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PODCAST

The ClearOut

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, humour, psychology, and emotional honesty as a recipe for increased wellness, positivity, and resilience.Become a Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

health & fitness mental health

All Episodes

1:26:16

Three Female Texts, or Art as a Response to Erasure

The ClearOut ·

2021/12/09

In this episode, Dara goes all in on the expression of the female voice and the assertion and reclamation of female identity. He explores his own views of and attitudes to women and speaks honestly about his upbringing and his marriage and how they have informed and enriched those attitudes and views.As the main vehicle for this discussion, he looks in depth at three recent female works of art that he found compelling, challenging, and inspiring - the films The Tale (2018), written and directed by

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1:17:06

The Hard Sell of Christmas and the Triumph of Diogenes

The ClearOut ·

2021/12/02

In this episode Dara has a good look at his own feelings about Christmas and goes on to explore a brief history of Christmas, and why it is something not everybody feels thrilled to celebrate. He wonders if the forced observance of anything is ever a good thing. But ultimately, he can't shake the feeling that a little Christmas magic stirs something very deep in our collective psyche.Reading some poems by Seamus Heaney, the great Irish poet, presents the opportunity to discuss Diogenes, the ancient

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1:18:19

Acting Out in the Extreme, or When Private Pain...

The ClearOut ·

2021/11/25

In this episode Dara is prompted by the recent violent attack in Waukesha, as well as other car and truck attacks and shooting atrocities, to reflect on how we view the individuals who perpetrate such acts. His train of thought takes in cultural stereotyping, systemic social failure, and the expression of pain in both positive and negative ways. Newton's Cradle - the metal ball office toy - is offered as a metaphor for profound pain and alienation finding its equal and opposite expression in extreme

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1:18:57

Love, Wellness, and Creativity, or Getting Violent...

The ClearOut ·

2021/11/18

In this episode, before getting to the main topic, Dara observes how disconcertingly warm it is for November, and argues that things being not quite right can be extremely disruptive. He commends teachers for persevering amidst the unending Covid disruptions. The first part of the episode concludes with why his daughter felt the need to say "I hate you" to him.The main meat of the episode revolves around creativity and what conditions are most conducive to its thriving. Dara offers a theory of

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1:14:59

The Bridges of Wellness and Bounty

The ClearOut ·

2021/11/11

In this episode Dara waxes lyrical about bridges of many kinds. He starts off with Lloyd, Jeff and Beau Bridges before turning his attention to the usefulness and aesthetic pleasure of actual bridges.But what he really wants to talk about is the idealistic symbolism of bridges and how they help us get to other places and how they help us transcend things we wouldn't otherwise be able to get over. He puts metaphorical bridges at the centre of a theory of wellness, arguing that we build bridges in our

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1:21:17

The Fallible Smotherboard and the Fear of Being Seen

The ClearOut ·

2021/11/04

In this episode, Dara discovers the word 'haecceity', which stems from the Latin word for 'thisness', and is used to describe the quality that makes a thing or a person uniquely themselves. He argues that this is something we cannot hide, no matter what we do.He discusses the vulnerability of state change and how it might inform social anxiety or a dread of being seen. That leads to asking in what ways being seen benefits or threatens us. He looks at how being embattled is a very particular state

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1:14:48

The Unloved Child, or Wielding the Blade of Creation

The ClearOut ·

2021/10/27

In this episode, Dara is inspired by Denis Villeneuve's Bladerunner 2049 (5:55) to go on a wide-ranging exploration of identity, consciousness and origin. He wonders if the leaders of Big Tech inspired Jared Leto's portrayal of the designer in the Villeneuve movie (10:37) before asking what level of thought and feeling is possible for AI entities (14:26).A related digression leads to a heavyweight boxer's grandiosity (17:35) which in turn leads to one of Shakespeare's great villainesses who Dara

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1:18:55

You wanna peace of me?, or The rocky road to...

The ClearOut ·

2021/10/20

In this episode, once he's finished breaking down, and being revolted by, the animal dynamics at Hashtag Blessed, Dara launches into a deep dive of conflict (20' 43"), taking as a first reference point an article on anger by A.C. Grayling (27' 31"). From there he ponders the concept of dehumanisation (36' 24") in the context of conflict.He argues for the necessity of truth (45' 37") and its bedfellows, honesty and courage, as vital components of conflict resolution. That leads to a look at

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1:14:45

Walking in the shadow and keeping her light

The ClearOut ·

2021/10/13

In this episode Dara stays firmly in mental health territory and discusses at length our fear of the dark side of ourselves. He talks about the unexpressed and the uncomfortable and argues for disciplined, non-hysterical acceptance of the parts of ourselves that make us turn away. He reflects on the aspects of his own behaviour and personality that concern him and falls back once more on embedded positive practices as the cornerstone of his coping strategy.Finally he wonders about social dark areas,

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1:23:45

Big bad daddies! From Tony Soprano to my father in...

The ClearOut ·

2021/10/06

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! He resists the sentimentalisation of fatherhood and critiques his own patterns of behaviour as a father before moving on to discuss a disturbing revelation about the abuse perpetrated by the Catholic

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1:11:59

The thrum of the machine, or The beautiful...

The ClearOut ·

2021/09/30

In this episode Dara explores the concept of character and how its uncovering might lie at the heart of true strength, happiness and resilience. He places it in firm counterpoint to the litany of reductive names, labels and titles and other identifiers we have put on us. That prompts a reflection on the tyranny of the word 'Mother'.Drawing inspiration from Joan Didion and a key principle of traditional karate, Dara argues that character enables us to be better, more selfless human beings.There are

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1:28:45

Such big feelings!, or Learning masculinity from the...

The ClearOut ·

2021/09/23

In this episode Dara asks the question - what movies really do it for you? Before giving his own answer, he explores the types of masculinity that he has been attracted to on the big screen since he was a child. From the days of Spencer Tracy, through the Star Wars and Indiana Jones era, to the modern emotional landscape of 'men's movies', he covers a lot of ground and a lot of movies that all capture a certain type of bruised masculinity.He explains what he means by the 'male chick flick' and

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1:18:30

If I can't get love, I'll take acceptance

The ClearOut ·

2021/09/16

In this episode, Dara reflects on body image and the objectification and commodification of female beauty and sexuality. He discusses the sexist rhetoric and dynamics that he has always found pervasive among many of the men he has known. Along the way, he revisits his own introduction back in the day to the sexualised female iconography of Playboy magazine.He talks about the destructive and warping impact of shame and realises it is an aspect of his own parenting that concerns him because he

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1:16:30

The weight of expectations and accepting loss of control

The ClearOut ·

2021/09/09

In this episode, Dara gets stuck into expectations and how imposing they can be if they are too rigid. He draws a connection between unmet expectations and the loss of control, and the anger that results from that.He points out the flawed thinking of anthropomorphising the family chickens, who have been giving him a particularly annoying day.A moment is taken to acknowledge two actors who recently died - Jean Paul Belmondo and Michael K Williams, better known as The Wire's Omar.And last but not

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1:16:30

The travellator express to nowhere, or Put down that...

The ClearOut ·

2021/09/02

In this episode Dara touches on sugar consumption and gut health and warns of the danger of big lunches if your afternoons are going to be demanding.He talks about using social media to promote his stuff and realises he can barely remember how his points of view evolved, which leads to him confessing an inability to retain information.Finally, he looks at the soiled package of middle age which becomes an exploration of expectations, visibility and narrative.Along the way there is a dismissed tea

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1:13:25

The nostalgia shark is coming for my squirrels!

The ClearOut ·

2021/08/26

In this episode Dara walks the corridors of nostalgia and explores the underpinning emotion that informs that longing for the past. The journey takes him to the movies of his childhood and starts him thinking about when childhood ends and adulthood begins.He confesses an affinity with Ernie from Sesame Street and admits a boyhood crush on a short-haired Helen Slater in The Legend of Billie Jean!There is time for a look at ageing and the fixing of attitudes and appetites, and also a some segues on

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1:15:10

Conflict and the place where you live

The ClearOut ·

2021/08/19

In this episode, following some thoughts on Afghanistan and the Taliban, Dara reflects on conflict in his own life and looks particularly closely at his marriage and the diverging paths that have emerged there.He wonders if we can access anybody's internal landscape, and what that unknown element does to our expectations. This leads to a discussion of disappointment, hurt and resentment buckets. It all leads to advocating more openness and vulnerability as a pathway to greater resilience.Finally, a

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1:15:04

Why De Niro is a gangster, not a lover or The case...

The ClearOut ·

2021/08/12

In this episode, Dara looks at the unwitting victims of a biblical exorcism before cruising through Michael Cimino's 1978 masterpiece, The Deer Hunter, with particular focus on Robert De Niro's performance in it. A case for greatness is made and De Niro is pitted against Lionel Messi, the Argentinian footballing genius. The anthemic God Bless America - the song used in the concluding scene of The Deer Hunter - is discussed along with its attendant controversies, both for the song and the singer Kate

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1:08:56

The here, the me, the now - the challenge of being...

The ClearOut ·

2021/08/05

In this episode Dara tries to unpick the puzzle of presence. He draws a line between perceived safety and protecting the precious parts of ourselves. He argues for integrity and wholeness as the pathways to self-acceptance and the tools for calm and confident presence. He also shares a very personal story to illustrate the power of unexpressed emotion.Along the way, he predicts a poor end for his chickens, discusses his hippie upbringing, talks about ear piercings and homophobia, and references

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1:18:40

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!

The ClearOut ·

2021/07/29

This episode is all about stars! Dara discusses at length the many versions of A Star Is Born and their relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as their gender politics. He also uses those movies to look at trauma and the dire male response to trauma and addiction by one of the central characters that is the penultimate act of each version of the story.That leads to briefly touching on alcoholism and the centrality of drink in Irish culture.He concludes by talking about Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a

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229 results

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