Lemonada

Lemonada

This is Talk Easy. I'm Stan Forgo, so welcome to the show.

Since its founding in 1957, GQ has been both an architect and mirror to masculinity in America.

That's perhaps never more true than in its latest issue, the state of the American male,

which poses a familiar yet widely debated question. What does masculinity look like in the year 2025? To get to the bottom of it, the magazine surveyed nearly 2,000 men across

the country. The respondents reveal a culture in flux, with some signs of progress, yes,

but also some regression since GQ published

its previous issue on masculinity in 2019. We talk about how the pendulum has swung in those six

years, along with the mix of new anxieties and aspirations young men seem to be having in this

moment. Presiding over this issue is GQ's global editorial director, Willowell.

He's been at the helm since 2018 when he first took over as editor-in-chief for the beloved

Jim Nelson.

As editor, Welch is typically the one asking the questions, not answering them.

And so today, we wanted to turn the tables

a bit. In Act 1, we talk about the masculinity issue, some rules to live by in this brave new world,

and why so many young men have turned to the manosphere for answers. In Act 2, we get into some of

Will's story, growing up in Atlanta in a city defined

by music, and how those late nights at Tower Records immersed in the sounds of Outcast and the late

DeAngelo propelled him to New York, where he quickly began working at music magazines. Then, finally,

in Act 3, the personal and professional converge.

We talk about Will's Road to Recovery, while the work of Ram Dass led to a spiritual awakening,

...