The Art of Manliness

About The Art of Manliness

The Art of Manliness Podcast aims to deepen and improve every area of a man's life, from fitness and philosophy, to relationships and productivity. Engaging and edifying interviews with some of the world's most interesting doers and thinkers drop the fluff and filler to glean guests' very best, potentially life-changing, insights.

Publisher

The Art of Manliness

Category

education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Apr 2014

Latest episode

27 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

180 of 1,166 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The New Dark Ages — The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

   You can't help but notice, in yourself and in others, how much less people are reading these days. When it comes to content consumption, we're often replacing articles and books with videos and, well, podcasts.My guest says that this shift is having consequences, not only for our shrinking individual attention spans, but for society, and Western civilization writ large. His name is James Marriott, and he's a columnist at The Times of London and the author of The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society. Today on the show, James explains how people thought and interacted before the rise of reading and writing, how literacy changed our minds and made possible everything from democracy to modern science, and how television and smartphones may be returning us in some ways to a preliterate age. We then explore how our increasingly visual culture is making public debate more emotional and influence more personality-driven, and what it might mean for the future.After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/darkagesResources Related to the ShowThe Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes by Jonathan RoseAoM Article: The Medium Is the MessageDying Breed Article: The Four Ages of Communication: How Changing Media Transforms the Human ExperienceOrality and Literacy by Walter OngAmusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil PostmanConnect With James MarriottJames' Substack: Cultural Capital0:00 Introduction0:39 The Decline of Reading5:14 The Golden Age of Mass Literacy8:24 How Literacy Changed the Mind12:06 The Preliterate Mind14:51 Truth and Conflict in Oral Culture19:18 How Literacy Built Civilization21:34 The Gutenberg Press & the Reading Revolution30:45 Television and the Decline of Reading33:16 Amusing Ourselves to Death42:03 The Smartphone & the Post-Literate World50:50 The Future of Reading See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2. 

   20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The Lost Art of Mingling: How to Talk to Anyone, Anywhere

   Host Brett McKay interviews author Jeanne Martinet about practical strategies for confidently initiating and sustaining conversations in any social setting.

3. 

   13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Brandon Flowers, Frontman of the Killers, on Family, Faith, and Becoming a Thrasher

   Host, Brett McKay, interviews Brandon Flowers, frontman of The Killers, discussing family, faith, and his country-western album, Thrasher.

Inside a recent episode

The New Dark Ages — The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

Published 27 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And another is this huge increase in the different types of books that were available. You get the beginnings of lending libraries and more and more books are just in production and more and more different kinds of books are in production, not just religious books, secular books, travel books, history books. […]

Who has been a guest on The Art of Manliness

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jeanne Martinet
• Brandon Flowers
• John Mark Comer
• Gabe Bullard
• Ravi Gupta

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

132,945,220

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

14,285 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 88 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

99

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

100

Contact The Art of Manliness

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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