Do Men Need Better Friends? with Richard Reeves

Friends, this podcast has been months in the making. For years, Penn has come home from entire weekends with his guy friends with zero new information about their lives. His buddy's wife could be expecting a baby and Penn had no idea. ("Bryce's wife is pregnant?!") I have been concerned, but after our conversation with Richard Reeves, I’m realizing maybe I’ve been looking at male friendship all wrong.

Richard is the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men. This week, he joins us to talk about why men connect shoulder-to-shoulder, how we need to think of their friendship differently than women, and why being curious is the most important thing we can practice with the boys in our lives. Our conversation quickly became about much more than just adult male friendship. We talk about the mentors our boys desperately need, including male coaches and teachers, and that while it takes a village to raise a child... “some of the village has to be men.” This conversation challenged some of my assumptions and reminded us that helping men and boys build stronger connections doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it starts with just sending the text.

Also Penn may or may not be trying to figure out how to become best friends with the men from The Golden Bachelorette. Honestly, I fully support that last one. We love to hear from you! Leave us a message at 323-364-3929 or write the show at podcast@theholdernessfamily.com. You can also watch our podcast on YouTube.

Learn more about Richard's work:

https://maleeducators.org/

https://aibm.org/

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