In this episode, Dara admits he is a man without a thread – but is he a man without a path? He discusses the organising principle of social codes and advocates for critical thinking to better help young people identify which codes they want no part of. The brain mush brought on by excessive time spent online isn’t helping matters. But finding one’s own code – and path – may be part of the solution.
Brain mush can also be aggravated by busyness and stress and Dara tries to contextualise recent minor memory lapses according to those terms. A full mental plate can result in certain items ending up on the floor. He tries not to sweat it as he gets his 80s actresses confused – it all depends on what his brain decides to pay attention to.
Patrick Stewart is no longer in the captain’s chair. The idealised leadership he embodied in his characterisations of Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard and X-Men’s Charles Xavier was so convincing that many feel they have lost not an actor, but a truly significant father figure. Dara tries to capture what allowed Stewart to excel in those roles.