In this episode, we (unfortunately) find ourselves talking about NoFap, the online movement that claims giving up masturbation will give you laser focus, superhuman testosterone levels, and somehow make you irresistible to women through sheer… restraint?

We explore how a random Reddit post snowballed into a full-fledged website, brand, and cult-like following with terms like "fapstronaut" and "femstronaut" that somehow exist unironically. Along the way, we unravel the pseudoscience, the YouTube bros shouting about "discipline," and the very real overlap between NoFap, toxic masculinity, and the internet's favourite rabbit hole: the manosphere.

If you've ever heard the phrase "semen retention" and instantly wished you hadn't, you're probably in the right place.

Important links:

1. The Reddit thread that started it all – https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/i514e/til_when_men_dont_masturbate_for_7_days_their/?force_seo=1

2. ⁠Nov 2013 Business Insider article proving that some journalists were always bad – https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-nofap-2013-11

3. ⁠LA Review of Books article – https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/no-fap-a-cultural-history-of-anti-masturbation/

4. ⁠Study by UC Berkeley – https://escholarship.org/content/qt0h13v5dt/qt0h13v5dt.pdf

5. ⁠Paper by Scott Bernett – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X211018256

6. ⁠Vice article – https://www.vice.com/en/article/nofap-founder-suing-a-neuroscientist-no-nut-november/?

7. ⁠Animal trust Instagram handle – https://www.instagram.com/tapati_animalcaretrust/

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!