Tom Junod On Masculinity And His Dad

Tom Junod On Masculinity And His Dad

From The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan by Andrew Sullivan

May 1, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

Tom Junod discusses masculinity, his relationship with his father, and personal reflections in this intense conversation.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com Tom is a journalist and author. A former staff writer at GQ and Esquire, the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was based on his Esquire article on Fred Rogers. He’s currently a senior writer at ESPN, and his new memoir is called In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man . It was an intense conversation — about dads, sex, Catholicism, and growing older. For two clips of the episode — on being your dad’s wingman as a kid, and the dark secrets that Catholic families often carry — head to our YouTube page . Other topics: his dad’s serious injury at Normandy; emulating leading men in Hollywood; selling women’s handbags; his extreme vanity and obsession with scents; “the first metrosexual”; women flocking to him; making Tom complicit in his countless affairs; how men benefitted from the early Sexual Revolution more than women; Vatican II; Tom’s close relationship with his Catholic mom; Tom fearing his dad; the friends who worshipped him like a celebrity; hiding his Brooklyn accent; hiding extreme porn and dildos in his briefcase that Tom found; sadomasochism and bondage…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Sullivan

Guest: Tom Junod

Topics covered

  • masculinity
  • father-son relationships
  • Catholicism
  • sexual revolution
  • memoir writing
  • personal identity

Keywords

  • masculinity
  • father
  • Catholicism
  • memoir
  • sexual revolution
  • Tom Junod
  • Andrew Sullivan

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: GQ, Esquire, ESPN

Books & works: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man

More episodes of The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan podcast page.