The ClearOut

In this episode, Dara is reckoning with the allocation of care, the management of power, and the role of ego in personal agency. When life gets too out of control, what choice do we have but to yield? And does yielding result in a self we don't care for? Is that cowardice, complicity, or merely compliance? Why do we have such a strong impulse to want to impose our will on events that are so beyond our control?There are simply times when our own rulebook goes out the window and we have to wait for the opportunity to reset. Dara admits caring too much about things (and people) that don't necessarily warrant it can bring an extra level of stress that tips the scales of tranquility right out of balance. He considers the energetic relationship between care and power and its effect on how we manage ourselves. Where does the ego come into play in this dynamic?Also, tricky car conversations, reflective Stallone, and bearing insults. Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is continuing the theme from last week - namely, male culpability in the Cornell 7 case and in male-perpetrated sexual assault in general. Behaviours and attitudes generally do not self-generate. They are handed down, observed, learned, and replicated. And when such behaviours and attitudes, even if problematic, are tacitly approved, they gain a legitimacy that becomes internalised.So where do men create a proactive response to this in modern society? Where do they reclaim a mantle of guidance and responsibility that makes sense to the communities of which they are a part? And what is the pathway to dialogue with other stakeholders in society - primarily women, but also any group that feels disempowered?And can it be argued that the machinery of capitalism and consumerism has no interest in the collective impulse that might create a social scaffolding of mutual care? And what does it look like when institutional structures finally deliver something resembling justice? And how would Larry McMurtry's Augustus McCrae deal with these problems?Chalkie White talks to The Irish Independent about the sentencing of his abuser, George Gibney: https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/in-the-courtroom-manipulative-predator-george-gibney-jailed-for-15-and-a-half-years/a/163030998.htmlWebsite: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara has a look at the Cornell 7 rape case that has found itself at the centre of the discourse. A shared female opinion that he has come across online suggests that men need to be directed in how they should respond to this case and to rape and sexual assault in general. The assumption seems to be that men are disinclined to express disapproval of rape unless sufficiently prompted to do so.This is a perception that arguably comes from the belief that many men are unable to resist the power of Rape Acceptance Myths. Dara argues otherwise while allowing for the concept of male compartmentalisation of sex, taking in along the way the context of male maturation within a pornography-saturated world. Context is also important in the specific milieu of US undergraduate frat house culture.Before any of that, Dara reflects on the fallacy of the dichotomous self, the contemporary obsession with certitude and moral absolutes, and the benefits of striving for a response rooted in one's present reality.Higher Learning podcast on the Cornell 7 Case: https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/higher-learning-van-lathan-rachel-lindsay/2026/10/02/the-cornell-7-case-eric-schmitts-basketball-blunder-and-dr-abdul-el-sayed-joins-the-showThe ClearOut on male sexuality: https://theclearout.com/podcast/billy-budd-russell-brand-and-the-dark-corners-of-male-desire-episode-122/The ClearOut on frat boy culture at Woodstock '99: https://theclearout.com/podcast/when-the-vibe-is-gone-or-peace-and-love-and-dollar-bills-man-episode-65/Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, and not for the first time, Dara is reckoning with old wounds. Life has a great knack for shocking you out of your complacency, but what do you do when you are reminded of stuff you thought you had long since put to bed? Some things just refuse to stay down, and maybe the harder you push the more likely they are to push back.Dara argues that we can never outrun ourselves, no matter how fast we go or where we run to. We never stop encountering ourselves. Nietzsche's paradigm of eternal recurrence has a similar idea at its core. It can seem bleak at first pass, but on closer inspection it reveals something enormously affirming that anticipates positive psychology and even echoes Buddhist principles of radical acceptance.Everything must be embraced because nothing else is ever going to happen - until you come round again. And again. And again. What are you going to embrace - love or cynicism?Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.comPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout

In this episode, Dara is decompressing after a week of shifting boxes and furniture. A new home and a new phase await. What is living going to be like under a different roof, between different walls, looking out at different views? And how do you recalibrate after such literal and energetic upheaval?There's a good chance the answer lies in being grounded, centred, and the attempt at some approximation of calm. What Dara sees when he looks out the window definitely doesn't hurt. As far as he's concerned, nature has no agenda that imposes on him - unlike some humans he has recently had to deal with!Reflecting on his youngest brother's current status, Dara tries to reconcile conflicting feelings around a loved one's addiction cycle and their apparent inability to pull out of the life that keeps them captive.Finally, thoughts run to noticing when things are a bit off or unusual. From a quirky film to unexpected beach sightings, to wildlife in peril, it's all a break from the norm. 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 recording for the last time at Hashtag Hilltop - he and his family are about to move for the umpteenth time in recent years. He finds himself reflecting on homes of the past and the countless and never reliable memories from all of them. It strikes him how important the idea of a shared space is. Isn't the ability to share space a profoundly important matter for all humanity? Isn't that ability integral to humility? And isn't it fundamentally antithetical to capitalism?Once he's completed his reflections, Dara turns to poets to see what they have had to say about home. Yeats, Carlos Williams, Angelou, Larkin and more - they all tap into something very lovely and recognisable. And guess what - none of them are talking about mortgage rates!'Home' poems from poets.org: https://poets.org/poems?field_poem_themes_target_id=1106Website: 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, 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