In this episode, Dara shares final thoughts on the US presidential election and speculates that the Democrats still haven't shaken the patronising habit of belittling those who disagree with them. He argues that if you take this attitude in the world of martial arts, you are setting yourself up to fail - the assumption of superiority is a dangerous flex of ego that can result in complacency and abdicated diligence.

Dara thinks the skill of reading the room is a primal instinct connected to threat identification and normalcy barometers. He explores what that might look like at a macro and interpersonal level, before turning the reading toolkit on oneself. Doesn't it all come back to senses and feelings? And what role does the passage of time have to play in reading the interior landscape?

In considering shared spaces, Dara wonders what kind of jigsaw piece a person might be. He identifies his own leanings very quickly and not for the first time reiterates the raison d'etre of the podcast in relation to that. It is definitely connected to the tension between ego and humility...

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In this episode, Dara reacts to the re-election of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Did the Democrats and Kamala Harris once again fail to take seriously Trump and the Republican voter base? Whatever the cause, politicians of the liberal centre or centre-left have not been convincing enough to get themselves back into power. Four more years of Trump is a worrying prospect for the larger wellness of a very divided nation.

Admitting the limitations of his own political analysis, Dara turns to an incisive commentator of yesteryear - the brilliant Gore Vidal, whose sardonic voice spoke comprehensively on American public life, among other topics. In 1968, the liberal Vidal memorably featured in televised political debates with the conservative William F. Buckley, which descended into a barely controlled slanging match by their conclusion, choice epithets being volleyed back and forth with ever increasing venom.

Dara reads in full two of Vidal's pieces of writing on the US presidency. The first, The Real Two-Party System, is a short article written before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. It questions the very idea of representation in US politics. The second, Armageddon? was written at the end of Reagan's second term and is a skewering of the president's shared and widely-publicised belief in a Christian end-of-the-world consummation. The unforgiving cynicism on display is a testament to eyes that were in no danger of having the wool pulled over them, especially by an 'Acting President'.

Vidal vs Buckley documentary, Best of Enemies - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3518012/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_the%2520best%2520of%2520enemies

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In this episode, Dara considers violence against women and the recent clear-eyed responses to it by Hollywood regulars Anna Kendrick and Saoirse Ronan, as seen in Kendrick's impressive directorial debut 'Woman of the Hour', and as heard in Ronan's bulletproof interjection on the Graham Norton show. After reviewing Kendrick's chilling movie and contextualising Ronan's comments, he recalls a key moment of Rachel McAdams' character in the second season of True Detective which laid out with absolute clarity the power differential between men and women.

Dara anticipates self-defence instruction for his daughter in the future and talks about the significance of power and strength imbalances in karate when a male and female practitioner face each other, which was often the case between him and his last instructor. He looks at the male responsibility to think about how they are perceived by women in different contexts and how easy it is to make small changes in behaviour to minimise negative assumptions. Regarding how he thinks of himself as a male of the species, he revisits memories of boyhood and adolescence where he certainly was not seen as threatening!

A key corollary of women being preyed upon is how often they are not listened to, ignored, blamed for their own misfortune, deliberately misinterpreted or otherwise dismissed. It begs the question - when will sexual or violent assaults of women be treated with the seriousness they warrant? And how is it, almost 50 years after the harrowing ending of 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar', that a female treatment of violence against women is still somehow niche or novel? As Marina Hyde in The Guardian said, women are no longer in the mood for joking about this stuff.

Marina Hyde on Saoirse Ronan's comment: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/29/chatshow-saoirse-ronan-graham-norton-women

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In this episode, Dara talks about the characters we respond to in the art we consume. Having been very stirred by 'Joker: Folie a Deux', he stays in the world of movies and finds himself thinking about Jungian archetypes and the shadow self we can see reflected at us from the big screen. Speaking about that film, which has heavily promoted Lady Gaga as the joint draw of the story along with Joaquin Phoenix's compelling title character, he argues that it is what transpires between the Joker and Brendan Gleeson's prison officer that really unlocks the film and its grim depiction of human damage.

Further to that, Dara reasons that the film is really a stealth social realism movie in the style of Ken Loach or Mike Leigh, exposing as it does systemic failure and the impotent rage of the discarded. 1991's 'The Silence of the Lambs' is also discussed in psychological terms with particular reference to the 'daddy issues' of Clarice Starling as brilliantly played by Jodie Foster in her relationship with Anthony Hopkins' devious Hannibal Lecter. What makes Lecter such an attractive character to us, and why did audiences not feel the same way when Brian Cox played him five years earlier in 'Manhunter'?

Dara talks also about meeting earlier versions of yourself and whether change is just a nice story we tell ourselves. Part of that line of enquiry includes coping mechanisms and calming measures connected to seeking insights and encouraging curiosity, and importantly for him, resisting fatalistic thinking. Finally, there's time to quickly mention a moment of public sharing in connection with masculinity and demonstrated vulnerability and openness that was hopefully a moment of value.

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In this episode, Dara is still reeling after watching Coralie Fargeat's astonishing film 'The Substance', a scarifyingly vicious body-horror satire on the pressure that results from the extreme demands of celebrity and the beauty expectations inflicted on women. The film is centred around a TV fitness personality whose middle-age renders her undesirable in the eyes of the network. In a ferocious performance by Demi Moore we bear witness to the lengths a woman will go to to preserve her looks and corresponding status.

Dara argues that the film is not really there to ask questions. Fargeat is a director with an extraordinary visual style and a willingness to assault the viewer's taste and senses, witnessed both in 'The Substance' and in her earlier film 'Revenge', which also uses female sexuality and the male gaze as the key ingredients in her tinderbox. As a female director who has no problem objectifying the female body, it arguably changes how we view her protagonists.

Also in this episode, thoughts on 'The Sisters Brothers', a quirky 2018 Western with two unlikely cowboy brothers negotiating their fraternal bond; hen night t-shirts to make a parent blush; and the dubious equivalence of clothes and character.

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In this episode, Dara considers the elements that contribute to our resentment buckets and shoulder chips. He believes time and the ease of others are two key ingredients in the mix. He confesses to giving voice to some very uncharitable resentfulness around the time he became a father. He also speaks carefully around a significant source of resentment in his marriage.

Prickliness can accompany resentment, and Dara recalls someone he knew who disinvited everyone from his party because they hadn't RSVP'd in time! He considers his attitude to parties and hosting and shares how it's connected to the management system in his childhood homes and why his kitchen overflowed with goodies once he got out in the big bad world.

Also in this episode, an analysis of an 18th century painting of Penelope, she of Greek myth, and a review of the documentary Will & Harper, which Dara found to be a beautiful testament to friendship, and to male friendship in particular.

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In this episode, Dara shares his gripes about the utterly mediocre buddy movie Wolfs, starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt as two fixers reluctantly obliged to work together through a night of yuk-filled capers (SPOILER: THERE ARE NO YUKS!). The film is an ode to laziness, self-satisfaction, complacency and vanity, and has the gall to pay tribute in its final shot to a truly great buddy movie of yesteryear, the inference clearly being that Clooney and Pitt are a contemporary equivalent of two past greats. No such luck.

Dara offers a selection of alternative movies that deal with successful partnerships in terms of their chemistry, as well as sharing a thematic link of ageing disgracefully. The first film that comes to mind is another flimsy reunion of two leading stalwarts from Hollywood's golden age - do you remember Tough Guys (1986) with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas? It might not be worse than Wolfs!

Other more credible offerings are the original movie that gave us "I'm too old for this s**t!", as well as possibly the best ever version of the outlaw picking up their gun later in life. Robert Redford and Paul Newman teamed up memorably for two very successful outings, both over 50 years ago, but Newman had another screen partner with whom he acted much more - his wife, Joanne Woodward. Dara shares his thoughts on Ethan Hawke's excellent docuseries about the legendary couple and their complex lives.

Also, unfit security guards, lived-in love, reasons to be grateful, and autumnal restoration.

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In this episode, Dara reflects on a weekend spent with an old friend and his resultant fatigue, both psychological and intellectual. It prompts an interrogation of his belief and value systems and whether they are more or less valid than those of his friend's. He argues that it is healthy, and perhaps even necessary, to have someone you regard challenge you with love.

Dara shares his response to a wonderful interview with the fantastic Miriam Margolyes and confesses to finding her an absolute tonic after the combative intellectual jostling he engaged in with his friend. He is full of admiration for her unapologetic sincerity and forthrightness. It leads to a consideration of what he frames as 'heart and gut' versus 'facts and figures'. Is either better than the other, or are they just different comfort zones for different types of people?

A recent job interview resulted in no job offer, but Dara still regarded the experience as a great success. For a couple of weeks he lived with altered energy as he anticipated a changed future and the positive challenges it would bring. Digesting the disappointment of rejection, he recalls another bittersweet memory of a much more personal nature.

Also in this episode, considering the joys of ASMR, Dara is hopeful listeners won't be bothered by the very audible raindrops that fall throughout the episode. And a couple of minutes on the dreadful 1998 action movie, 'Armageddon'.

Adam Buxton interviews Miriam Margolyes: https://www.adam-buxton.co.uk/podcasts/rhwkafw2z2x3xe6-6ysb3-pfp9n-6xxa2-jnpn5-2cacw-6cz8f-gx8fb-nkb87

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