Dara Clear

When the Vibe is Gone, or Peace and Love and Dollar Bills, Man! – Episode 65

In this episode, Dara finds himself stirred up after watching Trainwreck, the Netflix documentary series about the ill-fated Woodstock festival of 1999, an event that went off the rails for a variety of reasons, not least among them the driving motives of the organisers, one of whom was Michael Lang, who was behind the original festival 30 years earlier.

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Power Women On Screen, or What Does a Feminist Look Like? – Episode 64

After watching Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman, a film hailed upon its release in 1978 as a groundbreaking feminist text, and celebrated for the central performance of Jill Clayburgh as a cheated-on spouse, Dara wonders about the legacy of strong female characters on screen and asks who of today’s actresses best represents ideas of female power and strength.

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Wiggly Bits, Jiggly Bits, and The Dangers of Penetration! – Episode 61

In this episode, Dara discusses some hot potatoes that are being passed from hand to hand in Hashtag Blessed. Beyonce’s new album art raises some concern, as does Marilyn Monroe’s appearance on the screen on Dara and his daughter’s scheduled movie night. Are these icons of female beauty and performance actually problematic? Is there a radically different experience in how they are perceived by men and women?

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Why Idealism Matters and the Proximity Principle of Enmity – Episode 57

Dara begins this week’s episode by looking at the Irish discomfort with self-approval and putting it in the context of small-island, village mentality. He argues that it is a product of a damaged national psyche that leaves many Irish people with a pathological self-deprecation born of superstition and distrust of success.

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The Art of Disarming Oneself, or How to Live with Defences Down – Episode 56

In this week’s episode Dara reflects on a week in recovery from Covid and realises he enjoyed dropping down to his slowest gear. It prompts him to think about the benefits of living with one’s defences down. He argues that it makes us more receptive and more capable of seeing positive things in the world.

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