MRTS Interview Spotlight - Where Traditional Masculinity Fails And Why

The Men's Roundtable Series Podcast - Mental Health May "Who Am I When I’m Not Winning"

Men’s mental health doesn’t always look like a crisis. Sometimes it looks like snapping at your kid for being a kid, dreading eye contact with your spouse because money feels tight, or sitting in a room full of people and still feeling completely alone. That’s where we go on this Men’s Roundtable conversation, starting with a blunt question: why does mental health awareness feel so quiet right now, even though so many of us feel stretched thin? We get practical fast. We talk about “the pause” as a real tool, including a simple breathing reset that can shut down the stress response before it turns into anger, road rage, or the kind of reaction you regret later. Then we go deeper into identity and shame: who am I when I’m not winning, not providing, not achieving, not fixing. You’ll hear stories that hit hard, from walking into prison in chains, to grinding through entrepreneurship with no cushion, to imposter syndrome in rooms full of degrees and titles. We also speak to isolation, especially that strange kind where you’re surrounded by community (even church) but you still don’t feel safe enough to be known. We share U.S. crisis resources like the 988 Lifeline because this isn’t just talk, it’s about keeping men alive and connected. And we close with a gut-check on “Optimus Prime syndrome,” the belief that a man’s worth is only in serving until he drops. Subscribe, share this with a man you care about, and leave a review. What part of this conversation felt uncomfortably true for you? Support the show [https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu]

MRTS Interview Spotlight - Dr. Jeffrey Bone - Chronic Illness And The Male Identity

A normal prescription. A body that suddenly stops making sense. A long trail of appointments that leave you feeling demoralized instead of helped. We talk with chronic illness coach, author, and podcast host Dr. Jeffrey Bone about how quickly a health problem can turn into a full identity and meaning crisis, especially for men who were raised to push through pain and never slow down. Dr. Bone shares his path from severe sinusitis to a wave of symptoms that didn’t fit neatly into one specialty, plus the turning point that revealed mold toxicity and mycotoxin exposure. From there, we unpack the reality of chronic inflammatory response syndrome and what it’s like to later discover an immune deficiency that requires immunoglobulin infusions. If you’ve felt stuck in the misdiagnosis cycle, you’ll appreciate his “accordion” approach: when to go wide with system-level specialists like immunology and rheumatology, and when to go narrow with focused experts, so you stop falling through the cracks. We also go deeper than labs and labels. Chronic illness can hit freedom, isolation, fear of death, and the meaning of your life, and those are not problems a five minute visit can solve. We talk about men’s mental health, the pressure to perform, and why “fix it” thinking breaks down when the condition is chronic. The takeaway we keep coming back to is clear: ask for help, and when someone asks you, show up and listen. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs support, and leave a review so more people can find it. What part of your health story are you still trying to put into words? Support the show [https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu]

MRTS Interview Spotlight - Where Traditional Masculinity Fails And Why

Doing everything you were taught and still feeling dead inside is a brutal kind of confusion, especially when you’re “successful” on paper. We sit down with mentor, speaker, and author Jon Symes to name what so many men sense but rarely say out loud: a lot of what gets called traditional masculinity is a tight, modern script that trains men for control, competition, and emotional shutdown, then acts surprised when we feel disconnected from our relationships and ourselves. Jon shares his own path into transformational work and the three shifts that changed everything, including the moment he realized we have agency, the decision to live for something larger than personal gain, and the long shadow a father can leave on a man’s habits and identity. We talk about how real change usually starts: bringing unconscious patterns into awareness, telling the truth about the cost, and using pain as information rather than as a life sentence. If you’ve ever wondered why men struggle to ask for help, why marriages can turn into roommate situations, or why achievement can feel empty, this conversation puts clear language around those experiences. We also reframe “midlife crisis” as something more honest and useful: the precise moment your old stories stop serving you and you choose whether to rewrite them. From there, we expand the idea of an aligned life and challenge the definition of success, pushing past money and status toward stewardship, protection, and responsibility for what sustains life. Along the way, we name hidden narratives that divide us, including the belief that some people matter more than others and the myth that we’re separate from each other and from the planet. If you want a healthier model of masculinity grounded in compassion, strength, and protecting what’s sacred, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more men can find the conversation. Support the show [https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu]

The MRTS: Mental Health May - The Emotional Silence Tax

Silence is not neutral for most men. It either becomes a tool we use with intention, or it becomes a bill we keep paying until it starts charging interest. We sit down as husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons to name that bill out loud: the emotional silence tax. When a man believes he cannot be honest about fear, stress, grief, addiction, shame, or overwhelm, the cost shows up somewhere else, in anger, numbness, isolation, marriage conflict, parenting patience, sleep, and even the will to keep going. We wrestle with a tough question in men’s mental health: how do we stay strong for our families without pretending we are unbreakable? The panel explores why certain roles make it even harder to open up, including high-level leadership, religious leadership, stepfathering, and the added stigma carried by people in addiction and formerly incarcerated men. We also push back on the idea that every hard moment is trauma, because “life is hard” is real, and healthy suffering through discipline, work, and growth can build endurance and character. Then we get practical. Each of us shares the personal signals that tell us we are overloaded, from irritability and isolation to losing creativity and shutting down. We talk about using silence well, when it helps you listen, pause, and de-escalate, and when it starts sending the wrong message to the people you love. We also share real resources, including the 988 Lifeline and the Veteran Crisis Line information, and a simple daily practice that can change your outlook: 30 minutes on a hands-on hobby. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who stays “fine” too often, and leave a review so more men can find it when they are searching in the dark. Support the show [https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu]

The MRTS Interview Spotlight: Johnzelle Anderson - Trauma, Identity, and The Whole Man

What if the hardest part of becoming yourself is admitting you were never given the tools to know who you were in the first place? We pull up a chair with licensed therapist and author Johnzelle Anderson for a raw, thoughtful conversation about men’s mental health, identity, and the quiet damage that happens when a child grows up surrounded by miseducation, abuse, neglect, and racism. Johnzelle shares what it was like being mixed race in Southwest Virginia as a Black person “raised in whiteness,” including the confusion of learning hatred from the very people meant to protect you. We dig into how he holds boundaries as a therapist while still staying fully human, why storytelling can build real rapport, and how more Black men are embracing therapy since 2020. Along the way, we talk anxiety, relationships, parenting, employment stress, and the real-life weight that shows up behind closed doors when men finally decide they’re done surviving. We also explore his memoir, Mixtape and Memoir, and the idea of unlearning as an ongoing process rather than a neat ending. Johnzell takes us to West Africa, from Ghana to Sierra Leone, and explains how reclaiming roots and legacy can heal places a father never tended. The episode lands on a simple practice that’s tougher than it sounds: “Be kind to yourself, and I’ll do the same.” Subscribe for more honest conversations on restoration, share this with a man who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest takeaway you’re still thinking about. Support the show [https://buymeacoffee.com/theycallmemistayu]