German Villegas

Today’s conversation is with German Villegas. German is a Social Change Accelerator, host of the Modern Manhood podcast, is a Man at Large at Next Gen Men in Edmonton.

German is a Chilean immigrant who moved to Edmonton, Canada in 1988. He noticed a gap between the discussion about gender roles, and how men have been thinking and talking about it, so he set out to create Modern Manhood, a podcast about healthy masculinities and the roles they play in society through interviews, the podcast has been shortlisted for a Community Award in 2016 and has included guests from three different continents.

German’s main life has included being a youth worker and mental health advocate for 6 years and working primarily with young boys in creating healthy relationship skills. He also has worked with men in co-facilitating group therapy and psychoeducational work with men who have abused, and men who identify that they need help. But German also loves talking podcasts, 2000 era garage rock music, and the education system. He describes himself as someone always trying to lean in to ambiguity, and flexing his empathy muscles.

In this episode we talk about:

More on German and his work

Next Gen Men: https://nextgenmen.ca/our-team/

Modern Manhood: https://modernmanhood.org

Other links from this episode:

Youtube video with elementary school teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fayKPhZzrMI

Raewyn Connell, formally RW Connell, and her book “Masculinities”: http://www.raewynconnell.net/p/masculinities_20.html

C.J. Pascoe’s Book “Dude, You’re a Fag:” https://www.amazon.ca/Dude-Youre-Fag-Masculinity-Sexuality/dp/0520271483