The Gender Knot

This show has tackles the #MeToo era better than anything I've found. They are excellent for both women and men in navigating the current conversations and challenges around gender and power in our society. Highly recommend it!

I discovered The Gender Knot over the summer while I was searching for podcasts that discussed masculinity specifically, especially if connected to gender-based violence prevention, and caught up on the series quickly. There are only a handful of podcasts available that I found on masculinity, and (without sounding overly critical) many of them seem to fall short in a lot of ways--having an unstable platform for discussion, only one person, being seduced by the problems we've seen in previous men's liberation movements, recounting views upholding patriarchy without self-reflexive commentary, and so on. So, I was relieved to find TGK because it offers more insight and entry into what is a difficult conversation for many, while holding some of these other components. I also really appreciate the platform of an open invitation into the conversation, and I think Nas does an exceptional job at this. To me, this positions the podcast really well to have impactful conversations that leads in a really important way right now.

Can’t recommend this enough. The podcast discusses so many interesting questions we all have, and some I didn’t even think of, about what it means to be a modern man or woman in society. This is a must-listen for anyone trying to navigate the tricky world of gender politics in the 21st century, with two co-hosts that make you feel so comfortable, it’s almost as if you’re in the living room talking with them.

You really get the most out of this show if you listen to many episodes. It’s clear that the hosts’ thoughts on the topics aren’t always completely worked out, and this is an ongoing, evolving conversation that brings in many perspectives, including experts and fans. I like that it’s open-ended and feels like the types of causal conversations people are having on their own about these topics, but it does also get frustrating when points get re-hashed over and over without progressing. It would be nice if the hosts could reflect back more often and sum up some takeaways, but overall glad this is a conversation is happening, and that they’ve invited people to participate.