The ClearOut

In this final part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to bring things to a reasonable end. He talks about his lifelong attempt to embody a particular type of masculinity that was a direct respo…

In the fourth part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to point out the hierarchical nature of masculinity when the idea of manhood is being discussed. The legacy of Western European colonial do…

In this lachrymose episode and further exploration of masculinity, Dara is talking about the benefits of crying. He confesses to being a crier anyway, easily shedding tears over any number of things,…

Continuing his exploration of masculinity and maleness, Dara turns his gaze to movies and how men's stories, especially but not exclusively, straight men's stories have played out on screen. He looks…

Dara knew when he started recording this one that one episode was never going to cut it. So it is only the beginning of a conversation about being a man and trying to unpack what constitutes a man.

Be…

In this episode, Dara has an update on the fox situation at Hashtag Blessed and admits he views the surviving chickens differently since last week’s attack. Is it just him, or do they seem to be grie…

In this episode, Dara is reflecting on the overnight passing of two of the animal members of the Hashtag Blessed family. It reminds him of a key moment from the iconic TV show The Sopranos which cent…

Dara begins this episode by sharing his go-to recipe for making cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, specifically. Don't ask why - it just felt like the right thing to do. Perhaps he was trying to flaun…

In this episode, Dara is doing what he thinks he should have done last week; namely, reflect on the throughline of one hundred and fifty episodes of the podcast. His mission statement from the origin…

In this 150th episode, Dara decides not to lean into what makes the show what it is, but rather opts for the easy entertainment of the career of Tom Cruise. A recent rewatch of Top Gun Maverick promp…

In this episode, Dara once again finds himself considering his mental health battles. Emerging from a very recent depression, he examines the difference in his thinking when he is embattled versus wh…

In this episode, Dara wants to know what vulnerability looks like. He talks about his own sense of feeling vulnerable at this time in his life and tries to contextualise that feeling in terms of age,…

In this episode, Dara is looking at life stories. Prompted by a project of his own that he is working on, he acknowledges the difficulties he finds himself facing before discussing several different …

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 …

In this episode, Dara is rolling over some recent themes. He is convinced that cultivated internal calmness is a key part of responding healthily to the chaos of the world. When he talks about the im…

In this episode Dara tries to understand the connection between the advancement of AI-generated images and his desire for the simplicity and austerity of certain places and practices. There is someth…

In this episode, Dara reflects on a few days spent at a writers' retreat and his attempts to slip into a writing flow. Among other things, he talks about identifying his preferred voice, the subject …

This episode does exactly what it says on the tin. Dara settles in to discuss a film he just watched, a concert he just attended, and a theatre production he recently saw.

The film was Paul Thomas An…

In this episode, Dara responds to a music podcast he found surprisingly moving by exploring the idea of connection. Why do certain things or people connect with us more powerfully than others? What i…

WARNING: The content of this episode may be confronting and/or triggering as it contains detailed references to suicidal ideation. The subject is treated respectfully and carefully, but unambiguously…