Obama BONUS: Redefining Masculinity

Making

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2021

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former President Barack Obama recently spoke with Aarti Shahani, host of WBEZ's Art of Power podcast, about masculinity in the post-Donald Trump era. Obama said society has made progress in recognizing the most toxic elements of bad behavior by men. But now he wants to flip the focus. “What are the positive values that we're trying to instill in our boys?” he said. “Showing compassion is not weakness. Listening is as important as talking.” We're bringing you this exclusive interview with the former president as a bonus to the Making Obama podcast series. Hear the former president explain his experience balancing ambition with family obligations and how he wants to expand the definition of what it means to be a man. And if you like what you hear, subscribe to WBEZ's Art of Power podcast for more conversations with people who have changed the world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	For all of you who enjoyed our Making Obama series, we've got a new extended
0:06.1	interview with the former president that I think you'll be into. I'm Art Feshahani
0:11.0	and I host a new podcast on WBEZ called Art of Power. The show is about people
0:18.4	who have wielded power in sometimes unexpected, sometimes traditional ways,
0:23.2	but always in ways that have changed the world we live in. I recently got the
0:29.2	chance to sit down with former president Barack Obama to have a conversation with
0:34.4	him about masculinity and feminism, marriage and what it means to be a man. So
0:41.1	we're bringing you that episode right now. Take a listen. Let me know how it
0:45.7	landed for you. And if you like what you hear, subscribe to Art of Power
0:50.4	wherever you get your podcast. Okay, thanks.
0:55.4	Be a man. What it means to be a man is an open and contentious question.
1:03.4	Diometrically opposed models of manhood are battling it out everywhere from the
1:08.5	home up to the American presidency, which man wins will fundamentally
1:15.2	reshape the world. So I decided to call a guy you may know to talk about it.
1:22.4	We're very comfortable, I think, insane to girls. You can do anything you want.
1:28.1	You know, you can be girly. You can be a tomboy. You can be ambitious.
1:32.4	You can be more reserved with boys. We still say sports, money, physical
1:39.7	strength, girls. It's it's which chimpe has the most bananas.
1:45.1	Today on Art of Power, President Barack Obama occupies extremes in the public
1:55.6	eye. He is widely seen as the alpha among alpha males, the bro who plays
2:00.5	basketball, the leader of the pack. He is also the first American president to
2:06.6	call himself a feminist raised by strong women married to a strong woman.
	...

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