In our second Manosphere episode, Ellen sits down with Richard, founder of the Boys to Men programme, to unpack the manosphere and what it means for boys growing up today. They explore how online spaces about masculinity range from genuinely helpful self improvement content to harmful influencer culture and extremist subcultures like incels and Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW).

Richard explains why he avoids the term toxic masculinity, focusing instead on harmful attitudes and behaviours, and shares how Boys to Men creates safe spaces in schools and colleges for boys to ask big questions about identity, emotions and relationships. Together, Ellen and Richard look at how algorithms, AI and social media can amplify narrow stereotypes of what it means to be a man, and introduce simple tools for critical thinking that young people, parents and professionals can all use.

They also discuss spotting early signs that someone may be sliding into more extreme manosphere content and how to respond with curiosity rather than confrontation.

For further support around young people, masculinity and mental health, you can visit Young Minds (https://www.youngminds.org.uk) or The Mix (https://www.themix.org.uk).

This episode was kindly funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire through the Mayor's Safer Communities Fund and the Mayor's People Fund.

Don't forget to subscribe for new episodes or sign up to the Destination information & opportunities web-app for teens and young adults at www.destination.org.uk where you can find loads of useful life-benefiting content for young people.

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Special thanks to Jimi for editing and Youth Social www.youthsocial.co.uk for pulling everything together.

Finally special thanks for Paul A Jackson for the music.