Retired social worker highlights the connections between social problems and the gender issues of men and boys

Started a radio show called "In a Man's Shoes" in 1983 to articulate a progressive male point of view on gender issues. Quickly came to see that issues of sexism, stereotyping and invidious discrimination against men and boys underlie multiple serious social and cultural problems. Worked on those issues as an author, freelancer and activist. In 2005 I left my job to enter social work, earning an MSW in 2008. Went to work in various aspects of the criminal justice system and mass incarceration of men and boys: Correctional Officer at the Baltimore City Detention Center, Parole & Probation Agent in Central Baltimore, Trainer for National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) teaching prison systems around the nation how to run NFI's InsideOut Dad program for incarcerated fathers, and was a certified facilitator for the Alternative to Violence Program in Maryland's men's prisons.

Sexism, invidious discrimination and stereotyping against men and boys, all of which lead to suboptimal and even outright harmful policies and programs involving men and boys, the struggles they face and the lives they lead. Often their problems become problems for everyone.

It's too early to know who is listening. The listener I have in mind when I'm conducting my interviews is a person of influence in some aspect of government, social policy, social services, academia or philanthropy -- people who are looking for solutions to intractable social ills.
 

I am drawn to podcasting by its "indie" robustness. My POV is politically incorrect because I advocate for men and boys and inevitably point out that women and girls sometimes are involved in harmful behaviors, attitudes and practices toward men and boys. My 1994 book "Good Will Toward Men," for instance, was a target of Cancel Culture before Cancel Culture was a "thing." Except perhaps for the largest podcasts with corporate sponsors, podcasting can be financed on a shoestring, which gives podcasters complete independence to bring disfavored ideas to light. The gender issues of men and boys clearly fall into the category of "Disfavored."

My initial goals are the goals I still have: to help change the gender issues paradigm so the problems connected to the gender issues of men and boys can be seen for what they are, in all their complexity and nuance -- without which they will never be solved and will likely only worsen.

I started organizing my podcast in March 2021. The first episode was published in July 2021.

So it took about four months to launch.
 

I host two podcasts: "Men Are Talking," in which I interview men, and "Good Will Toward Men," in which I interview women. I release one episode of one of them each week. I am all about the content -- since there is so much to say about so many issues -- and I do not spend much time on production. I record my shows "as live" and I tell my guests that they should imagine they are doing a live radio or TV segment. Whatever they say goes out to the world.

I am retired from paid work. Working on the gender issues of men and boys is my full-time job, though it is unpaid

Beside the initial modest outlay for equipment, the various online platforms and services I use cost about $200 per month. I worked in IT in advertising and graphic design most of my working life so I am pretty handy -- though by no means highly talented -- in handling most production issues on my own. I fund it entirely on my own.
 

I do not take sponsorship. I think it would be futile for me to try to find sponsorship for my content. I developed that attitude back when I was doing a radio show on a public radio station and trying to have it picked up by commercial stations in Baltimore, where I live. The program managers wanted the show, but the sales staff nixed the idea because they could not imagine any sponsor willing to risk "offending the ladies." Moreover, even if I could find a sponsor now I would be skeptical of the strings they might subsequently try to attach. Again, what makes podcasting so attractive is how "indie" podcasters can be.

Podcasting benefits my life because it gives me an opportunity to pursue my passion in a way that might -- just might -- catch on and make a real difference in the world. I am at the stage of my life in which the chief psychological challenge is between the prospects of Integrity on the one hand and Despair on the other. I tell my wife that she be thankful to podcasting because it is keeping me from becoming a grumpy old man.
 

My hardware is pretty basic, simple and inexpensive -- a couple of older Macs, a relatively inexpensive Fifine Mic, a cloth green screen, some lights. I have lots of graphics software from my IT days and for what little video editing I do I like Screenflow a lot. My SaaS platforms include Calendly for scheduling. I handle my own website on Wix, which I like a lot. And I use Libsyn for distribution. For finding guests I have a pretty extensive rolodex, but I really don't want to talk with the "usual suspects." I want to expand my circle of interest in male gender issues. So for finding guests I use Matchmaker, Podcastguests and Podmatch. They all are good and helpful in different ways.

I think of myself as a bit of a scholar. I try to base my content in research and science. I use a serious scholarly database called EndNote for all of my references to scientific and governmental reports and research. So I read a lot about the subjects I will be talking with my guests about. If they have written journal articles I'll read the most relevant ones, and I'll do my best to completely read their most relevant book(s).

I was using Zoom as my recording platform, but unpredictable bandwidth issues of pixelation and audio stuttering led me to seek a more podcast-focused alternative. I recently did an episode on Riverside.fm and it went pretty well. I'm looking at other services, but so far Riverside seems my most likely choice. If they can work out audio/video syncing issues in their Magic Editor, I think it will be a slam dunk for me to stay with Riverside.
 

This is the part I like least. And I know that's a weakness, even perhaps a personality flaw. I am seventy years old and I really missed the Social Media boat. I won't say I haven't tried, but I'm just not good at it. I was pretty good at media relations when I did marketing and PR professionally back in the day, but that was about developing personal relationships with not-too-many editors and reporters. Social media turns that around and it seems much less genuine to me, developing shallow relationships with thousands. I started a new Twitter account the other day and I refreshed my LinkedIn account, and we'll see where that goes. But I have PTSD when it comes to Facebook. They wouldn't allow me to list my book "Good Will Toward Men" on a shop I was trying build; they said they don't allow "adult content." And you can't talk with anyone there. They'll only send you a link about "Community Standards" and twelve pages of text. Talk about shallow relationships with your audience!
 

If you have a passion that you're thinking of podcasting about, by all means do that. But think also about holding yourself out as a guest to podcasters who might find your topic and your passion to be a good fit for them and their shows. I've been holding myself out as "The Counter-Feminist Social Worker" and getting a fair bit of traction on that, creating a Guest Profile on the same platforms where I list myself as a host in search of guests. What is the difference between a counter-feminist and an anti-feminist, you might ask? (And this is the subhead on my guest profiles...) An anti-feminist listens to feminists talk and says "No!" A counter-feminist says "Yes... and let's also talk about how sexism adversely impacts men and boys." The most sexist idea of all is the believe that only one sex is ever sexist and only one sex is ever harmed by sexism.

I've learned a lot about podcasting from the three guest-and-host matching platforms I mentioned -- Matchmaker, Podcastguests and Podmatch. All three do a good job of helping raise the bar for what podcasting and podcasting hosts and guests can and should be.
 

Website:
jackkammer.com
malefriendlymedia.com (which redirects to jackkammer.com)
Twitter: @jackkammermfm
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/malefriendlymedia
Old-fashioned mailing list (for updates about my shows and my guest appearances):
jackkammer.com/stay-tuned