Today I’m bringing you a conversation I had with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is one of the two Democratic candidates facing off in a primary tomorrow to represent Michigan in the US Senate.

I talked to Dr. El-Sayed about a year ago for Carbon Bros., the miniseries I did with Amy Westervelt and Drilled. In this conversation, we get into why Democrats lost young men in 2024, and whether it’s possible to win them back. El-Sayed's argument is basically that corporations are engineering addiction—through things like sports betting, porn, social media—and that Democrats have failed to offer a compelling alternative vision of masculinity.

El-Sayed wants Democrats to be authentic, bold, and willing to actually throw out the interests that are sucking dry the party, and that means getting rid of the super PACs corrupting our politics. At the same time, I think he’s shown a way to be authentic and even vulnerable while running a campaign that has become one of the most contested this cycle. Long before Hasan Piker was stumping for El-Sayed or Fox News was freaking out about him, I was talking with him about getting everybody healthcare and getting dirty money out of politics.

I’d like to think, we’re early to these things here at Non-Toxic, but we tend to be right. Give it a listen.

Are young men secretly optimistic about the American Dream while believing everything is falling apart? In this election special, I sit down with returning guest Charlie Sabgir from the Young Men Research Project to unpack a massive new survey of 1,000 young men (ages 18–29) and 500 young women — and the findings are all over the place.

There’s nostalgia for a past that probably never existed, a hardening of traditional gender roles, a grift economy that’s absolutely eating young men alive, and a genuinely surprising streak of “I’ll be fine though” individual optimism. Plus: what the Cornell Seven case reveals about the staying power of Me Too (or lack thereof), and a brand-new survey of Gen Alpha boys (12–17) that is honestly pretty eye-opening.

Wondering what all of this means for the coalition about to show up at the polls? Tune in to find out.

Summer is officially over. Put away your linen and your bathing suits and unpack your sweaters. To salute the last glimmers of the season, I’m bringing you a special bonus episode featuring an essay by my friend, Abraham Storer. It’s called “Getting It Up” about a summertime tradition on the Outer Cape of a crew of young guys finding a big log on the beach and trying to plant it upright in the sand.

…At least tonight, the boys seemed alright. Maybe their task was pointless, but there was strength, ingenuity, determination, brotherhood, and even a bit of heroism on display. Some foolishness, too. As the sky turned a dark, inky blue and people started arranging the shipping palettes and logs for a celebratory bonfire, Nobili shimmied up the pole. Nearly 50 feet from the ground, he was silhouetted against the night sky.

“Get me a coconut,” someone yelled.

“Throw him up a beer,” said another.”

“Getting it Up” was originally published in issue 2 of Cape Cod Compass, with photographs by Cole Barash. It’s a new magazine dedicated to exploring art, science, design, ecology, and culture within coastal communities, founded and edited by another pal, Aaron A. Binaco.

Cheers to the end of summer!