Hickory Stick

A podcast episode about male violence. Tan the hide.  Spare the rod.  We etch with our awl the leather. Skin-poke. Violence bleeds from daddy to boy.  Our wit sweetens the flow.  Those dark voices—you are not strong enough—we hear and revise.  Like when you pee, you heed the Bible on your willy.  Circumscribed by circumcision.  Restore the foreskin.  Throw a shower party.  Slip-slide away. Listen to our shower party.  We don't sing, but we belt out our thoughts about how male violence gets passed from one generation to the next.  Corporal punishment and circumcision.  Both say to sons, through beating and cutting, conform. How to break the chain?   If you’ve been spanked, how do you discipline your children?  You’ve been circumcised.  Can you grow your foreskin back, figuratively speaking (or maybe literally)?  Can you restore your wholeness?  Joel and Eric wrestle with these questions, and each other.  They are pretty slippery, but always find their grip.  BELT: A 2-Man Memoir is a podcast about masculinity by Joel Tauber and Eric Wilson. Dino Herrmann composed the music and did the sound design. For this episode, Hickory Stick, we interviewed William Wallace, professor of biology at the College of Staten Island and member of the National Organization of Restoring Men. Subscribe to BELT: A 2-Man Memoir and listen to it on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Podcast Index, Deezer, and here on our website. Copyright Eric Wilson and Joel Tauber. All rights reserved. Hickory Stick. Male Violence Undone.