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.
He talks about being able to really appreciate Dublin’s architecture for the first time and how he used to consider Trinity College students sworn enemies. He recalls his own university experience and shares what priorities trumped the need to attend lectures and become a better student.
Having just finished watching Joanna Hogg’s fascinating 80s London-set drama, The Souvenir (not before abandoning it midway to take in John Carney’s more easily digestible Dublin-set musical, Once), Dara talks about his relationship to London and how it began in the 80s with the many visits he enjoyed there as a child when visiting his late grandmother.
He discusses the idea of digesting or assimilating memories and experiences at different rates, and the dangers of believing there’s nothing new under the sun. He recommends the borrowing of a martial arts concept – beginner’s mind – to help keep cynicism and jadedness at bay.