Ep. 7 - Johnny Bowman's Conversational Portrait

Johnny Bowman shares about..

- Men’s work with formerly incarcerated men and white collar millennial–and the unique medicine the former can gift

- Going from feeling like an emotional child in his early 30s, lapped by his peers, to finding and creating beautiful examples of community

- The usefulness and uselessness of shame

- The missing lessons from Harvard Business School that shaped what he pursued in work

- Trying to understand who he was after his dream didn’t pan out, without money as a buffer from facing his emotions

- What is missing from a secular justice system that we once had in religious community

- Becoming a man who can help create safety for other men

- Why he considers early Christian saints to be the biggest punks of their time

- Expanding the definition of strength so it works better for more men

- How dads are an especially lonely species, especially those who were trained not to be “The Angry Dad”

Chapters

00:59 Creating Safety and Community

15:00 "I felt like an emotional child."

18:58 Restaurant owner energy: a male archetype

23:47 The missing lessons from Harvard Business School

27:54 From my core wound to my central focus on behalf of others

35:32 "That was the most energizing feeling I could get."

38:06 "My dream did not pan out, so who am I?"

48:03 From economics and politics to emotional states

54:34 "What am I really avoiding by telling myself I'm not a good leader?"

59:38 With conflict avoidance, there is no safety

01:07:08 "Shame is a paralyzing emotion that doesn't make anyone change."

01:14:49 The Gray Area Between Spirituality, Religion, and Justice

01:29:27 Helping men feel safe

01:37:27 A credible messenger; service over domination

01:52:25 "Every dude responds well to that."

01:54:47 Finding the right words and terms for Men's Work

01:59:29 Expanding the definition of strength

02:02:30 "When people say the truth to each other, things are more interesting."

02:05:41 "Dads are an especially lonely species."

02:11:16 "Anger is the #1 emotion white collar men are afraid to express."

02:17:33 "Everyone is more similar to me than different."

02:24:04 Debrief and Behind-the-Scenes

Show Notes

20:45 - Restaurant owner energy https://newsletter.amanswork.com/p/how-to-prescribe-manhood

27:25 - All Kings, a Men’s Group for formerly incarcerated https://www.allkings.org/

01:07:15 - Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, an Inuit film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atanarjuat:_The_Fast_Runner

01:08:15 - robert wolff’s Original Wisdom https://www.amazon.com/Original-Wisdom-Stories-Ancient-Knowing/dp/0892818662

01:15:40 - Johnny’s blog post on the Rabbi who visited a prisoner https://newsletter.amanswork.com/p/who-are-your-people

01:22:30 - ManKind Project https://mankindproject.org/

01:25:45 - Freedom and getting your balls back https://newsletter.amanswork.com/p/the-primary-question

02:23:40 - The Mark of Cain (Russian prison tattoo documentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-fccwTjuI

02:25:45 - All Kings coverage in the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/style/all-kings-mens-work-retreat-masculinity.html or https://archive.is/fWfXb

Find Johnny Bowman everywhereSubstack newsletter: A Man's Work: Hot takes and tools for modern manhood https://newsletter.amanswork.com/

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Music credits:Mozert by John Vallis (https://johnvallis.bandcamp.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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