Two Black men from Philly are cutting the misogyny out of their sex and relationships podcast

When it comes to encouraging a culture of misogyny among fans, our social media landscape is unfortunately filled with men who continue to cultivate and inspire an audience of “alpha males.” Late Night with Ler & Lionel, a podcast by two Black Philadelphia natives, is trying to inspire change.

With its risqué episode names, Late Night is a podcast where Lionel Davis and Steven Chandler talk about sex and relationships.

In each week’s episode, the hosts relate stories about their experiences, give their honest takes on sex and relationships, and share what they love about women. As a result, they’ve built a following who appreciate their noncreepy frankness.

“Where education meets pleasure,” viewer Marissa Williams wrote under a video on YouTube, where video outtakes from the podcast are posted. “Thank you for being Black men who are comfortable with yourselves and want the world to know it!”

The two initially met in high school at Philly’s now-defunct Charter High School for Architecture and Design (CHAD). Years later, Davis decided to interview Chandler, an up-and-coming rapper at the time, for a podcast. The two started hanging out and launched Late Night three years ago, recording in Davis’ mom’s living room in West Philly. They’ve since moved to a recording studio in Fishtown.

Davis and Chandler approach topics of sex and relationships with a candor that’s missing in most other podcasts. Most importantly, the show celebrates women and steers clear of misogynoir tropes that deeply harm Black women.

Men like Kevin Samuels and Fresh and Fit podcast’s Walter Weekes have perpetrated harmful ideas about Black women among their large fan bases. Twitter users will remember how Myron Gaines came under attack when a clip resurfaced of him describing the reasons why he doesn’t date Black women.

Occasionally, Davis and Chandler welcome friends on the show as guests, always ensuring to create an environment that makes their women listeners comfortable.

“They make being sexually active as a woman safe,” Eriah Love, a Philly-based singer and listener of the show, told The Inquirer. “You’re able to feel free and liberated listening to them.”

The hosts have risen to the defense of women on multiple occasions — in one episode, they told men to “stop being creepy” in women’s Instagram in boxes. In another, they urged men to “stay out of women’s business,” particularly when it comes to discussing women’s issues online.

“Anybody can get on the internet and say, ‘Women need to bow down to men,’” Chandler, 30, said to The Inquirer. “[Alpha male platforms] may get a viral clip before we do, but I’m fine with that, because that has no longevity.”

Of course, there has been pushback.

“What has the world come to?!?! Poor examples of us black men,” a Facebook user commented on one of the Late Night videos.

“Gone are the days when only you and your partner know what’s going on in their bedroom,” lamented another.

But Chandler and Davis insist they are just being their authentic selves.

“We didn’t want to create an environment where we would harm anybody,” Davis, 29, said. “We just wanted to have a space where we could tell our stories. This is who we are.”

Their YouTube channel has over 20.5K subscribers. They have over 124K followers on their Instagram page, with a strong following among Black women.

“Having a large fan base of Black women is the greatest thing in the world,” Davis said.

“I love them, and I love it,” Chandler added.

The duo is on a multicity tour across the U.S., performing their show live in front of sold-out audiences. They plan to create a podcast network featuring shows outside of their own. Last year, the pair launched the Esh Your Heart Out podcast, which they produce.

Someday, they’d like to own a warehouse studio to help local content creators get their platforms off the ground.

“Philly is such a weird place because we’ll slightly support people,” Davis said. “We’re dog-eat-dog. But just being able to reach out and really put people on is something that we want to focus on.”