082: The Ugly Ideology Behind 'Looksmaxxing' Subcultures feat. Annie Kelly

By now, you've probably seen it: someone you follow making a joke about "maxxing" or getting "mogged" on your timeline. These terms come from a terminally online subculture spun off of the so-called "manosphere" known as "looksmaxxing." It's hyper-focused on the shallowest dimension of masculinity: physical appearance.

Clavicular, the subculture's breakout star, has been popping up everywhere lately, including in The New York Times. But most of this discourse has overlooked the toxic roots of "looksmaxxing" and the misogynist ideology at its core.

This week, researcher Annie Kelly joins Jared and Mike to help fill that gap. Strap in for an unexpectedly philosophical, "ethereal-tier" episode of Posting Through It, as we relentlessly mog your other favorite podcasters and unpack the complexities of romantic love.

Links for Annie Kelly:

-Listen to the first episode of “Truly Tradly Deeply”

-Check out QAA’s 10-part series: “MANCLAN”

-Bluesky: @annieknk.bsky.social / X: @AnnieKNK

Other links:

-Read Mike’s latest story for Mother Jones: “Who the Fuck Are These Men?” How extremists reconquered Idaho—and how some locals are fighting back.

-Join us in Washington, DC, for the release of Mike's first book, "Strange People on the Hill": Politics & Prose, April 11 @ 5pm (Free)

-Support the show and get access to weekly premium episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PostingThroughIt

Transition Music: “Indiana” by Lune the Band

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(294)

088: Why the Right Struggles Against Antisemitism feat. Art Levine

MAGA is at an existential crossroads right now. If that sounds strange to you, you haven’t paid much attention to the movement’s struggles with antisemitism, which exploded after the assassination of ...

16 Maalis 1h 8min

087: The Dark, Horny World of The Daily Wire’s 'Lady Ballers' [Preview]

Mike and Jared took a break from Iran War coverage to look back on "Lady Ballers": a feature-length film The Daily Wire released in 2023, at the height of MAGA's efforts to stoke an anti-transgender m...

12 Maalis 16min

086: Is MAGA Really in Crisis?

In this intimate, two-handed edition of Posting Through It, Jared and Mike try to figure out whether the MAGA movement is actually faltering, as some news coverage would suggest. The short answer is y...

9 Maalis 1h 11min

085: A Nuclear Arsenal of Iran Takes [Preview]

Well, we are at war. It doesn’t matter what MAGA calls it tomorrow — it’s war. Jared and Mike may not be foreign policy analysts , but they know enough to recognize who else isn’t, either. The hosts w...

5 Maalis 10min

084: Contrarian Freaks Are Lining Up to Downplay the Epstein Files feat. Ileana Justine

Jared and Mike dive into the growing world of contrarian punditry that seeks to downplay Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex abuse and discourage audiences from drawing conclusions about his connections to so...

2 Maalis 1h 13min

083: How MAGA Laid the Blueprint for Attacking Elections in 2018 [Preview]

In this episode, Jared and Mike rewind to Florida’s razor-thin 2018 midterms to break down a often-overlooked test run of “Stop the Steal,” years before it became synonymous with the 2021 riot at the ...

26 Helmi 8min

081: AI Scott Adams is My Kind of Guy [Preview]

We hope you had a good Valentine's Day last week. If not, there's always the new Free Press matchmaker offshoot from Bari Weiss — and if that doesn't work out either, come join us while we try to make...

19 Helmi 10min