MASKulinity Podcast
Psychology & Relationships
About
Brooklyn- and Oakland-based duo Samantha Nzessi and Remoy Philip invite you into their sometimes loud but necessary banter on masculinity. Hear Samantha and Remoy discuss topics like what masculinity means to our society, whether masculinity has actually been good to men, or even how the latest movie, TV and sports trends are helping or hurting the gender, and everyone else by extension. Also listen as a variety of guests—experts in the fields of gender studies, activists, or even everyday guys—stop by the pod to chat about subjects like ‘woke feminism’ or the men's rights movement. Listen week to week as Samantha, Remoy, et. al., invite (cis/trans/hetero/gay) men to take off the MASK that is masculinity, and do so from distinct yet connected perspectives. Let’s get into it.
Episodes
- A Look Back on MASKulinity
The end of an era is upon us! This is MASKulinity’s series finale episode...maybe just for now. It is Samantha’s farewell episode (Remoy may return), and RGP1 interviews her about MASKulinity Podcast, including a trip down memory lane… Rem…
- AI Pays If You Talk Like a Man
In this week’s episode, Remoy takes us to another side of AI. Grad computer science researcher Maria Teleki lends her findings to shed light on how AI feeds our existing patriarchal notions and structures What is a large language model? We…
- Seeing Kamala Through a Different Lens
It’s our hundredth episode, and in the spirit of us being around so long, Remoy takes us back to when the US did unMASK American leadership: with its first woman VP in the White House. Kamala Harris didn’t become president, but let’s not f…
- HOME ALONE for the Holidays (ENCORE)
We're running back this friendly reminder for the holidays! Wishing you and yours a great holiday season and see you in the new year for original MASKulinity episodes! ************************ Episode Notes The holiday season is upon us sh…
- The Remoy Wears a Dress Episode
Boys can’t wear dresses, they say….but was that always true? This week, Professor Jo Paoletti stops by the pod to let us know why boys stopped wearing dresses. Remoy starts us off with a visual…of none other than himself swagged out in a d…
- The Christian MASKulinity Episode
Headship? Wives submitting to husbands? Yep, we're talking about Christian MASKulinity this week with the help of theologian and author Dr. James Spencer. The hosts start out by reflecting on how much Christianity has impacted not only the…
- The Anti-Anti-Porn Episode
How have we gone this long without talking about it? That’s right… We’re talking about porn this week, but it may not be what you think. Remoy enlists the help of Dr. Kelsy Burke to understand how the term “porn addiction” came to be, and…
- Fashion Is Resistance
We’re back with our first original episode of the season! Our guest, Joe Wilkes, culture and policy writer and editor and fashion stylist, takes the mic with us to talk Black Dandyism. Many of us didn’t know this term prior to this year’s…
- FEED DROP: Performing the Revolution in India ✊🏾
This season of MASKulinity is all about Relationships and Resistance, and we're starting with resistance. What does resistance look like as performance art—more specifically, theater? Your favorite literati doy, Remoy George Philip thee Fi…
- When The Bear 🐻 Succeeds MASKulinity
Just to clarify, we’re not talking about a bear succeeding at being chosen over a man in the woods . We mean the show! The Bear continues to be a favorite at TV award shows, and this year is no different. Naturally, your hosts talked about…
- But Really… Are Men Lonely? 🤔🧐🚨
In this final episode of the season, Samantha and Remoy tackle a question that’s been at the heart of so many conversations lately: Are men truly lonely? It’s a topic that hits home for so many of us, especially as we think about how gende…
- And Just Like That, Shrinking Expands Men on TV
We’re at the start of award season, so it’s a perfect time to continue exploring MASKulinity on TV. This week, Samantha and Remoy walk each other through popular shows they’ve watched and ask, How are men and masculinity represented in the…
- TV Dads 📺👴🏽
Going off an earlier episode where Samantha tested Remoy’s musical knowledge, this week Samantha checks in on what Remoy knows about TV. Through round after round, our two co hosts explore how TV dads and masculinity have evolved over the…
- MASKulinity Live: The US Election
This week, we’re excited to bring a conversation from NGM Pathways’ live community event to our feed. The good folks at our presenting organization, Next Gen Men , hosted Samantha and Remoy for a Q&A session about the US election. We stop…
- ENCORE: Hearing the Warriors 🎧
This time last year, Keestin O’Dell of Frog Lake First Nations joined the pod to have a thoughtful conversation about resistance, warrior masculinity, and the importance of questioning dominant narratives about indigenous communities. It’s…
- Making Sense of the Election 🗳️
This week, Remoy and Samantha debrief the election. After having hope following the PEW findings from the last episode, they try to understand how the election turned out the way it did. The obvious has to be put out there: Kamala Harris’s…
- How American Politics REALLY Sees Men & MASKulinity
As the 2024 election heats up, it’s easy to assume that hyper-masculine, even toxic masculinity, messaging is resonating across America. But a new Pew Research report tells a different story. After digging in with report creator Juliana Ho…
- The Pick Me 🙋🏽♀️🙋🏾♀️🙋🏻♀️ Episode
This week, we’re joined by multihyphenate artist Stephanie Graham to delve into Pick Me culture. Remoy has no idea what that means, so Samantha walks him through what Pick Me culture is, the nuances in the ways women interact with each oth…
- When Women Refuse ✊🏿
This week, we’re having a herstory moment! Professor and Chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson joins the show this week to talk Black abolitionists and resistance. We get to know civil righ…
- The Youth Anxiety 🧠 Episode
It’s been a great summer! But now it’s fall and your tween and teen sons, nephews, brothers, and cousins are back in school. Teen anxiety is on the rise with pre-teen boys feeling that stress. But there is recourse! Multihyphenate mental h…
- The Marriage Episode 👰🏿♀️💒💍
This week, we’re talking about marriage! Sociology Professor LaToya Council joins the pod this week to help us navigate Black couple’s marital waters.. and Samantha hangs in there as Remoy walks us through the complicated history of weddin…
- The Fresh Prince and 📺 Episode
This week, we’re joined by media scholar and psychologist Soraya Giaccardi. She shares her work analyzing gender depictions in TV and helps Remoy and Samantha psychoanalyze their relationship to a TV classic and one of their faves, “The Fr…
- The Military Episode 🪖🧨🎖️
It’s the Fourth of July in the US, and we’re thinking about the military. Today and on Veterans’ Day, we’ll say “Thank you for your service,” but do we really know all that goes into that service and how it impacts the people that serve? T…
- *Looking Back* on Transitioning into Immigrant MASKulinity
We’re going back in time! Remoy shows his energetic facets as we dive into a past episode throwback on Transitioning into Immigrant MASKulinity with multihyphenate artist, D'Lo . Samantha and Remoy play back clips from this insightful 2018…
- The Wrestling Episode 🤼
Calling all wrestling fans! This week, we are joined by playwright, Chicano history and theater professor, and self-professed smark Beto O’Byrne to talk MASKulinity in wrestling. Not your Olympics wrestling—it’s WWE, baby! Is wrestling fak…
- The Matriarchy Episode
What’s a matriarchy? Documentarian Izzy Chan puts us up on game about what matriarchies actually are and what they’re like, and reveals surprising facts about women-led societies. Remoy takes the mic this week to explore this system that i…
- Movie Night with a Modern Frankenstein
It’s movie game night again! Samantha wants Remoy to watch a movie, and he guesses his way to the title of the movie. Play along to get a great movie recommendation that explores MASKulinity. Remoy guesses his way to this Oscar-winning mov…
- B-Ball and the Gender Flex: Then & Now
Join us, will you, and take a trip down memory lane with Samantha and Remoy... back to 2018... Follow along as our two hosts listen back to a season two episode where former guests Halston Bruce and Julie Henderson bring their A-game — sha…
- Who Runs the Internet? With Alice Cappelle
Our podbro, the illustrious German Villegas, graces our podwaves this week as we drop his episode on internet royalty from his current season of Modern Manhood, Man Vs. Machine . Remember NFTs? So many of those are worth a lot less than th…
- Why They Don't Let Girls Play ⚽️⚾
This week, Remoy picks up the newscaster mic and shares some history about women’s sports. We are joined by young adult author and educator Kirstin Cronn-Mills , an activist supporting gender equity in sports, specifically for trans women.…
- Let’s Talk MASKulinity, Bruh
We’re joined by Jeremy Herte, Chicagoan host of the seminal Black masculinity podcast, Let’s Talk Bruh . We’re always talking about patriarchy, but what is it exactly? And is it really the way it’s always been? Samantha shares the differen…
- Glam Rock: Fluidity Onstage, MASKulinity Offstage
This week we welcome our podbrother Danny Perez from the Oreja Peluda podcast, a show about masculinities in Latin America. This is the last episode in our music series and we’re sad it’s over. BUT Remoy likes music now, AND we’re wrapping…
- When Hip Hop Unmasks Masculinity, Part 2
In part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Joseph Ewoodzie and Tyler Bunzey, we open with Dr. Ewoodzie’s seminal book about hip hop, Break Beats in the Bronx: Rediscovering Hip-Hop’s Early Years He shares how hip hop’s musical structure helped…
- When Hip Hop Unmasks Masculinity, Part 1
We continue our music series this week! This is part 1 of Professors Joseph Ewoodzie and Tyler Bunzey gracing the pod to talk gender in hip hop. Samantha talks everyone through alternative representations of masculinity in hip hop. How doe…
- Sugarhill Band? Capitalism and MASKulinity in Hip Hop
Sugarhill Gang or Band? This group’s seminal single set the tone for our understanding of hip hop culture in the mainstream, but it sacrificed the culture’s wholeness along the way… We’re continuing our conversation pondering the performan…
- UnMASKing Masculinity: Music Trivia Edition 🎶
It’s our first episode of the year and we had to start it off right (Remoy doesn’t think so) with a game! Your hosts are joined by the illustrious German Villegas, podbrother and host of Modern Manhood , to play our new game Paroles de Pat…
- Gratitude Is the Attitude
It’s almost curtains on 2023, but before it’s over, we had to share some things we’re grateful for. With a game, naturally! We’re playing a lil guessing game, but of course, the number one thing we’re grateful for is everyone who’s taken t…
- Home ALONE for the Holidays
The holiday season is upon us shortly in the US. Some men will be surrounded by close ones, and some will finally get the R&R they’ve been craving, but many may feel alone. Americans have less and less friends. On this episode, Samantha an…
- We’re All a Little MASKy
We’re talking about mental health in the workplace in this pre-COVID unreleased episode. Eric Kussin, founder of #SameHere, takes us through his work bringing mental health education to schools, athletes, and businesses. How much do we rea…
- Hearing the Warriors
We’ve got a special episode this week. We’re coming to you a lil early so you have time to chew on this timely conversation. Keestin O’Dell of Frog Lake First Nations joins the pod to have a thoughtful conversation about resistance, warrio…
- The Racial Hierarchy of MASKulinity, with Dr. Liu - Part 2 ENCORE
We’re back with part 2 with Dr. Liu. Dr. Liu sheds light on the real impact at work, in public spaces, and more on men of color being held to the standard of white masculinity. We dig into the notion of racial meritocracy and the dangers o…
- The Racial Hierarchy of MASKulinity, with Dr. Liu - Part 1 ENCORE
Throwback Thursday part 1! OK, it’s been a while since we said that too… We are running back the “Racial Hierarchy” episodes for your .edu earphone pleasure. The acclaimed Dr. Liu joins us and breaks down white supremacy, how language chan…
- Trivia Night! Movie Time? Romance and Loneliness Edition
Happy Thursday! It’s movie night AND trivia time on MASKulinity this week. Remoy and Samantha give each other their favorite film recommendations that expose MASKulinity in different ways. One is a thoughtful indie about a father-daughter…
- Radicalization and TSwift
Some friends to the north join us this week! Next Gen Men Program Manager Jonathon Reed and Higher Unlearning Founder Jeff Perera shed some light on the radicalization of men and boys. Remoy’s still living under a rock, and it’s not a dril…
- The MASKulinity-Tech Influencer Pipeline
MASK is BACK ! We’re excited to kick off the new season of MASKulinity. It’s a little different this time around. First off, we’re now supported by Next Gen Men , your friendly neighborhood healthy masculinity organization based in Canada.…
- ENCORE: It *Was* Time to Loosen the Grip on Reproductive Freedom, with Heidi Sieck
At the time this episode was first released, Roe vs Wade was a possibility and we invited Heidi Sieck, founder and CEO of VOTEPROCHOICE, which dedicated to putting votes behind pro-choice candidates, to talk about what American faces if th…
- RIP Kobe: Complexity of MASKulinity?
Samantha and Remoy return on the airwaves to talk about Kobe Bryant and his passing. Some people are sad and some people are mad that he's being revered and missed so much, given his rape charge. We talk about the complexity of this news,…
- UnMASKing the Workplace
- All Work, No Play: the Maskuline Way
*New Module Alert* We are talking about the workplace for a bit! In this intro episode, we're scratching the surface and getting the facts on who's in charge at work. We explore the concept of masculinity contest culture and how it manifes…
- Exploring Commonalities in Addiction, a Mini Field Study
This week, Samantha and Remoy have the pleasure of speaking with three open folks about their relationships to addiction and masculinity. How do expectations of strength and stoicism create isolation, and isolated suffering? What does it l…