Episode Overview

Podcast: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Episode: How to Raise Good Men — Scott Galloway & Richard Reeves Answer Your Questions
Date: November 21, 2025
Theme:
Scott Galloway and Richard Reeves discuss the complexities of modern masculinity, offering advice on fatherhood, the impact of digital culture on boys, and how to model and teach positive masculinity. Through listener questions, they explore topics like talking to children about sex and pornography, engaging young boys in the classroom, and navigating societal expectations around what it means to be a “good man.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening and Context Setting

• Richard Reeves joins the podcast from Reykjavik, Iceland, offering a global perspective on masculinity.
• Reeves notes how even in gender-progressive countries like Iceland, young men share struggles similar to those Scott discusses in his work.
• Quote:
  "I'm talking to a lot of young men in Iceland and they're saying the same things that Scott is saying and we've just got to react to that" (Richard Reeves, 02:21)

2. Talking to Boys About Sex and Pornography

Listener Question: How to keep an open dialogue with a six-year-old boy as he grows, especially about sex and porn? When and how should conversations begin?

Key Insights:

• Richard Reeves:
  • Early conversations about pornography are now essential given its ubiquity online.
  • Avoid shaming; instead, highlight the artificiality of porn versus real-life relationships.
  • Quote:
    "Porn is to real life sex what Harry Potter's Hogwarts is to the typical public middle school. It's the gap between what you're going to see and what it's like is just huge." (Richard Reeves, 03:57)
• Scott Galloway:
  • Shares a candid personal anecdote where traditional “sex talk” attempts failed with his son, illustrating generational gaps and discomfort.
  • Cites studies: average age of first exposure to porn is 12, sometimes younger.
  • Favors respecting privacy unless behavior is far outside the “norm of curious behavior.”
  • Quote:
    "I don't think I've done this very well... There was just no way we could have the conversation. So I've never had the conversation." (Scott Galloway, 05:01)
• Richard Reeves:
  • Commends Scott’s instinct not to shame or surveil—leaving space rather than panicking is positive parenting.
  • Emphasizes that parenting now involves helping boys distinguish fantasy (porn) from reality, rather than old-style “mechanics” talks.
  • Quote:
    "You haven't just reflexively shamed, you haven't gone to surveillance followed by shame. And there's so much shame that can be attached to this anyway that just gets in the way of healthy sexual development." (Richard Reeves, 06:32)

3. Engaging Young Boys in the Classroom

Listener Question: A female teacher struggles to connect with teenage boys—why is it harder now and what can help?

Key Insights:

• Richard Reeves:
  • Thanks teachers, emphasizing the need for more male educators to balance school culture.
  • Notes how boy culture online can encourage “transgressive” or pseudo-misogynistic behavior as a pushback against female authority, especially when lacking male role models.
  • Boys may use female teachers as “psychological counterpoints” when grappling with identity.
  • Quote:
    "Female teachers are also, candidly, if the boys don't have a strong male role model in their lives...almost becomes another female figure to kind of reject, to act against." (Richard Reeves, 08:38)
• Scott Galloway:
  • Describes “dopamine addiction” fueled by screens—boys crave stimulation, making traditional classroom environments feel unsatisfying.
  • Boys may act out simply for a reaction, mirroring their device-driven “action/reaction” cycles.
  • Quote:
    "He would rather say something inappropriate, lash out, be unreasonable, just to get that dope, just to get a reaction. Because he's gotten action, reaction, action, reaction, action, reaction for so long..." (Scott Galloway, 10:26)
• Richard Reeves:
  • Teachers are often “paying the price” for societal failures—lack of sleep, mentors, nutrition.
  • Studies show later school starts and exercise lead to better outcomes, especially for boys.
  • The root problems are upstream from the classroom.

4. Modeling Positive Masculinity for a New Generation

Listener Question: How to raise a “good man” amidst narrow, entrenched definitions of masculinity?

Key Insights:

• Richard Reeves:
  • Advocates for “show, don't tell” parenting—kids absorb what you model, not what you lecture.
  • Tells an anecdote: years of gently reminding young men on trains to give up seats; his sons embarrassed then, but eventually emulated his actions.
  • Quote:
    "They will just watch what you do. They will see how you treat your partner, their mom. They will see how you treat people in the street. They'll see how you conduct yourself in life. And if you're a good dad, they are going to be good dudes." (Richard Reeves, 18:36)
• Scott Galloway:
  • Emphasizes treating their mother with respect and kindness as core modeling behavior.
  • Uses the practice “what a man does” to illustrate helpful, considerate actions—like serving others first or assuming responsibility.
  • On dating, he tells his sons a man should pay, citing reasons around biology and social value, while acknowledging pushback.
  • Quote:
    "A man never pours his own water first, right? Never. And so I'll literally look at them... then they pour other water." (Scott Galloway, 20:25)
• Richard Reeves:
  • Adds nuance: paying on dates is about signaling care and willingness to provide, not superiority.
  • Shares the tradition of walking street-side as a symbolic gesture—its meaning persists, even as the practical reason has faded.
  • Quote:
    "What you're signaling is you have some economic resources and that you are willing to spend those economic resources on her. It does not mean superiority. It means service, and it means giving." (Richard Reeves, 22:23)
  • Nostalgic about how these gestures, though “outdated,” reflect enduring values of masculinity done well.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Porn and Reality:
  "Porn is to real life sex what Harry Potter's Hogwarts is to the typical public middle school."
  – Richard Reeves, 03:57

• On Respect and Modeling for Children:
  "It's not what you say. It's what... It's what you do."
  – Scott Galloway, 18:55

• On Dating Customs:
  "A man always pays… I think you should pay."
  – Scott Galloway, 21:28
  "What you're signaling [by paying] is you have some economic resources and that you are willing to spend those economic resources on her... It means service, and it means giving."
  – Richard Reeves, 22:23

• Symbolic Gestures:
  "You always walk street side of a woman. That's one of the things my dad taught me and my mom taught me."
  – Richard Reeves, 23:04

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:54] — Answer to question on talking to young boys about sex and porn
• [07:28] — Discussion on difficulties female teachers face with young boys
• [15:41] — Raising good men: the modeling versus lecturing debate
• [18:55] — Scott on “what a man does”: Manners and rituals
• [21:28] — Debate: Should men always pay on the first date?
• [22:23] — Symbolic gestures & enduring traditions in masculinity

Conclusion

This episode delivers a rich, honest look at the shifting landscape of masculinity, offering concrete advice while emphasizing humility and self-awareness as a parent or teacher. Galloway and Reeves agree: guiding boys to become good men means modeling empathy, service, and respect—less telling, more doing. The realities of a digital, distracted world pose new challenges, but the need for positive, lived-out examples of manhood remains as crucial as ever.