The Gender Knot

The transformational power of men’s groups have come up several times on this podcast, but men’s groups often have a pretty bad and misleading reputation. The author of ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ talks about a men’s group in Boston which transformed his life and tells us what actually happened in this group in the first place.

Also, this is the final episode of season 1. We will be back with season 2 on January 8th 2018.

In the meantime, check out the cool podcast The Broad Experience, which is all women and the workplace.

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producers: Sam Baker, Jonathan Blackwell and Cady Voge

Guests: 

Mark Manson, author of best seller ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ and self-development expert 

Alec Molloy, guest from the episode on Redefining and Owning Masculinity

Related links: 

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Podcast recommendation:

The Broad Experience http://www.thebroadexperience.com/

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

Dizraeli had a breakdown last year. The MC and poet found it hard to talk about what was going on with him, and also found little support from men when he did reach out. He managed to seek help and is now focused on exploring why men don’t talk and how to get men to open up and to communicate honestly.

Dizraeli tells us about how masculinity leaves little room to explore the inner life, and to even have a language to describe what they are going through, and helps us delve into the question: Why don’t men talk?

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producers: Sam Baker and Jonathan Blackwell

Guests: Dizraeli http://www.dizraeli.com/, MC and poet

Related links: 

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

Theresa May recently attended the Pink News Awards – the first sitting UK Prime Minister to do so. These awards recognise people who have worked to improve LGBTQ plus life in the UK. Some people praised her for this and for a speech she gave at the awards, but others have seen it as a cynical move from a PM trying to look good in this community, because Theresa May’s voting record hasn’t always been supportive of the LGBTQ plus community.

We try to untangle this with the hosts of the UK’s leading LGBTQ plus podcast: A Gay and a Non Gay – that’s James Barr and Dan Hudson.

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Guests: James Barr and Dan Hudson, hosts of the podcast A Gay and a Non Gay https://shows.pippa.io/gay

Related links: 

A Gay and a Non Gay present: David Bowie made me gay, event on 9th November at Waterstones, Tottenham Court Road http://bit.ly/2yYlq9S

Theresa May’s article for Pink News, July 2017 http://bit.ly/2hIuean

Section 28 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28

Theresa May’s voting record on LGBTQ plus issues http://ind.pn/2oJNmq9

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

Mark Manson, the author of the New York Times bestseller ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ and self-development expert, has spent a decade or so working closely with people, helping them improve all aspects of their lives, and has written insightfully and entertainingly about how to improve all aspects of your life, be it emotional, professional or romantic. He’s also worked closely with men, doing one-on-one coaching, as well as writing about masculinity, and his own journey to where he is now. So, given all the current debates about the problems in masculinity, we just had to talk to him!

We ask Mark: is there a crisis in masculinity? We also talk about the problems with certain elements of masculinity and the solutions to these, and also touch on some of the better parts of masculinity.

We also give a shout out to the podcast Details Please, with mother and daughter duo Gail and Rose Reid.

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Sponsor: Casper, state-of-the-art mattresses  https://casper.com/uk/en/

Guest: Mark Manson, author of best seller ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ and self-development expert https://markmanson.net/archive

Related links:

Mark Manson’s article ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck

Podcast recommendation:

Details Please http://www.detailsplease.org/

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

#MeToo has seen women around the world sharing their experiences with sexual harassment and sexual assault. Now two other hashtags have grown in response, and these are about experiences on the other side of #MeToo.

With #IHave and #IDidThat men who have harassed or assaulted women publicly confess to this. But we argue that this doesn’t do women or the whole point of #MeToo any good. These hashtags take the focus away from actually listening to women’s experiences, and are deeply problematic on a host of levels.

Host: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Guest: Lucy, guest from the episode on Men and Feminism

Sponsor: Casper mattresses https://casper.com/

Relevant Links: 

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Being an activist is all about changing the world: from the structures that shape our societies down to the daily conversations we have with each other. Deray McKesson has been active in Black Lives Matter and he is closely involved with people and entire communities both on the ground, and online, and has worked in and with schools in various parts of the US. He also hosts the podcast Pod Save the People, discussing the important topics of each week with a host of experts, community organizers and journalists. He’s therefore on the forefront of some of the most important social changes and discussions taking place in the US today.

Deray talked to us about masculinity in the context of his work as an activist, his race and his sexuality.

We also discuss some of the news of the past week: namely, Harvey Weinstein, and we hear from the author Mark Manson as we try to understand the culture of silence surrounding Weinstein, from men as well as from women.

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Sponsor: Casper, state-of-the-art mattresses  https://casper.com/uk/en/

Guests: Deray McKesson, Black Lives Matter activist, host of the podcast Pod Save the People https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-people/

Mark Manson, author https://twitter.com/IAmMarkManson

Related links: 

Deray interview by Jack Dorsey in Interview Magazine https://bit.ly/2Tn4Hru

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

We recently asked if women politicians can call people out, a subject that was pertinent given Hillary Clinton’s latest book where she does just that. Now we turn to women journalists. Journalism is all about raising uncomfortable questions, speaking up and having to call people out, especially those in power. But women journalists face especially harsh abuse online, and the BBC’s Laura Kuennesberg even had to have a bodyguard at a recent party conference after receiving very violent threats online. We speak to Eleanor Mills, editor of the Sunday Times Magazine and the chair of Women in Journalism, and try to untangle whether women journalists can call people out, and the pros and cons of being a woman with regards to speaking up.

We’ll look at some transgender terminology that people frequently use incorrectly, after Nas did just this on a recent episode, and we recommend two podcasts for you to check out: The Ministry of Ideas and Badass Women’s Hour.

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Sponsor: Casper, state-of-the-art mattresses https://casper.com/uk/en/

Guests: Eleanor Mills, Editor of The Sunday Times Magazine https://twitter.com/EleanorMills

Ash, podcast listener

Related links:

The Sunday Times Magazine interview with Hillary Clinton http://bit.ly/2y4Odag

The Sunday Times Magazine podcast http://apple.co/2ySfPhV

Moneyball clip ‘The first guy through the wall’ http://bit.ly/2xqmSSZ

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Podcast recommendations:

Ministry of Ideas https://www.ministryofideas.org/

Badass Women’s Hour http://apple.co/2xsbm4H

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons)

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner passed away last week. There’s been a ton of debate about his impact on women: did he treat them as sex objects or did he liberate them from strict sexual values? And people have also been talking about his contribution to civil rights.

We decided to take a different approach on this episode, and instead to delve into his vision for men. Hugh Hefner thought the modern man could be sexually liberated and sophisticated and interested in women and into material success whilst also being into intellectual pursuits. We explore what this actually means and how it impacted Hugh Hefner’s own life by talking to Nathan Robinson, editor of Current Affairs Magazine, and we also hear from comedians and podcast hosts Daniel Carroll and Andy Haynes on how Hefner went down for them.

Host Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer Cady Voge

Guests Nathan Robinson, editor of [Current Affairs magazine](https://www.currentaffairs.org/) 

Daniel Carroll and Andy Haynes, comedians and hosts of the podcast Fine and Dandy with Dan and Andy https://fineanddandypod.com/

Relevant links:

Nathan Robinson’s essay ‘Good riddance to an abusive creep’ https://bit.ly/2fwPqPp  

The Gender Knot https://www.thegenderknot.com/

Hillary Clinton apparently isn’t authentic. Except for when she is, and then no one can handle it!

Hillary Clinton’s new book ‘What Happened’ delves into the circumstances around her losing last year’s American presidential election to Donald Trump. She calls people out, and does so directly and by name, these being people who she believes are partially responsible for her losing the election. And she also points fingers at herself as well. Some people are loving her raw expressions, while many, many others are telling her to be quiet, and to sit down, or at least saying that it’s better to look ahead rather than to dwell on the past, which is a more polite way of saying that they don’t really want to hear it.

However, what is most baffling is that a politician and an aspiring leader would be told to sit down and would be discouraged from speaking out when, after all, isn’t that what politicians and leaders are supposed to do – to stand up and to call people out?

The question we’re trying to answer is this: can a woman politician call people out? Or is that a privilege reserved for men?

Host & producer: Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer: Cady Voge

Guests: 

Hadley Freeman, columnist at The Guardian https://twitter.com/HadleyFreeman

Peter, works in politics in Washington DC 

Jonathan Freeman, worked full time on Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign, volunteered for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign 

Russ Finkelstein, journalist, produced 2016 elections coverage for Fusion https://twitter.com/RussFinkelstein

Clare Foran, political reporter at The Atlantic https://twitter.com/ckmarie

Related links: 

Hadley Freeman’s article ‘America’s vitriol towards Clinton reveals a nation mired in misogyny’ https://bit.ly/2x7xAMa

Music: Government Funded Weed by Black Ant (used under Creative Commons) Sourpatch by Glass Boy (used under Creative Commons)

We’re trying to untangle the new masculinity and femininity, but is that even a relevant mission? Or should we be trying to figure out a post-gender world instead? Journalist Dina Newman was born in Russia and now lives in London. She believes the world is moving beyond masculinity and femininity and it’s more about untangling the new humanity. She joins us as we question the very premise of this podcast!

Host & producer Nas aka Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

Co-producer Cady Voge

Guest: Dina Newman, journalist https://twitter.com/Dinanewman

Related links:

The Gender Knot www.thegenderknot.com