society

Abdicating Duty of Care and Living in the Age of Comedy Evil! – Episode 194

In this broadly care-centred episode, Dara moves from inside to out. He wonders about the sense some people have of the world owing you something and decides a more worthwhile and potentially fruitful query is to ask what you might owe yourself. He reckons care, forgiveness and love are a good place to start. But they can be particularly difficult to effectively embed in one’s internal landscape.

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Unifying Events, Sensible Ripples, and What If Trump Had Been Taken Out? – Episode 165

In this episode Dara is looking at two significant news stories from the big nations to Ireland’s east and west. At the weekend just gone, Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and bete noire of liberals and humane humans everywhere, survived an assassination attempt. In Germany not long afterwards, England’s national football team contested the final of the EURO 2024 tournament, and lost.

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If You’ve Nothing Good to Say, Maybe Think About Shutting Up! – Episode 161

In this hot and bothered episode, Dara tries to address the issue of racism in Ireland in the wake of the hate and racist abuse directed at Rhadisat Adeleke last week after her triumphant performances at the European Athletics Championships. A topic covered on the show before around the Emer O’Neill/Tommy Tiernan story, it seems to need speaking about again.

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

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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Keeping Up With a Changing World, or Why Seahorse Dads Made Me Uneasy – Episode 116

In this episode, Dara shares his thoughts on the late William Friedkin, of whose films he has long been an admirer, particularly The Exorcist and the lesser-loved Sorcerer, his 1977 remake of 1953’s La Salaire de la Peur. Those movies are discussed along with a general appraisal of Friedkin’s voice and greater artistic significance. Dara considers the changing astronomy of the world as more and more creative giants of that generation appear to be coming to the end of their time.

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Speaking From the Heart: Three Righteous Preacher Men – Episode 78

In this episode Dara finds himself concerned about the upcoming FIFA world cup in Qatar. What blind eyes were turned and what palms greased to award the tournament to such an unlikely host nation? Footballers heading to the competition want to express their reservations about human rights abuses and the exploitation of workers, but FIFA wants them to ‘stick to football’.

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