Jordan Ritter Conn on American Men

From Origin Stories by Campside Media

May 6, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 40

About this episode

Jordan Ritter Conn discusses his book 'American Men' and the challenges of exploring modern masculinity through personal narratives.

Jordan Ritter Conn is a journalist, a senior staff writer at The Ringer, and the author of American Men, a reported book that follows four men over the course of several years as they grapple, in different ways, with the same question: what does it mean to be a man in America today. In this episode, he talks to Matthew about how American Men came together, from reaching out to dozens of potential subjects to narrowing in on the four men at the center of the book. He describes the level of access required to tell stories that are both deeply personal and broadly representative, the challenge of getting people to open up over long periods of time, and the process of shaping a large body of material into something cohesive. He also reflects on how his approach to writing has evolved, and what it means to better understand what he’s actually good at. “I do think with any kind of talent there’s a ceiling. I know that I have a ceiling on my talent,"" he says. ""But I do think I’m getting a little bit better at maximizing that.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Host: Matthew

Guest: Jordan Ritter Conn

Topics covered

masculinity
journalism
personal stories
American culture
writing process

Keywords

American Men
Jordan Ritter Conn
masculinity
journalism
writing
personal stories
The Ringer

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Ringer

Books & works: American Men