893: Testosterone
Summary
This American Life reruns a 2002 episode exploring testosterone’s impact on personality, prompted by recent military testing mandates. The show features four stories: a transgender man’s experience with high-dose testosterone, the staff’s own competitive testing experiment, a man’s life with zero testosterone, and a mother’s interview with her teenage son about puberty.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Pete Hegseth and the testosterone rerun
Alex Bloomberg's feminist awakening and the show's premise
Sponsors and program notes
Griffin Hansberry on life with high testosterone
Reflections on Griffin's transition and changing desires
Reintroduction of the rerun context
Staff testosterone testing and surprising results
Living without testosterone: A GQ writer's account
A mother's perspective on her son's teenage boyhood
Credits and closing remarks
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