Caffeine Pouches And Teens: What You Need To Know
How much buzz is too much? PLUS: America's masculinity crisis, and why are TikTok references being inserted into old books?
Hi Readers!
I’m Christopher Pepper, an award-winning health educator and the co-author of the bestselling book Talk To Your Boys.
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In this edition:
America Has a Masculinity Crisis
They’re Small, Discreet And Everywhere. Young People Are Obsessed With Caffeine Pouches
A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs
For Far-Right Extremists, The Rise Of A New Enemy: Women
Why Is TikTok in This Book From 2006?
Looksmaxxing Isn’t Just A TikTok Trend – It Often Reflects Severe Body Image Issues In Teen Boys And Young Men
Texas School Police Pepper-Sprayed, Tackled and Tasered Students
America Has a Masculinity Crisis (New York Times)
By Nadja Spiegelman, Frederick Joseph, and Ruth Whippman Young men are in crisis. While the left tells men to stay in their lane, members of the manosphere and the far right are welcoming them with open arms. In a conversation about masculinity in a post-#MeToo world, the Opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman talks to the authors Ruth Whippman and Frederick Joseph about what a healthier version of manhood could look like — and how we can get there. WATCH
From Christopher - WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? Ruth Whippman’s book “Boy Mom,” and “Talk To Your Boys” are often paired up as reading suggestions, and I love that she and Frederick Joseph are helping more people have reflective, provocative conversations what’s going on with boys and men right now and what we can do about it.
They’re Small, Discreet And Everywhere. Young People Are Obsessed With Caffeine Pouches (USA Today)
By Rachel Hale: On an April evening, nearly a hundred bikini-clad saunagoers descend on Othership Flatiron, the sauna-and-ice-bath spa that has become an Instagrammable landmark of New York City’s wellness scene.
Inside, a DJ blasts house music as people rotate between 32-degree cold plunges and a cedar sauna, slipping small white pouches between their gums and lips. Palm-sized plastic canisters of the product are lined up in neat rows on the counter.The pouches – flavored Blue Raspberry and Fruit Punch – weren’t nicotine.
The event is hosted by Wip, a start-up behind flavored “energy pouches.” The products are part of a fast-growing category of caffeine pouches marketed as a trendier, cheaper and more discreet alternative to coffee, energy drinks and pre-workout powders. In recent months the pouches, which have circulated in social media mentions for some time, have been popping up more frequently in the wellness sphere and in social settings. READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? There’s been a lot of focus recently on nicotine pouches, but I haven’t seen much coverage of this new pouch trend, and it seems like something we should keep an eye on.
