893: Testosterone
Summary
Host Ira Glass reruns a 2002 episode exploring testosterone’s impact on personality, prompted by recent military testing orders. The show features Griffin Hansberry discussing his transition, a staff experiment comparing hormone levels to traits, and a man’s experience with zero testosterone. It concludes with a mother interviewing her teenage son about masculinity.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Pete Hegseth and the testosterone testing rerun
Alex Bloomberg's 2002 inspiration: The Women's Room
The premise: Testing staff testosterone levels
Act 1: Griffin Hansberry's experience with high testosterone
Commercial break and transition
Act 2: The staff testosterone contest and results
Act 3: Living without testosterone (GQ writer's account)
Act 4: Miriam Taves on her son Owen and boyhood
Credits and closing remarks
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