It's in the Code ep 187: “It’s Important Work—As Long As Someone Else Does It”

In this incisive episode of *Straight White American Jesus*, the host delivers a scathing critique of Senator Josh Hawley’s vision of masculinity as articulated in his book *Manhood*, particularly focusing on Hawley’s fourth role for men: the 'man as builder.' The host dismantles Hawley’s central claim that blue-collar, manual labor is the sole source of male virtue, meaning, and freedom, exposing it as a deeply hypocritical and elitist ideology. While Hawley preaches that work liberates men from dependence and servility, the host argues that most blue-collar workers are not free—they are wage slaves subject to economic precarity, exploitative labor practices, and the whims of corporate elites. The real beneficiaries of this system, the host reveals, are the very people like Hawley who advocate for it: Ivy League-educated lawyers, senators, and billionaires who profit from the labor of others while demanding that ordinary men work tirelessly for minimal rewards. The episode underscores the absurdity of a political class that champions 'manly work' while refusing to do it themselves, revealing a system where 'freedom' is redefined as economic servitude for the masses and control for the elite. The host concludes with a biting rhetorical question: if Hawley’s own manhood depends on doing the work he claims defines men, what does it say about his manhood that he doesn’t do it? The episode sets up the next chapter—Hawley’s 'man as king'—with biting sarcasm, signaling a deeper exploration of patriarchal power and elite self-justification in conservative Christian discourse.