Dr. Andrew Johnstone and Alicia Britt examine men's emotions and emotional suppression through cultural and historical lenses. This episode traces how norms of masculinity shape emotional expression, highlights key research and historical examples, and offers practical takeaways for recognizing and changing emotional habits. From the theological origins of motherhood we now have to look into the philosophical roots of manliness to address the elephant in the room: men have a problem. To offer a helping hand while set on default mode is co-host Alicia Britt and our guest interviews with drag barbarian Oedipussy Rex and lecturer Isaac Hoff. Together we'll be answering the important questions: How chill were the Stoics? Was Protestantism the worst thing to happen to medieval Europe? Is it possible to be masculine without being toxic about it? And of course the most important question of them all: how did World War II create the mano-sphere? 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Murray, Greg, Fiona Judd, Henry Jackson, et al. “Big Boys Don’t Cry: An Investigation of Stoicism and Its Mental Health Outcomes.” Personality and Individual Differences 44, no. 6 (2008): 1369–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.12.005. “Nazis and Neo-Stoics: Otto Brunner and Gerhard Oestreich before and after the Second World War on JSTOR.” Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy2.lib.gla.ac.uk/stable/3600729?seq=1. Noakes, Lucy. “Gender, Grief, and Bereavement in Second World War Britain.” Journal of War & Culture Studies 8, no. 1 (2015): 72–85. https://doi.org/10.1179/1752628014Y.0000000016. Oestreich, Gerhard. Neostoicism and the Early Modern State. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History. Cambridge University Press, 1982. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511562716. Papy, Jan. “Lipsius’ (Neo-)Stoicism: Constancy between Christian Faith and Stoic Virtue.” Grotiana 22–23, no. 1 (2001): 47–71. https://doi.org/10.1163/016738312X13397477910747. ResearchGate. “Two Stoic Theories of Preliminary Passions.” Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291066805_Two_Stoic_theories_of_preliminary_passions. Scaltsas, Theodore, and Zeno, eds. The Philosophy of Zeno: Zeno of Citium and His Legacy. 1. ed. Municipality of Larnaca [u.a.], 2002. Seitz, Brian. “Foucault and the Subject of Stoic Existence.” Human Studies 35, no. 4 (2012): 539–54. Sherman, Nancy. Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind. Oxford University Press, 2007.
