It’s Friday and mentally we’re still in the lilly-pond with Travis Kelce.
Big week at GQ for incisive profiles accompanied by beautiful photos of top-shelf talent half-submerged in liquid! In a world where every other magazine on the stands slash the Internet stands timidly on the shore, myopically focused on the “dry world,” only one publication dares to get truly amphibious with it. In this month’s print-issue cover story we’ve got Travis profiled by Sean Manning and photographed by Ryan McGinley in a bog, in the ocean, and flying with the aid of a hydro-powered jet pack.
And if that’s not enough fluidly-dynamic magazine-making, we sent Kieran Reynolds to interview progressive political commentator Hasan Piker—outspoken host of a pod that might actually save America, if it can sway enough young men away from voting CHUD—and Molly Matalon photographed Piker in a pool and a bubblebath, which is either 1 or 2 liquids if you count soap as its own thing (and for the sake of this argument, we do.)
Also making a splash this week: Your next (or, possibly, depending on your level of Nugs.net exposure, THC tolerance and Ultimate Frisbee mastery, current) favorite jam band, Goose, who did not get wet for their GQ photo shoot (which took place before their career-milestone show at landlocked Madison Square Garden) but did hang out at a beach club in Canadigua, NY, aka the Finger Lakes region, during the reporting for this profile by Sam Sodomsky.
In other news: Travis Kelce’s significant other, one Taylor Alison Swift, has a new album in the works, and she’s re-teaming with Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish ex-metal-dudes whose past credits (as Molly Mary O’Brien reminded us this week, in this comprehensive greatest-hits rundown) include everything from Tay’s “Blank Space” all the way back to Britney’s epoch-inaugurating “Baby One More Time.”
Not to mention: Vince Mancini assessed the latter-day career of Howard Stern, who may be parting ways with SiriusXM after twenty years. Raymond Ang talked to singer-songwriter Khalid about embracing his identity and transforming his sound after being outed in 2024. Scott Meslow ranks the best video games of the year so far. Chris Black explains how he learned to stop worrying and respect ROLE MODEL. We experienced the invigorating effects of smelling salts and the Marty Supreme trailer. We’re guardedly optimistic about The Adventures of Cliff Booth and pleasantly surprised by Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth.
And it wouldn’t be a water-themed newsletter if we didn’t mention Matthew Roberson’s guardedly optimistic about The Adventures of Cliff Booth and profile of one Phil Di Ruggiero, a real-estate advisor from Washington D.C. who’s also a world-champion belly-flopper, and whose precise mix of nonchalance and stoicism we hope to emulate as we dive into the weekend.
