Sandy Ruxton and Stephen Burrell Talking to Yaz Brien - Now and Men: One Year On

In this special 20th episode, Sandy and Stephen reflect on the year since we started Now and Men, and our experience of running the podcast so far. The episode was recorded live at a workshop at a conference called 'Boys at the Crossroads – Insights and Innovations in Young Masculinities', organised by Bristol Young Men’s Network in the UK on 14th October 2022. We discuss why we set the podcast up in the first place, what it has achieved thus far, and the role that podcasts and other media can play in engaging with men and boys about gender equality and influencing constructions of masculinity. In the second half of the episode, we also respond to a range of questions from the workshop participants.

The conversation was facilitated by Yaz Brien, who’s involved in Bristol Young Men’s Network, and has worked across the frontlines of homelessness, mental health, drug and alcohol recovery and domestic abuse, as well as on community reuse and nature-based projects. They’ve also been involved in grassroots organising and activism across multiple continents, including in worker, housing and community cooperatives. Many thanks to Yaz and the workshop participants for their brilliant contributions! If you would like to put a question or comment to us to discuss in a future episode, do contact us at [email protected].

Yaz is involved in the Transition Network: https://transitionnetwork.org/people/yaz-brien/, and has previously been a presenter on Ujima Radio, Bristol's Black-led community radio station: https://www.ujimaradio.com

Find out more about Bristol Young Men's Network: https://www.facebook.com/BristolYMN/. In the episode we also mention talks at the conference by Lewis Wedlock: https://www.lewiswedlock.com, and Nate Eisenstadt: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/nathan-eisenstadt

We discuss the following topics:

• Why we set up Now and Men
• What we wanted to achieve with the podcast, and how successful it's been so far
• The response we've received, and what we know about Now and Men's audience
• What's particularly excited us from the guests we've spoken to far, in relation to the conference theme of young masculinities
• How to have conversations about masculinity without creating further polarisation
• What the role of feminism is in the podcast
• How podcasts differ from other mediums and forms of engagement
• What we've learnt from the process and how it's changed us
• Advice for others looking to start a podcast
• Who we have in our mind's eye when creating the podcast

With the following questions from participants:

• How skills from academia can help with setting up a podcast
• How universities don't always provide welcoming environments for disadvantaged students
• Connections between the diversity of our guests
• How to deal with the limitations of what a podcast can achieve
• Should we strive for 'healthy masculinity', or seek to move away from it altogether?
• Difficulties with challenging gender stereotypes as parents
• How a historical perspective can help us understand how gender is constructed