Sarah’s on the cusp of going glam, Nancy’s discombobulated, and both rattle on about the film adaptation of Clan of the Cave Bear only to later realize they were (at least partly) confusing it with Quest for Fire. But first!
We talk men: They’re falling behind in school, crunched (or checked out) in the labor market, confused about their purpose. Not all men (of course, of course). But signs point toward what we in the media are calling “a masculinity crisis,” a landscape explored in two new books, Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men and Nicholas Eberstadt’s post-pandemic update of Men Without Work.
How did the pandemic hit men? Why do men struggle to make friends? Are there too many women teachers? (And is calling your teacher “Miss” a regional thing?) Should we be red-shirting boys by starting them a year later in school so their brain development can catch up, or should society maybe just stop telling them we don’t need them? A little kindness and appreciation might go a long way.
Also on the docket: The NYU organic chemistry professor fired for being too hard, and Sarah sounds off on the magical thinking toward middle-aged celebrities and their pregnancies (but also, we’re sincerely happy for Hilary Swank).
Episode Notes:
Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
The great Kat Rosenfield, whom we unreservedly we love and admire, has a new book coming out!
Oh, you want the two-hour livestream of the book party Paloma threw for Kat Rosenfield? Sure!
Different Seasons, by Stephen King
Bad Behavior, by Mary Gaitskill
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Ed. note: Nancy thought of Cheech and Chong in our conversation about Clan of the Cave Bear, because Tommy Chong’s daughter, Rae Dawn-Chong, starred in Quest for Fire (a similar film), while Sarah had some vague memory of lots of graphic sex, which might have been Quest for Fire and also might have been the novel of Clan of the Cave Bear, who knows?
“Clan of the Cave Bear, a Feminist Dystopia Precedent to the Hunger Games” by Tammy Ohler (Slate)
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It, by Richard V. Reeves
Reeves interviewed by Coleman Hughes (“Conversations with Coleman”) and Andrew Sullivan (“The Dishcast”)
“The Trouble With Boys and Men,” by Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic)
“The Crisis of Men and Boys,” by David Brooks (NYT)
“Boys and Men Are in Crisis Because Society Is,” by Michelle Goldberg (NYT)
Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition by Nicholas Eberstadt
The War Against Boys, by Christina Hoff Sommers
Stiffed: The Betrayal of American Men, by Susan Faludi
Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity, by Peggy Orenstein
Bowling Alone (revised edition), by Robert D. Putnam
“Hilary Swank, Pregnant at 48,” by Kylie Cheung (Jezebel)
“Alaska Daily” official trailer
Spotlight (which Nancy cried her way through) official trailer
“At N.Y.U., Students Were Failing Organic Chemistry. Who Was to Blame?” by Stephanie Saul (NYT)
“The Whiny Grade-Grubbing NYU Students Have a Point” by Eric Levitz (New York Magazine)
“The N.Y.U. Chemistry Students Shouldn’t Have Needed That Petition,” by Jessica Calarco (NYT)
“The New Frontier of Fertility Tests — for Young Women,” by Sarah Hepola (Harper’s Bazaar)
Guinness Book of World Records
Ten Oldest Women with Natural Pregnancies. Age 54 seems to be the ceiling. (And we’ll take Brigitte Nielsen’s word for it.)
Gratuitous triptych of actress Beverly D’Angelo
What’s in your hotbox?
Nancy: The season finale of “Reservation Dogs” and a live performance of Ken Layne’s “Desert Oracle.” West Coast tour coming up! If you go, tell Ken (currently sleeping in the recording studio from whence we do these episodes) hello from Nancy.
“Live from the Mojave, It’s Desert Weirdness,” by Abby Aguirre (New Yorker)
Sarah: In honor Loretta Lynn, who died this week at 90, a rewatching of the biopic Coal Miner’s Daughter
Outro song: Fist City by Loretta Lynn
38. Men Are Very Necessary