GQ's 25 Most Popular Stories of 2020
1. Where to Buy Face Masks Online Right Now
By Rachel Tashjian, Sam Schube and Daniel Varghese
No surprises here, given the year. We all need to wear masks—so here's a running list of designers producing them.
2. Robert Pattinson on Being Batman, "Tenet," and Life in Isolation
By Zach Baron
Nobody in Hollywood is more suited to thriving during lockdown than Robert Pattinson, the once reluctant movie star who’s stepping back into the spotlight with a new Christopher Nolan blockbuster and then The Batman. That is, if he can find his phone. Or turn on his computer. Or keep from burning down his kitchen.
3.The Mystery of the Immaculate Concussion
By Julia Ioffe
He was a senior CIA official tasked with getting tough on Russia. Then, one night in Moscow, Marc Polymeropoulos's life changed forever. He says he was hit with a mysterious weapon, joining dozens of American diplomats and spies who believe they’ve been targeted with this secret device all over the world—and even at home, on U.S. soil. Now, as a CIA investigation points the blame at Russia, the victims are left wondering why so little is being done by the Trump administration.
4. Kanye West on His Next Album, Designing Yeezy, and Kobe Bryant
By Will Welch
First he changed the sound of popular music. Then he revolutionized fashion and sneakers. Now, Kanye West is redesigning the very building blocks of family life—food, clothing, and shelter—and he’s claimed thousands of acres in Wyoming as a test site for his ideas. We followed West from Cody to Calabasas, and from Cabo San Lucas to Paris, to see it all firsthand—and to talk to him about his next album, his “altered ego,” and his renewed faith in God.
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Jeans, $98, from Front General Store / Bracelet, $7,200, by Tiffany & Co.5. Best James Bond Yet: Daniel Craig on "No Time to Die" and How He Changed 007 Forever
By Sam Knight
For our money, he's the best Bond yet—a searching soulful actor who managed to turn the campy secret agent into a three-dimensional character. Now as the world gears up for Daniel Craig's final film as 007 nears, he offers some rare reflection on the franchise he redefined and the icon he reimagined.
6. The Making (and Remaking) of Timothée Chalamet
By Daniel Riley
He found superstardom and artistic acclaim instantaneously. Now, with unique candor, the actor of a generation reveals what it’s like to come of age in our very upside-down era.
7. The Big Buscemi
By Gabriella Paiella
Steve Buscemi has seen it all. He was hit by a car and a bus as a kid, was once stabbed in a bar fight, volunteered as a firefighter during 9/11, and somewhere along the way became one of the most accomplished film actors of his generation. And then tragedy struck: In 2019, Buscemi lost his wife of over 30 years. In a rare interview, Hollywood's most beloved misfit opens up about anxiety, loss, and the hard work of getting through it all.
8. George Clooney on His Brush with Death, Picking Proper Fights, and Turning into a Wife Guy
By Zach Baron
The actor, director, and GQ Icon of the Year is the one thing we can all agree on—at a time when we can’t agree on anything.
9. The Great Buenos Aires Bank Heist
By Josh Dean
They were an all-star crew. They cooked up the perfect plan. And when they pulled off the caper of the century, it made them more than a fortune—it made them folk heroes.
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simon abranowicz10. Like Warren, I Had My Own Sexist Run-In with Chris Matthews
By Laura Bassett
The (now-former) Hardball anchor frequently demeans women guests with objectifying and belittling comments, both on and off air.
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STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES11. Inside the Diamond Princess, the Coronavirus-Infected Cruise Ship on a Nightmare Voyage
By Doug Bock Clark
At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, one ill-fated cruise ship became a symbol for the panic and confusion that would soon engulf the globe. Doug Bock Clark uncovers what two harrowing weeks trapped aboard the ocean liner felt like—for unsuspecting tourists, for frightened crew members, even for the captain himself.
12. Larry David: The Incredibly Happy Life of TV's Favorite Grouch
By Brett Martin
We venture into the peculiar alternate reality of Larry David and begin to wonder: Is the world's most infamously neurotic man actually its most self-actualized?
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13. Why Facebook Is Bad, Twitter Might Be a Little Bit Good, and Social Media Is Rotting Our Brains
By Zach Baron
Tech oracle Jaron Lanier warned us all about the evils of social media. Too few of us listened. Now, in the most chaotic of moments, his fears—and his bighearted solutions—are more urgent than ever.
14. Brooks Koepka, the World's Best Golfer, Has Some Issues With Golf
By Daniel Riley
Koepka is collecting majors at a record clip while upending the tour's social norms, wearing Off-White on the course—and making clear he wouldn't mind changing the game forever.
15. The Promise That Tested My Parents Until the End
By Christopher Solomon
Couples pledge many things to one another. When my father grew ill, one promise tested everything about my parents' long and happy life together, and forced my mother to wonder how she would keep her word—and also whether she should.
16. Inside the Frenzy to Conquer the Cannonball Run
By Alex W. Palmer
When the country shut down and the highways thinned out, a stealthy group of amateur car obsessives glimpsed an opportunity to revive the fabled cannonball run—the highly daring, absurdly illegal cross-country endurance race. And in the record-breaking frenzy that followed, they became legends of the unlikeliest pastime of the pandemic age.
17. Trevor Noah Goes Deep With Wesley Lowery on Racism, Trump, and America Divided
By Wesley Lowery
At a time of immense political polarization, the newsman of the year appears on TV each night to help translate. Maybe that’s why we keep tuning in.
18. Jason Isbell on ”Reunions,” Finding Sobriety, and Everything That Came Between
By Zach Baron
A decade after bottoming out and cleaning up, Jason Isbell has become the last of his kind: a guitar-playing, compulsively honest, relentlessly consistent songwriter. Oh, and he slays on Twitter too. Zach Baron goes to Isbell's family home near Franklin, Tennessee, and finds there's no question the four-time Grammy winner won't answer.
19. How Post Malone Became Pop’s King of Heartbreak
By Kelefa Sanneh
Post Malone has a cheerful, chaotic, beer-drunk image. But somehow he keeps churning out perfectly crafted pop anthems. To sort out the contradictions, Kelefa Sanneh hunkers down with the most reliable hitmaker in America.
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john finney photography20. The 47 Best Gifts for Men in 2020
By The Editors of GQ
Judging by the number of readers who came through, all the fathers, brothers, boyfriends, buddies and more received some solid presents this year.
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Courtesy of Jordan / Gabe Conte21. The Definitive Air Jordan Ranking
By Yang-Yi Goh, Sam Schube
From the stone-cold classic to the low-key underrated to the…well, less-than-GOAT, we ranked the greatest basketball sneaker line in history.
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Shirt, $630, and shorts, $890, by Fendi Men’s / Shoes, $795, by Manolo Blahnik / Socks, $22 (for six pairs), by Nike / Sunglasses, $415, by Barton Perreira22. How Eliud Kipchoge Broke Running's Mythic 2-Hour Barrier
By Knox Robinson
It was one of sport’s great question marks: Is it humanly possible to run 26.2 miles in under two hours? Then Eliud Kipchoge did it. What followed was international fame—and plenty of controversy. So we flew to Kipchoge’s ultra-rarefied Kenyan training ground to meet the man who pulled off the impossible.
23. Who Is Zack Bia?
By Samuel Hine
He’s a very popular Google search. A DJ, occasionally. An influencer, certainly. And, apparently, one of Drake’s best buds. Which all still begs the question: Who, exactly, is Zack Bia? And why do so many people care?
24. Quavo and Saweetie's Love Language
By Gerrick D. Kennedy
Saweetie is a breakout L.A. rapper. Quavo is a Migo. And their romance started out as modern as any: with a DM slide and a messy first date at the strip club.
25. Inside the Great NBA Bubble Experiment
By Taylor Rooks
Writer Taylor Rooks spent months inside the most ambitious plan in sports and saw how the players stayed sane.
Originally Appeared on GQ
