Cookie Consent: We use cookies to give you the best online experience, for analytics, performance, and to tailor the experience towards your interests.

Skip to content
Pic of Fresh Air

Inside the training camps for “alpha males”

March 31, 2026
0 comments

Fresh Air

Description

The Trump era has brought a resurgence of the “alpha male.” ‘New Yorker’ writer Charles Bethea reports on camps where men crawl through mud and sit in ice baths, in an effort to reclaim masculinity. Bethea says what he found underneath all the warrior posturing surprised him: men in genuine pain who felt lonely and desperate for connection. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about his reporting. 

Also, book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by Tana French, ‘The Keeper.’


To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy