Flashy public proposals are all over social media, but people seem divided over whether they’re adorable or cringeworthy. This week on Man Up, Aymann learns about two different public proposal stories and figures out whether the people involved have any regrets. First up is Honor Eastly, a musician, podcaster, and writer based in Australia. Her partner proposed to her during a big charity event with friends and family present. Then Aymann talks to newscaster Evie Allen and her husband Matt,...

This week Aymann looks back at some of his dating habits from before he was married, specifically his policy of always paying on the first date. First he talks to Sarah Crow, who wrote a piece for GQ called ‘Why You Should Always Split the Bill.’ Then Mel Magazine writer Magdalene Taylor joins the show to explain why some women, including herself, actually still want to be paid for on dates. Tell us what you think about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or emailing...

After his sixth documented concussion, NFL linebacker Joshua Perry decided to retire. He was only 24, but he knew that if his brain suffered anymore trauma, it could impact his cognitive functioning down the line. This week on Man Up, Perry tells Aymann about the physical and mental toll of football and the culture that teaches players of all ages to play through the pain. Tell us what you think about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or emailing [email protected]. We...

This week Aymann talks to several women (and one man) about the phenomenon of “reply guys” where men reply to women on social media in order to pester them, correct them, or to just be noticed. First, three Slate writers compare reply guys to gnats and argue that they’re more annoying than threatening. Then Aymann talks to Scott Barolo and Shrew, the two people behind the Twitter account @9replyguys, which calls out reply guy behavior and sorts offenders into different categories. Scott even...

Video game scholar Megan Condis joins the show to explain why white supremacists have been targeting online gamers. She says there's a specific subset of men, whose fear of newcomers in the gaming space make them attractive recruits for hate groups. 

Pretty Rik E, a DC-based drag king, talks to Aymann about what it means to treat masculinity as a performance. Rik E is part of a group called Pretty Boi Drag, whose drag shows involve lip syncing to hyper masculine songs, dancing confidently, and sporting glued-on facial hair. In their performances, drag kings simultaneously celebrate and skewer male swagger. In the case of Rick E, sometimes they even carry their on-stage personas into their off-stage lives. Tell us what you think about this...

Aymann realizes he’s a little squeamish about the current birth control options for men. First he talks to writer Angela Anagnost-Repke, who’s been trying to convince her husband Brad to get a vasectomy. Then Dr. Paul Turek joins the show to explain what a vasectomy actually entails. Then, for a non-surgical solution, Aymann talks to Rufaro Huggins, a member of a birth control study conducted by the University of Washington School of Medicine. Huggins says he enjoys the experimental new pill...

What exactly was going through Kareem Rahma’s 20-year-old head when he found out his father only had 6 months to live?As he tells it, nothing. He was entirely fixated on how the family dynamic was about to change. As the eldest sibling, as the oldest boy, he was certain that the responsibilities of his father, financial and otherwise, were his to inherit. This week on Man Up, Aymann talks with Kareem about how he may have put that pressure on himself. Tell us what you think about this and...

This week on Man Up, Aymann talks with Kim Gandy about the link between mass shootings and domestic violence. Gandy has been an advocate for survivors of domestic violence for over 30 years, so she knows better than most the cost of staying silent on the issue. She shares what she’s learned about early evidence of abuse, and what our best tools are in preventing it.Tell us what you think about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or [email protected]. We may...

This week on Man Up, Aymann sits down for his first-ever therapy session with psychotherapist and host of the Hey Man podcast, Avi Klein. He learns something about how he copes, and about how some therapists might be pushing men away. Tell us what you think about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or emailing [email protected]. We may feature you on the show. And please tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt...

This week on Man Up, writer Eddie Kim talks with host Aymann Ismail about sexual racism, why he thinks Asian men are at a disadvantage on dating apps, and how some toxic subcultures react to that. 

When J. Kenji López-Alt landed a job as a line cook at the elegant No. 9 Park restaurant, he wasn’t expecting to spend his first day standing in the corner with a figurative dunce hat on his head. He was being punished by the chef for incorrectly chopping the chives. He later worked at other expensive restaurants too, even spending a few weeks working for the famously cruel Gordon Ramsay, where he watched another cook have a hot pan tossed at him. Now the head chef of his own restaurant,...

Noor Tagouri knows better than most what it feels like to have everything she does under a close watch. Her interview in Playboy Magazine caused an international firestorm not for what she said, but for what she wore. This week on Man Up, Noor shares what she learned from being the subject of ridiculous online harassment, and teaches Aymann the consequences of imposing his opinions on others.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. 

Nichole Perkins knows what straight women look for in a man. She’s a romance novel enthusiast and former co-host of Thirst Aid Kit, a podcast that focused on sexual desire and celebrity hotness. In this episode, Man Up host Aymann Ismail talks to Nichole about what male desirability means in 2019 and what he’s learned about his own attractiveness since getting married. Then Aymann asks his wife Mira what drew her to him in the first place—and what, uh, didn’t draw her to him—, and she bluntly...

Over the weekend, Aymann was going viral on the less savory, right-wing corners of the internet. An admittedly poorly worded tweet had exposed him to an avalanche of criticism, some understandable, others sinister and racist. And when a total stranger asked Aymann for his location in a threatening way, he gave it to them.  So this week, Man Up producer Danielle Hewitt staged an intervention, to help Aymann take a deeper look at himself, and ask himself why he can’t just ignore online trolls....

When Terrell Starr started doing yoga in his 30s, it opened up his mind to new possibilities of what his body could do—not to mention what he could do as a man. He realized he’d been restricting himself not only physically but mentally because of what he’d learned growing up. This week on Man Up, he talks with Aymann about yoga, therapy, and breaking free of social limits.Read his article for The Root, “Yoga Is My Self Care: More Black Men Need to Breathe.”Tell us what you think about this...

Simran Jeet Singh has worn a turban his entire life. It’s a requirement of his Sikh faith but it has also made him a target for racist harassment. This week on Man Up, Aymann and Simran share their experiences experiences and discuss how Simran’s Sikh faith has helped him navigate them. 

Trystan Cotten was not prepared for the way his relationship with law enforcement would change after he transitioned in his late thirties. As he wrote in the Washington Post last year, it all came to a head when a cop pulled his gun on him after he called 911 to report an accident. Trystan talks to Aymann about the lessons he’s learned about moving through the world as a black man in America. Tell us what you think about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or...

In an effort to distribute office tasks evenly, Slate’s New York office implemented a sign-off sheet for loading and unloading dishwasher—when you do it, you cross your name off. After a quick, unscientific study of the list, it’s clear that there’s a gender disparity in who contributes—and who doesn’t. The men of the office, including host Aymann Ismail, were slacking. So Man Up ambushed a few of Slate staffers to ask why they didn’t think it was their responsibility.  

Growing up, Cord Jefferson never really saw himself reflected in the characters on TV. Now, he’s a script editor for shows like Master of None and The Good Place. Aymann talks with Cord about what happens when you don’t relate to the characters you’re supposed to on your television screen. Contact us about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or emailing [email protected]. We may feature you on the show. And please tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple...

Aymann talks to his brother, Mohamed, about how they grew up and why he's chosen a distinctly different parenting style from what they grew up with. Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt and Cameron Drews.Contact us about this and other topics by leaving a voicemail at 805-626-8707 or emailing [email protected]. We may feature you on the show. And please tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. 

What happens when you finally meet an absent father who haunted your childhood.

Jessica Valladolid is a sex educator in New York city. Her deep friendships with boys during her formative years helped her understand how they start thinking about sex and helped set her on the path she’s on today. 

Eric Kelly was so successful at fighting off bullies as a kid in Brooklyn, that he grew up to become an Olympic level boxer, until a bar fight ended his career.

On Man Up, host Aymann Ismail invites men and women to tell embarrassing, funny, and sometimes disturbing stories about their lives as they try to figure out what they still have to learn—and unlearn—about being a man. They’ll talk relationships, family, sex, and identity, trying to understand their experiences to help listeners make more sense of their own.