The Most Divorced Men in History

Is there a link between a specific subset of men who resent their exes and everything wrong in the country today?

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The latest "Next Comes What" considers Trump and his lackeys through the prism of being the most divorced guys in history. Andrea Pitzer points out how reckless and chaotic the administration's actions are, and notes the oft-discussed concept of divorced-guy energy, in which some men adopt self-destructive behaviors and become resentful of their exes. She offers up Trump himself, Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, and RFK Jr. as examples. JD Vance and Stephen Miller qualify in their own ways, despite not being divorced. Andrea considers Elon Musk perhaps the most divorced guy in the world.

 

The episode then covers a recent study from Rural Sociology actually identifying a pattern among some (but not all) men in communities undergoing social or economic shifts, in which they embrace risk-taking and often self-destructive behaviors. When the researcher asked why in interviews, this particular group of men often brought up a partner they were no longer with, and expressed resentment about that person. She considers them in light of the already-identified concept of reactive protest masculinity. Andrea takes a hypothetical leap (because the study was quite small), and wonders whether this is a scientific identification of divorced-guy energy, and suggests what it might mean for the country if a similar pattern is happening in and around the White House. She closes with thoughts on how to push back on what Trump is doing if this administration is in fact acting out reactive protest masculinity on a global scale.