Raising Young Men, The Case for College in the AI Age, and Relationship Red Flags

What It Covers

Scott Galloway answers three listener questions on The Prof G Pod, covering how to raise boys without male role models, whether AI has disrupted the value of college degrees (with earnings data showing bachelor's graduates earn 66% more weekly than high school graduates), and three concrete criteria for evaluating long-term relationship compatibility.

Key Questions Answered

• •Male Role Models & Single Parenting: When a boy loses a male role model through death, divorce, or abandonment, he becomes more likely to be incarcerated than to graduate college and twice as likely to die by suicide or develop substance abuse issues. Single mothers should actively recruit male figures — coaches, relatives, mentors — into their son's life as a structural priority, not an afterthought.
• •College ROI in the AI Age: Despite AI disruption narratives, bachelor's degree holders earn roughly $1,500 median weekly versus $900 for high school graduates — a 66% premium — while facing half the unemployment rate (2.2% vs. 4%). The problem isn't college's value; it's cost inflation outpacing returns. Attend if admitted to a decent school you can afford without crippling debt.
• •Peer Network as College's Hidden Asset: Beyond credentials, college filters for a specific peer cohort — people with functional EQ, study discipline, and cross-domain exposure. Galloway credits his UCLA peer network, including wealthier classmates with professional contacts, as a direct career accelerator. The peer environment compounds returns beyond what any curriculum or AI tool currently replicates.
• •Relationship Red Flags — Three Signals: Evaluate a potential partner using three observable proxies: quality and kindness of their friend group (people mirror their social circle), how they speak about past relationships (chronic blame signals poor self-awareness), and whether they maintain a respectful relationship with their parents, particularly how men treat their mothers as a predictor of partner treatment.
• •Relationship Compatibility — Three Pillars: Galloway distills long-term partnership success into three alignment areas: physical attraction and affection, shared values around location, religion, and lifestyle, and — most critically — economic alignment. Financial incompatibility, not infidelity or values gaps, is the leading driver of divorce. Couples should explicitly discuss earning, spending philosophies, and financial control dynamics before committing.