Yowei Can't Speak Bro

Proxy with Yowei Shaw

Yowei Shaw

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.8 • 589 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The case of the podcast host who can't speak bro.

For the past twelve years, Yowei has been trying — and failing — to have a normal conversation with her husband's best friend. It's not for lack of goodwill. But somehow, every time, they can't find a rhythm. Yowei's theory: he speaks bro, and she doesn't know how.

In this episode, Yowei finds a proxy bro and gets a crash course in bro banter — the hidden rules and emotional logic behind the joking, shit-talking, and conversations that can last for hours without a single life update.

From the episode:

— Jason Stewart — podcaster, DJ, and co-host of How Long Gone. Follow him on Instagram and X @themjeans.

— Scott Kiesling — professor of linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh, whose work explores masculinity and how men use talk to build relationships and their identities. Learn more at sfkiesling.com.

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or The First Ever Extrovert-Introvert Cage Match for another case about what happens when friends have different ideas of connection.

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You said that this subject is near and dear to your heart.
0:04.1	What do you mean?
0:05.5	Bro stuff.
0:06.7	Bro stuff.
0:07.4	Okay.
0:08.0	The bro life.
0:08.7	Hey, everyone. I's YoA. On proxy, I investigate niche emotional conundrums. Problems so specific,
0:27.2	they can make you feel like you're the only dummy on earth experiencing it. Today's case,
0:33.3	the woman who doesn't know how to connect with her husband's best friend.
0:42.5	What do you do when you just have a different style of conversation?
0:44.8	That's after the break. As listeners of this program know, pouring your heart out, really confronting your emotions
1:01.2	helps you understand yourself and the world better, so you can be better.
1:06.6	That's what the podcast, How to Be a Better Human, is all about.
1:10.9	Host and comedian Chris Duffy skips the typical self-help advice and instead talks to experts,
1:17.0	unpacking big, relatable questions about how we navigate being human.
1:22.2	Somehow, I made the cut and was recently on an episode, even though I don't identify as an expert. And I had so much
1:29.6	fun talking to Chris. We got into the weirdness of being laid off to why friendship
1:35.5	breakups hit so hard and so much more. Listen to how to be a better human wherever you get your
1:41.6	podcasts.
1:54.8	My husband, Kyle, has this friend.
1:56.6	I'm going to call him B.
1:58.4	B for best friend.
	...

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