Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

From a young age, Frederick Joseph recognized that violence is often demanded of men. 

“We collectively teach our boys that winning, surviving, things of that nature, always demands beating someone,” he told host Kerri Miller, “whether that means beating them in competition, beating them mentally, beating them emotionally, beating them physically.”

But an exchange he had at a young friend’s funeral pointed to a different path. 

As he stood in his grief, his friend’s mother hugged him and said: “A bunch of angry boys who don’t know how to cry are the reason my son is dead. Cry for my son. You both deserve it.”

Joseph realized he didn’t know how to cry, how to be tender, how to allow himself to be fully alive in a world built by patriarchy and white supremacy. So he began a journey.

He shares that journey with the world in his new book, “

.” On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Miller and Joseph talk about this his reflections on the culture of modern masculinity through the lens of a Black man. 

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on 

for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Host

Author

What does it mean to be a man today? In his new book, the award-winning author of “The Black Friend” examines how masculinity and patriarchy join together to make a toxic culture and offers a compelling vision for how to move beyond. 

Author Frederick Joseph examines modern masculinity in 'Patriarchy Blues'

Go Deeper.

Like this?