March 2022

The Slap That Wasn’t Mine, or The Puppetry of Persona – Episode 45

In this episode, Dara lets the topic be led by the Will Smith slapping incident at last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. He unpacks some of the possible lines of analysis in the current climate of identity politics and culture wars. He also looks at his own history of being slapped and breaks down the gendered implications of the open-hand slap, particularly when it is called a ‘bi**h-slap’, looking at how it can be used as a tool of emasculation.

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Where the Magic Happens, or Winning in the Empty Spaces – Episode 44

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In this week’s episode, Dara is set off by a tweet from a female account that first explicitly requests pictures of beautiful men – ‘rides’ is the term of desire used – and then disclaims accusations of objectification. Is objectification of men by women better, or less loaded, than objectification of women by men? Dara isn’t sure…

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Platonism and Sport, or The Impossible Pursuit of Perfection – Episode 43

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In this episode Dara presents his thesis that all sports fans are embroiled in a philosophical engagement with the team or sportsperson that they love. Namely, the relationship of our desire and emotional investment to a higher aspiration – the symbiotic realisation of sporting perfection. Dara argues that this desire is in essence a Platonic impulse to contemplate not only the ideal sporting moment, the physical and psychological expression of something exquisite that elevates fan and player alike, but also to be part of the collective good character of a club. When realised, therein lies the possibility of a moral edification.

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A Musician’s Life – Interview with Gavin McCaffrey – Episode 42

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It’s the dawn of a new era for The Clearout as Dara hosts his first interview on the podcast.

Musician and actor Gavin McCaffrey first made money in the arts as a child performer as one of Ireland’s legendary Billie Barry kids, gracing stage and screen in professional appearances. Many years later he and Dara shared a dressing room together when they were cast in Shay Healy’s The Wiremen, a colourful musical about Ireland’s rural electrification scheme in the 1950’s.

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Lovely Horse, Shame About the Tool on Top – Episode 41

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In this topical episode, once he’s dealt with a Hollywood actor’s less than enthusiastic response to Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, Dara gets straight into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He discusses Putin and looks at his possible motivations for such aggression, and also considers the larger geopolitical implications of the conflict.

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The Slap That Wasn’t Mine, or The Puppetry of Persona – Episode 45

Where the Magic Happens, or Winning in the Empty Spaces – Episode 44

Platonism and Sport, or The Impossible Pursuit of Perfection – Episode 43

A Musician’s Life – Interview with Gavin McCaffrey – Episode 42

Lovely Horse, Shame About the Tool on Top – Episode 41

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