In this episode, Dara starts off with thoughts on what defines us as individuals. Is it a higher power? Or is it just what wins the battle for our identity? He believes it is strongly connected to nature, nurture and genetic legacy.
Embedding Gratitude, Controlling Sensitivity, and a Cult of Nullification – Episode 98 Read More »
In this episode Dara wrangles with the purpose and direction of the podcast. He wonders if he’s doing the pod all right or all wrong. Before he makes any radical changes though, he remains clear that he doesn’t want it to be perfectly curated content that becomes bland and generic. He tries to work out who the podcast is for so he can better understand his target audience.
In this episode, Dara examines the centrality of heart to his own personal philosophy. He recognises that his concept of the metaphorical heart is suffused with his natural idealism, and how that can lead him into situations where he can be easily wounded. He argues against the interpretation of open-heartedness being equal to naivete.
This episode looks at the problem of having access to too much information, material and opinion in the online space. So much content, and so much for free, and such ease of access, creates an imbalanced relationship that offers dubious benefits. Dara looks at his own internet consumption habits and questions the merits of unearned offerings.
In this episode Dara shares his thoughts and responses after a movie mini-binge. He is struck by the hackneyed plotline of CODA (2021) but thinks the film is saved by the acting and warmth of the main cast. He compares it to a couple of other movies that didn’t take flight, including the risible Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), and the glorified Apple commercial that was Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013).
In this episode, Dara is brushing up against his past and walking the fine line between nostalgia and sentimentality. Spending a lot of time in Dublin recently has provoked a host of memories from over 20 years ago and Dara feels like he keeps bumping into his younger self around every street corner.
Elastic Time and the Love of Two Cities – Episode 93 Read More »
Inspired by a podcast about Julius Caesar, Dara realises he has long had a fascination with assassinations, particularly those that have played out in movies. In this episode he looks closely at the celluloid executions that most impacted him, paying close attention to Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, amongst others.
Assassination Fascination and the Gun as Symbol of Cultural Psyche – Episode 92 Read More »
In this episode, Dara finally achieves a long-term goal of the podcast – he gets his wife to sit down for an interview at Hashtag Blessed!
Dara is not in the mood for this week’s episode. He simply doesn’t have the headspace. But he talks himself into it and soon warms up as he mentions how a recent football podcast planted the seed for what he wants to talk about – touchstones. What are the reference points that help us negotiate the world in which we find ourselves? Who are the pillar-like figures that we feel we can lean on? Who remains unchanged?
Pillars, Pathfinders, and Dodging Space Trash – Episode 90 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is all stirred up as a result of the theatre production he is currently working on. The subject of the work is masculinity and the nurturing and shaping of boys into men. Dara admits that the process of examining this subject closely is leaving him exhausted but also inspired and full of almost uncontrollable thought processes and emotional impulses around what masculinity means to him
Stirring the Masculinity Pot and Countering Dubious Male Voices – Episode 89 Read More »
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