On this episode of The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stoney tackle one of the ugliest truths in modern dating: most people are at least a little delusional—about what they want, what they can realistically get, and what they should stop tolerating.

The spark is a viral clip of a woman listing her “ideal man" checklist: 7-figure salary, full head of hair, tailored suits, Christian but not too Christian, no tattoos (unless it’s an Ivy League secret-society tattoo), no allergies, and preferably a cat person. The guys break down what’s actually wrong with standards like these. Is it the specificity? The sheer number of filters? The kind of traits being optimized for? Or the deeper issue: mistaking fantasy for strategy?

From there, the conversation widens into mate value, leagues, “deserve,” and the brutal economics of the dating market. How do you tell whether your standards are healthy, ambitious, or just totally disconnected from the evidence of your real life? And what happens when founder-style optimism—great for startups—turns into romantic self-destruction?

Then the episode flips to the other side of delusion: staying too long in the wrong relationship. Wes talks through the “fog of war” problem—when things are good 90% of the time, but the 10% that’s broken is something foundational: religion, kids, long-term vision, or basic compatibility. It’s a conversation about two equal and opposite mistakes: holding out forever for the impossible person, or clinging to something that was never built to last.

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This week on The Handsome Hour, the fellas talk about deep-tech matchmaking, sexual history, personality change, and the long-term cost of "having your fun."

They kick things off with a dispatch from the Love Symposium — a real conference where matchmakers, founders, researchers, and rationalists are trying to solve relationship formation from first principles. 

From there, the conversation turns personal: single life vs. partnered life, how age changes friendships and purpose, and why being alone hits differently once everyone starts building families.

Then they dive into the big one: the "hoe phase." Is sleeping around liberating, damaging, necessary, overrated, or some messy combination of all four? The guys unpack a brutal relationship post — "I've had my fun; now I'm ready to settle down" — and explain why that kind of honesty can still be relationship-ending. Along the way, they debate whether sexual history matters, how much culture lies to young people about consequence-free choices, and why "freedom" almost always comes with a bill later.

It's a wide-ranging episode about trade-offs, maturity, intimacy, and the difference between what feels good now and what builds a good life later — with a few very handsome detours along the way.

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On this episode of The Handsome Hour (Where We Do It Right), Wes, Cody, and Stony bounce from purpose and careers to dating chaos.

Is your job "noble," or are you just keeping the machine running? The fellas break down honor in work, the difference between creating value vs. capturing value, and why even invisible jobs can make the world meaningfully better.

Then it gets personal" beauty, environment, and why modern life makes people feel trapped in politics, status games, and performative identities  — when the real move is building a life you can control.

From there: dating discourse whiplash. A viral "shooting my shot" post (5'5", 147 lbs.) sparks debate and Cody's take that "makeup is immoral."

Finally, they tackle a classic modern dilemma: approaching someone in public. Is following women around in public creepy, romantic, or just socially uncalibrated? You'll hear a full-on argument about truth vs. framing, "plausible deniability," and whether you should ever admit the awkward parts up front  — or save the meet-cute backstory for date six.

They close with a hot take post defending dating apps, and a colder reality check: apps aren't neutral tools  — misaligned incentives change everything.

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On this episode of The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stony return to the most important topics in modern dating. Attraction is real, standards are real, and pretending humans aren't just hairier apes in nice outfits is basically the entire social contract.

Sh*t tests: Are they harmless vetting? Manipulative gotchas? Or just the unavoidable reality of dating rituals? Cody argues for authenticity and "good faith," Wes shrugs, and Stony introduces his "fart test" strategy.

Later, the conversation moves to a very modern first-date trap: politics. Why some people bring it up like an unwinnable test, how "vetting" can turn into fighting, and why the guys think the best move is often to opt out of the whole performative game.

Finally, they dig into the nightmare fuel that is the Tea App and "Are We Dating the Same Guy?"-style communities  — crowdsourced dating reviews where you might have a profile you've never seen, written by someone who didn't like you. Wes tells a story about discovering himself in one of these groups and what happens when you try to "set the record straight."

Prepare to get handsome.

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This week on The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stony give dating advice with strong opinions, questionable metaphors, and a sincere desire to help you stop sabotaging yourself.

The fellas break down "radio silence" before a first date, why modern dating feel scriptless, why high-bandwidth communication beats endless texting, and the simple confirmation move that keeps you from getting ghosted.

When a guy asks a woman her weight and calls her "hefty," where's the line between honesty, tact, and being an idiot? Plus: why first impressions can be wildly misleading, the case for giving things a little more runway, and Stony's coin-flip experiment.

Finally, the conversation widens out to the big stuff: money, housing, status, height, and why dating feels harder than it used to. The guys argue for playing Moneyball(s) with your love life  — stop competing where you can't win, lean in to your unique "market alpha," and go where real connection actually happens.

Prepare to get handsome.

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In this debut episode of The Handsome Hour, Wes, Stony, and Cody riff on why modern dating feels broken, jumping from matchmakers cold-messaging people on LinkedIn to the stigma and selection effects of “needing” help. Cody lays out his “vertical vs. horizontal preferences” framework (status traits vs. idiosyncratic fit), argues that most people misread their own dating-market value, and makes the case that NYC turns romance into an extractive spreadsheet game that drains the magic out of meeting someone. They also get unexpectedly philosophical about marriage as a “technology” that used to work because commitment was real and escape was harder, with some memorable detours into misophonia, putting your “worst foot forward” as a filtering strategy, and a closing tangent on jealousy and cuckoo birds that tees up an even weirder episode two.

Click here to view the episode transcript.