Story Archives of 'men'

Boys are influenced by popular culture differently from girls. We'll look at how their general preferences for adventure stories -- with battles and violence -- can work against them, especially within the traditional school system. Our guests are Ralph Fletcher, author of Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices and UNH Professor Tom Newkirk, author of Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture.

*****This program was originally broadcast on December 19, 2006

Dr. Lionel Tiger is Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He says current trends show women may be about to surpass men socially and economically - and it may be due to biology.

The Gender Gap Turned On Its Head! Thirty years ago, boys were ahead of the class when it came to academics- from first grade to college commencement. But these days it’s girls who are their class valedictorians…and boys are said to be lagging behind. We’ll look at possible reasons for this flip-flop and what some educators are doing about it. Laura's guests are Dr. Michael Thompson, consultant and psychologist specializing in children and families who has written several books, including "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys" and Kathy Stevens, Training Director for The Gurian Institute, an educational corporation that helps train schools on learning differences between boys and girls, and co-author of "The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life".

Four years ago, the buzz words in the presidential race were "Soccer Moms" and "Nascar Dads". This year, polls suggest that the swing vote could be found among single women. The experts say they think differently about the issues than men, and even their fellow married female peers. We'll talk about this gender gap, how the presidential candidates are courting males vs. females, and how they are using femininity and masculinity on the campaign trail. Laura's guests are Elizabeth Ossoff, professor of psychology at the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm Collge and Swanee Hunt, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

We'll talk about how a man's life is shaped by his relationship with his dad, and how fathers continue to play a crucial role in the lives of their grown children. Laura's guest is Samuel Osherson, a Harvard Medical School psychologist and author of "Finding Our Fathers: How a Man's Life is Shaped by His Relationship with His Father." www.hms.harvard.edu This is a rebroadcast of an earlier program.