Dara Clear, Author at The ClearOut

Existential Framing: Pathways, Destinations, and Empty Spaces – Episode 139

In this episode, Dara tries to remind himself of the existential power of understanding life as an unending path that leads to endless unknown destinations. In relation to a recent rough mental health episode, he is also happy to be reminded that the path of life will continue past the present moment, no matter how challenging it might be.

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Turning 50 – If I’m Calm, It’s the Jedi’s Fault! – Episode 138

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Dara has just turned 50, and in this episode he lets his mind hover over the moment in an attempted stocktake. Even as he argues for gratitude, he acknowledges how challenging the world is right now. This leads him to consider whether enough weight is attached to softer impulses and emotions. In these times of fracture and isolation and estrangement, should we attach greater significance and worthiness to love and positivity and connection?

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2023: The Year in Screentime – Fantastic Plastic and Artistic Brutality – Episode 137

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Dara reviews his year in watching on screens big and small over the last twelve months. Some of the obvious big 2023 releases are covered, including Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon and Anatomy of a Fall, but also mentioned are older movies that were watched during the year at home – Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr.Ripley, for example, or Paul Schrader’s Hardcore.

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Maestro! Bradley Cooper’s Bravura Take on Bernstein – Episode 136

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Following the previous episode’s last-minute production, Dara does another late night recording, this time in the wind and rain, with at least two interruptions from a sleeping dog. He’s determined to maintain his line, and that means he refuses to put out another delayed episode.

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The 2023 Christmas Special! – Episode 135

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In this hard-fought-for episode, Dara soldiers on alone to deliver this year’s Christmas special.

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Mrs. Hennessey and the Women’s Christmas

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This year’s Christmas story finds an old woman in trouble. The woman remembers she was once a young girl in trouble too. Who will come to her aid, and will she want their assistance?

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Sappy, Silly, and Sombre: Three Tales for Festive Consumption – Episode 134

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In this episode, Dara jumps in feet first to Christmas tales of yore. Reading from a compendium of Yuletide tales, he selects two contrasting entries that brought some balance to proceedings. The first is A Christmas Inspiration, a sweet and somewhat sentimental tale by L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) of a group of young women coming to the aid of a lonely cohabitant of their boarding house.

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The Value of Human Life, or A Strange Form of Diplomacy – Episode 133

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In this episode, Dara has further thoughts on the ongoing Middle East conflict after listening to the concerns of a good friend who has a certain amount of skin in the game. He wonders if a peaceful end will ever be possible when key combatants on both sides are so determined to eradicate each other. It raises the existential question of what value one human life has over any other.

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The Dublin Riots: The Denial of Dignity and the Rage of the Unloved – Episode 132

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In this episode, Dara tries to get his head around the riots that took place in Dublin recently after a violent knife attack on young children outside their school in the middle of the day. The subsequent outpouring of shock and anger escalated into a night of destruction, rioting and looting in the city centre, fuelled by anti-immigrant rhetoric.

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Don’t Come Out Until You’re Sorry, or To Whom Do You Need to Atone? – Episode 131

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In this episode, Dara reflects on some Jewish insights into the Israel-Palestine conflict which he found both helpful and inspiring. He posits that in the act of dehumanising Palestinians, Israel ends up dehumanising itself, which is its own kind of tragedy.

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Dara Clear

Existential Framing: Pathways, Destinations, and Empty Spaces – Episode 139

Turning 50 – If I’m Calm, It’s the Jedi’s Fault! – Episode 138

2023: The Year in Screentime – Fantastic Plastic and Artistic Brutality – Episode 137

Maestro! Bradley Cooper’s Bravura Take on Bernstein – Episode 136

The 2023 Christmas Special! – Episode 135

Mrs. Hennessey and the Women’s Christmas

Sappy, Silly, and Sombre: Three Tales for Festive Consumption – Episode 134

The Value of Human Life, or A Strange Form of Diplomacy – Episode 133

The Dublin Riots: The Denial of Dignity and the Rage of the Unloved – Episode 132

Don’t Come Out Until You’re Sorry, or To Whom Do You Need to Atone? – Episode 131

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