meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Gist

Is Masculinity A Prison? - Mike on Open to Debate

The Gist

Mike Pesca

News, Politics, Arts, Daily News

4.43.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Listen to the full debate on Open to Debate’s podcast channel or watch it on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MikePesca

Men are falling behind in our society, and some point to traditional ideas of masculinity as the cause. What does it mean to “be a man” today, and how do labels like toxic masculinity impact that question? For some men, masculinity is a continually evolving identity that goes beyond narrow definitions placed upon it. For others, it's a rigid set of expectations that results in emotional isolation and other negative outcomes. Now we debate: Is Masculinity A Prison?
 
Arguing Yes: Lux Alptraum, Writer, Journalist, and Sex Educator 
 
Arguing No: Mike Pesca, Host of "The Gist" Podcast 
 
Nayeema Raza, Journalist and Host of "Smart Girl Dumb Questions," is the guest moderator. 
 
Produced by Open to Debate, a podcast series that brings together influential thinkers to debate today’s most pressing topics, using facts, reason, and civility.
 
Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, it's Saturday. It's the Saturday show, and we bring you the best of the week or the best

0:08.0

of the vault. A little kind of close to each on this one, because you probably heard on the show,

0:14.0

I was talking and publicizing my debate with an organization called Open to Debate on the

0:20.2

subject, is masculinity a prison?

0:22.9

I even gave you a discount code so that you could come to watch me at the comedy seller.

0:26.5

Anyway, this week, they aired that, or it was actually over last weekend, they aired that on a lot

0:33.6

of NPR stations, what they do, the Open to Debate People. Great organization. They cut it down to a manageable hour. I think the real thing went maybe an hour 20. So that's an incentive to always go to the live event. You get more. And what I'm going to do on this show is take that hour and cut out some of the middle parts. But I thought the opening was strong. I think the closing was strong. It was all strong throughout, but I'm perhaps saving you some time, perhaps further incentivizing you to go and

1:00.0

engage with the source material. My debating partner or my debating rival was Lux Alpdram,

1:08.0

who is a very nice person, who I've done some stuff with before, and she's of the

1:13.5

belief that masculinity is indeed a prison. I took the con side, and just like many prisoners,

1:20.7

I think calling them cons afterwards is stigmatizing. So this is my point. If there's no other

1:25.8

takeaway, it's that. Please enjoy.

1:28.7

Is masculinity a prison pro, lux alptrum, con Mike Pescott.

1:42.2

Cooler temperatures are rolling in. And as always, Quince is where I'm turning for fall

1:47.5

staples that actually last.

1:49.2

From cashmere to denims to boots, the quality holds up, and the price still blows me away.

1:53.8

In fact, the price is so low, it's shocking.

1:57.2

But it's also super soft in the case of their cashmere sweaters, 100% Mongolian

2:03.9

cashmere sweaters starting at, brace yourself $60 and the denim fits right.

2:10.5

And the question that maybe you ask is what makes it different?

2:15.0

Well, they partner directly with good ethical factories, skip the middleman.

2:20.1

You know, this really, it's a little bit of a cliche, but it does kind of work.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

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

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

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.