Today in Focus The men trying to do friendship, better – podcast
Feb 27, 2026
Thomas Yarrow, an anthropology professor studying male friendship and volunteer cultures, and Josh Halliday, a journalist who shares personal struggles with family illness, explore how men connect. They discuss WhatsApp banter, a transformative men’s retreat, heritage railway volunteers, silence as care, and activity-based camaraderie as alternatives to emotional disclosure.
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Booze Fueled Confessions In Longstanding Male Mates
- Josh Halliday described friendship rituals with longtime male friends that were mostly booze, banter and football and only ended with emotional unburdening after heavy drinking.
- He spent 15–16 years in those dynamics, felt lonely carrying his dad's Huntington's diagnosis privately, and later wished he had been more open earlier.
Digital Banter Can Silence Serious Talk
- Josh links male reluctance to open up to identity pressures: bravado, performance in WhatsApp groups and fear of judgement block real conversation.
- He left a large lads' WhatsApp because constant banter prevented space for serious discussion about mental health issues around him.
Campfire Confessions At A Men's Retreat
- Josh described a men's retreat led by Anthony Mullally where strangers did yoga, woodcarving, cold-water swimming and nightly campfire sharing.
- The campfire circle produced humbling disclosures and showed men could open up to strangers in structured settings.