Forum from the Archives: A Sensitive Meathead’s Quest to Get ‘Swole’

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

Michael Andor Broudeur is a classical music critic for the Washington Post and he’s also a self-described “meathead” with an relentless desire to make his body bigger. In his book “Swole: The Making of Man and the Meaning of Muscle” Broudeur grapples with the contradictions and complexities of male body image and masculinity. He embraces the gay male gym culture he’s a part of but writes that it would be silly “to try and distance the symbol of the buff male bod from its long and wide lineage of unsavory cultural signifiers. As a mascot for classical beauty, the meathead must also embody white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and a vast panoply of nationalisms.” We listen back to our June conversation with Brodeur about how weight training has shifted his perspective on what it means to be a man. Guests: Michael Andor Brodeur, author, "Swole: The Making of Men and the Meaning of Muscle"; classical music critic, The Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Hey, forum listeners, it's Mina. I have exciting news. We're taking forum beyond the airwaves,
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0:24.1	Support for forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:32.0	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple
0:39.7	struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them
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1:05.9	From KQED.
1:10.7	Music From KQED From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:22.0	Michael Ander Broder is the classical music critic for The Washington Post, and he's a self-described meathead,
1:28.8	who has spent decades immersed in the world of weightlifting. His book, Swole, The Making of Man,
1:33.8	and the Meaning of Muscle, does about as much as a book about masculinity can to explore the
1:39.6	different ways men have inhabited their bodies. It's a healing kind of book, one trying to help men steer away from isolation and violence.
1:48.7	We'll listen back to my June conversation with Broder about how weight training has shifted his
1:53.3	perspective on what it means to be a man.
1:56.0	That's coming up next after this news.
2:10.4	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
2:17.2	Early in Michael Ander Broder's fascinating new book, Swole, The Making of Man and the Meaning of Muscle, he says something
2:18.3	profound and that I profoundly agree with. Quote, most men are keenly aware of the ways their
	...

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