The Handsome Hour

Episode 12 - Should Women Pay Rent?

This week on The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stony start with Civil War ancestry, West Virginia roads, and Waka Flocka Flame's tour bus — eventually making their way to the darkest corners of dating, scams, matchmaking, extortion, and who pays rent when your girlfriend moves in. First, the fellows unpack a viral lawsuit involving a JP Morgan executive accused of turning a coworker into her "sex slave." The story is lurid, bizarre, and probably not what it first appeared to be, which opens up a bigger conversation about false allegations, trial-by-internet, humiliation fantasies, MeToo reversals, and why some claims become memes before anyone knows what actually happened. Then the episode turns to high-end matchmaking. Wes and Cody debate whether services like Blaine Anderson's are really matchmaking, or more like expensive introduction services selling hope. Is it wrong to help rich men get dates with beautiful women? Are gold diggers only possible when men are looking only for looks? And how does "B2B SaaS morality" apply to love? From there, Cody tells the story of how a woman tried to scam him off of Bumble by stripping on FaceTime. The guys break down the economics of sextortion, why the $500 price point feels oddly insulting, and why the coming age of deepfakes may make blackmail easier and less powerful. Finally, they tackle a classic relationship finance dilemma: should your girlfriend pay rent if she moves into the house you already own? What starts as a Reddit post reaction becomes a deeper discussion about ledgers, gender roles, contribution, provider instincts, household reciprocity, parenting, chores, and why the healthiest relationships don't feel like anyone is keeping score. Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/56d4a914/transcript]

Episode 11 - Don't Be a Dancing Monkey

This week on The Handsome Hour the fellows tackle the most handsome question yet: how much should you optimize yourself for dating, and when does self-improvement become neurotic performance? The episode starts with a dialogue on Stony's advanced age and a discussion about aging well, sleep, skincare, Brian Johnson's protocol, and whether drinking more water is the secret to looking younger. Wes reveals he's using peptides to cut weight and get back into peak shape, which sparks a full debate about fitness, fat distribution, face fat, dating apps, and whether being more attractive actually improves your odds of finding a wife. From there, the guys explore a deeper framework for self-improvement: should you get 10% better at the thing you're already good at, or fix the thing you actually suck at? Is being fit a big dating advantage, or just another diminishing-return status marker? And if your soulmate only wants you when you have visible abs, was she ever your soulmate? The back half takes a philosophical turn: Cody lays out his case that the real key to attraction is not optimization, but alignment — owning who you are so fully that you stop performing for approval and start radiating actual magnetism. Wes connects this to self-acceptance, status, and why wanting another person's approval can make you less attractive the moment they sense it. Stony ties it all together with a story about British politeness, American bluntness, and the cost of filtering yourself into a boring carbon copy. Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/4687bca9/transcript]

Episode 9 - Cody's Date From Hell

This week on The Handsome Hour, Cody tells what may be the single worst date story in podcast history. A night that starts as a normal Bumble meetup and escalates into a screaming sidewalk fight, a racist Uber driver, police involvement, and a post-date harassment spree. Wes and Stony help unpack the whole disaster in real time, debating crazy vs. malicious, whether honest feedback on dates is ever worth it, and why the most entertaining people are sometimes the most dangerous to keep around. Before the main event, we talk about the Star Wars sequels for 13 minutes, so skip to 13 minutes if you don't want to hear that. Sorry.  There are also detours into sex research gone too far, "fun" professors, and other stories. At the center of it all is a conversation about dating risk: how much weirdness is charming, how much is a red flag, and when a story stops being funny and starts becoming a genuine threat. Cody's date becomes a case study in why bad dating experiences poison trust for everyone else, and why one truly unhinged encounter can make modern dating feel like a minefield. In this episode: - Cody's date from hell and the Uber showdown that followed - What happens when "no chemistry" turns into a full public meltdown - Police, receipts, and why recording saved the night - The difference between eccentric, unstable, and actively malicious - Why boring might be safer but chaos makes better stories - Star Wars prequels vs. sequels and the death of cinematic sincerity - What happens when your Big 10 professor brings a Sybian to class Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/226cd87f/transcript]

Episode 10 - Bad Boys and Bad Algorithms

This week on The Handsome Hour, Wes, Cody, and Stony go remote and start broadcasting on shortwave radio from a decommissioned oil platform. From there, they hit the discourse: rejection texts, Venmo requests, "nice guys," bad boys, dating-app algorithm hacks, and why modern gender narratives are making everyone worse at finding love. First: a brutal post-date text exchange. A woman cancels because she wants to explore things with another guy, and the rejected man responds by requesting $250 on Venmo and calling her trash. The guys debate who's really in the wrong, whether men should still pay for dates, what "chivalry" means in a feminist dating market, and why getting angry over rejection almost always makes you look worse. Then they tackle the eternal question: should you become a bad boy? Stony argues that men have to respond to market feedback. Cody pushes back, saying you shouldn't let the market deform your personality. Wes splits the difference with a practical framework that shows why he is the master: improve the traits everyone values -- fitness, style, confidence, conversation -- without pretending to be someone you're not. This leads in to a bigger conversation about awkward young men, missed signals, and why so many guys were told the wrong rules. The guys talk about the lost art of approaching women, nonverbal communication, flirting, escalation, and why "just be respectful" often fails to explain what women actually respond to in the real world. Later, they examine one of the strangest dating-app strategies yet: boosting your profile by changing your orientation settings so the algorithm thinks you're more desirable. Is it genius? The episode closes with bigger questions: whether attraction grows through repeated exposure, why dating apps are so bad despite being the most common way couples meet, why women increasingly report negative views of men, and a viral red button / blue button thought experiment about altruism, self-interest, and game theory. Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/5e765922/transcript]

Episode 8 - The Delusion Tax

This week on The Handsome Hour, the guys start with a movie clip about a bitter would-be matchmaking client and spiral into a full episode about dating delusion, status anxiety, insane standards, Bumble profile triage, and Star Wars prequel theology. Also, one of the hosts reveals he once dated a woman who did four years for murder. First, Wes, Cody, and Stony break down a scene from Materialists and the kind of dater who treats romance like a prestige shopping list: height, hairline, age, salary, "boxes," and the offense of being rejected by someone you considered beneath you. It turns into a sharp conversation about ego, entitlement, what people think they "deserve," and why dating can become a brutal mirror for your real market value. Then, one of the guys tells the story of dating a woman who served time in prison for murder — with a whole side discussion about self-defense, prosecutors, prison, and why exposing yourself to unusual people and experiences can teach you more than a safe dinner date. The back half is a live workshop on Bumble profiles: what women write, what men respond to, why so many profiles are painfully generic, and why leading with your role on the liver and kidney transplant team may be less sexy than you think. The guys debate humor, originality, filtering, visual imagination, and the difference between saying something harmless and saying something memorable. Finally, the fellow wrap up with a serious argument about Darth Vader, Qui-Gon Jinn, the Star Wars prequels, and whether having a good take on Episode I makes you more attractive to women. In this episode: - Why people are furious to be rejected by someone "below" them - The difference between standards, delusion, and status panic - What "deserve" does to your dating life - What it's like to date a murderer - Why most dating app bios are boring, anodyne, and useless - How to make your profile more distinctive without being cringe - Why "kidney" and "liver" might be bad branding - Did Obi Wan have an arc? Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/728ff5cf/transcript]