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…