Luke Ford

From the New York Times: Like many other women, she associates the form with a certain kind of man: one who is endlessly fascinated by his own opinions, loves the sound of his own voice and isn’t the least bit shy about offering unsolicited opinions on masculinity, sexuality and women. Many women have taken to social media to mock just that kind of programming and the men who make it.

On TikTok, hashtags like #menwithpodcasts gather videos of (mostly) women using a beard filter to satirize the sorts of things male podcast hosts say, such as: “Why, as a man, are you born in the month of February?” or “That’s the problem with women who read.” Others have called on them to “put down the mics” and “get a job!”

With the once-booming podcast industry currently on the back foot and hosts’ reputations for self-important mansplaining having long since caught up with them, is the “podcast bro” officially a persona non grata in today’s dating landscape?