An exhausted daughter sits down with her philandering father for their traditional pre-Christmas dinner. Will they survive the evening without tearing each other apart? Or will a Christmas miracle help them overcome their differences? You can hear me read the story on the Christmas Special episode of the podcast.
In this episode Dara is stepping carefully as he negotiates a painfully recent family tragedy – the sudden death of Pepper, the beloved family dog. Still too soon to fully unpack the depth of his grief, he nonetheless attempts to convey Pepper’s importance and unique brand of loveliness.
Puppy Love – A Good Time, Not a Long Time – Episode 216 Read More »
This year’s Christmas story is about a father who finds himself incapable of giving up on his missing child, even though it feels like a lost cause. You can hear my reading of the story on the Christmas Special episode of the podcast.
In this episode, Dara is scratching his head over the idea of brotherhood. One of four sons, he feels he has a reasonably reliable perspective on his own experience of brotherhood, one he admits was not, nor continues to be, straightforward.
Understanding Brotherhood, or Why ‘Bro’ is not a Dirty Word! – Episode 146 Read More »
In this episode Dara shares his experience of a recent family funeral that seemed to succeed in channelling a profound communal expression of love and grief. Because of his role in the service, he had to wait to express his own feelings.
Notes From a Funeral, or The Power of the Collective Experience – Episode 86 Read More »
In this episode Dara explores the American father as captured in TV sensations The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. He also looks at Arthur Miller’s theatre masterworks Death of a Salesman and All My Sons before briefly visiting old Hollywood depictions of idealised fathers, both with and without collars!
Big Bad Daddies! From Tony Soprano to My Father in Several Easy Steps – Episode 20 Read More »
A poem I wrote about my father, who recently turned 79 and has been showing the signs of a mind and body slowing down and no longer being cognisant of the happenings of everyday life in real time. Not all the time, but enough to be of justifiable concern. It is old age. It is
Breasting the Tape Read More »
“Houses have their own ways of dying, falling as variously as the generations of men, some with a tragic roar, some quietly . . . while from others the spirit slips before the body perishes.” EM Forster, Howard’s End “It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of,
Staying in the room Read More »
“Are we living in end times? … Either way, it is hard not to feel that we are being shown a glimpse of a future to which we should expect to become accustomed. And when the world around you is physically changing, it is almost impossible for your perspective not to change with it… It
At what point do adult children stop seeing their mother and start seeing the woman behind the role? Do they ever? I don’t think we can ever fully detach ourselves from seeing our parents as parents first and people second. But when we do peer behind the screen it can be so illuminating in recognising
What My Mother Gave Me Read More »
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