Our 18 Favorite Stories of 2016
Here we are again, that time of year when we all stop obsessing about what's to come and collectively pause to take a look backward. An evolutionary response not to indulge nostalgia, but to just catch our breath.
Looking back on the past 350 days I can't help thinking of a quote most often attributed to Romulus Augustulus, the Roman emperor who ruled over the Western Empire until its dissolution in 476 A.D.
"Holy shitfucks, what a year...."
You got that right, Romulus. You got that right.
So what do we have to show for 2016, aside from a new president? A few things stand out to us, the editors and writers who braved the Great Content Rush of 2016. These our some of our favorite pieces, from some of the smartest, funniest, most stylish, fearless, and flat-out most entertaining voices (in our opinion) to be found anywhere in this bar that never stops serving and stays open extremely late, which is to say, the Internet.
Here's to a Happy New Year. (You can do much better, 2017.)
—Michael Mraz, Director of Content
"A Moment Like This Used to Get a Black Man Killed" —Read it here.
By Charles P. Pierce
It was halfway through the speech when I realized that it really was a kind of valedictory. And, as someone who occasionally has been more than a little skeptical of the way the President sees the country and his fellow Americans, I had to admit that what he sees out there beyond the lights is a better and more humane place than what I see. His entire presidency was an act of faith in the possibilities of the country, those same possibilities that scare the daylights out of people who cling to the shreds of an old order of privilege that should have evaporated 50 years ago. It also was a challenge to all of us to follow him there. Instead, I thought, we were satisfied to wish him luck and wave goodbye from right where we stood. —CPP
"How Drive-By Truckers' 'American Band' Reclaimed Rock For the Anti-Trump South" —Read it here.
By Tyler Coates
I've been a longtime fan of Drive-By Truckers and was thrilled to get the chance to interview frontman Patterson Hood about their terrific new record, American Band. A lot of great music came out this year that reflected the then-scary and now-fucking-terrifying time in American history. I talked to Hood a few months before the election, when Trump's victory seemed like an impossible joke, and Hood was pretty vocal about his disdain for the Republican candidate. ("Fuck you, Donald Trump," he shouted more than a few times on the phone.) A month after the election, American Band sounds more like a lament than the cautionary tale it suggested back in September, but it's still a relief that certain musicians still plan to be angry and loud for the next four years. —TC
"When My Father Died on Facebook" —Read it here.
By Luke O'Neil
I don't know that it's my best, but this piece stood out to me for obvious reasons. I still haven't answered any of the questions I asked in it about identity or how to behave online. Probably never will. Here's to the single worst year of my life. —LO
"Never Forget the Day Fabio Killed a Bird With His Face and Changed the World" —Read it here.
By Dustin Krcatovich
I, Michael Mraz, am picking two stories because, "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." 1) is "Never Forget the Day Fabio Killed a Bird With His Face and Changed the World" by Dustin Krcatovich. No, I'm not selecting it just because of its author's similarly consonant-rich surname. It's because, as Krcatovich writes:
For those of us who came of age in the late 1990s, it was our Shot Heard 'Round The World, our Day The Music Died, our Secret Handjob At The First Lollapalooza. In an era rife with divisiveness and scandal—Whitewater, the O. J. Simpson (excuse me, the "somebody else") murders, JonBenet Ramsey, Carrot Top—only this brush with national tragedy truly changed how we live now.Yep, you guessed it: on March 30, 1999, male supermodel/margarine spokesman Fabio killed a goose in mid-air with his face. We've been reeling from the aftershocks ever since.
Which brings us to 2):
"Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer? A Conversation with Very Sane Conspiracy Theorist" —Read it here.
By Luke O'Neil
Here Luke employs his many talents as a reporter and Deep Twitter spelunker to report on one of the storylines from the 2016 presidential election that made far more sense than its outcome—is the junior Senator from Texas actually the Zodiac Killer? Luke's finger is pressed firmly against the country's jugular when he points out:
There is no right and wrong anymore, just varying shades of the truth. Cruz, based on all logical facts and appearances, is not the Zodiac Killer. But if enough people believe it, it becomes its own sort of truth. All he can do at this point is deny it and move on. That is, if it's not true.
—MM
"The Lost History of the Booty Call" —Read it here.
Art by Kevin Peralta
Look at how that handset jiggles. You see that? Pure magic. I get to make magic as part of my gig. RIP land lines. —KP
"How Do You Get David Duke to Leave Your Party?" —Read it here.
Edited by Megan Greenwell
Six days before the election, we published Olivia Nuzzi's longform feature on David Duke, who was hoping to ride Donald Trump's coattails to the Senate. Six weeks after the election, the piece feels prophetic—not because Duke won a seat (he got 3 percent of the vote), but because his white supremacist rhetoric is indeed having the moment Duke has long dreamed of. The point of Nuzzi's story isn't to "humanize" white nationalists, as it was in what felt like 100 profiles of the "dapper" Richard Spencer this year. Instead, the piece explores the very real question of how best to treat the Nazis in our midst: Ignore them and hope they go away? Confront them and become subject to the vicious trolls who make up their base? David Duke may not be in the Senate, but the David Duke problem is alive and well. —MG
"At Home in Latvia with the Future of the New York Knicks" —Read it here.
By Jack Holmes
It's a rare opportunity to trace the path, up close, of a superstar on the rise. It's rarer still to get the kind of access I did to Kristaps Porzingis, the 7'3" 20-year-old at the heart of everything the New York Knicks hope to do in the coming years. I traveled to his hometown of tiny Liepaja, Latvia, and even to the house where he grew up, where the rusted-out hoop with a chain link net still stands out back. That's where I found an amazingly tight-knit family, one that had beat all the odds presented by the post-Soviet country still struggling mightily all around them. —JH
"Exclusive Portraits of Pitti Uomo's Best-Dressed Men" —Read it here.
Edited by Jonathan Evans
Over the last few years, Florence's Pitti Uomo trade show has become a sort of street-style mecca. It makes sense—many of the men who attend dress so flamboyantly they've earned their own nickname: Pitti Peacocks. And while they were fascinating to look at for a while, frankly, that over-the-top, look-at-me style is a thing of the past. Which is why we invested a lot of time and effort into making a statement on behalf of understatement, at least in getting dressed. We set up a two-day pop-up photo studio to showcase the men who are dressing for themselves instead of the camera, and compiled a series of 34 portraits to highlight how great they look. It took a lot of wrangling and a couple last-minute flights, but the project, which we called #TheNewStyle and rolled out on Instagram, came together beautifully (if I do say so myself). And on the eve of another Pitti Uomo, which takes place in January, it's a nice reminder that sometimes, subtlety reigns supreme. —JE
"Justin Bieber's Dad Threw the Best Engagement Party" —Read it here.
By Dave Holmes
2016 was a year of Sobering News that inspired both Deep Thinking and Quick Reactions, and it has been an honor to offer mine in Esquire alongside some of the best thinkers and writers in the business. But sometimes you just have to shut the important shit out, turn up some Three Doors Down, and devote your whole self to making fun of Justin Bieber's dad. Big Biebs is still a Monster Energy Drink mini-fridge that got struck by lightning and came to life, and I am happy to have gotten a few good swipes in before Donald Trump finds a way to appoint him to his cabinet. (Secretary of Never Wondering Whether He Is Dressing Too Youthfully? I should stop. Enjoy.) —DH
"I'm About to Turn 15 Years Old. I Was Born on 9/11." —Read it here.
By Sarah Rense
The week of September 11, to mark its 15th Anniversary, Esquire ran a collection of stories about the attack, the aftermath, and the recovery. I got to add one voice to it, that of Hillary O'Neill, who was born on 9/11. In September, we were all so busy talking about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the state of politics we didn't really listen to anyone but ourselves, and especially not a 15-year-old girl who couldn't drive, let alone vote, and who wasn't even alive when the planes hit. Turns out, she had something to say. —SR
"Why This Guy I Went to High School with Is Voting for Trump" —Read it here.
By John Hendrickson
I'm proud of this interview because I think the subject was able to present his case without feeling like he was automatically being judged by myself or our readers. Sure, he tripped over his own words a few times, and he was confronted with certain gaps in his knowledge as the conversation unfolded. But he felt what he felt, and he said what he felt, and I admire that. He's not some raging white nationalist in a rural red state; he's an educated, 20-something Philly guy, and Hillary Clinton simply did not make sense to him. There were millions of others like him. I do not agree with many of his viewpoints, but I was happy to ask him questions over beers and make him feel like he knew he could speak his mind. —JH
"I Spent Six Days Protecting Tupac on His Deathbed" —Read it here.
By Matt Miller
The story of Tupac's death has been told and re-told over the past 20 years. He was shot down in Las Vegas leaving a boxing match in 1996, but he didn't die in an intersection east of the Las Vegas Strip. He held on for seven days until he finally died on September 13. In the weeks leading up to the 20th anniversary of Tupac's death, I realized how little I knew and how little had been written about those days in the hospital. The major players had either kept quiet to protect themselves and others or died in the past two decades. Finally, I tracked down a videographer named Gobi Rahimi, who filmed many of Tupac's final videos. After getting on the phone with him, he recalled those harrowing seven days in stunning detail—the threats, the tears. One of the last few people to ever see Tupac alive, he explained the fear, the anxiety, the confusion, and the sadness of those days. When pressed, he revealed even more details and more insights into what went on in that hospital. Tupac has reached near mythical status in 20 years. His death is one that has been shrouded in Hollywood spin and become subject to absurd conspiracy theories. But these memories from Rahimi make Tupac's life and death reality. It removes the fiction from the facts, making one of the world's most gifted rappers and musicians human again. —MM
"The Air Jordan XXXI Lives Up to the Hype" —Read it here.
By Ben Boskovich
Being able to review the most exciting Jordan release in years by doing what they were made for—playing basketball—was the highlight of my year, editorially speaking. We write, and read, a lot about sneakers, but being able to wear and review a pair of Air Jordans in their functional intent was pretty rewarding. Much more so than anything that would have come from more playing time in high school. —BB
"David Foster Wallace Empowered a Generation to Talk About Mental Health" —Read it here.
By Sammy Nickalls
I think this year was harder than any year on our mental health. That's exactly why the piece most dear to me is about David Foster Wallace's truly stellar writings on depression, as well as what he can teach us about the importance of opening up about our mental health. I believe this piece will always be one of my favorites I've written, especially because it will grow in importance during this current national climate. —SN
"This Film Will Renew Your Love of All Things Denim" —Read it here.
By Scott Christian
I loved this story because I loved the film. It's a beautiful examination of the Japanese devotion to aesthetic and craftsmanship. And the idea that everything, even a pair of jeans, belongs to a greater narrative. Fashion can often be a silly and shallow subject. So to have a story that re-frames it as something bordering on spiritual feels like a rare treat (especially for someone who writes about it for a living). Plus, it makes me want to drape myself in high-end Japanese denim. —SC
"Rudy Giuliani Is Not Having a Good Day" —Read it here.
By Peter Wade
Rudy Giuliani is a bullshit artist of the highest degree. As someone who worked a block away from the World Trade Center in 2001, I particularly despise him for profiteering from one of our nation's biggest tragedies because he just happened to be mayor at the time. Everyone forgets that he didn't do nearly enough to equip the city and its first responders for such an attack after the Trade Center bombing in 1993. The fact that we've had to watch his smug face on the Sunday shows during the election really irked me, and I used this article to take out much of my Giuliani rage. —PW
"The Man Who Live-Streamed a Birth Is the Actual Worst Person in Your Facebook Feed" —Read it here.
By Renata Sellitti
This piece about someone Facebook Live-ing their wife's labor might seem insignificant, but in light of the way the rest of this year has shaken out, it's actually an amusing—if depressing—benchmark of just how far we've fallen from there. We previously considered that place rock bottom as far as despicable online behavior was concerned, but after seeing humanity disintegrate into a fiery hellscape on our news feeds every moment since November, we would long to get back to it. It's as if the gods heard us saying, "It doesn't get any worse than this now does it" and then rubbed their palms together while letting out an ominous muah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah and showed us just how wrong we really were. I mean, do you even remember that long ago? Seven months? Me neither. If I could have Guy Who Shared His Wife's Labor Online back as the most smh thing about 2016, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Suck it, 2016. You won't be missed. —RS
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