The ClearOut

In this episode, Dara quietly reflects on 200 episodes of this thing that he does and tries, for the umpteenth time, to define what the podcast is all about. After all this time on the microphone, it's funny and fitting that he still isn't really sure. Is it a glitch or a feature?All he knows is that he has continually tried to be honest and authentic, and appropriately transparent, about where he's been at at any given time over the course of the show. Whether the subject matter has been movies, philosophy, psychology, politics, martial arts, or simply events and dramas from his own life, he has always strived to share something relatable and real. It's how he understands wellness - it's owning the mess of imperfection!This episode is no different as Dara attempts to contextualise doing the podcast throughout one of the most personally challenging periods of his life. Is it time to call it quits? Is this the end of the road? He knows changes are coming, he just doesn't know what they look like.Thinking about his daughter and the changing landscape that her pre-adolescent world is presenting provides an opportunity for Dara to laugh at his own devolving reality.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 shares his response to the compelling drama series 'Adolescence' that recently launched on Netflix. Covering the harrowing events around a 13-year-old schoolboy murdering a female schoolmate, the show is an extraordinary dramatic and technical achievement that has found itself at the heart of the dark side of the zeitgeist - namely, the changed social landscape that shapes the minds of boys and young men in insidious online spaces that are ubiquitous, ever-accessible and distressingly persuasive.Through his involvement with What Does He Need? - the long-running community arts project exploring contemporary masculinity in boys and young men, Dara feels like he has a foot very firmly in the world of 'Adolescence'. He discusses the work and his own experience with the young people he has spent time with. He also talks about performing masculinity, and how he was very clear from a young age about the type of masculinity he was not attracted to.Further to that, Dara advocates for placing love at the centre of male engagement. He remains convinced that the confident expression of love is key to building the safety, trust and vulnerability that will allow men of all ages to thrive. His vision is one of collaborative leadership rooted in caretaking - men and boys taking care of themselves, and caring for those they share this world with.Finally, Dara recommends an interview with Delroy Lindo on Marc Maron's WTF podcast as a complement to this discussion of masculinity.Celena Ribeiro article on Adolescence from Guardian Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/29/the-adolescence-alarm-if-theres-a-problem-with-boys-behaviour-its-because-of-usDelroy Lindo speaks to Marc Maron: https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1630-delroy-lindoWhat Does He Need? masculinity project: https://www.whatdoesheneed.com/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 recalling an early cinema experience that only succeeded at the second attempt - but it was ET, so it was totally worth the wait. At that time, all his objects of desire were heroic archetypes and it would be another few years before an actress on the big screen stopped his breath. The year ET came out, 1982, also saw the release of Robert Towne's Personal Best, which placed Mariel Hemingway as the focus of longing in the world of aspirant Olympic athletes. Former athlete Patrice Donnelly was cast as the older athlete who competes with Scott Glenn for her affections and her chemistry with Hemingway jumps off the screen.There are also palpable sparks between Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1951's A Place In The Sun, a nasty treatment of social climbing and complicated pasts that leaves one in no doubt about the privileged lives of beautiful people. The moral of the story? Don't presume to desire something that's not meant for you.That's one of the problems facing Marlon Brando's repressed army officer in John Huston's Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967), also featuring Elizabeth Taylor. Dara recalls seeing that peculiar and slightly kinky film when he was a teenager and being surprised not only by the messy sexual themes of the film, but also by Robert Forster's pivotal role in proceedings.Finally, why does a song from the Robert Towne-scripted Days of Thunder (1990) hold such particular resonance for Dara?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 trying to get his head around the obnoxious appearance of Conor McGregor at the White House over St. Patrick's Weekend. Trump's presidency seems to function as a magnet for a particular type of male performance, greenlighting as it does a validated version of masculinity that revels in belittling others, trash talking enemies, and leering, swaggering braggadocio. It is definitely connected to a particular understanding of straight maleness as being under attack and needing to reassert itself as aggressively as possible. But is it also a product of the tech age when the perception of consequences has been skewed by the amount of time spent in online spaces?Billy Corgan, the frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, articulates something very insightful about his personal experience that resonates deeply with Dara and confirms his belief that success and professional fulfilment are no guarantee of contentment. It gets to something extremely important at the heart of masculinity that could go all the way back to infancy and relates to the male need for love, connection and validation.Dara identifies that need in two prominent entertainment figures from the mid-20th century - Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. are the focus of a brilliant podcast series that explores their lives and careers and their proximity to and partnerships with contemporary stars like Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis. Men of a certain time and age, they encapsulate a masculinity that permitted little room for manoeuvre, but their frailty and vulnerability was visible in everything they chose not to show. Dara concludes the episode with sharing some love and care input from a group of young boys he is working with at the moment. Perhaps the future of men is in good hands after all...Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This podcast where you can find her excellent treatment of Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin: https://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2021/12/sammydinoarchive21Billy Corgan being interviewed by Leah Rose on Broken Record: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/broken-record/billy-corganWebsite: 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 reckoning with great creative men, two real and one fictional. The world has recently lost the bodily forms of Irish poet Pat Ingoldsby and Hollywood actor Gene Hackman, but their work remains indelibly with us. Ingoldsby was a beloved figure in Ireland whose sparkling and deceptively profound poetry arguably never received the credit it was due, although its accessibility ensured it reached legions of appreciative and dedicated readers, many of whom have expressed their grief and gratitude since he passed.Hackman was a movie icon whose performances always seemed effortlessly real and fully belonging to the world in which they appeared on screen, even when playing comic book villains or the head of a quirky New York family. The unusual circumstances of his death, and that of his wife, seemed a million miles from the litany of fierce characters he played throughout his long and varied career.Dara attempts to pay tribute to both men by sharing a couple of Ingoldsby's poems and by taking a potted journey through the highlights of Hackman's filmography.Brady Corbet's award-winning film The Brutalist, reckons with another unique talent, - the brilliant Hungarian architect Laszlo Toth and his dependency on imperfect patronage from a clumsy and spiteful benefactor. Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce excel in the respective roles in a fictional story that is many-layered and uncompromising in its depiction of artistic compulsion and torment. It is also a commentary on the migrant experience in post-WWII America and the uneasy relationship between the host nation and those it deigned to accommodate. Dara gives his verdict on a film that isn't easy to pin down.Pat Ingoldsby website - https://www.patingoldsby.org/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 looking at the value of letting others know what's important to you. How else are the people in your life meant to know what you care about? He argues that this can not only help to strengthen the relationships that matter most, but also mitigate against disappointment and unmet expectations. However, it is useful to keep those expectations fair and realistic. Resilience is something Dara frequently cites as being essential to grounded wellness and coping with life's slings and arrows. He equates it with toughness and durability, as well as being a key agent in maintaining a positive outlook. So he was intrigued to hear an extreme athlete dismiss resilience as being one step from defeat. Is that a fair indictment, or just a very different perspective?Finally, Dara has a look at the recent Oscar winners and shares his thoughts on the films and performances he has seen, including Anora, A Real Pain, Conclave, and Emilia Perez.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