Rigour & Flow with Aiwan and Tamanda
Rigour & Flow with Aiwan and Tamanda
Lost Black Boys: Education, The Red Pill & Incel Culture
NOV 18, 2025
69 MIN
Lost Black Boys: Education, The Red Pill & Incel Culture
NOV 18, 2025
69 MIN
Play Episode
Description
<p>We take education to task. Asking who it serves, what it leaves out and what it means for boys growing up in an age of algorithms and Andrew Tate.</p><p> </p><p>Aiwan opens with a question many 18-year-olds are asking today: "I<em>s university still worth it?"</em> She shares what she gained from structured learning in music technology and what 20 years in a creative industry taught her that a degree never could. We talk debt, discipline and the difference between education and enlightenment. And, dare we say, even wisdom.</p><p> </p><p>Then Tamanda brings to the surface a story that’s hard to ignore: the rise of the Black Red Pill bros. She introduces Kelvin Frimpong, a Ghanaian-born ex-Red Piller, whose viral TikTok lays bare how young men can be groomed through isolation, resentment and the promise of belonging. We hear his cut-through voicenotes on education as prevention, and the role that adults can and must play in creating spaces where boys can question safely without being shamed.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, we hear from our dear friend, Dr Alex Blower, whose academic work explores the most critical and urgent of questions: <em>“What can we do about the issue of boys, men and toxic masculinity?” </em>Alex adds a dose of compassion that’s informed by his work on boys, schooling and masculinity. And he offers a roadmap for teachers, parents and communities to become “trusted adults”, i.e. mentors who can protect and honour the emotional lives of boys in a world that too often forgets them.</p><p> </p><p><strong>🎧 In this episode:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>Learning vs. livestreams:</strong> What university teaches that Youtube can’t and why structured learning <em>still</em> matters in a digital world.</li><li><strong>£27K degrees and AI degrees: </strong>The rising cost of Higher Education, creative industry realities and whether AI is helping or hollowing out learning.</li><li><strong>The Black red pill</strong>: Isolation, grooming and the pipeline from resentment to radicalisation.</li><li><strong>Hearing from Kelvin Frimpong</strong>: A first-hand account of alienation, belonging and how art and feminist literature rebuilt identity.</li><li><strong>Culture and conservatism: </strong>How African social values, religion and prosperity gospel ideals can make red pill ideas harder to spot.</li><li><strong>Saving our sons</strong>: Dr Alex Blower on schools, masculinity and community; from the “lost boys task force” to the call for trusted adults.</li><li><strong>Education as prevention</strong>: Why communication, critical thinking and conversation matter more than condemnation.</li><li><strong>Teaching and the teachers</strong>: Why constraints on educators limit care and how every adult can help raise emotionally whole boys.</li><li><strong>Can Black feminism save Black boys?:</strong> Education, Black red pill bros and Incel culture.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>🎙️ Listen wherever you get your podcasts</p><p>🎥 Watch the full episode on <a href="https://youtu.be/iT4eYMYkGBI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></p><p>🔁 Share with a parent, teacher or friend raising a boy in 2025</p><p>📬 Reflections or stories to share?
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