Fitness remains political

So-called "swoletariats" are exercising for the resistance.

There’s a lot of fitness content in conservative manosphere circles – that’s not new – but now, there are also fitness influencers who call themselves the “swoletariat.” That’s a combination of the word “swole,” meaning buff, and “proletariat,” meaning the working class — the swoletariat are people whose fitness regimens connect to leftist politics. NPR's Life Kit producer Margaret Cirino shares her reporting with Brittany on the history of leftist fitness – and why she’s seeing the swoletariat picking up steam on social media.

Want to know more about fitness and health? Check out these episodes:
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"
Beware the Wellness Industrial Complex!
The privilege of being "skinny"

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy