Brett McKay and Jordan Harbinger are both “recovering” lawyers. One never practiced, one got away from it pretty quickly, and we’re grateful they did, because they are the brains behind The Art of Manliness and The Art of Charm, respectively. Both of these digital properties have a lot of valuable content that you should take the time to peruse, but what you shouldn’t miss are their frequently occurring podcasts.
The Art of Manliness
Many men today feel adrift and have lost the confidence, focus, skills, and virtues that men of the past embodied. In an increasingly androgynous society, modern men are confused about their role and what it means to be an honorable, well-rounded man.
The causes of this male malaise are many — from the cultural to the technological. One factor is simply the lack of direction offered men in the popular culture. Men’s magazines today are largely about sex, sports cars, and getting six-pack abs.
This text, taken directly from the AoM website, explains the starting point for the site, which is a truly modern digital property. It has podcasts, videos, articles, a community, and even an e-commerce store. And rather than seeking solely to condemn what is wrong in our society, it works to fill in those gaps of learning with the best of the knowledge and traditions of our past.
They are approaching nearly 300 episodes, so rather than just throw you into the deep end and tell you to dig through, we’ve handpicked five unique and distinct episodes that will give you a flavor for the variety of content that AoM provides:
Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Style, featuring Aaron Marino
Extreme Ownership, featuring Jocko Willink
On the Joys and Travails of Thinking, featuring Fr. James Schall, S.J.
Harnessing Behavioral Psychology for a Rich Life, featuring the inimitable Ramit Sethi
The Art of Charm
While AoM is content to be solely a digital property, the Art of Charm (AoC) has always had at its heart residential week-long programs focused on helping men become better men – not just in the dating sphere, but in every single aspect of their lives. Alumni of the program have said things like, “AoC gave me the cheat codes to life.” Here’s a snapshot of what they cover, via a snippet from a recent podcast:
…Reading body language, having charismatic nonverbal communication, attraction and negotiation techniques, networking and influence strategies, mentorship and persuasion tactics, and everything else we teach here at the Art of Charm…
These topics aren’t just attractive to men, and AoC has garnered a significant female audience as well. They started 10 years ago this year, and so they have over 500 episodes under their belt. Here are a few of our favorites that you should add to your queue to listen to as soon as possible:
Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch
Mating in Captivity featuring Esther Perel
Start with Why featuring Simon Sinek
Deep Work featuring Cal Newport
Jordan Harbinger, the man behind the microphone at AoC, has been noted as the “Charlie Rose of podcasting” by Inc. magazine and is much more of a globetrotter compared to the home-focused Brett McKay. We like to think that both of them, in their own ways, are showing men that there is no one way to greatness. Rather, greatness is the way.
What are your favorite podcasts? Share them in the comments below to receive a free seven course hair service to give to a friend who has never had a chance to try The Gents Place!
Thanks for sharing The Art of Charm Podcast!
Jordan
Love your podcast, man. What are some podcasts you enjoy?
Hi Laurent!
Thanks for being an AoC fan. I listen to Planet Money, The Thinking Atheist, Fresh Air and James Altucher. I’m not an every episode listener of anything though really.