Conversations about the crisis of modern masculinity are gathering steam. At the center of that conversation, from community halls to chinwags with Theo Von, is NYU professor Scott Galloway. With his trademark mix of economic data, personal anecdotes, and rapid-fire rhetoric, he’s carved out a peculiar niche: the sober businessman diagnosing the emotional ailments of a generation.
His new podcast, Lost Boys, produced with Anthony Scaramucci, aims to shine a light on what’s breaking young men. The project is timely and appears to be well-intentioned. However, once you look a little closer, what emerges is a troubling contradiction, one that should make us question whether Galloway is the right man for the moment.
Let’s begin with his message. Galloway tells young men to be brave. To take risks. To stand tall and confront discomfort. He calls for courage, stoicism, and discipline. He tells them to reject victimhood and accept responsibility. These are, inarguably, good things. Necessary things. Things that should be shouted louder in a culture that increasingly tells boys they are broken and beyond repair.
And yet, the messenger cannot be separated from the message. Recently, it emerged that Galloway declined an invitation to appear on Real Time with Bill Maher because Steve Bannon was also on the lineup. Galloway, who has spent the years building a brand on facing the uncomfortable, backed out because the lineup included someone he didn’t like. Isn’t the very essence of masculinity, at least as Galloway defines it, the ability to step into the fire and not flinch? To stand one’s ground in the face of disagreement? To confront ideas rather than run from them?
If Galloway can’t be bothered to walk into a room with someone who holds views he deems reprehensible, what hope does the average 21-year-old have when confronting a world filled with actual hostility? This wasn’t a dark alley. It was a studio. With cameras. And moderators. Yet Galloway ran for cover. The paradox deepens. On Lost Boys, he speaks passionately about the need for male role models—real ones, not Andrew Tate-type grifters hawking digital snake oil. But, I ask, what is a role model if not someone who acts in accordance with his stated values, even when it’s uncomfortable? (RELATED: It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp (Especially If You’re Andrew Tate))
This is a valid question to ask. Galloway is not some random personality. He’s a tenured academic at one of the world’s top universities. He’s built a media empire by warning us about market bubbles, tech monopolies, and the slow erosion of civic virtue. He’s told us that young men need more face-to-face connection, fewer screens, and more risk-taking. And yet, when offered a platform that would have tested those values in real time, he refused.
Men in America are in trouble — not just economically, but spiritually. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among males under 30. Educational achievement is plummeting. Loneliness is skyrocketing. Many young men are turning to drugs, porn, or extremism — not because they’re inherently broken, but because the traditional systems that shaped male identity have collapsed.
What they need now isn’t more sanitized pep talks or carefully curated podcasts. They need to see what accountability looks like. What bravery looks like. What intellectual honesty looks like. They need someone who says: “I’ll debate my enemies, because that’s how ideas are tested and improved. And I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that safety is more important than truth.” Instead, they get TED Talk masculinity.
There is, I suggest, something uniquely American about Galloway’s rise. He’s data-driven. Charismatic. Confident. But there’s also something uniquely shallow about it. This is a man who speaks of strength while retreating from the very arena where strength is measured. Someone who preaches the gospel of discomfort but demands his own ideological comfort zone be preserved at all costs.
To be clear, Lost Boys is not without value. It is shining a light on issues that matter. But it’s also, crucially, a branding exercise. It’s Galloway repackaging himself for the zeitgeist. And that’s fine, so long as we remember that podcasts aren’t battlefields. That real courage doesn’t happen in pre-recorded soundbites. It happens when we sit across from someone we disagree with and hash out our differences. America’s young men deserve mentors who embody the virtues they espouse. Galloway says he wants to lead young men out of the wilderness. But first, he’ll have to do something more honorable than running his mouth. He must actually show up.
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