Hi Reader,

I skipped the newsletter last week because I was busy preparing for the Leading for Transformation course. It is for editorial leaders and founders, and it starts on 23 April, with sliding scale rates. Come join!

With the ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel, the illegal attacks on Iran by the US and Israel, a million people displaced in South Lebanon because of Israel's attacks, the global energy crisis as a result of the Iran war, and the new US blockade on Cuba, what shocks me most is not just the scale, but the normalization of it. And I didn't even mention the ongoing war in Sudan, where the Rapid Support Forces are deliberately starving the population.

The new documentary Inside the​ Manosphere by British filmmaker Louis Theroux seemed a welcome distraction from the 24/7 newscycle, but it actually reveals how entertainment and politics are increasingly intertwined. Reporting on the intersections becomes more important than ever.

Sanne

The extraction economy of the manosphere

When Louis Theroux asks one of the protagonists—Harrison James Patrick Sullivan, known as HSTikkyTokky—how he positions himself politically and culturally, he answers that he's been a huge Trump fan since 2015. He mentioned that a lot of men who are active in the manosphere are now in politics. He adds:

The manosphere can be described as a collection of online platforms promoting masculinity, traditionalist perspectives, and often misogyny, rooted in the idea that men’s status is declining. It is often presented as a global phenomenon, but it is deeply rooted in Western anxieties about decline and loss of traditional values.

Theroux follows key figures and shows their wealthy lifestyles and the formulas for success they sell. Part of it makes sense because gym culture and discipline can give people purpose. But the film also exposes how much of this world is built on contradiction, and on selling ideas that influencers don’t always believe themselves. It fits perfectly in hyper-capitalism.

Fragmented ecosystem or infrastructure?

Research by Ofcom describes the manosphere as a “fragmented ecosystem,” but Theroux’s documentary shows how it increasingly functions as an online infrastructure where ideologies are built: by going to the gym, you enter the pipeline:

• lifting weights = discipline
• discipline = moral worth
• moral worth = right to lead

Young men’s attention and identity are leveraged (extracted) for economic profit and political alignment. American boxer Jake Paul’s recent interview with Trump is a good example. He praises Trump for the war on Iran, framing it as “freeing women.” A familiar narrative that we’ve seen before in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.

Studies by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue show how influencer networks gradually steer audiences toward political content without presenting themselves as political. It starts with lifestyle content and entertainment, and slowly becomes an ideology.

The emphasis on strong bodies and strict hierarchies connects to how fascist movements also glorified strength and rejected equality. The manosphere echoes this logic: society declines when men become “soft,” and order is restored through strength. The gym becomes a metaphor for moral discipline.

Someone like Donald Trump is celebrated not only for his policies but also for the image of dominance that he projects. In Europe, far-right political parties, such as the Forum for Democracy in the Netherlands, have built significant followings by tapping into similar narratives of strength and cultural grievance.

One striking element in Theroux’s documentary is how openly antisemitic many influencers are, while also supporting Trump, who strongly supports Israel.

This contradiction is present in far-right movements that often admire strong states while spreading conspiracy theories about elites or minorities.

Extraction as a model

Journalism often covers these developments separately, in isolation: influencer culture, entertainment, health reporting, masculinity debates, politics.

But the manosphere sits at the intersection of technology, culture, economics, and politics. If you cover it only as lifestyle or entertainment, you miss its political influence.

The gym routine content, the financial advice, and the dating recommendations seem superficial. But all of it has elements of the broader ideology.

It can help to understand the manosphere through extraction; it's the way the model of hyper capitalism also works. And that mirrors colonial economies, where human lives become resources to be mined. The manosphere as a subculture shows a familiar structure of how power reproduces itself through new platforms, using old logics. The colonial matrix continues.

Young men’s attention and their search for identity become raw material. Influencers monetize it through courses and platforms, while algorithms amplify the most extreme content.

A small group profits from selling a lifestyle they may not even believe in, while a larger group buys into the promise.

• What economic model is sustaining the content of the influencers? (sometimes it's forced sexual labour)
• What identity narrative is being offered to the audience? (traditional values, hatred towards "weak" people, individualism)
• Which political actors benefit from that narrative gaining traction? (far-right parties)

Leading for Transformation

Opportunities

• Freelance Journalist Opportunity (Remote | Global). The Fuller Project is looking for freelance journalists to contribute to impactful, gender-focused storytelling. USD 150–750 per project and no deadline (open until filled). Read more here.
• ​The Exile Hub opens applications for the Feminist Storytelling Grant. They welcome applications from members of the Myanmar communities. Deadline 31 March. More info here.
• Science journalists can apply for the Media Fellowship at the Nova Institute for Health. Deadline, April 20. For outstanding print, digital, and broadcast journalists as well as nonprofit newsrooms who are reporting on the complex, interconnected factors that affect health and well-being. Read more here.

See you next week!

Sanne