This episode picks up where we left off with the Man Box—this time asking where all these stereotypes actually come from, whether any of them are accurate, and what it would look like if we didn’t have them at all. Lucas and Kashyap reflect on what they genuinely like about themselves that fits inside the box and what they value that falls outside it, from Kashyap’s non-mainstream music taste to Lucas’s refusal to spend three hundred dollars on shoes he can’t get dirty.

The conversation takes some unexpected turns—into the stereotype that white teenage boys are expected to be douchebags, the experience of being underestimated academically by girls in class, Italian brainrot, why parents should play Minecraft, and a pointed exchange about The Anxious Generation and whether adults are paying attention to what’s actually stressing young people out. The episode closes with advice for any younger listeners navigating the Man Box: find a group of friends who are authentic, and don’t be afraid to ask ‘why?’ until the stereotypes stop making sense.

Breaking the Boy Code is part of the NGM Podcast Network. Next Gen Men is a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging boys and men in the movement for gender justice. Learn more about our efforts and how you can support us at nextgenmen.ca. Reach out at boypodcast@nextgenmen.ca or on social media.

@boypodcast on Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo
@nextgenmen on Instagram and LinkedIn

This episode started with a very specific backstory: a student symposium in northern Alberta wanted a session on gender stereotypes with boys, and not a single teacher volunteered to facilitate it. So we recorded one instead—an accessible version of the Man Box activity that any educator listening could see themselves leading.

Lucas and Kashyap take on the brainstorm as a competition, rattling off stereotypes about how guys are supposed to look, spend their time, express emotion, compete, and navigate dating and relationships. Along the way, the conversation takes its own turns—into looksmaxxing and skincare, the pressure on guys to make the first move, the nuance between being gay and acting gay, and whether it matters that no one ever sat us down and taught us the rules of manhood. The episode closes with Lucas reflecting on the nerves and surprises of his first job, and a shared observation about how adults show up—or don’t—for young people’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Breaking the Boy Code is part of the NGM Podcast Network. Next Gen Men is a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging boys and men in the movement for gender justice. Learn more about our efforts and how you can support us at nextgenmen.ca. Reach out at boypodcast@nextgenmen.ca or on social media.

@boypodcast on Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo
@nextgenmen on Instagram and LinkedIn

Season five of Breaking the Boy Code introduces two youth co-hosts—Lucas, in grade nine, and Kashyap, in grade eight—who join me as permanent co-hosts to explore masculinity, relationships, and what it means to grow up as a boy today through their own lived experiences.

In this introduction episode, we get to know each other using Next Gen Men’s Cards for Masculinity discussion prompts. From gratitude and friendship to stress and persistence, the conversation moves naturally between the everyday realities of adolescence and bigger questions about being called gay as an insult, the best and worst things about being a boy, and learning how to talk about your mental health when no one’s shown you how.

This project has been supported by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Breaking the Boy Code is part of the NGM Podcast Network. Next Gen Men is a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging boys and men in the movement for gender justice. Learn more about our efforts and how you can support us at nextgenmen.ca. Reach out at boypodcast@nextgenmen.ca or on social media.

@boypodcast on Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo
@nextgenmen on Instagram and LinkedIn