It all began with a love for safari. Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of the London-based multinational chemical giant INEOS, has long enjoyed spending his holidays in Africa. And his favored vehicle for traversing rough terrain in the bush was the Land Rover Defender. When Land Rover said in 2016 that it was going to discontinue his favorite 4x4, Ratcliffe asked to buy the rights so that he could continue manufacturing the Defender himself. The automaker said no. But the INEOS chairman is not a man easily deterred. Any number of automotive start-ups that have gone bust over the past several years can attest that creating a successful car company from the ground up these days is nearly impossible. But much like the original Land Rover Defender itself, Ratcliffe is no stranger to challenges. |
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Can someone tell Severance that Valentine's Day was last week? Because season 2, episode 6 forgoes all (okay, some) of the show's usual concerns—expanding the Eagan lore, vague mentions of Cold Harbor, and watermelon sculptures—in favor of exploring the desires of the four leads. Seriously: Every single member of Severance's main quartet is horny this episode. The most pure-hearted development is between Gretchen and Innie Dylan; what starts as another too-long hug turns into a steamy make-out session. Then, there's Outie Irving, who leaves his dinner with Burt and Fields with the heavily implied decision to leave Fields out of the second date. And, at long last, there's the moment we've all been waiting for: Innie Mark and Helly have sex. For real, this time. |
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I haven't stuck with anything for as long as I've stuck with my Marshall headphones—no piece of clothing, no lifestyle tool, not even my phone. In December 2021, I was gifted a pair of the brand's Major IV headphones for Christmas; I'd been wanting a pair of over-ear headphones for aesthetic purposes, but I was picky about things like looks, comfort, and, of course, having to keep the Bluetooth headphones charged. (I'm historically a wired-headphones loyalist because they'll never die on you.) In fact, I was gifted three pairs of over-ear Bluetooth headphones that Christmas, with the intention of keeping only the pair that I liked best. So I tested out each one for a few days, and Marshall's won by a landslide. The Major IVs became my new go-to, an infallible, practical accessory I wouldn't be caught dead leaving the house without. They were the best headphones on the market, in my opinion, and they still would be, if not for Marshall's upgrade in the form of Major V headphones. |
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Not long ago, Ed Burns was at a dinner party in New York City. It was one of those civilized affairs with guests who are all approximately in their fifties—the kind of people who appreciate good food, elegant wine, lively conversation. And maybe it was because of the wine that a guy at the table made a startling confession. "I was strolling down Fifth Avenue and I realized, I'm fucking invisible," the man said. "I used to be the guy that young girls smiled at and that other dudes noticed. I had a definite style and a certain swagger. But now, at best, I'm just a bespectacled graybeard, a charming old codger, a harmless old man." Struck by the statement, Burns wrote it down—and then he put it in his latest movie, Millers in Marriage, for an aging lothario played by Benjamin Bratt to say. It's a poignant moment in a film full of them. |
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The other day, a 35-year-old man asked me what kind of shoes he was supposed to be wearing with his baggy jeans. The sentiment he expressed was that although he knew baggy jeans were the trendy choice of the 2020s (thank goodness we've left our skinny jeans behind), when it came to styling them, he was at a loss. The footwear he was wearing with his straight-leg jeans just didn't translate right to the wider, baggier pants. It's true that with baggy jeans your styling is going to be a little bit different from what it would be with a slimmer fit. For one, you're working with a wider silhouette, so you're already losing some shape in your fit. Plus, baggy jeans, in my experience, usually mean longer jeans. With more of a break in your pants and less shoe exposed, the shoes you might usually wear with jeans can look a little bit off. Fear not, friends! I congratulate you on embracing the baggy jeans, and I'm here to guide you through how to wear them—specifically, how to wear shoes with them. |
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On Saturday, August 19, 2023, two weeks after I turn seventy-one, I become a new father, again. I'm not expecting, nor is Lisa, who's sixty-seven. And while I'm pleased to say that thirty years on we still savor each other head to toe and in several other positions, our reproductive job was over with when Judah was born in 1999, and we knew it. We had started late (I was married once before: ten years, no kids) and Lisa and I were past forty and craving it all—parenthood, love, redemption. Judah was our last shot. Imagine that pressure—not on us, on him. Lisa and I were ready. I don't know if any child is ready, but Judah caught on right away to the basics—cry, suckle, piss, shit—and took it from there. When I was the age he is now, in 1976, I was a geek in search of a carnival, drinking hard, writing poetry, welcoming my worst instincts every day. Judah's working on a Ph.D. in chemistry at UCLA. We followed him out to Los Angeles instead of aging out alone in New Jersey because we love him and he loves us. He comes by every Saturday for lunch, usually with Greta, his girlfriend. He arrives alone today, which in itself signifies nothing much, but his smile's tight. There's a . . . vibe. A doting, aging father feels these things. "So I heard from this woman yesterday," he says. "She's pretty sure I'm her brother." |
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