set to one side. Ultimately though, the argument is one for connection, which is the antidote to the social fracture and isolation that seem to be the keynotes of our current moment.Two recent splashy sci-fi films speak to this form of loneliness - Project Hail Mary, an entertaining Spielberg facsimile, and Disclosure Day, an actual Spielberg film but one that pointedly lacks his magic touch. Dara reviews the films on their own terms but also in relation to the idea of connection and how that is a cornerstone of the Spielberg ideology - contact can be made, and we will be all the better for it!Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout