Wednesday, September 3, 2025 |
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A few years ago, Mitchell S. Jackson—a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author—started writing a regular column for Esquire. Jackson has many gifts, one of which is his fearlessness. He is willing to express ideas about race, culture, and politics that might otherwise seem off limits. His latest column, which we published today, tackles the the way in which language has become a weapon in America. It's a must read. – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief
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In the new autocracy—where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength—language itself is now weaponized against us. |
The American regime in power for a precipitous second reign is working overtime to not only disappear words but to pervert their meaning—no less than a hallmark of authoritarian rule. Within the first 100 days of that rule, MAGA made clear that certain words were to be expunged from federal websites and communications—obvious Goebbels-esque shit—were to be disallowed for use by damn near everybody engaging the federal government for funds. At the time, the effort was much written about—recall a thorough, interactive account in The New York Times. But akin to many of this regime's egregious transgressions, the story came and went. The story did—but not its impact. MAGA's draconian rules on language have resulted in nixed funding for literary organizations and writers themselves, including the jeopardization of prime resources like the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as yielding strict terms on the language used to describe any academic or artistic endeavor seeking government aid. Its mandate couldn't be clearer: Write about what serves the regime or be unfunded. Or worse. |
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I'm a sucker for the trucker shape. It's flattering and more workman-like than a double-vented jacket that came from militaria and equestrian riding. It, and it's cousin the station jacket, are more American than the chore coat. Like a shorter body tee, cutting the body at the waist just looks good on every guy. This short Filson Tin Cloth Cruiser, not the classic long one, does that. I've always found the Flint and Tinder jacket that Pedro Pascal wears in The Last of Us falls slightly too low on my body. A Flison cruiser is cut a little higher, and a bit more snug. It just fits damn-near perfect. I think guys, the ones into fashion, have gone off the rails with some of the shit they'll wear. If you threw on a short Filson cruiser, you'll look better than any of the guys to the left or right of you on the fashion spectrum. |
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A sleepy Alaskan suburb. An aircraft with a cargo of prisoners. A lone U.S. Marshal with everything to lose. This is The Last Frontier, a new fist-pumping action series from The Blacklist creator Jon Bokenkamp set to premiere October 10 on Apple TV+. If the show sounds like something you'd find on a VHS shelf at Blockbuster back in the day, that's by design. "The show is Con Air meets The Fugitive," Bokenkamp tells me via Zoom. "It's grounded in '90s action thrillers. That's what we wanted to do. We're trying to give audiences something fun, and come together for a thrill ride. That was our inspiration." |
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 Tuesday, September 2, 2025 |
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The big rumor across social media this weekend was that President Trump had died. He didn't, of course. The president spoke to the press today and answered a question, sort of, about the speculation. Standing behind him at the press conference was Vice President JD Vance, whose own statements fueled the rumor mill about the president's health. In a column today, Esquire's Charles P. Pierce explains what the VP's latest blunder says about the man who's one heartbeat away from the presidency. – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief
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Vance, the most universally loathed vice president since Aaron Burr, is ready to step in at a moment's notice.
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It seems that somebody lost the president over the weekend. And wherever he was, it seems he lost his phone for the weekend. There even were rumors that he'd passed on! That he was no more! He had ceased to be! He'd expired and gone to meet his maker! That he was a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! That his metabolic processes are now history! He was off the twig! He'd kicked the bucket. He'd shuffled off his mortal coil, rung down the curtain, and joined the bleeding choir invisible.
Turns out he's alive, at least the husk of him is. But since his White House is managing this situation even worse than they've managed the whole Epstein business, opinions on his viability remain divided. |
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When I called Jerry Loftis, the only guy in America teaching skysurfing, he said I needed 500 jumps to train with him. I had maybe eighty. "Of course," I lied. "I've done that." He said I needed to be an accomplished sit flyer. "Oh, I definitely can do that," I lied again, then went to look up what sit flying was.
Skydiving isn't exactly an area where you should pad your resume, but it turned out to be supernaturally intuitive for me. Within hours, I was doing tricks that should have taken months to master. Jerry later found out I lied, forgave me, and we became great friends. When he passed away years later, I used his workshop to build one final board, the same kevlar-wrapped board with a honeycomb core I've been flying for the past twenty years. |
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With Tom Hopper's time on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy as the musclebound superhero Luther (which required Hopper to wear a bodysuit) now finished, the actor trades superpowers for black-ops tactics as one of the main stars in The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, now streaming on Prime Video. Hopper remembers the moment he felt his role in The Terminal List: Dark Wolf was written in the stars. While reading True Believer, published in 2019 as the second book in the Terminal List series by author Jack Carr (whose former life as a U.S. Navy SEAL profoundly informs his espionage thrillers), a certain moment gave Hopper pause. Two characters, Freddie and Reece, had an interaction that hit home for the 40-year-old British actor. |
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