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Is My Son Turning Into An Incel Or Watching Andrew Tate? Boys, Masculinity & The Manosphere Episodes

Why do teenage boys seem to shut down? Why do they stop talking? Why are so many struggling with confidence, motivation and mental health? And how can parents raise boys who are kind, emotionally strong and prepared for adult life?

This playlist brings together leading psychologists, researchers, educators, authors and parenting experts to answer the biggest questions parents have about raising teenage boys.

Inside this playlist you'll discover:

✔ Why boys often communicate differently from girls
✔ Understanding the teenage male brain
✔ Boys' mental health and emotional wellbeing
✔ Healthy masculinity and positive male role models
✔ The influence of the manosphere and online influencers
✔ Confidence, identity and belonging
✔ Friendships and loneliness in teenage boys
✔ Motivation, purpose and resilience
✔ Anger, risk-taking and emotional regulation
✔ Pornography, relationships and respect
✔ Social media, gaming and online communities
✔ Helping boys talk about difficult emotions
✔ Building independence without losing connection
✔ Practical parenting strategies that strengthen your relationship with your son

Rather than blaming boys—or parents—these episodes explore why boys are facing unique challenges and how families can respond with confidence, curiosity and compassion.

Whether you're raising a quiet son who keeps everything inside, a boy who's lost motivation, a gamer who spends hours online, or a teenager trying to find his place in a rapidly changing world, this playlist will help you better understand what he's experiencing and how you can support him.

You'll hear thoughtful discussions about masculinity, identity, emotional resilience, friendships, school, mental health, online influences and the changing expectations placed on boys today. Most importantly, you'll gain practical ideas to help your son develop confidence, empathy, courage and the ability to think for himself.
194
June 2, 2026

What Teens Are Trying to Tell Us: The Crisis of Connection and Masculinity

Ask Rachel anything What are we really telling boys about how to be a man? And why do so many teens seem to be struggling with how to be in the world, from masculinity to friendship, and mental health? In this conversation with Professor Niobe Way (NYU developmental psychologist, author of Deep Secrets and Rebels with a Cause), we dug into 40 years of research with adolescents. Her work is extraordinary because she has done something deceptively simple and radically powerful: She listened to ...
190
April 21, 2026

The Manosphere for Parents of Teens: Signs Your Son Is Being Influenced (and How to Respond)

Ask Rachel anything “Is my son secretly being taught to hate women?” If you’ve ever heard your boy casually repeat a line from Andrew Tate… seen him disappear into his room with his phone… or wondered what on earth he’s absorbing on TikTok and YouTube, this episode is for you. The manosphere is grooming boys to believe women are the enemy—and most parents don’t even realise it’s happening. In this conversation, I’m joined by teacher and author of Unmasking the Manosphere, Matt Pin...
Guest: Matt Pinkett
185
March 17, 2026

Parenting Teen Boys In The Age of the Manosphere - Vintage

Ask Rachel anything Parenting teen boys wrote three years ago asking us to discuss how we can talk to boys about influential online figures like Andrew Tate. The 'bros' act both as an inspiration to achieve great things, and a lightning rod for disgruntled men who blame feminism for their ills and cheer on his particular form of aggressive misogyny. Now that Louis Theroux has shone a light on the Manosphere in his latest Netflix documentary I thought it important to dust off this old episode ...
183
March 3, 2026

Parenting teens in an age of AI, Nudes and Online Blackmail

Ask Rachel anything There's been a dramatic increase in reports of grooming, sextortion and AI generated child sexual abuse material in recent years, and most parents believe politicans and technology companies aren't doing enough to protect kids. The UK government recently announced that makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes. And the French offices of Elon Musk's X were recently raided by the Par...
March 1, 2026

AITA? When your child thinks they're a bad person.

Ask Rachel anything My kids went through a series of friendship bust-ups when they were young teens; it's inevitable. It's an amazing time of learning about themselves, discovering where their values lie, and learning that everyone makes mistakes. My kids have told me that one of the best things I've done is to show them my own mistakes, and apologise wholeheartedly when I do mess up. They say it's made them feel much better about their struggles because it's allowed them to have a visi...
174
Dec. 30, 2025

The secrets to real change, and parents breaking negative family cycles

Ask Rachel anything I thought we'd kick off the new year with an episode on how building our own community of people we admire can dramatically change our future and break from a difficult past. In this episode, I talk with Mitchell Osmond, who transformed his life from financial instability, marital strife, and addiction to a thriving marriage, debt repayment, and personal health. Mitchell attributes his turnaround to two pivotal moments: a marital fight and a funeral that made him questi...
167
Nov. 11, 2025

Talk to your boys: Parenting around masculinity, gaming, sexuality and emotions.

Ask Rachel anything There's so much talk about masculinity and how boys should be, but not an awful lot of advice for parents on raising confident, caring young men in today’s world. If you’ve ever wondered how to really connect with your son, or how to navigate the big topics of screen time, masculinity, emotions, or tough conversations about sex, consent, and technology—this episode is for you. You’ll learn why boys’ emotional lives are often misunderstood, how to move from authoritar...
151
July 22, 2025

Angry teenagers: Parenting teens and tweens through their anger - Vintage.

Ask Rachel anything We all loose our cool sometimes. but teenagers can find it particularly challenging to stay calm or calm down when enraged. It takes self-awareness and skill, and a level of brain development that just isn't there for some of them. One listener contacted us for help with her son who is being goaded by friends at school and getting into trouble for losing his temper. We talk about the brain development stage that makes this so prevalent in teens, and discuss top tips...
134
April 1, 2025

Adolescence: Help for parents with the core themes.

Ask Rachel anything The mini-series, Adolescence, is a global hit, topping Netflix charts in 71 countries and amassing 24.3 million views in its first four days. It's sparked a global conversation about parenting, masculinity, and the impact of social media on young people. It's brilliance rests on holding up a mirror to everyone in society, showing us the complex factors that cause toxic ideas to take root. When I started this podcast I set out to create somewhere that is a safe...
114
Nov. 5, 2024

Masculinity and image: the Looksmaxxing hashtag that boys follow but parents don't see.

Ask Rachel anything What we see on TikTok often starts on message boards in fringe groups then spills over into the mainstream. This is true of the Looksmaxxing social media trend that's been gaining more and more currency among teen boys. The goal of looksmaxxing is to meet a set of criteria for physical attractiveness, with a focus on the eyes, jawline, and physique and the ultimate currency is SMV, or Sexual Market Value. There are some really positive elements to the trend, but its or...
108
Sept. 24, 2024

Therapy. Should all teens get it? Also, do boys actually need male role models?

Ask Rachel anything When an anonymous listener posted this question we thought it would be a great topic to discuss; one that many of our listeners could be wondering about. The listener said, Hello, I absolutely love your podcast. And here’s the question. Do you think all teens should go to therapy, just so they have a space to talk that isn’t a parent, family member or friend. I’ve been pondering this lately and trying to equip my kids with all the tools I feel they will need in life...
102
Aug. 6, 2024

Boys who're failing exams and seem apathetic.

Ask Rachel anything In the West, we tend to see success for late teens as passing exams, getting into further education or getting a job, and moving on with life. So when we received an email from a mother, concerned for the welfare of her two step-sons who've performed poorly in their final high school exams, and who don't seem to be interested in finding work, we thought it would be a really interesting topic to unpack. Her step-sons aren't alone. There is growing concern about the ...
101
July 30, 2024

Teen boys: Emotions, masculinity vaccinations, and online influencers.

Ask Rachel anything Extreme misogyny, and the resulting violence against women and girls, has recently been described in the UK as a national emergency. According to the National Police Chiefs Council, online influencers like Andrew Tate are radicalising boys in and a way that is 'quite terrifying'. Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said officers who focused on violence against women and girls are now working with counter-terrorism teams to look at the risk of young men being r...
64
Nov. 14, 2023

How to Talk to Your Teen About Porn Without Shame or Panic.

Ask Rachel anything Has your kid seen porn? Research says 1 in 3 kids have seen explicit, hardcore porn by the age of 12, many by accident. Whether or not your tween or teen has seen it the fact that hardcore porn is widely available, free, and easily accessed from any device with an internet connection will be having an impact on the whole culture they are growing up in. We want our teens to feel that it's normal and natural to be interested in sex, and want to explore what's out there, bu...
48
July 9, 2023

Bigorexia: Teens eating everything in the house, muscle building, and Bigorexia. 48

Ask Rachel anything Boys and men who display a muscular physique that's 'ripped', or 'cut' get more likes and shares than other accounts on social media, so the algorithms behind the platforms are feeding a strong trend in muscle building amongst teen boys. But who ends up feeding the ravenously hungry, and is it all healthy? Louise has asked us for help with how to manage feeding her growing lad. Her son – who’s 17 - goes to the gym to muscle-build five days a week a...
47
July 2, 2023

Anger issues: Parenting tips for dealing with an explosive, angry teen.

Ask Rachel anything We all loose our cool sometimes. but teenagers can find it particularly challenging to stay calm or calm down when enraged. It takes self-awareness and skill, and a level of brain development that just isn't there for some of them. One listener contacted us for help with her son who is being goaded by friends at school and getting into trouble for losing his temper. We talk about the brain development stage that makes this so prevalent in teens, and discuss top tip...
46
June 25, 2023

Masculinity, and positive ways of supporting our teenage boys

Ask Rachel anything The term toxic masculinity has been gaining traction, and is often used to talk about the type of masculinity where men use dominance, violence and control to gain power and superiority over others. There's also been an increase in efforts to educate boys in how to talk more about their feelings. But with the rise of Incels, Andrew Tate, free porn, and pick up artists, you could be forgiven for wondering whether we're really making progress at all. So I contacted M...
16
June 16, 2022

Boy friendships. Also what the %#*!😳 we should do about swearing?

Ask Rachel anything When we covered the issues of friendship groups, with girls in mind, we had a massive reaction from parents who have been struggling to understand what's going on. Now it's the turn of boys. When friendships work, they are extremely beneficial, but what causes boys to struggle with their mates, and how can we help them? Also, how do you deal with swearing in your family? Is it absolutely forbidden, does it matter who's doing it and when, or are you all a bit potty-mouthed...
13
May 9, 2022

Pornography:What you need to know before having THAT talk.

Ask Rachel anything WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT. Pornography is probably as old as art itself. Whether you indulge, or wouldn't go near it, there has never been a time when it is more graphic, or readily available to children and teens, with the knock-on impact on their own attitudes towards sex and relationships. Just for context, an unbelievable 42 billion individual visitors accessed Pornhub in 2019, averaging more than 115 million visits per day, and that was before Covid-19. That'...