The ClearOut

• The Selling of Women's Bits, or Sydney Sweeney's Sassy Chest!

  In this episode, Dara is looking at women's bits and how they continue to exert such a hold on so many onlookers, many with cash in hand, some holding other things. If the names Sydney Sweeney and Bonnie Blue are not instantly familiar to you, you have not been keeping abreast of things topical and pertinent this week. Sweeney is a Hollywood hot property who has made no bones about her need to make money to keep the show on the road. Blue is an English porn star who has just been the focus of a Channel 4 documentary following her facilitation of a jaw-dropping sex stunt. What do they have in common? They are both blonde, beautiful, and buxom - and willing to trade on their physical assets. They have both found themselves at the centre of recent controversies, one invoking moral outrage, the other more in the area of identity politics and culture wars. Dara draws a connection between these young women, the commodification of their looks and bodies, and the experience of the Hemingway sisters - Margaux and Mariel - almost 50 years ago. The story doesn't seem to change. Young, beautiful and female equates to opportunities to capitalise or be capitalised upon, and usually for the sexual satisfaction of an eager male audience.Dara questions the value of being morally dismissive of the women in question and wonders more about the damage being done by the ubiquity of sexualised imagery. He is certain the devices we carry with us everywhere are a huge part of the problem and advocates for putting them away and immersing ourselves in things more sensory and natural before we lose our perspective completely on what is and isn't real.Also in this episode, two excellent words, recommended texts on the porn industry, and a brilliant book on parenting teenage girls.Sydney Sweeney's 'racist' jeans: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/05/sydney-sweeney-controversyYMRT episode on the Hemingway sisters: https://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2020/2/24/the-hemingway-curse-mariel-and-margaux-make-me-over-episode-7Unherd discuss Bonnie Blue's recent Channel 4 documentary: https://unherd.com/watch-listen/should-we-morally-condemn-bonnie-blue/?lang=usThe Last Days of August: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/the-last-days-of-august-review-ames-jon-ronson-podcast-porn-industryUntangled by Lisa Damour: https://drlisadamour.com/books/untangled/Website: https://theclearout.com/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• It's Emma Thompson, Stupid! (She's a Dame, Don't You Know...)

  This episode is as on the nose as a John Lee Hancock film! No ambiguity, no grey areas, it's a celebration of the career of Emma Thompson. After recently rewatching 1995's Sense and Sensibility, Dara was reminded of how much he has always admired Emma Thompson. So he decided to dedicate an hour to her (almost) entire filmography.He goes through a selective history of her most prominent roles, identifying some personal favourites and some missed opportunities, including a relatively recent film that was quietly breathtaking and possibly underseen.Sense and Sensibility occupies a particular place in Dara's memory for a very specific reason. He shares that story as well as biting back at a disingenuous take on Ang Lee's film by a critic who sometimes seems to misread female characters and their experience.From The Tall Guy (1989) to the Ken and Em years, to a paycheck decade, to the prolific 2010s, up to the current output, Dara hopes he has done justice to a really special talent.Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• The Assumption of Imperfection, or Where Are the Serious Men?

  This week's episode is all about men and their flawed humanity. Reflecting on his childhood and adolescence, Dara is struck by the fact that he cannot identify a single serious, or substantial man. He wonders if this is a reflection of his unrealistic idealism or whether it is an indication that men embrace a certain model of infantilisation that is tantamount to self-sabotage.Is there an argument that men are given too much room to be unserious and fallible, and that's what encourages their errant behaviour? Is it plausible that the burden of seriousness, of responsibility, then falls largely on women? Is that possibly a source of resentment?At a certain point in his life, Dara realised that a significant number of women held the default assumption that all men will ultimately disappoint. He has always struggled with and fought against this terrible indictment of the male of the species, in spite of the endless presentation of evidence to support the position - the high profile Coldplay concert incident of the Astronomer CEO a great case in point.Dara's question is what should men do with this context, this cultural frame, that they are given? His line of enquiry looks at where the battle lines are drawn between men and women and how nobody escapes the roles they are assigned.He also wonders what constitutes a serious man - does the Coen brothers' 2009 film 'A Serious Man' have the answer? Also, Ben Kingsley's Irish accent, Dara's hippie upbringing (again), and male support groups...Website: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1:08:58

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• Out of Sight, Out of Mind - The Cruelty and Arrogance of Power

  In this episode, Dara has historical wrongs on his mind. He went to see In Plain Sight at the weekend, a striking and confronting piece of site-specific documentary theatre that addressed the history and legacy of the Mother and Baby homes in 20th century Ireland. He watched it with his wife and with his sister, who was born in one of the homes featured in the work. To say it was a powerful experience would be a gross understatement.Having recently watched a couple of 80s comedies with his young daughter, Dara is alarmed by a particular term of abuse set aside for women that cropped up a bit too liberally in the name of humour. Not for the first time, he finds himself observing that there is no equivalent slight for men and recognises how political and gendered the word is. To his great relief, he did not have to try and explain it to his watching companion.Finally, Dara shares his thoughts on the utterly brilliant American poet Andrea Gibson, who passed away earlier this week after a 4-year battle with cancer. Gibson, who identified as non-binary, was a truly singular voice whose work radiated a fierce intelligence nestled alongside a beautifully compassionate engagement with human frailty and vulnerability. As a small attempt at paying tribute, Dara reads their poem 'The Tears That Got Me Here - in praise of crying'.Andrea Gibson documentary, coming to Apple TV+: https://andreagibson.org/come-see-me-in-the-good-lightWebsite: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• I Am Not my Thoughts and Emotions! Or Maybe That's All I Am?

  In this episode, Dara picks up a point from last week and wonders if we can simultaneously be and not be our thoughts and emotions. He asks of what use our emotions are to others. Are we just being self-indulgent when we unload on others or is there room for more self-regulation? He also offers a way into better understanding relational estrangements and resentments.The shocking death of footballer Diogo Jota last week brought expressions of sympathy well beyond the clubs and country he played for. A Liverpool-supporting friend of Dara's shared the response of one fan who posted his own reaction online. Dara was struck by how the young man epitomised the best aspects of football fandom and its peculiar parasocial norms of behaviour.The actor Michael Madsen's death may have been less shocking but Dara reflects on his distinctive screen presence and some of his career highs, including his infamous scene that many couldn't stomach in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, and the role he played in the remake of Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway.Finally Dara shares thoughts on 1958's Bonjour Tristesse, which itself has recently been remade. A story of sex, desire, independence, and betrayal, it featured a stunning Jean Seberg in only her second film role as the mischievous teenage daughter of David Niven's scarcely believable playboy who is all too easily led away from Deborah Kerr's virtuous old flame.You Must Remember This season on Jean Seberg and Jane Fonda: https://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2017/8/22/jeanandjanearchiveWebsite: https://theclearout.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclearoutpodcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearoutpodcast/YouTube: The ClearOut PodcastEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theclearout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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