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!
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?
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.
‘Adolescence’ – Harrowing, Topical, and No Easy Answers – Episode 199 Read More »
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.
I Object! Three Movie Treatments of Desire – Episode 198 Read More »
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?
All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is reckoning with great creative men, two real and one fictional. The world has recently lost the bodily forms of Irish poet Pat Ingoldsby and Hollywood actor Gene Hackman, but their work remains indelibly with us. Ingoldsby was a beloved figure in Ireland whose sparkling and deceptively profound poetry arguably never received the credit it was due, although its accessibility ensured it reached legions of appreciative and dedicated readers, many of whom have expressed their grief and gratitude since he passed.
Hackman, Ingoldsby, and Toth – Masters and Medium – Episode 196 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is looking at the value of letting others know what’s important to you. How else are the people in your life meant to know what you care about? He argues that this can not only help to strengthen the relationships that matter most, but also mitigate against disappointment and unmet expectations. However, it is useful to keep those expectations fair and realistic.
Underestimating Resilience and the Communication of Important Things – Episode 195 Read More »
In this broadly care-centred episode, Dara moves from inside to out. He wonders about the sense some people have of the world owing you something and decides a more worthwhile and potentially fruitful query is to ask what you might owe yourself. He reckons care, forgiveness and love are a good place to start. But they can be particularly difficult to effectively embed in one’s internal landscape.
Abdicating Duty of Care and Living in the Age of Comedy Evil! – Episode 194 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is totting up the wins in his life. There aren’t many, considering his age, but maybe more than enough. A cat on a wet shack roof is not one of them. Nor is revisiting ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, which he did in stealth mode. But the wins he does list are pretty cool, and some are just about the most important things in his life.
Reckoning with a Hustler, or What a Lucky Guy! – Episode 193 Read More »
Last Friday I sat in a public space, heard a question being asked, and presented myself to answer. But I was unsatisfied with the response I gave. It wasn’t a bad answer, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to say. I knew instinctively that was the case, because I knew my thoughts hadn’t reached the surface yet.
Caring for Boys, Caring for Men, Caring for Myself Read More »
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