What A Day - MAGA's Misogyny

Episode Date: May 26, 2026

You may have noticed that misogyny seems to be everywhere right now, especially online. As American women continue to move further to the political left, men on the American Right appear to have responded by losing their minds completely. Helen Lewis, a staff writer for the Atlantic, coined a term for these kinds of people. She calls them "masculinists." And she argues that "masculinism" has become a bonding agent for the American right wing that can paper over other divides. Helen joins the show to discuss her article, "The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet."And in headlines, what we do and don't know about Trump's alleged Iran deal, Tulsi Gabbard resigns as National Intelligence Director, and Pro-Palestine Activist Mahmoud Khalil takes his deportation case to the Supreme Court.Show Notes: Check out Helen's piece – https://tinyurl.com/4mfbz2s5 Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Tuesday, May 26th. I'm Jane Koston. This is what a day. Show that is not whimsy-maxing. Partly because I don't know what that would require me to do, partly because I do not want to. On today's show, a lot happened over the holiday weekend. We'll tell you what we do and don't know about President Donald Trump's alleged Iran deal. And Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard resigns. But let's start with misogyny. you may have noticed that misogyny is kind of everywhere right now, especially online. As American women continue to move further to the political left, while gaining economic and cultural independence, men in the American right appear to have responded by losing their minds completely. For example, this is Doug Wilson. He's a pastor in Moscow, Idaho, with close ties

to Secretary of Defense slash little boy Pete Higgseth. Higseth even invited him to lead a Pentagon worship service back in February. And boy, does Doug Wilson have a lot of fun views on the role of women in the world. Here he is speaking to CNN's Pamela Brown last summer. What role do you think women play in society? Women are the kind of people that people come out of. So you just think they're meant to have babies? That's it.

They're just a vessel. No, it doesn't take any talent to simply reproduce biologically. The wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three or four or five eternal souls. In other words, I'm not a person. I am a person production vehicle. Fun. Then there's Scott Yanner, who has said that women today are, quote, medicated, meddlesome and cruelsome. And Helen Andrews, a conservative writer who argues that the quote, feminization of the workplace has ruined everything. Two more people to not invite to your

next house party. Helen Lewis, a staff writer for the Atlantic, calls these people masculinists in a recent article. I wanted to ask her, what is driving this movement and what is it doing to our policy? Helen, welcome to Water Day. Thank you very much for having me. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of your piece and this movement such as it exists as a whole, how would you define masculinism? Right. I wanted a word that wasn't the same as Manosphere because I think to people that says Andrew Tate that says influencers, people who are chasing the viral algorithm.

And I wanted to make the case in this piece. I was talking about the people like one step up from that, right? We're talking about people who work for think tanks, people who write for very impressive academic and intellectual journals, people who've got, you know, links to the White House. So, masquinism is anti-feminism or a movement to reassert the primacy of men, to say really that men should be dominating politics, the law, the military, all of this kind of stuff. They want a world ruled by men and women restored to what they see is their proper place, which is secondary.

And they're very serious about the ways that they've been thinking about doing it. They have a whole intellectual backing of it. And that is, to me, masculineism. Yeah, it's also, to me, differs from the Manosphere because I remember writing about the Manosphere like 10, 15 years ago. And at some point, there was an idea of like the Manosphere being a place where you talk about how to get women. Masculinism is not about how to attract women at all. It has nothing to do with that whatsoever. And it's also interesting because, as you mentioned, it encapsulates a lot of different people.

There are pastors and podcast bros and incells and insel adjacent people, but also women who seemingly, support this broader movement? What beliefs are tying them together? It's interesting you say that because I came away of thinking that a lot of these men are men who exist primarily and are most interested in their relationships with other men, being a kind of status hierarchy with other men. You know, they, in the case of Scott Yenna of the Heritage Foundation, he's a member of an all-male society, which is dedicated to kind of letting men be their best selves. It was set up by an Indiana hair care magnate, which is a phrase I can never say enough. You know, and in the case of Charles Cornishdale, Rore Egg Nationalist, a lot of that is about bodybuilding.

And he gets very cross about the fact that people always think the pirates and Spartans are gay, because actually straight men need to be able to reclaim the idea about hanging out sweatily with other men. So I think that's one of the things that's interesting. Women are kind of slightly secondary to this vision in all kinds of ways. These are people who would be happier to work with other men, take orders, you know, political orders from other men. And actually, women are very much like the plus one of the world to them.

Yeah, it was interesting, though, because you. you mentioned a writer named Helen Andrews, who has written about the feminization of the workplace. I'm using air quotes. Then you mentioned Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, speaking with Laura Ingram on a show. And someone made the point, like, two women with jobs talking about how women shouldn't have jobs. So how do women fit in here? Obviously, they are the object of derision, the object of wanting to be pushed out of society. But there are women who are talking about this as being a good thing.

Right, and I don't want to dismiss that these women do think these things and are making an intellectual case, but there is something else parallel to that that's going on. There's a great moment in the drama, Mrs. America, where Kate Blanchett plays Phyllis Schlafly, who led the kind of reaction against the Equal Rights Amendment getting ratified, where she's trying to talk about defense policy, which is her great enthusiasm, and none of the men around her care. And then she says, but of course, you know, this women's lib has gone too far. And suddenly they're like, oh, hello, because they know that a female messenger for that subject is much more appealing.

you know, if you're the woman who will say that women are getting a bit, you know, bit uppity, there will be a warm welcome for you and people have subsequently filled that market niche. But Helen Andrews has got a really coherent thesis that she lays out. I don't think it's a very compelling one when you look at the evidence particularly, but this idea that basically some sectors of society now have majority female in them. So in America, the majority of undergraduate medical degrees are being taken by women now. And then the feeling is that because women are ruled by their emotions, not logic. They care more about feelings than they do about facts. They will make bad doctors

and the profession will become more about, you know, diagnosing people with made-up illnesses. And the thing that's interesting to me is she diagnoses a lot of trends that I have some sympathy for. I think there are real trends in American society that have happened at the same time as a couple of industries have become more feminine. So she talks about the universities. Now I would be the first to admit that I think American universities have had a pretty rough decade trying to deal with and digest this kind of new ideology. But whether or not that's really about the entry of women to them or that's a broader social shift. The same thing with the idea that we don't want to take risks anymore. I think that's much more likely to do with the fact that we're

in ageing society. We're dominated still by that baby boomer generation who are now in their 70s. And they are shaping the cultural norms, right? And what they want is as a safer world with less kids on their lawn playing loud music. That to me seems more likely to be shaping our attitude to risk than maybe it does the fact that we're feminized. So as extreme as masculinist ideas are, for example, the idea of, you know, we got to restrict the vote from women or women should not be allowed to work in pretty much any outward facing field or the idea of, you know, the vote, you can only vote if you're a man with women and children. They aren't fringe anymore. There are people in the Trump administration who actually believe this stuff. So how has the rise of masculinism influenced a

American politics. Well, the thing I hadn't really thought about before is that the MAGA right has now got some pretty serious and obvious fractures through the middle of it. A very obvious example of that would be the Iran war, right? The kind of old-fashioned neocons hanging in there versus this larger group that think, you know, the America first people who think, why are we getting involved in the Middle East again? The role of Israel in American politics. You know, there are still bits of the Republican Party that are default reflexively pro-Israel, but there are bigger bits of the coalition who contest that in the same way that they're. on the left and that argument's happening in the Democrats.

The same thing with Trump's terrorists versus the people who believe in free trade. These big splits exist. The one thing that basically Tucker Carlson, Megan Kelly, Scott Yenna at the Heritage Foundation, Doug Wilson, who's Pete Higgs says pastor, you know, all of these different factions, these moving parts from the Maga can agree is

traditional gender roles are too better, are better, the left has gone crazy on gender, and actually wouldn't it be better if we rolled the clock back a little bit? So you and I, well, actually, I hope, mostly me, spend a lot of time online. And you see this kind of conversation happening all the time. And some of this seems like insane. Like it seems to me like the online discussion is almost edging into kind of, I think you quote,

there's a writer who called it like the based ritual where you just compete in these right wing circles by saying the most based or terrible thing you can think of. what, you know, oh, you know, women shouldn't be allowed to vote. Oh, yeah, women should be only used for breeding, which is something Nick Fuentes once said. So my question is how much of this is kind of like an online attempt to get content and clicks? And how much of it is people trying to be like, no, we actually should try to take away voting from women. Are we seeing these ideas in policy yet? Right. I think that's the interesting question that merits exploration, because there are very influential people. And I mentioned Heritage because Project 2025 disavowed by Trump during

the campaign, but essentially the blueprint for a second term, that has got lots of things in it about, you know, very stealthily reducing access to abortion pills, for example, just by upping the regulatory burden, you know, that kind of thing. And you can see a similar way in which you would try and create more like your traditional families, right? So there is another report by the Heritage Foundation out in January that said, you know, we need to think about whether or not we restrict single parent benefits. They've also mentioned attempting to restrict women from going to graduate school. Right.

Over-education is a problem. I believe that paper was written by someone who has a doctorate, so. I mean, this is like the kind of thing that every tradwife is actually running a small business, right? There's just kind of quite a lot of like do as I say, not as I do. But, you know, stuff like rolling back no-fault divorce. You know, I wrote a history of feminism, which looked at the time before, I mean, England only got no-fault divorce relatively recently. But that was, you know, the idea of blame, like the divorce is about blame has historically been very bad for women

because it becomes that, you know, you're going to have your children taken away from you because you were a bad woman. Like all of those things, whether or not like small changes to the tax code, for example, you know, things like that that have been absolutely fought for by American feminism. There is an obsession with the birth rates, for example, right? And it's very striking to me that the one thing that never really comes up is, shall we make it easier financially for people to have children? even shall we make it easier financially to stay at home with their very young children? You know, I live in Europe, as you might be able to tell, for my accent, and it's kind of always been shocking to me the entire time I've been writing about America, but there is no federally mandated maternity leave.

You get these situations in which women are cobbling together their holiday allowance, right? Or they are having to go back to work and then, like, pump in the break room, or whatever it might be. America, you know, has a higher birth rate than Europe, but does not have very family-friendly policies. But you never hear about the carrot, right? It always seems to be the stick. and that suggests to me that there's an ideological belief about the underpins all of this.

Helen, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. Thank you. That was my conversation with Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic. I'm a woman who will be telling you what happened in the world. If you're okay with that because you're not a deranged misogynist, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads.

What a day is brought to you by fast-growing trees. Did you know fast-growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery, with thousands of trees and plants and over 2 million happy customers? They have all the plants your yard or home needs, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and house plants, all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but anywhere you live, with more plants than you'll find anywhere else. Whatever you're looking for, fast-growing trees helps you find options that actually. work for your climate, space, and lifestyle. Fast-growing trees makes it easy to get your dream

yard. Just click, order, grow, and get healthy thriving plants delivered to your door. Their alive and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required, just quality plants you can count on. Plus, get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants, and learn how to care for them every step of the way. My husband and I love giving gifts from fast-growing trees. It's a gift that literally keeps giving year after year. Right now, they have great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants. And listeners to our show get 20% off their first purchase when using the code Wad at checkout. That's an additional 20% off better plants and better growing

at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code Wad at checkout. Fastgrowingtrees.com code Wad. Now is the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use WOD to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms conditions may apply. This podcast is brought to you by Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. When it comes to sending money abroad, many providers claim to offer free fees and competitive rates. But don't be fooled. This can be code for inflated exchange rates. With the Wise account, you can send, spend, and receive money in over 40 currencies without ever having to worry about hidden fees. Sending pounds across the pond? Most transfers arrive in 20 seconds or less. Spending Rial is in Rio? The Wise travel.

card gives you the mid-market rate on every purchase. No costly markups on your bill. Getting paid in dollars for your side gig? Avoid hidden fees and get the real exchange rate every time. With 24-7 access to live support, your international transactions with Wise are quick, transparent, and safe. Plus, Wise runs over 7 million daily checks to catch and prevent fraud. 15 million people already trust Wise to manage their money internationally. Be smart. Get Wise. My husband and I have used Wise when we've traveled out of the country and it's been a total game changer. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com.

Terms and conditions apply. Here's what you may have missed. Head of lines. Look, we were told about 11 weeks ago by Hegset and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran's defenses and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we're talking about a posture

where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran How does that make sense at all? That was North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis speaking to Jake Tapper on Sunday and asking the question many of us are thinking. What exactly is this Iran deal and what's the point of it? President Trump announced over the weekend that Iran and the United States are getting close to a deal to end the war. But stop me if you've heard this before. The deal might not really be a deal.

Iranian officials told reporters Monday that, quote, no one can claim that the signing of an agreement is imminent. Some of Trump's biggest allies seem to already hate what they're hearing about the alleged deal. Oh, and on Monday, Trump added that part of an agreement with Iran would be that Qatar and Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords and normalized relations with Israel. Something these countries do not want to do. Here's what we do now. As of Monday, the deal reportedly involves a 60-day ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Formuz, and continuing negotiations over Iran's nuclear materials. The strait, you'll recall, weekly.

And the nuclear materials? Those were allegedly why we went to war in the first place. Also on Monday, U.S. Central Command announced that U.S. forces struck targets in Iran and, quote, self-defense strikes. Tulsi Gabbard resigned as Director of National Intelligence on Friday, saying she needed to leave office as her husband battles cancer. She is the fourth cabinet member to depart during Trump's second term, all women. Gabbard, a veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, built her political name on her opposition. to foreign wars, but Trump's overseas military operations had seemed to put the two on a collision course. President Trump quickly announced her replacement on True Social, Gabbard's principal deputy, Aaron Lucas.

A criminal case in Tennessee against Kilmar Abrego-Gargeo-Garcia has been dropped. The Maryland man was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March of 2025, after a traffic stop in Baltimore. Weeks later, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to bring Obrigo Garcia back. He was returned to the U.S. in June and charged with human smuggling based on a Tennessee traffic stop from 2022. That case was dismissed on Friday after a federal judge found evidence of, quote, vindictive prosecution by the Justice Department. What? No, not this Justice Department. Abraga Garcia still has a civil case in Maryland where he's challenging the Department of Homeland Security's attempts to deport him to an African country. Pro-Palestinian activist and former Columbia

university graduate student, Mahmoud Halil, will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court put the government a step closer to deporting him on Friday. Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities, quote, aligned to Hamas. However, they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. The ACLU, which is involved in representing Halil, released a statement saying the decision, quote, is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward. Mexican president Claudia Shambam said on Monday that she has, quote,

no issue with her country hosting Iran's World Cup team for the summer soccer competition. So we asked us, can pernoctar in Mexico? We said, we said, no problem. Quote, they asked us, can they spend the night in Mexico?

And we said, yes, that's no problem. The team will still play its group stage matches in the U.S., but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico. Sheimbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by, a FIFA representative, the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time outside the games on U.S. territory. And that's the news. Before we go, hey, if you haven't heard yet, tickets for CrookedCon 26 are on sale now. Expect potential presidential candidates,

campaign strategists, pollsters, organizers, journalists, creators, and Crooked podcast hosts like me. CrookedCon comes just days after the midterms. We will have a lot to learn and a lot to do to get ready for the next two years. It kicks off on Thursday, November 5th, with a Pod Save America Live show. Then in the evening of Friday, November 6th, you can catch strict scrutiny live or love it or leave it live. And on Saturday, November 7th, join us for a full day of CrookedCon panels and meetups. Head to crookedcon.com to get tickets and more details, including how to become a friend of the pod for a special discount. I can't wait to see you there. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Relish in the first, enhanced

games, apparent failure, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just about how the sports competition that encouraged athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs featured fitness influencers, sparse crowds, and a lot of non-enhanced athletes winning their events, like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and past their prime men taking a lot of supplements and trying to impress people with their physical capabilities. Sounds like something that should to be for RFK Jr. Water Day is a production of Crooked Media.

Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Ford, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized for the Writers Guild of America East.