The Joy of the Childless Men |
No is my first word when people ask if my partner, Ben, and I are planning to have children. "But," I will continue, and Ben will steel himself for what he knows is coming, "we're not ruling out a Punky Brewster situation." We do not want a baby. But if a sassy preteen with her own unique fashion sense were to be abandoned in a grocery-store parking lot, as on the '80s NBC sitcom? We'll take that kid in, teach her some important life lessons—and along the way, maybe learn some, too. If it happens, it happens. I don't want kids of my own. For a long time, I assumed the desire to be a father would just blink on after a certain number of years, like a check-engine light on my emotional dashboard. But it never did. Not enough to get the wheels turning on it, to make me spend the fortune surrogacy costs or the time adoption does. Ben and I can't accidentally have a baby, so the decision would need to be made with a high degree of intention. That intention was never there, and the only thing a kid needs less than an ambivalent father is two of them. So now we're hovering around either end of 50, the ship long having sailed. We're probably never going to have children. And I'm fine with that. So why did I add a probably to that sentence two sentences ago? |
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Wrangler's Denim Shirt Is the Most Comfortable Item in My Closet |
I like my clothes to be hard when I buy them. Y'all can keep the stretchy pants, because I want clothes I have to beat into submission. I love breaking in leather boots that hurt, jeans and jackets that could stand up on their own. Why? Because it makes them mine. It requires input from my end to make them comfortable, but after a few weeks, they become the most comfortable items in my closet. I've already said that my jeans of choice are by Wrangler. The cut is better than that of any other pair under $100, and the weight is better, too. So it shouldn't be a surprise that my brand loyalty extends to the torso. The best denim shirt on earth is by Wrangler. Specifically, it's the rigid indigo western shirt, product code 70127MW. When I'm up, when I'm down, when I'm stumped on what to wear, I normally just grab one of these. |
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How Josh Greenbaum Made Will & Harper, the Year's Best(?!?) Documentary |
About three years ago, Will Ferrell's longtime friend Harper Steele—a writer-producer who worked with the comedian on Saturday Night Live, Eurovision Song Contest, and more—came out as a transgender woman. And Ferrell responded exactly like a big-hearted, beer-crushing Will Ferrell character: Let's take a cross-country road trip to talk about it and make a documentary of the whole thing! The duo worked with filmmaker Josh Greenbaum (Becoming Bond, The Short Game) to capture the entire journey, which would also function as Steele's first time truly living in the world as herself. The trek includes but certainly isn't limited to: uncomfortable, teary-eyed conversations in a car, a steak dinner gone wrong, and one blissful karaoke night. The result is the hilarious, beautiful, and deeply important Will & Harper, which debuts on Netflix. |
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Hasan Minhaj Explains Himself |
Not so long ago, Hasan Minhaj was a comedian at the zenith of his powers: an audacious storyteller and TV host whose nimble, forensic take on the culture could rearrange an audience's perspective on the world. He transformed stand-up through performances rich with visual media. Minhaj, a true student of comedy, was a front-runner to succeed Trevor Noah as the host of The Daily Show. Then he got canceled. At least it felt that way. "It was painful, there's no doubt about it," he says now. "It was the first time I saw the speed and velocity of the Internet, how quickly a story can take off. That part of it was very new to me and disorienting." |
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The 10 Most Banned Books in America |
When Esquire first published a version of this list two years ago, book banning in the United States had reached a fever pitch. Attempted bans had surged to their highest level in the history of the American Library Association (ALA), lawmakers were advancing punitive legislation against librarians and educators, and Senator Ted Cruz was crying about racist babies in a congressional hearing. (Yes, seriously.) Two years later, little has changed. "We must continue to stand up for libraries and challenge censorship wherever it occurs," said ALA president Cindy Hohl. "We know library professionals throughout the country are committed to preserving our freedom to choose what we read and what our children read, even though many librarians face criticism and threats to their livelihood and safety. We urge everyone to join librarians in defending the freedom to read." |
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The Comfortable, Affordable, Cool Sneakers Every Man Should Own |
Traditionally, wearing sneakers meant one of two things: You were either working out or chilling out. They didn't speak to your identity, or say much about your sense of style or standing in society. But now, in an age of casualization and comfort, your choice of sneakers and how you wear them speaks volumes. Thankfully, there are more options than ever, but that doesn't necessarily make choosing any easier. The recent rise—and impending fall—of the Adidas Samba encapsulates the challenge. Out of nowhere, the decades-old soccer shoe became the "it" shoe of '23 and well into '24. If you are wearing this shoe, it suggests you know the trends, you know fashion. But it also conveys a certain reasonableness. These aren't $900 Fendi sneakers; they are classic indoor-soccer shoes that cost a hundred bucks. |
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