A Crisis in Masculinity: The Lost Boys

The Dr. Phil Podcast

Dr. Phil McGraw

Education, Society & Culture

4.3 • 13.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why are so many boys falling behind—and what's driving them into the darkest corners of the internet? As girls continue to outperform boys in school and college, a growing number of young men are slipping through the cracks—struggling with loneliness, identity, and emotional isolation. Rachel, a single mom, shares how her 11-year-old son was pulled into red-pill ideology by online influencers. Gabriel, a former incel, reveals how rejection and bullying led him to embrace "looksmaxxing," while "John Doe", a current incel, says he feels invisible and hopeless. Doctoral Researcher of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Texas, Austin, William Costello, who has interviewed more than 150 incels, says we must look beyond stigma and start addressing the root causes. Dr. Phil breaks down the toxic online culture shaping this generation—and what parents must do now to pull their sons back from the edge. Thank you to our sponsors! MASA Chips: Visit: https://MASAChips.com/MERIT/ and use code MERIT for 25% off your first order. Preserve Gold: Visit: https://drphilgold.com/ Get a FREE precious metals guide that contains essential information on how to help protect your accounts. Text "DRPHIL" to 50505 to claim this exclusive offer from Preserve Gold today. Jase Medical: Get emergency antibiotics at https://Jase.com/ & use code PHIL for a discount Sombrosa: Visit now: https://sambrosa.com/ and use code "MERIT" for 25% off your first order! Wake up rested and invigorated!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Thank you for joining me on the Dr. Phil podcast. You can click to follow and subscribe to get this daily on all podcast players and YouTube.
0:09.0	I hate to say this, but we've got a crisis on our hands.
0:13.0	An entire generation of young men is vanishing, retreating from friends, failing in school, and disappearing into the internet's underbelly.
0:22.6	These boys aren't just lost.
0:24.6	They're being hunted by algorithms feeding them rage,
0:29.3	forums preaching control and lies that twist loneliness into hatred.
0:34.3	Red pills, in-cell ideology, grind-set propaganda. But here's the truth. Boys aren't
0:42.7	born broken. They're forged into silence, ignored pain, voices muted. We're diving into how we got
0:50.2	here and how to pull them back. We'll hear from a young man who calls himself an in-cell.
0:57.1	That's involuntarily celibate. And hear in his own words why he believes the world has failed him.
1:03.8	Then, a mother's story, how she fought to depill her 11-year-old son, pulling him back from the brink of toxic masculinity.
1:14.8	We've got a crisis on our hands, struggling in school, and turning to the darkest corners of the internet looking for answers.
1:22.2	For a woman, unless she has a man directing her, she's going to f*** up.
1:25.0	His videos have been watched over 12.7 billion times.
1:30.3	Have you ever had a relationship with a female?
1:33.3	No.
1:34.3	We find enormously high levels of suicidal aviation among incels.
1:38.3	Why does this rhetoric keep gaining traction with young boys.
1:55.1	I hate to say this, but we've got a crisis on our hands.
2:01.6	We're watching an entire generation of young men vanish right before our eyes. They're struggling in school, retreating from their friends, and turning to the darkest corners of the Internet looking for answers.
2:10.6	You saw it in Netflix, Adolescence. That story about a 13-year-old boy arrested for murdering his female classmate.
2:20.1	It hit a nerve because it exposed the ugly truth.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. Phil McGraw, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. Phil McGraw and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.