Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2022 i Esquire

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK—IT’S A stunner. But let’s be honest: It’s the Times Square of national parks. Last year, more than 4 million people visited the park. If communing with German tourists—lots of them—is what you seek, then go to Yellowstone this summer. (That’s assuming you can even score a campsite; last year they sold out months in advance.) If you prefer to commune with nature, then have we got the place for you: one of the least visited national parks in America, an island that saw just 25,000 visitors in 2021, a locale so remote you’re guaranteed to never see a German tour bus. This place is called Isle Royale. The 50-mile-long island sits on the northern rim of Lake Superior. There is no WiFi, and cell service is spotty.…

IMAGINE THIS: YOU HAVE AN ICE-COLD BEER IN ONE HAND, YOUR PHONE is not in the other hand, and the only thing left on your to-do list is to absorb the sounds of warm twilight. The ideal place to experience this ideal moment is in the most ideal piece of American furniture: the Adirondack chair. Slung low to the ground with an angled seat and constructed from a few wide, flat slats, the Adirondack hasn’t changed much since its invention in 1903 by Thomas Lee. A law-school dropout turned furniture maker, Lee wanted to create an uncomplicated chair comfortable enough to lounge in but hardy enough to be plunked down on the side of a hill. It was a weird design for the time, when overwrought Victorian furniture was the…

IT’S HIGH SUMMER. YOU’RE GETTING dressed and want to add something to your look—blazer, light jacket, cardigan—but outside it’s sweltering. The devil himself is fanning the flames. You know that within minutes of stepping out, your shirt will be covered in wet patches. Layering would be foolish. So how does a man exude style amid the fire and brimstone? Easy: a pendant necklace. Jewelry for men remains somewhat divisive, so let’s quickly get this out of the way once and for all: Wear it if you want. Don’t think twice. You’ll look great. And nowadays, the options are plenty. Jewelry designers are offering baubles that are big and small, colorful and achromatic, and full of symbolism. Feel free to mismatch them. Pile a bean-shaped piece of jade from Tiffany on…

MAYBE YOU SAW IT ONLINE. MAYBE YOU heard it on NPR. Maybe your girlfriend told you as you lay in bed together scrolling through your phones, her fielding frantic texts from her group chat or checking in on her mom, you reading legal analyses, both of you fluorescent with rage and despairing at the news: According to a leaked initial draft of its majority opinion, the Supreme Court planned to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision upholding our constitutional right to abortion. Legal access to safe, common, and often lifesaving medical care was disappearing before your eyes. But no matter how you learned of this, and no matter how consumed you were with righteous anger and concern that night, I’m willing to bet you did not wake up the morning…

IT MAY HAVE BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU PUT ON A PAIR of “nice pants” to go to a bar, but when that very 2022 confluence of joie de vivre and pandemic ennui begins to stir and you hear about a new piano bar with red booths or a semisecret room with Kubrick-level design details or a place that has the best damn Sazerac in the world, you put one leg in after the other and you order yourself a Lyft. Or, hell, hop on the next flight to New Orleans. It is time for the Big Night Out. Drinking culture over the past two-plus years has morphed from negronis hastily made on your kitchen counter to cocktails on the go to cautiously rediscovering what it’s like to sit at…

Dads have made damn good progress. We’re more involved than ever; we understand the assignment. But let’s not pat ourselves on the back. Certainly not as we claw our way out of a pandemic that’s altered everything about the way we live our lives. It’s high time to ask the knotty questions about raising kids, the ones you’ve only dared to ponder with your partner or your closest friends or even just yourself. Because, let’s be honest, parenting is as terrifying as it is joyful, and sometimes you worry so much that you might just pee your pants. So we did just that. (Posed the questions, not peed ourselves—yet.) The answers we received, on the pages that follow, will teach you a thing or two—the good, the bad, the meconium-tinged…

WHEN IT COMES TO paternity leave, ’Murica lags behind much of the rest of the world. The federal government guarantees exactly zero days of paid time off (though it allows us up to twelve weeks’ unpaid leave, so ……thanks?); a handful of companies and just ten states have risen to the occasion. The result is that only 5 percent of fathers in the U. S. take two or more weeks off after the birth of their child. Alexis Ohanian—a cofounder of Reddit, husband of Serena Williams, and, along with groups like the nonprofit PL+US, a tireless advocate for a federal family-leave policy—makes the case for why even the busiest dads should have the right to spend time with their newborns. WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE OUR APPROACH TO PATERNITY LEAVE…

My father died this March after a long struggle with COPD. He would either cut up or cringe at the thought of a copy-paste job on a funeral home’s website still stuck in 1998, so the morning after he died, I asked the funeral director if I could write his obituary. The look on his face said I was being a pain in the ass. He needed it by the end of the afternoon. Sweet. I had a few hours to answer a question usually saved for decades on a shrink’s lounger: How will I remember my father? I went to a coffee shop and stared at a screen for a long time. Can’t stress this enough—he’d died about eighteen hours before then. No matter how prepared you are, there’s…

Fatherhood ESQUIRE MAGAZINE, 89, NEW YORK Wisdom and advice from and about DAD that has appeared in these pages. __ FATHERHOOD? I love it. It introduced an element of fear into my life. When you’re a bachelor, you don’t give a shit. You can do anything. But when you become a father, you get scared about everything. —Alex Trebek, April 2003 __ AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, our father has never understood that we, his children, tend to gravitate toward the very people he’s spent his life warning us about. —David Sedaris, June 1998 __ I WOULD ENVISION DIFFERENT scenarios in which I would become violent reacting to people’s reactions to my children—especially to my severely handicapped child. Eventually, he taught me that was not necessary. Just by himself. By being…

For the items featured in Esquire, please consult the website or call the phone number provided. Blueprint, p. 30: Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, ralphlauren.com. Glenn’s Denim jeans, glennsdenim.com. P. 32: Breitling chronograph, breitling.com. P. 35: G.H. Bass Originals loafers, ghbass.com. Abercrombie & Fitch socks, abercrombie.com. Esquivel slides, esquivelshoes.com. Blackstock & Weber loafers, blackstockandweber.com. Banana Republic sneakers, bananarepublic.com. Manolo Blahnik sandals, manoloblahnik.com. P. 36: Pilgrim Surf + Supply jacket and trousers, pilgrimsurfsupply.com. Cuisse de Grenouille shirt, cuissedegrenouille.com. Calvin Klein underwear, calvinklein.com. Giles & Brother necklace, gilesandbrother.com. Scosha feather necklace, scosha.com. American Trench hat, americantrench.com. Ray-Ban sunglasses, ray-ban.com. P. 37: Cuisse de Grenouille jacket, cuissedegrenouille.com. Saturdays NYC sweatshirt and shorts, saturdaysnyc.com. Celine by Hedi Slimane sunglasses, celine.com. Giles & Brother bracelets, gilesandbrother.com. Mami Wata shirt and swim shorts, mamiwatasurf.com. Hanes tank, hanes.com. Adidas…

THE GOTTI WARS, by John Gleeson In this electrifying memoir, a prosecutor tells the story of how he brought John Gotti to justice, which took down five major mob families and put him in the crosshairs of organized crime. May 3 CULT CLASSIC, by Sloane Crosley Crosley brings her gifts as a humorist to this crackling novel about a start-up hawking romantic closure. When one woman signs up to reconnect with her former flames, she learns bittersweet truths about love in the age of the smartphone. June 7 TRACY FLICK CAN’T WIN, by Tom Perrotta The heroine of Election (played in the film by Reese Witherspoon) is back as a middle-aged assistant principal angling for the top job. Tracy’s second act delivers acerbic insight about frustrated ambition. June 7 HOW…

IT’S NOT EVEN A REFRAIN ANYMORE; IT’S A CLICHÉ. “Lighten up, it’s summer.” Don’t buy it—at least not entirely. Opting for airier stuff is a necessary concession to the season, but swapping every color in your wardrobe for Wimbledon white is boring. So why not subvert expectations? And why not start with a shade normally consigned to the colder months: oxblood. You might know it as Bordeaux or merlot or claret or maroon or burgundy. Call it what-ever you like, because it all evokes the same image: a deep, rich red that feels like it’s made for frigid days and cozy fireside confines. And it is. But it’s also made for so much more—like, for instance, your summertime footwear rotation. You know what a pair of shitkicking oxblood boots looks…

PACKING FOR A TRIP USED TO PRESENT ME WITH AN IMPOSSIBLE choice. I hate checking bags, so it was either leave my favorite grooming products behind in favor of packing light or figure out a way to cram them all in my bag and pray security wouldn’t notice. Then I had a revelation. You don’t have to skimp on your skin-care steps just to take a trip. The key to travel-friendly grooming lies somewhere in the middle. It’s not about how much or little you take but about choosing smarter products. Now my Dopp kit is prefilled with the following items, so I can just toss it in my suitcase and head out, no hard choices required.…

KNOW WHERE TO GO ONLINE _As of this writing, a physician will prescribe abortion pills online in many states, at AidAccess.org and JustThePill.com. They come with detailed instructions and medical guidance. PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS _You’ve likely already been urged to donate to your local abortion funds—a recurring monthly donation, in any amount, if you can swing it. Find yours at AbortionFunds.org. _Throw cash at organizations that help people travel to safe states and find care. ApiaryCollective.org is a good place to start. _The Repro Legal Defense Fund helps folks out by mounting defenses, posting bail, and providing other services after arrests or prosecutions for self-managed abortions. FIND HELP _The Repro Legal Helpline is 844-868-2812. Save it in your phone. _When someone in your life needs an…

WHAT I’VE LEARNED Elliot Page, actor and advocate, 35, New York City What have I learned from transitioning? I can’t overstate the biggest joy, which is really seeing yourself. I know I look different to others, but to me I’m just starting to look like myself. It’s indescribable, because I’m just like, there I am. And thank God. Here I am. So the greatest joy is just being able to feel present, literally, just to be present. To go out in a group of new people and be able to engage in a way where I didn’t feel this constant sensation to flee from my body, this never-ending sensation of anxiety and nervousness and wanting out. When I say I couldn’t have ever imagined feeling that way, I mean that with…

WHAT’S HARDER, FREE SOLOING OR PARENTING? I would say that I’m less equipped for parenting so far. I just have a lot less practice. But soloing I’ve been doing a long time. Honestly, the whole process has given me a lot more respect for all parents. YOUR DAUGHTER’S NAMED JUNE AND WAS BORN IN FEBRUARY…… Yeah, it’s confusing. DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE HER UP ON CLIMBS? We’ve been doing a lot of sport climbing: You hike to a cliff, then set up a picnic area at the cliff. She’s been coming to the cliff a fair amount, but she’s not going up. She mostly naps. She’s two months old. She can barely hold her neck up. But as soon as she’s able to walk, we’ll be taking her scrambling…

MY WIFE WAS SIX months pregnant when I left for my first deployment, in 2007. I got a couple weeks of R&R when she was any-day-now. I returned home late at night, and when I woke up, my wife was like, “My water broke.” If I got home a day later, she would have already had the baby. God works in mysterious ways. Two weeks later, I went back to northern Iraq. When I got back from the war, it absolutely was an adjustment. When we arrived at Fort Riley, Kansas, there was a five-minute ceremony and then we found our families. My baby daughter reacted like I was a stranger. She started crying, like, “I don’t know you.” I was overjoyed to see my family, but it was very…

“I’M ABOUT TO be the father of the bride times three,” Andy García says about his summer plans. Two of the actor and his wife Marivi’s four children, Daniella and Dominik, are getting married. Daniella recently gave birth to a baby girl; both she and Dominik live near their parents in Los Angeles. Another daughter, Alessandra, lives in New York, and their son, Andrés, lives in New Orleans. “Marivi and I are back to making pureed vegetables and compotas and changing diapers,” García says. Plus, he’s starring in the title role of the Father of the Bride remake, out June 16. He plays Billy Herrera, a Miami architect and a rule-the-roost patriarch in the antiquated mold who strongly disapproves of his daughter’s fiancé, a billionaire heir who, among other perceived…

Thirty years after Danny Tanner and Carl Winslow taught us the virtues and joys of fatherhood, the dads of television today are facing more relatable daddy issues. Divorce! Money problems! A rowdy infant alien imbued with the Force! Here are five modern television fathers who, taken together, embody parenting in the here and now. THE FOSTER DAD DIN DJARIN THE MANDALORIAN Played by: Pedro Pascal Star Wars’ great small-screen conquest improbably began with an adoption: A Mandalorian crosses paths with a green, Yoda-eared baby. TV doesn’t have a more hilarious take on (foster) fatherhood. THE (NEARLY) ABSENT DAD EARN MARKS ATLANTA Played by: Donald Glover We hardly see never-not-hustling music manager Earn with his daughter, Lottie—but she fuels everything he fights for. In the rare times they’re together, we glimpse…

HUMOR US, WON’T YOU, and finish the following sentence: It’s not the heat; it’s the ____. You’ve probably heard the saying so many times you don’t even remember learning it. But now that you think about it …… it seems a little fishy, no? Why do we regurgitate a saying that contains zero universal wisdom? This isn’t some old chestnut like “Practice makes perfect.” It’s an oddly specific idiom that claims 95 degrees in a dry climate is comfortable but 95 degrees in a wet climate is lethal. Humidity isn’t the problem; it’s the answer. To all of our problems—from dry skin to a dry spell. It makes everything more gorgeous, even you! It’s why spas have steam rooms and why beautiful people always seem to be in them. Without…

THE POLO SHIRT IS A GENUINE CLASSIC. THEREIN LIES THE RUB. LIKE OTHER CLASSICS—THE SUIT, THE WHITE OXFORD shirt, the chino—it tends to step out of the spotlight from time to time. That’s okay. Unlike flashy, fleeting trends, the polo deals in simplicity and staying power. It’s playing the long game. That’s why Ralph Lauren’s take on the style is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. And all these years later, the polo remains a foundational garment that is adaptable. You can button it to the top and pair it with cropped trousers and big, badass shades. Toss it on with thrashed jeans and suede mules. Layer it under a blazer. However you wear it, the trick is remembering that even if it’s not angling for every last bit of…

He’s not real, but he’s from southern California. He’s the stereotypical stoner-y bro with the too-big board shorts and wraparound shades who still looms large over the idea of surf-inspired style. Forget him. The wave-riding world has so much more to offer, and it’s so damn cool that you should wear it whether or not you’ve stepped on a board. So check out these four brands—one from New York, one from France, another from South Africa, and one more from Brooklyn that’s big in Japan—and explore the great wide world of great surf style, no wraparounds required. MAMI WATA South Africa–based Mami Wata recently made inroads in the U. S. but remains committed to doing things right at home. That means graphics with roots in African culture, local manufacturing (using…

YOU COULDN’T NOT NOTICE IT: A MULTITUDE gathered one morning at an A gate of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport, waving little American flags, recording on their cell phones, laying a soundtrack of exuberant cheers. Intrigued or just nosy, I stopped for a look-see, noticed that walls behind the gate desk were adorned with red-white-and-blue bunting, that other walls featured a slogan saluting all those who serve and their families, that the area was also bedecked with flags: an Ameri-can flag along with those representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, even the one for POW/MIA. Yonder, an agent stood at the mouth of the Jetway and called out the deplaning passengers as if announcing the Suns playoff starters: “From the U. S. Air Force staff ……!” “From the…

AMID RISING LEGISLATIVE, rhetorical, and physical violence against trans people by those who insisted we’re destroying the very fabric of civilization, Elliot Page disclosed he is transgender—and, overnight, became the face of transmasculinity the world over. He also confirmed he’d remain in his role on Netflix’s wildly popular superhero series The Umbrella Academy. It was a relief to many fans, who raised an important question: Would he “play cis,” or would his character transition alongside him? As a trans man whose own transition was delayed by erroneous, absent, and harmful representation, I hoped for the latter. According to GLAAD, trans men and boys are remarkably underrepresented on television: There were only fourteen transmasculine characters in the 2021–22 television season across all networks. I’ve known Elliot since 2018, when we met…

I LOVE MY DAD, who lives in Tennessee, but we are about as dissimilar as two similar people can get. Same personality, but with totally different interests. I’d always wanted to ask him how he’d reconciled his expectations of fatherhood and the reality of me. Recently, I did just that. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU HOPED FOR AS A DAD? I guess what every dad wants: a good kid who is going to be like you. Better than you. When I grew up, it was different. My dad taught me how not to be a dad. I wanted to be the best I could be, and to make you and your brother the best you could be. YOU’VE SAID YOU THOUGHT HUNTING AND FISHING WOULD BE THE WAY TO KEEP…

“WHAT’S THAT?” JASPER ASKED. “It’s cheese!” I said. My heart swelled with hope. We were eating at a restaurant whose menu nods toward the Iberian Peninsula, and Jasper had eyed a thin wedge of manchego. Maybe he’ll like this, I thought. Jasper nibbled, leaned forward, and spit the salivaglazed cheese onto the tabletop. My hope gave way to confusion, embarrassment, a whisper of muted anger. Jasper and I have a complicated relationship. He’s just four years old, but the dude knows how to push my buttons. Kids are telepathic that way. Jasper’s signature move is to receive a plate of food that I have meticulously, lovingly cooked for him and to dump it on the floor. Sure, it’s funny from afar. When you’re in the middle of it—well, sometimes I…

ONE OF MY EARLIEST memories of parenthood is of sitting in a chair in the maternity ward reading a newspaper as my wife and newborn son slept beside me. As I turned the pages, an immense panorama of horror and futility unfolded before my eyes: wars, famines, the ongoing dissolution of political orders, increasingly depraved levels of income inequality—and towering implacably above it all, the rising tide of imminent climate catastrophe. What have we done, I asked myself, bringing such a tiny, vulnerable, precious creature into such a terrible world? I won’t claim that, in the nine years since that day, I’ve been in a state of constant existential despair. Most of the worrying I do about my son and his four-year-old sister tends toward the banal and quotidian. (Is…

On the night of May 29, 2006, after seeing the documentary An Inconvenient Truth in Manhattan, Jeff Gross took the ferry back to Staten Island and walked home to Ganas, a communal-living experiment he’d spent decades building. He climbed the steep steps up to the group’s cluster of houses scattered among leafy walkways and squinted his way through uncut shrubs and poor lighting. As Jeff approached his porch, a figure stepped from the shadows and raised a handgun. “What do you want?” Jeff shouted, and then, “No, no, don’t do it!” Shots pop-pop-popped as the shooter unloaded six rounds into his hip, stomach, arm, and neck. Jeff fell to the ground, blood pumping from his wounds. His assailant stepped over him and fled. A neighbor who heard the shooting knelt…