{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Raising Men","title":"The Gap Between Ideal and Reality with Jordan Ritter Conn","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2906,"description":"This episode of Raising Men features an intimate deep dive with Jordan Ritter Conn, a senior staff writer at The Ringer and author of the groundbreaking 2026 book, American Men. After spending five years embedded in the lives of four vastly different men, Jordan discusses the \"missing roadmap\" of modern masculinity and the internal struggle men face when they fail to meet inherited ideals.1. Key Topics CoveredThe \"Masculinity Crisis\" vs. The Reality Gap: Discussion on how men don’t necessarily lack a \"roadmap,\" but rather struggle with the internal \"gap\" between the cultural ideal of a man and their actual lived experience.The Provider/Protector Obsession: A look at the \"Joseph\" vignette—how a simple car engine rattle can spiral into a man’s feeling of total inadequacy as a protector. This aligns with data showing 86% of U.S. men believe being a \"provider\" is a defining trait of manhood.The Myth of Male Emotional Silence: Jordan rejects the idea that men are unwilling or unable to talk about feelings; instead, he argues they lack \"safe spaces\" free from judgment or social repercussions.The \"Weight\" of Raising Sons: Both Shawn and Jordan share the immediate \"weight\" felt at the birth of their sons—a unique responsibility to prepare them for a world where traditional rites of passage have vanished.The Performance of Success: Exploring \"Gideon,\" the star athlete and West Point graduate who felt like a \"trophy,\" illustrating how even those who \"typify the ideal\" still face profound internal insecurities.The difficulty arises when they're confronted with the ways that they don't feel like they're living up to the ideal that they're holding in their own heads.We need to be given like kind of a permission structure for opening up because we do kind of inherit these messages that showing any kind of vulnerability... is showing weakness.Ultimately I think what kind of defines our relationship to masculinity is how we kind of navigate that failure [to live up to the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/2uuITx2j-lZJp2iIhjw55xbaGtfwoyDcHPS-ELTBlxA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mZmQ1/ZGM3MjJkNTdmODY0/MjE0MmYyYWQzMDE0/ZDhiMi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}