The ClearOut

In this episode, Dara is reflecting on the year that was and acknowledging the tendency many have to do New Year's accounting. For him it is not only the start of a new year, but also his birthday - another prompt to do a stocktake. 2024 wasn't kind, and as he looks down the road of 2025 he wonders what tools are going to serve him best.Last year felt like a negation of many of Dara's principles of wellness and life philosophy, so he considers what he might do differently from here. Even though the last twelve months left him reeling, he realises he has a body of evidence that offers a counter narrative to how he feels - did somebody mention 'units'?Ultimately, while there are areas of his life that need confronting levels of reexamination, he has to conclude there are a few positives that are probably more important than anything else. Which is no small thing.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

To kick off the new year, Dara starts with a 'listy' episode, recalling his top 10 movies of 2024. He follows this with a list of his top old or previously seen movies, including 1954's Rear Window and 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High.His favourite TV experiences involved a stunning central performance by the Irish actor Andrew Scott, and an actress who featured in two of his top movies of the year - can you guess who it is? Here's a clue, her name rhymes with 'Senbaya'!Documentaries next, all movie or entertainment related, followed by podcasts, which ranged in theme from movies and TV to murderers, economists and Oxford philosophers.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

It's the 2024 Christmas Special! Pulling it out of the bag at the eleventh hour, Dara presents a very short, but somehow shaggy interview with his daughter Maeve, who gives a shout-out to Harry Styles, of all people. This is followed by this year's new Christmas story, 'Arrivals'. It follows a father who tries to honour his faith in his missing son by being at a certain place on a certain day every year. Will his faith be rewarded? A quiet and quietly rewarding story for the season that's in it.Finally, the episode plays out with an acapella version of a traditional Christmas carol. Listen, if you dare!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 speaking from a position of powerlessness thanks to the after-effects of Storm Darragh, which ripped through many parts of Ireland last week with an unforgiving ferocity.Dara wishes there was more unforgiving ferocity for FIFA, the football organisation that continues to embrace sportswashing with disturbing immorality. In other areas of concern, he celebrates Arundhati Joy’s indictment of Israel’s ongoing perpetration of war crimes in Palestine. Not for the first time, Dara argues that to be critical of Israel need not make one anti-Semitic.Moving on to more cheery subjects, Dara relates the story of how he met his sister for the first time only eighteen months ago. Coincidences abound as he recalls their first moment of contact and the ensuing sharing of information. Most memorable was their first meeting and a hug that will never be forgotten.Also, yet another making of the case for 1944’s ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ being the ultimate template for the sitcom format that would become ubiquitous in the years to come.The ClearOut episode on Ann Lovett and Joanne Hayes - https://theclearout.com/podcast/the-cost-of-neglect-or-for-whom-will-you-wear-a-yellow-flower-episode-101/Guardian review of Dan Stone's The Holocaust: An Unfinished Story - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/15/the-holocaust-an-unfinished-history-by-dan-stone-review-a-timely-corrective-to-a-shifting-narrative

In this episode, Dara is warming up for the festive season by acknowledging how stress-inducing it can all get and how it really isn't for everybody. In his own household a new permutation is longed for by some, which doesn't entirely suit him.He's also concerned for his daughter, who has reached the age where the magic of Christmas and Santa Claus is no longer as real to her as it once was. He is not planning to shatter her illusions any further and in fact will lean in even more to prop up the suspension of disbelief. And where better to start than with a box of snowballs! Not those ones, the other ones...Speaking of other ones, Dara selects three left-of-centre Christmas poems for something a bit different. They each have their own qualities to recommend them, but he particularly liked the poem that featured 'squamous' and 'mingeless'. Where else would you get it?Mollie Guidera's brilliant Irish advocacy - https://www.instagram.com/irishwithmollie/Conchobhar Ruadh's beautiful mix of Irish language, history and culture - https://www.instagram.com/sli_na_ruadhWebsite: 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 looks at the idea of psychological defeat and the metaphorical hills we are determined to die on. Fundamentally an issue of faith in one's own psyche and worldview, what happens when our confidence in that vision begins to crumble? Can faith be restored?A recent interview with Isabella Rossellini raised the spectre of women who no longer need men. Dara feels like he has been encountering this notion more and more and wonders if it is related to women's post-fertility years. Without reducing the female of the species to menopausal cliches, he asks if men and women swap sensibilities as they age - do women become more masculine, and men more feminine? He also pushes back against the idea of women being 'such emotional creatures', as he recently heard them described - yes, by a man.After acknowledging his own emotional fluency, and that of many of his male friends, Dara shares thoughts on two Hollywood documentaries he just watched - one on Elizabth Taylor and one on Christopher Lee. He is caught out by a connection with Taylor that leaves him a bit uncomfortable. He also reviews The Apprentice - the story of Donald Trump's emergence as a major player in 80s New York - and We Live In Time, the full throttle romantic drama starring an exceedingly charming Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.Finally, the show is interrupted by a very unexpected guest just before wrapping up...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 spurred to reflect on Francis Ford Coppola's latest film, 'Megalopolis'. In the great master's wild and not-so-wonderful saga, one brilliant man carries the burden of saving society from itself, but must contend with a rival who epitomises more mundane aspirations. Is the film about Coppola himself, or is it his thesis statement of whose visions are worth following? Whatever about its intention, the execution is an unwieldy mess.Having financed the movie himself and made clear how much it was a labour of love, Dara wonders what other deserving projects might benefit from Coppola's alleged $120,000,000 budget. He argues for public spaces dedicated to the safe expression of personal concerns. Quiet, non-judgemental spaces where thoughtfulness and consideration could be facilitated.Sometimes it takes work to identify what really concerns us. Dara offers a simple mental exercise to help drop down through the gears to engage with deep listening.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 reacts to the re-election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Did the Democrats and Kamala Harris once again fail to take seriously Trump and the Republican voter base? Whatever the cause, politicians of the liberal centre or centre-left have not been convincing enough to get themselves back into power. Four more years of Trump is a worrying prospect for the larger wellness of a very divided nation.Admitting the limitations of his own political analysis, Dara turns to an incisive commentator of yesteryear - the brilliant Gore Vidal, whose sardonic voice spoke comprehensively on American public life, among other topics. In 1968, the liberal Vidal memorably featured in televised political debates with the conservative William F. Buckley, which descended into a barely controlled slanging match by their conclusion, choice epithets being volleyed back and forth with ever increasing venom.Dara reads in full two of Vidal's pieces of writing on the US presidency. The first, The Real Two-Party System, is a short article written before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. It questions the very idea of representation in US politics. The second, Armageddon? was written at the end of Reagan's second term and is a skewering of the president's shared and widely-publicised belief in a Christian end-of-the-world consummation. The unforgiving cynicism on display is a testament to eyes that were in no danger of having the wool pulled over them, especially by an 'Acting President'.Vidal vs Buckley documentary, Best of Enemies - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3518012/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_the%2520best%2520of%2520enemiesWebsite: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/theclearout2Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: theclearoutlive@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout