Our Favorite Esquire Stories From 2018
In 2018, we learned a lot. We learned how good people can be to their neighbors in the most dire circumstances. We learned an administration can reach new, almost thrilling levels of shamelessness. We learned that a fanbase can make or destroy a beloved franchise, and that one pretty good song can steal a nation's heart if it's released at the exactly right time in an otherwise abysmal year.
Here are 22 of our favorite stories published in Esquire this year, spanning serious topics like failures of law enforcement, gun violence, and corruption at the highest levels of government, and lighter ones, like cruise ship entertainers, the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Olive Garden's Meatball Pizza Bowl. Thanks for reading.
The Delay
After an 11-year-old Navajo girl was kidnapped, her family and friends sprang into action to find her. Why did it take so long for law enforcement to join them?
by Rachel Monroe
On May 2, 2016, 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike was kidnapped outside Shiprock, New Mexico. Although her family and neighbors immediately called local police, an AMBER Alert wasn’t issued until she had been missing for 8 hours. Her body wasn’t found until the next morning Journalist Rachel Monroe spent two years investigating Mike’s death and the circumstances surrounding the delayed alert, specifically the lack of communication between U.S. law enforcement and tribal lands.
Inside the Delightfully Quirky, Absolutely Fabulous, and Utterly Exhausting World of Cruise Performers
Welcome to the new vaudeville circuit, where live entertainment hasn't died-it's just gone to sea.
by Logan Hill
Writer Logan Hill attended the Princess Cruises 2018 Entertainer of the Year competition, the cruise entertainment industry’s highest-and only-honor. Okay, so it isn’t the Oscars-but it’s as close as you get in international waters. And this competition matters to these performers, several of whom complained to Hill privately of stress headaches and sleepless nights. They hustled for years just to get here, playing kids’ birthday parties, amusement parks, piano lounges, bars, ice-skating rinks, college cafeterias, casinos, Chippendales lineups, Spanish bullfighting rings, and retirement villages.
The Death of Shame, or the Rise of Shamelessness?
What defines American politics as we enter year two of the Trump presidency?
by Jack Holmes
More and more of our public officials now feel they can say anything, even when they previously said the opposite, or when we can readily see their falsehoods. More and more of our country's leaders are steadfastly, almost impressively, impervious to shame. President Trump quite clearly does not believe in the concept of truth in the public discourse. He believes anything he says is true so long as enough of his supporters believe it. This has allowed him to trample the norms of our democratic politics with almost complete impunity. As president, he has outlasted any and all attempts by his peers or the public to shame him. Because, as Kevin Kruse put it here, “without truth, there can be no shame.” READ THE FULL STORY
I'm Coming to Terms With My Free-Agency Faith
I was Catholic. Now I'm West Coast agnostic. And I miss the guilt.
by Dave Holmes
Months before the report of the grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania was released, on the day before Easter, Esquire published Dave Holmes’ deeply personal and thoughtful reflection on his faith.
This Nation Is Beginning to Realize the Full Extent of What It Did to Itself in November 2016
The country's head is clearing. The spell of the reality show presidency* is wearing off.
by Charles P. Pierce
More and more of our public officials now feel they can say anything, even when they previously said the opposite, or when we can readily see their falsehoods. More and more of our country's leaders are steadfastly, almost impressively, impervious to shame. ...
President Trump quite clearly does not believe in the concept of truth in the public discourse. He believes anything he says is true so long as enough of his supporters believe it. This has allowed him to trample the norms of our democratic politics with almost complete impunity. As president, he has outlasted any and all attempts by his peers or the public to shame him. Because, as Kevin Kruse put it here, “without truth, there can be no shame.”
Searching for the Truth About the Actual Murderer in The Exorcist
For decades Paul Bateson's name has been attached to a spree of gruesome murders in the '70s. This is our search for what's true and what's legend.
by Matt Miller
It’s pretty common lore among horror fans-and greater pop culture enthusiasts-that the production of The Exorcist was cursed. There were multiple deaths and bizarre accidents. But one largely unexplored story behind the making of The Exorcist is the murderer who appears in one of the film’s most memorable scenes.
We spent months going through archives, court and police documents, and speaking with those who worked on the film to find the true story of Paul Bateson, the murderer who appeared in The Exorcist. What we found was a story we weren’t expecting, where we try to separate fact from fiction in a murder often connected to a gruesome killing spree that inspired a second film, and a four-decade-old cold case waiting to be solved.
Beneath the Surface of Bruce Springsteen
For more than fifty years, he's traveled deep into the heart of America. But with his new Netflix special-a film of his intense, powerful one-man show on Broadway-Bruce Springsteen reveals that his bravest journey has been wrestling with his own mental health.
by Michael Hainey
“Yeah. . .,” Springsteen says when I sit down with him and tell him it seems the essential question of his show is “Are we bound by what courses through our veins?” He looks off to his left into his dressing-room mirror, the surface of which is checkerboarded with photographs, much as a mirror in a teenage boy’s bedroom might be. Among the many images: John Lennon in his NEW YORK CITY T-shirt. A young Paul McCartney. Patti Smith. Johnny Cash. They are, as Springsteen tells me later, “the ancestors.” It’s into this mirror and toward these talismans that Springsteen often gazes when he is answering my questions. He’s a deep listener and acts with intent. He has a calm nature and possesses a low, soft voice. He has a tendency to be self-deprecating, preemptively labeling certain thoughts “corny.” He smiles easily and likes to sip ginger ale. Sometimes before telling you something personal, he lets out a short, nervous laugh. Above all, he speaks with the unveiledness of a man who has spent more than three decades undergoing analysis-and credits it with saving his life.
Chardon, Ohio
The people of this tiny town have had six years to reflect on what a seventeen-year-old boy with a gun did, and how his terrible act has affected them.
by Libby Copeland
Brandon was in the hall at Chardon High School when he heard it. It sounded like construction, like a nail gun. That's when he glimpsed Jen Sprinzl, the principal’s secretary, standing at the end of the hall, near the cafeteria. She would come to see that moment outside the cafeteria as the one that separated her life into a before and an after. Afterward, Jen often wanted to quit her job. But her husband would say, "Well, what’re you gonna do?" and she knew she had to go back to work and return to her office, where the staff would come in weeping because Jen had always been the school’s mama bear. That protective instinct was why she ran out into the hall in the first place, after she heard shots and kids running. It was why she turned the corner when she did, and came face-to-face with the gun.
'It Had Never Been Done on Television Before': The Oral History of Breaking Bad
Creator Vince Gilligan, stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, and others reflect on how an offbeat show about a drug-dealing schoolteacher revolutionized television forever.
by Emma Dibdin
Much has been written about Breaking Bad-recaps, analysis, interviews, industry reflections about how the show became a phenomenon. Ten years after the show premiered on AMC, Emma Dibdin talked to the show’s creator, stars, and producers, and all of them reflected on how the show not only changed their lives‚but also the television landscape.
But beyond just your standard anniversary-pegged oral history, the kind that just assembles a bunch of famous people to tell stories they’ve probably repeated numerous times in print, this oral history cut to the emotional core that the groundbreaking series had on each of them.Breaking Bad fans will no doubt remember how harrowing some of its most iconic episodes-and twists-were to watch when they aired, but Bryan Cranston and his colleagues opened up about how deeply upsetting it was to play these characters and watch the creations they cared for so deeply destroy themselves and each other.
READ THE FULL STORY
It's Time for America to Fall Back in Love with MSG
Forget everything you thought you knew about the needlessly-controversial ingredient.
by Joanna Rothkopf
In October, chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern MC’d the first annual World Umami Forum, a conference hosted by MSG manufacturer Ajinomoto as a kind of American re-introduction to the needlessly-controversial product. And it’s still worth saying again, because after decades of junk science, and then good science disproving the junk science, and chefs and food writers promoting the good science, plus the reality that most of the world uses MSG every day without incident, most of us still can’t get over the idea that even a taste of the additive will somehow blind you, or make you tingle, or faint, or get super cranky. READ THE FULL STORY
The Great Rikers Island Art Heist
For forty years, an original Salvador Dalí painting went unnoticed inside New York City's massive jail complex. Then a gang of thieves decided it might be worth something.
by James Fanelli
In 1965, Salvador Dalí painted a piece for Rikers Island prison as an apology for not being able to come and paint in person. Over the years, the painting lost its allure. Inmates and wardens ignored it, for the most part, and once, a prisoner threw a drink, broke its protective glass, and stained it. At that point, it was temporarily removed and appraised. When it returned with a $1 million price tag, it had the inmates' attention. Suddenly, a plan was hatched: There would be a theft-no, a heist. At 1 A.M. on March 1, 2003, a fire alarm blared through the detention facility. It was on.
When the Power Went Out in Puerto Rico
Nothing slows down, not even World Central Kitchen. Not when there are communities to feed.
by Sarah Rense
After the devastation from Hurricane Maria truly settled in, the people of Puerto Rico have been tasked with slowly building back a territory with limited help from the U.S. government. In place of legitimate federal aid, the Puerto Rican people have banded together (with or without electricity) to keep itself above water. Helping to lead the charge on the culinary side is World Central Kitchen, an organization founded by celebrity chef José Andrés that has helped provide more meals to Puerto Rico than the U.S. government.
The piece is a testament to the kind of storytelling that Esquire is known for: thoughtful, personal stories that highlight something going on in the world that people need to know about. As a subject in the piece says, “A lot of people in the U.S. and even on this island are very much under the impression that Puerto Rico is fine now,” and “When The Power Went Out in Puerto Rico” makes it clear: the people are strong but everything is definitely not fine.
The Secretive Family Making Billions from the Opioid Crisis
A look at the Sackler family.
by Christopher Glazek
You’re aware America is under siege, fighting an opioid crisis that has exploded into a public-health emergency. You’ve heard of OxyContin, the pain medication to which countless patients have become addicted. But do you know that the company that makes Oxy and reaps the billions of dollars in profits it generates is owned by one family? Here, Christopher Glazek pulls back the curtain on the Sackler family, exposing how deep into America’s opioid crisis their roots really go.
The Kids Are A-L-R-I-G-H-T
In an ever-changing cultural climate, it's television's least-forgiving sporting event, the Scripps National Spelling Bee, that shows what the best of America looks like.
by Justin Kirkland
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is usually good fodder for an annual boilerplate story-an adorably toothy photo of that year’s victor, a cute quote, and a definition of the winning word, maybe “nunatak” or “feuilleton.” Instead, this piece offers a tender portrait of the strangely lovable institution via thoughtful mini-profiles of its participants, from an eight-year-old would-be actornaut (that’s an actor and astronaut) to some of the first identical twins to ever make it to the competition. READ THE FULL STORY
Addiction, Tears, and Neil Young: Inside the Making of the A Star Is Born Soundtrack
Songwriters Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell, Mark Ronson, Natalie Hemby, Lori McKenna, and more ensured the rock drama was as authentic as it gets.
by Madison Vain
Do you remember where you were the first time you heard “Shallow,” the chest-thumping, throat-ripping anthem from the A Star Is Born soundtrack? A group of songwriters like Lukas Nelson, Natalie Hemby, and Lori McKenna do-and it was a full year before the viral cut released. They were holed up in a Los Angeles studio along with producers Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell) and Mark Ronson, as well as the film’s stars, to craft the songbooks of Jackson Maine (Cooper) and Ally (Lady Gaga).
Esquire went behind the scenes of the album, talking to music supervisor Lukas Nelson (son of Willie Nelson and bandleader of Promise of the Real) and Cobb, as well as lauded scribes Jason Isbell, Hemby, McKenna to offer the definitive piece on the white hot-and now Grammy-nominated-album.
Summer 2018 Is the Summer of Sleaze
Here's how looking like a teenage weed dealer became a whole thing.
by Jonathan Evans
It all started earlier in the summer of 2018, when I observed aloud in the Esquire offices that I kept noticing celebrities dressing like overtanned Boca Raton retirees or teenage weed dealers hanging out in the parking lot of the local Circle K-and that, to my surprise, I was kind of into it. From there, we couldn’t stop seeing it. And so, one muggy day in August, we made it official: the summer of 2018 was The Summer of Sleaze. From Justin Bieber’s baggy track pants and hoodie, to Pete Davidson’s screaming pink Thrasher tee, sleazecore was happening everywhere. Was it good in the traditional sense of the word? Absolutely not. And that’s what made it so fun. Praise be to the style gods and Jonah Hill, because it was one hell of a ride.
This Isn't Los Angeles, Justin Bieber. We Have Rules Here.
The newly-engaged king of dressing like a sleazeball has erroneously introduced his prolific hoodie-wearing into NYC's August heat wave.
by Ben Boskovich
We’d talked about it a lot leading up to this day, but this piece was the site’s first published reference of The Summer of Sleaze. Coined by Style Director Jonathan Evans, the phrase became a movement, and was the driving force behind our celebrity style coverage in Summer 2018. As we said in this piece “looking like a scumbag has never been more on-trend.” I’m glad we started our journey here with Mr. Bieber, as throughout the entire Summer, he proved himself to be a worthy subject. READ THE FULL STORY
Shia LaBeouf Is Ready to Talk About It
The actor sets out to save his career-and his soul.
by Eric Sullivan, Photographs by Matthew Brookes
LaBeouf is the guy who was handed a golden ticket and promptly lit it on fire. But too often we forget that everyone screws up on their path toward becoming an adult; and that few do so under the gaze of the public eye; and that by embracing the kind of capital-A Acting LaBeouf aims to do, we nourish the same spark from which his bad behavior stems. Eric Sullivan spends the day with the actor to talk about what’s been on his mind and how he’s facing his failures.
Mexican Prez Vicente Fox Taught Us Some 'Useful' Spanish Phrases for Traveling in Mexico
"I'm sorry for the orange asshole" ought to come in handy.
by Esquire Editors
It’s not every day you get a world leader to come by your office, so it was an honor to have former Mexican President Vicente Fox share a few valuable phrases en español that Americans will find particularly useful for making friends and/or getting out of trouble on their next trip south of the border.
Devin Nunes's Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret
The Nunes family dairy of political lore-the one where his brother and parents work-isn’t in California. It’s in Iowa.
by Ryan Lizza
Rep. Devin Nunes is head of the House Intelligence Committee and one of President Trump’s biggest defenders. For years, he’s spun himself as a straight talker whose no-BS values are rooted in his family’s California dairy farm. So why did his parents and brother cover their tracks after quietly moving the farm to Iowa? Are they hiding something politically explosive? On the ground in Iowa, Ryan Lizza searched for the truth-and discovered a lot of paranoia and hypocrisy.
I Survived Olive Garden's Meatball Pizza Bowl. This Is My Story.
My Italian ancestors are rolling in their graves.
by Dom Nero
What is it about the Times Square Olive Garden that calls to mind so vividly the notion of purgatory? Is it the fact that the restaurant, which is overlooked by the gigantic face of the nearby Green M&M, feels impossibly immense, an Italian-American hedge maze like something out of a dream? Or that everything on the menu is endless, like the “neverending” pasta deals, or unlimited breadsticks? Whatever the case, having the chance to go and experience the newly-minted Meatball Pizza Bowl (which is only served during lunchtime) flung me into an existential wormhole and filled me with more questions about my Italian-American heritage than I expected.
There’s nothing quite like the Meatball Pizza Bowl, and yet it seems to embody perfectly the way Western culture has embraced, filtered, and ultimately, commodied the culture of Italians. While I felt out of place in a restaurant that seems to think of pasta as less of a sacred tradition and more of a carb reservoir for fast food, I couldn’t help but feel warmed by The Bowl, especially since, when you’re at Olive Garden, you’re family.
No One Lived Like Anthony Bourdain. But All Hope to Write Like Him.
Our world was better off-and far more visible-when he was telling stories.
by Jeff Gordinier
Anthony Bourdain’s life was the one we all wanted. Life-life itself-was what he embodied, emboldened, emblazoned across every book he wrote and TV episode he generated, which is why his final act, his negation of life itself, seemed so preposterous to contemplate. Following the breakthrough publication of Kitchen Confidential in 2000 (an instant classic, his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his Down and Out in Paris and London, but with more salmonella-laced eggs benedict), Bourdain took to the road and converted the fustiest of genres-travel writing, often the province of lazy graying British deadliners taking a final victory lap around the track-into a global gonzo marathon of appetite and adventure, beautiful bites and ugly truths, the coolest beat of all.
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