Podcast Summary: The Rubin Report

Episode: Dave Rubin Can't Believe These Dark Stats of Men in Crisis | Scott Galloway
Date: November 22, 2025
Host: Dave Rubin
Guest: Scott Galloway (host of The Prof G Podcast; author, Note on Being a Man)

Overview

This episode explores the mounting crisis among young men in America, diving into data, social dynamics, and economic trends that contribute to male loneliness, declining social skills, and diminished opportunities. Scott Galloway dissects the roles of technology, economic shifts, changing relationship norms, and the responsibilities of older generations, offering sobering statistics and practical advice while acknowledging nuances for both genders. The discussion remains candid, self-aware, and at times humorous.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Male Crisis: Social Disconnection and Decline

• Young Men Are Falling Behind:

  • Shocking Stats: Nearly half (45%) of men ages 18–25 have never approached a woman in person to ask her out.
    [00:00, 09:43]
  • Digital Dating Fallout: Online platforms create “winner take most” dynamics, devastating men's self-esteem and leading to fewer relationships overall.
    • “If there's 50 men on Tinder and 50 women, 46 of the women will show all their attention to just four of the men, which leaves 46 men fighting over four women. And it destroys a man's self esteem.” —Scott Galloway [00:00; 33:00]
  • Isolation: Men aged 20–30 now spend less time outdoors than some prison inmates.
    [00:00, 04:07]

• Tech’s Role in Sequestering Young Men:

  • Major tech companies actively vie for every “incremental minute” of attention, often using AI, incendiary content, and gamified dopamine feedback loops.
    [02:22–04:37]
  • This constant stimulation rewards passive behaviors that undermine real-world relational and professional skills.

2. Is Technology to Blame?

• Profit Motive Meets Primal Instincts:
  • Tech and social platforms exploit ancient drives (for affirmation, sexual opportunity, rage) in ways our brains haven’t evolved to handle.
  • Galloway compares the regulation of tech addiction to the public’s slow reckoning with tobacco and opiates, predicting a societal pushback is coming, especially in schools.
    • “It took us 30 years with tobacco… 20 years with opiates… I think it’s taken us about 20 years with a smartphone.” —Scott Galloway [08:10]

3. The Epidemic of Asocial and Asexual Young Men

• Risk Aversion and Synthetic Relationships:
  • Galloway worries about the rise of “synthetic relationships”—AI-based digital companions—undermining young men's risk-taking in real relationships, social learning, and ability to endure rejection.
    • “Supposedly one in three kids under the age of 18 are in some form of a synthetic relationship online with someone who's a friend, a potential erotic partner. And I worry… it reduces especially young men's mojo to take the risks to approach people and express platonic and romantic interest.” —Scott Galloway [08:10]
• Mixed Messages:
  • Men are simultaneously warned against being “creeps” while shamed for inaction, creating paralyzing confusion.
    [09:43, 11:17]

4. Algorithmic Extremism and Shame Culture

• Algorithms Push Extremes:
  • Galloway describes how social media and AI sorting algorithms reinforce echo chambers and intensify shaming for deviation from group norms.
    [11:34–14:20]
  • The “like” and comment system warps what people say and incentivizes tribalism.
  • “We become what the algorithms want us to be based on how many likes we get by saying what we think is going to tickle the sensors of the bots and the people who follow us.” —Scott Galloway [13:30]

5. Personal Addiction and The Value of Stepping Away

• Audit Your Addictions:
  • Galloway candidly admits addiction to money and social affirmation, comparing detrimental compulsions to the ceaseless pursuit of internet engagement. He describes quitting Twitter as life-changing (“accretive”) for his mental health.
    [15:22–19:10]
  • Rubin describes annual digital detoxes as essential to his sanity.
  • “Getting off Twitter was really accretive to my mental health … I thought this is what the world thinks of me … No, it's a small group of people all yelling at each other.” —Scott Galloway [18:00]

6. Lost Male Role Models and Generational Responsibilities

• Gen X and Boomers Have Not Stepped Up:

  • Galloway critiques older men for not providing mentorship or advocating policies that help younger people strive for the middle class.
  • Economic shifts and increasing education/housing costs disproportionately damage young men, who are still evaluated by society (and themselves) by financial earning.
  • “When the female in the relationship starts making more money than the man, divorce becomes twice as likely and the use of ED drugs triples because the guy has a lack of self esteem.” —Scott Galloway [20:05]
  • “One of the reasons that people have so little empathy for young men is because men of my generation had so much unearned advantage.” —Scott Galloway [20:05]

• The Critical Role of Mentors:

  • Losing a male role model is often the turning point at which young men struggle or derail. Yet, men are hesitant to volunteer as mentors due to stigma, lack of confidence, or fear of being misunderstood.
    [20:05–24:52]

7. Concrete Advice for Young Men Feeling Lost

• You Still Have Agency — Do What You Can with What You Have:
  • While opportunities are harder to come by, Galloway pushes young men to “punch above their weight class” by reclaiming time and resources from their phones and digital distractions.
  • His Playbook for Young Men:
    [25:34]
    • Audit phone/screen time; reclaim 8–12 hours weekly.
    • Get physically fit (“It’s almost a crime not to be a monster at 25.”).
    • Find ways to make money—any work is valuable for self-esteem and independence.
    • Regularly put yourself in the company of strangers (sports, volunteering, community groups).
    • Normalize and embrace rejection—the willingness to hear "no" is key to success in love and work.
      • “The goal is to get to ‘no’ — because the only thing great ‘yeses’ have in common is a hundred ‘no’s’ along the way.” —Scott Galloway [25:34]
      • “Any man under the age of 30 should be able to walk in any room and know if shit got real, they could kill and eat everybody or outrun them.” —Scott Galloway [27:02]

8. Digitizing the Dating Market: A Rigged Game?

• Winner-Take-Most:

  • Dating apps perpetuate and even magnify inequality among men in the dating market, with a small percentage receiving the vast majority of female attention. [33:00–37:14]
  • The “mating market” leaves most men excluded, creating emotional distress, sometimes even fueling misogyny.
  • The environment makes it nearly impossible for young men to learn and demonstrate value in real-world social or professional settings.

• Women's Behavior and Media Messaging:

  • Galloway notes that media and online communities encourage women to hyper-scrutinize men for red flags, often dismissing potential partners for trivial reasons.
    [33:00–38:14]
  • The lack of in-person interaction opportunities is detrimental for both genders, but especially men.

9. Women, Progress, and Non-Zero-Sum Empathy

• Acknowledge Multiple Challenges:
  • Galloway stresses “it’s not a zero-sum game”—women’s progress should be celebrated, and society can support both young men and women without pitting them against each other.
    • “Gay marriage didn’t hurt heteronormative marriage, civil rights didn’t hurt white people. We can have empathy for the struggles of young men while still acknowledging women face issues.” —Scott Galloway [40:12]
  • However, self-harm among teenage girls has surged with mobile social media, while working women still face a pay penalty after becoming mothers.
  • Both genders struggling, but young men’s decline is particularly dramatic and deserves open discussion.
    [38:14–41:24]

10. Hope, Reality, and Where We Go From Here

• Pessimism vs. Optimism:
  • Galloway calls himself a “seatbelt guy”—naturally pessimistic but aware that optimism and progress have historically outperformed doomsaying.
  • The media and politics amplify catastrophizing; actual progress (declining emissions, medical advances, decreases in poverty) goes under-recognized.
    • “Catastrophizing is more interesting than saying, ‘Yeah, things are just gonna get slightly better.’” —Scott Galloway [43:09]
• Restoring Civil Discourse and Community:
  • Both Galloway and Rubin agree on the value of moderate, reasonable conversation and the need for alliance-building over extremism.
  • “I hope the next decade is a restoration of alliances. And I really hope moderates and the non crazies in each party recommit to getting along and shaping better solutions.” —Scott Galloway [45:52]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Digital Dating:
  “46 of the women will show all their attention to just four of the men, which leaves 46 men fighting over four women. And it destroys a man's self esteem.” —Scott Galloway [00:00; 33:00]

• On Social Media Addiction:
  “They literally add 20 to 60 billion dollars in market cap… every incremental minute these firms can use… keep you glued to your goddamn phone, right?” —Scott Galloway [02:22–04:07]

• On Rejection:
  “The key skill in success, I believe, is the ability to endure rejection, to mourn and to move on, to develop those calluses.” —Scott Galloway [09:47]

• On Mentorship Deficit:
  “Men of my generation are not stepping up in terms of policies to lift young people up. And also they’re not getting physically and emotionally involved in their lives.” —Scott Galloway [20:05]

• Advice for Young Men:
  “Be fit, start making some money, put yourself in the company of strangers, and recognize…we’re running at about 99% of the best day on earth ever. So, you know, buck up. Do your best to win at this game.” —Scott Galloway [30:50]

• On Social Media Echo Chambers:
  “You realize when you get off Twitter… just how small it is. There’s a group of people who’ve decided that’s the world and they’re the chattering class… If you leave that room, what you’re going to realize is, quite frankly, it just doesn’t matter.” —Scott Galloway [18:00]

• On Optimism:
  “The trajectory of the human race has been up and to the right… More people are planting more trees, the shade of which they will never sit under… There's a lot of good things going on out there.” —Scott Galloway [45:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Event | |:--------------:|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–02:22 | Galloway’s intro: Digital dating, male crisis, social atomization | | 02:22–04:37 | Big Tech sequestering young men, attention economy | | 04:37–08:10 | Primal instincts vs. profit motive, tech addiction cycle | | 08:10–09:47 | Bad incentives, synthetic relationships, value of rejection | | 11:17–15:22 | Social shame, AI algorithms, comments/like-button effects | | 15:22–19:10 | Galloway’s own addictions, benefits of quitting Twitter | | 20:05–24:52 | Generational responsibilities, disappearing mentors | | 25:34–32:29 | Galloway’s practical advice to young men | | 33:00–37:14 | Online dating dynamics, market imbalances | | 38:14–41:24 | Women’s challenges, non-zero-sum empathy | | 41:39–46:47 | Hope for the future, value of optimism, restoring alliances|

Tone and Style

Conversational, data-driven, wryly humorous, self-critical. Galloway mixes statistics, evolutionary psychology, and cultural commentary. Rubin challenges and affirms with personal anecdotes and a consistent focus on restoring civil dialogue across difference.

Takeaway

Scott Galloway and Dave Rubin sound the alarm on a deepening male social crisis, exacerbated by tech, economic hardship, and societal neglect—but offer hope, practical advice, and a plea for moderates and mentors to rejoin the fray. Their discussion is an urgent, broad-minded exploration of why so many young men feel lost—and what everyone can do to help.