Raising Good Men in the Age of the Manosphere with Johnny Cole
Parents Uncharted: From The Creator of Mom Uncharted
Chapters
(10)Content note: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence, sexual violence, misogyny, and explicit language.
We spend a lot of time talking about the men we don’t want influencing our sons online, but who are we offering them instead?
In this episode, Sarah is joined by Johnny Cole, founder of Hey Brother Co., to talk about raising boys who feel connected, supported, and free to decide what kind of men they want to become. Drawing on his experience growing up in a home with domestic violence and his work mentoring teenage boys, Johnny shares how healthier role models helped him rethink what he had learned about masculinity.
Together, they explore what boys may be looking for in manosphere content, why dismissing their interests can shut down important conversations, and how Johnny’s “Brothercore” content and the Hey Brother House initiative are offering different stories about manhood, friendship, and belonging.
For parents wondering where to start, Johnny offers practical ways to build connection: notice and affirm kindness, keep making room for affection, read fiction together, and ask thoughtful questions about the messages boys encounter online. The conversation closes with a reminder that raising a kind, accountable son also means giving him space to make mistakes, and trusting that he can come to you when he does.
If you’re raising boys, or helping shape the world they’re growing up in, share this conversation with someone who wants to offer them more than a list of people not to follow. Because there’s no map for modern parenting, but together we can chart a better path.
Chapters
(00:00) Who are our sons supposed to look up to?
(01:18) Johnny’s story and finding different role models
(07:43) Men’s work, Brothercore, and healthier brotherhood
(15:03) Understanding the manosphere and its appeal
(23:26) What boys need beyond “don’t follow him”
(29:37) Changing the language and modelling something different
(33:13) Inside the Hey Brother House initiative
(37:29) What parents may be missing about boys
(40:40) Reading fiction and questioning online messages
(44:04) Hope, accountability, and room to make mistakes
About Johnny Cole
Johnny Cole is a young man that supports men and boys in escaping the “Man Box” ideals of masculinity. He is the founder of Hey Brother Co., a men’s work organization focused on shifting the narrative on masculinity through emotional skill-building, brotherhood, and accountability. As a survivor of childhood domestic violence at the hands of his father, a South African special forces veteran, Johnny intimately understands the consequences that patriarchal masculinity and unaddressed mental health issues have for our world.
Johnny creates spaces, online, in the gym, in schools, in men’s groups, and on retreats, where men and boys can unlearn patriarchal conditioning and build healthier relationships with themselves and others. He has worked with schoolboys across the United States, South Africa, and the Galápagos Islands, and his mentorship with high school boys in Oberlin, Ohio was featured in CBS Reports’ documentary Boys to Men: Why America’s Sons Are Struggling.
Connect with Johnny Cole
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