As we face an epidemic of loneliness in our country, how are men and boys struggling for connection? What’s driving the increasing rate of suicide among men? And how does our culture affect the ways in which men and boys form friendships? 

The Surgeon General and scholar Richard Reeves explore these questions and more. They discuss the complicated and troubling picture about how men and boys are faring. Educationally, economically, socially, and in terms of their physical and mental health, men and boys are struggling in profound ways. This conversation also examines male social connection in the context of a changing society in which expectations for men in the family, at work, and socially are shifting.  

In this episode of House Calls, the Surgeon General and Richard Reeves discuss how we can help and why understanding this moment in the lives of boys and men is important for all of us. 

(05:04)    How are men and boys doing in terms of loneliness and isolation? 

(08:11)    What’s driving the increase in the rate of suicide among men? 

(12:36)    How does our culture influence how men and boys form friendships? 

(20:16)    Can we better balance work and parenting? 

(28:47)    How can we help young people build relational skills? 

(31:36)    How have Richard Reeve’s personal experiences shaped his work? 

(34:32)    How did Richard Reeves teach his sons about masculinity? 

(39:32)    Can we have open conversations about men’s challenges? 

(36:57)    The balance of success, creating meaning, and parenting. 

(47:23)    Why do some men and boys experience difficulty expressing their emotions? 

(54:51)    How can we provide men with more emotional support? 

(01:03:08)    How has Richard Reeves modeled different ideas of strength for his sons?  

We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. 

Richard Reeves, Writer and Researcher

Twitter: @RichardvReeves 

Instagram: @richardvreeves 

About Richard Reeves 

Richard V. Reeves is a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies and president of the Boys and Men Project. Formerly, he was a senior fellow in Economic Studies, where he held the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair. His research focuses on boys and men, inequality, and social mobility. 

Richard’s publications for Brookings include his latest book “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It” (2022) and 2017’s “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It”. He is a contributor to The Atlantic, National Affairs, Democracy Journal, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Richard is also the author of “John Stuart Mill – Victorian Firebrand”, an intellectual biography of the British liberal philosopher and politician. 

Richard sits on the Board of Jobs for the Future, and is an adviser to the American Family Survey, and to the Equity Center at the University of Virginia. He has previously served as a consultant to the Opportunity Insights team led by Prof Raj Chetty at Harvard University (2018), and as a member of the Government of Canada’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Poverty (2017-2018). 

Richard’s previous roles include: director of Demos, the London-based political think-tank; director of futures at the Work Foundation; principal policy advisor to the Minister for Welfare Reform; social affairs editor of the The Observer; research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research; economics correspondent for The Guardian; and a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London. He is also a former European Business Speaker of the Year. 

Richard has a B.A. from Oxford University and a Ph.D. from Warwick University.