Dara Clear, Author at The ClearOut

Monkey? What Monkey? – Catharsis, Fandom, and the Owning of Self – Episode 206

This episode has something for everyone. Dara kicks off with an acknowledgement of the show’s 4th birthday before breaking down his fandom of Tottenham Hotspur in the wake of their recent Europa League triumph – the trophy monkey is finally off the collective backs of long-suffering Spurs fans. Thanks be to the Gods of Football!

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‘Sinners’ and ‘Moonstruck’ – Movie Pleasures of the Old and New School – Episode 205

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In this week’s episode, Dara reviews Ryan Coogler’s rip roaring ‘Sinners’, a movie that defies easy categorisation but is infused with the director’s characteristic heart, immersive world-building, and brilliant lead performances. Of particular delight was a thread of Irishness that leant the movie an unexpected and resonant depth. There’s also an Irish connection to the movie that Dara recommends as a double bill partner for ‘Sinners’.

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Minimising, Maximising, and Getting the Balance Right – How We Deal with What Challenges Us – Episode 204

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In this episode Dara is thinking about challenging moments and situations and the places we put them to help us cope better. After a very unpleasant accident that sent him to hospital, Dara laughs at the way men can fail to offer care, depending on their assessment of the urgency involved – everything can be laughed at until it can’t.

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Have You Done Your Homework? Oppression, Conflict, and the Pursuit of Truth – Episode 203

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In this episode Dara tries to thread the needle between domestic and personal crises and those of a much larger, humanitarian nature. Taking in current events in Gaza as well as historic instances of grievous abuse by Catholic institutions in Ireland, the question of truth seems to be of primary importance when a larger power treats others with such callous impunity and indifference to the consequences.

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This Is Not a Performance (It’s My Life!) – Episode 202

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A hiatus imposed on Dara by life’s steamroller has reminded him how non-performative the podcast continues to be. He reflects on the circumstances that rendered him incapable of recording over the last few weeks and reiterates his conviction that being judiciously transparent is of more use to his listeners, and to him, than jazz hands and soft shoe shuffles.

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“And Then I Ran Away to Call the Watch!” – Ten Shakespearean Monologues, Live! – Episode 201

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In this episode, Dara goes hard at Shakespeare! Following an urge to wrap his mouth around some Elizabethan verse, he stumbled across a perfect collection of Shakespearean monologues to quench his appetite. So, with thanks to Rachel, whose curation it was, and apologies to enemies of The Bard, the greasepaint was applied, the voice warmed up, and the curtain raised!

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Bulletins from the Frontline of Now! Reflecting on 200 Episodes of Existential Flailing – Episode 200

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In this episode, Dara quietly reflects on 200 episodes of this thing that he does and tries, for the umpteenth time, to define what the podcast is all about. After all this time on the microphone, it’s funny and fitting that he still isn’t really sure. Is it a glitch or a feature?

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‘Adolescence’ – Harrowing, Topical, and No Easy Answers – Episode 199

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In this episode, Dara shares his response to the compelling drama series ‘Adolescence’ that recently launched on Netflix. Covering the harrowing events around a 13-year-old schoolboy murdering a female schoolmate, the show is an extraordinary dramatic and technical achievement that has found itself at the heart of the dark side of the zeitgeist – namely, the changed social landscape that shapes the minds of boys and young men in insidious online spaces that are ubiquitous, ever-accessible and distressingly persuasive.

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I Object! Three Movie Treatments of Desire – Episode 198

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In this episode, Dara is recalling an early cinema experience that only succeeded at the second attempt – but it was ET, so it was totally worth the wait. At that time, all his objects of desire were heroic archetypes and it would be another few years before an actress on the big screen stopped his breath. The year ET came out, 1982, also saw the release of Robert Towne’s Personal Best, which placed Mariel Hemingway as the focus of longing in the world of aspirant Olympic athletes. Former athlete Patrice Donnelly was cast as the older athlete who competes with Scott Glenn for her affections and her chemistry with Hemingway jumps off the screen.

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All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197

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In this episode, Dara is trying to get his head around the obnoxious appearance of Conor McGregor at the White House over St. Patrick’s Weekend. Trump’s presidency seems to function as a magnet for a particular type of male performance, greenlighting as it does a validated version of masculinity that revels in belittling others, trash talking enemies, and leering, swaggering braggadocio. It is definitely connected to a particular understanding of straight maleness as being under attack and needing to reassert itself as aggressively as possible. But is it also a product of the tech age when the perception of consequences has been skewed by the amount of time spent in online spaces?

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Dara Clear

Monkey? What Monkey? – Catharsis, Fandom, and the Owning of Self – Episode 206

‘Sinners’ and ‘Moonstruck’ – Movie Pleasures of the Old and New School – Episode 205

Minimising, Maximising, and Getting the Balance Right – How We Deal with What Challenges Us – Episode 204

Have You Done Your Homework? Oppression, Conflict, and the Pursuit of Truth – Episode 203

This Is Not a Performance (It’s My Life!) – Episode 202

“And Then I Ran Away to Call the Watch!” – Ten Shakespearean Monologues, Live! – Episode 201

Bulletins from the Frontline of Now! Reflecting on 200 Episodes of Existential Flailing – Episode 200

‘Adolescence’ – Harrowing, Topical, and No Easy Answers – Episode 199

I Object! Three Movie Treatments of Desire – Episode 198

All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197

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