We need to work with men and boys as become a key mantra of health programmes globally, particularly those concerned with HIV, violence and more recently sexual and reproductive health and rights, and yet there is very little known about how effective these programmes are, nor of the challenges, opportunities and politics of this work. HEARD researcher Dr Andrew Gibbs is the lead editor, alongside Dr Cathy Vaughan (Melbourne University) and Prof Peter Aggleton (Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia) of a special issue of Culture, Health and Sexuality, that interrogates these ideas. The editorial team drew together a number of globally recognised authors to reflect on the field, as well as provide provocative insights into the politics and processes of working with men and boys. In addition, the special issue also contributes to the limited number of case studies of interventions working with men and boys. In their editorial Gibbs and colleagues comment, the special issue “provides an entry point to new discussions that are emerging around how to work with men and boys practically, as well as the theoretical debates that this is engendering.” In so doing it hopes to generate a new level of thinking and research on this important area.