This was a return to podcast form for my colleague Owen Scott Muir, M.D, DFAACAP and me. Since our earlier days of collaborating in the 2020s, awareness of “the manosphere,” a loose conglomeration of sometimes controversial, extremely online male-centric influencers, has skyrocketed, leaving us mental health professionals with the sacred task of educating ourselves on just what the men of the 2020s need, and how we can stay up to the ask of providing it. An informative written version of this interview will before forthcoming (think of it as an action-focused, research-laden transcript), but for now, here’s a succinct timestamp of our discussion, so you can navigate to the content relevant to your experiences or the needs of the ones in your life:

00:00 Introduction to the Conversation

00:15 Exploring Brain Medicine and Mental Health Tech

01:29 Understanding the Manosphere

03:05 The Exploitative Nature of the Manosphere

04:46 Dating Dynamics in the Modern Age

07:35 The Impact of Dating Apps on Men’s Mental Health

10:09 The Role of Male Friendship in Dating

12:59 Pain: Emotional vs. Physical

15:45 Rejection and Its Psychological Effects

18:42 The Importance of Interpersonal Skills

21:20 Modeling Healthy Masculinity

23:46 Equanimity and Emotional Regulation

26:15 Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Dating

27:43 Navigating Date Dynamics

30:12 Understanding Online Dating Behavior

32:52 The Dark Triad and Attraction

36:41 Communication and Boundaries in Relationships

39:03 The Value of Connections Beyond Romance

42:45 Coffee Dates and Modern Dating Norms

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