The “male loneliness epidemic” is the hottest talking point in town. So much so that it has almost become a meme. A lot of people are lonely, and it only gets harder as we get older and the technology meant to connect us often drives us further apart.

But men do face unique challenges creating and maintaining friendships, especially as they age and become fathers. That much is true. What’s more: A lot of the boilerplate advice on how to make friends as we age just doesn’t work for dads, or busy men over 30 in general.

One dad offers a brilliantly simple way of rethinking male friendship

A lot of the popular advice pins much of the blame for male loneliness on men’s (societally enforced) difficulty opening up and showing genuine emotion and vulnerability. It keeps friendly acquaintances at bay and makes men overly reliant on their romantic partners for any kind of emotional support.

It may be true, but it also somewhat misses the mark. At least according to Taylor Calmus, a wildly popular content creator known as “Dude Dad.”

In a recent video on YouTube and Instagram, he says friendships get hard for guys when the structured activities of their youth evaporate:

“Like kindergarten, you’re eating blue crayons and the kid next to you also likes blue and then boom, a decade long friendship is formed. … You see, men make friends through........

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