What if we were all made by a toymaker and that toymaker set our internal tempo? Would that explain why some of us are so anxious while others remain calm? Is it possible that we all have a base setting that dictates how we interact with the world?
Latest Episodes
In this episode Dara looks at two English sportsmen - the boxer Anthony Joshua and the cricketer Ben Stokes - and their recent public displays of personal crisis and compromised mental health. He lauds them for their candour and for their ability to face the public with their vulnerability showing. Dara discusses the pressure that many of us feel to present a functional and successful face to the world.
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.
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.
Dara presents an interview with his friend Sean Whitehill. Sean is a dedicated traveller and artist, among other things. He talks about what travelling means to him and what some of his favourite places are.
Dara is thinking about imprints, specifically the ones left on us in our formative years. He argues that our sense of wellness is very much connected to how successfully we negotiate or accommodate those imprints in our adult selves.
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?
In this episode, Dara takes a deep dive into two very different on-screen depictions of what the French call 'amour fou', or 'mad love'. 1986's Betty Blue (37.2 Le Matin) and Hitchcock's 1958 classic 'Vertigo' are the two texts in question.
Dara presents the second of two parts of an in-depth interview with author, artist, and abuse survivor, Aisling Creegan.
Dara presents the first of two parts of an in-depth interview with author, artist, and abuse survivor, Aisling Creegan.
About the Podcast
Welcome to the turbulence!
Join Dara Clear, a domesticated Irishman who is trying to work out the best ways to cope with what life throws at him.
Husband, father, actor, writer, teacher, karate instructor, and sea swimmer, Dara wants to take the wuss out of wellness.
Mixing storytelling, philosophy, humor, psychology, and emotional honesty as a recipe for increased wellness, positivity, and resilience.
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