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The Morning Report

Five stories worth your time—plus the streamers, books and sounds our editors are loving right now. Every morning.

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For Wednesday, September 30th

How to get Jacob Elordi’s perfect goatee, the conversation watch worth pursuing and our cars are sharing way more data than we think.

Face Value

Jacob Elordi just made the goatee cool again. Here’s two barbers on exactly how you can pull it off without looking like a mid-2000s cautionary tale.

Read at GQ

Safari So Good

This $15 million South African villa sits on a 40,000-acre private game reserve with lions outside the windows. The Airbus helicopter isn't a flex. It's the only way to get there.

Read at Robb Report
One of the World’s Coolest Travel Watches Subtly References a Rolex Grail

“

The Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer Dark dons a new dial color scheme that may look familiar to most watch enthusiasts.”

One of the World’s Coolest Travel Watches Subtly References a Rolex Grail

Read at Gear Patrol

Ticker Talk

Nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, and middle-aged men are squarely in the crosshairs. Cardiologists offer the eight lifestyle changes that actually move the needle.

Read at Men's Journal

Vroom

Your car is quietly snitching on you. A Northeastern University study found 19 of 21 late-model vehicles sending your data to Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Reddit.

Read at Road & Track
 
Aimé Leon Dore Capsule Collection

Aimé Leon Dore Capsule Collection

Available now

Aimé Leon Dore's Fall/Winter '26 capsule reworks mid-century workwear staples in chalk and hickory stripe denims. There are trucker and chore jackets, painter pants, bucket and logo hats, all cut from the hardwearing striped fabrics. It’s a straightforward, rugged-leaning drop that mixes the brand's usual vocabulary of Americana downtown polish.

Learn more

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For Tuesday, September 29th

The best stretch routine from top experts, why a renowned car designer picks a rebuilt Porsche and simple health screenings.

Bend, Don't Break

Stretching is the part of your workout you keep skipping. GQ tapped a sports PT and a certified exercise scientist to build a full-body dynamic routine that takes about 10 minutes.

Read at GQ

Mind & Muscle

Yukio Mishima led one of history's most extreme lives. Here’s seven surprisingly practical lessons from his memoir on balancing the life of the mind with the demands of the body.

Read at The Art of Manliness
Why Did One of the world’s Best-Known Car Designers Choose This Weird Little Porsche 914/6?

“

Donckerwolke made his name working on dramatic Lamborghinis, yet [his] 914/6 comes from another corner of automotive design entirely.”

Why Did One of the world’s Best-Known Car Designers Choose This Weird Little Porsche 914/6?

Read at designboom

Coastal Gems

Skip Positano and Santorini. Instead head for these 10 under-the-radar European harbor towns with serious food, local wine and half the crowds.

Read at Quartz

Check Up

Nearly 60% of men skip routine screenings until something goes wrong. Patrick Dempsey makes the case for preventive care, and it's worth hearing.

Read at Men's Journal
 
Podcasts to Queue Up Now
The Retrievals
1

The Retrievals

From Serial Productions & The New York Times

Out now

Serial Productions and the New York Times take on a Yale fertility clinic where dozens of women reported excruciating pain during egg retrievals. The really sad part? They were all repeatedly told it was in their heads. Five episodes of patient, infuriating reporting on how institutions handle inconvenient patients.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Things Fell Apart
2

Things Fell Apart

From BBC Radio 4

Out now

Jon Ronson traces the culture wars back to their origin points—one strange, small incident at a time. Same method as So You've Been Publicly Shamed: find the person at the center of a fight nobody remembers starting, and let them talk.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

The Outlaw Ocean
3

The Outlaw Ocean

From CBC

Out now

Ian Urbina spent years reporting on the high seas for the Times, and this CBC anthology turns that work into audio: Forced labor on fishing fleets, dumping, killings nobody prosecutes. Grim, meticulous and the rare investigative show that earns its running time. True crime fans will be in heaven.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

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For Monday, September 28th

Dramatic charred timber is having a moment, skeptics explore red light therapy breakthroughs and Booker’s cinnamon rye whiskey defies purist expectations.

Smoke Show

Charred timber is having a serious architectural moment. And Dezeen's roundup of eight shou sugi ban-clad buildings shows exactly why.

Read at Dezeen

Making Scents

Six scents that are less about fragrance and more about memory. One of them will send you straight back to being ten years old.

Read at The Art of Manliness
The Skeptic’s Guide to Red Light Therapy

“

You don’t have to run in biohacking circles to have noticed that red light therapy is having a moment. You could just go to the mall.”

The Skeptic’s Guide to Red Light Therapy

Read at GQ

Know Your Numbers

Dan Plews spent 25 years as an elite Ironman athlete — now he's chasing a podium at Hyrox Worlds 2027 and rethinking everything.

Read at InsideHook

Spice Is Right

The internet called it 'Booker's Fireball' before anyone tasted it. Robb Report's Jonah Flicker gave it a fair shot and came away genuinely impressed.

Read at Robb Report
 
Today in 1928

In 1928

Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming returns from vacation to find mold growing in a discarded petri dish, leading to the accidental discovery of penicillin and the dawn of modern antibiotics. This single moment of untidiness birthed a new age in medicine and has saved an estimated 200 million lives.

(Source: Encyclopedia Britannica)

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For Friday, September 25th

Tennis’s biggest stars champion hyper‑neutral suits, Highland Park’s unexpected new single malt and Paris Airbnbs that blend romance and design.

Game, Set, Match

Ahead of the Laver Cup in London, GQ tapped legendary stylist Jim Moore to dress tennis's biggest names (Alcaraz, Fritz, Zverev, and company) — in earth-toned neutral suits.

Read at GQ

Telling Time

Lewis Hamilton wore a $1.1M Richard Mille to an L.A. museum gala. The skeletonized movement even shifts gears like an F1 gearbox.

Read at Esquire
I'm a Whisky Expert. Highland Park’s Unexpected New Single Malt Is the Best Scotch of the Year

“

'Egyptian spice market' is not a typical tasting note for a mildly sweet and smoky Scotch.”

I'm a Whisky Expert. Highland Park’s Unexpected New Single Malt Is the Best Scotch of the Year

Read at Men's Journal

Money Talks

A million dollars sounds like a lot until you see this breakdown of what it actually takes to crack the top 10%.

Read at Fast Company

Bon Séjour

Skip the hotel and actually live in Paris. Here are 14 Airbnbs where great design is a given, not an upgrade.

Read at AD
 
Weekend Streams
JAŸ-Z in 8
1

JAŸ-Z in 8

Streaming on HBO Max

Out now

Eight episodes of HBO built entirely on Jay-Z and Rick Rubin talking. Rubin already proved the format works with Shangri-La and McCartney 3,2,1, and Jay-Z rarely sits for anything this long. Expect craft talk, not legacy burnishing.

Learn more

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4
2

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4

Streaming on Paramount+

Out now

The most watchable Star Trek in years returned for a fourth run of Strange New Worlds, the rare franchise show built on self-contained episodes rather than season-long homework. Anson Mount's Pike anchors it. This year leans into Spock, Chapel and M'Benga facing what comes next. The final episodes are still to come but there’s plenty to watch now.

Learn more

UNABOMBER
3

UNABOMBER

Streaming on Netflix

Out now

Janus Metz, who made the Afghanistan doc Armadillo and directed for The Vietnam War's crowd of prestige nonfiction, turns to Ted Kaczynski. Expect procedural rigor over lurid manhunt beats. Worth a look if you want the ideas behind the bombings, not just the FBI chase.

Learn more

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For Thursday, September 24th

Brad Pitt’s embracing color for fall and so should you, starting your own company and Dior x A24 shirts.

Suede Season

Brad Pitt showed up to a film premiere in a blue suede Zegna blouson, a purple Tom Ford polo, lemon Prada sneakers, and a backward cap — and somehow made it work.

Read at GQ

Plugged In

Bentley's first EV, the Torcal, skips the sci-fi redesign. It's still unmistakably a Bentley, inside and out.

Read at Dezeen
Think You’re Too Old to Start a Company? the Most Successful Founders Average 45

“

There’s a misconception that entrepreneurs thrive on risk-taking when, in actuality, smart entrepreneurs work hard to eliminate risk.”

Think You’re Too Old to Start a Company? the Most Successful Founders Average 45

Read at Inc.

Pour Decisions

India is quietly challenging Scotland's single malt dominance. Here’s the bottles worth knowing before the rest of the country catches on.

Read at Men's Journal

Not For Sale

Bad news: Those Dior x A24 shirts all over your feed (worn by Robert Pattinson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth) aren't coming to a checkout page near you.

Read at Variety
 
Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Make Your Clothes Last Longer

Ensuring a long life for your clothes isn't just about caring for them once they start showing their age. It's about proactive care, regular maintenance and buying the right garments to begin with.

Learn more

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For Wednesday, September 23rd

Fashion designers' obsession with Snoopy, the 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport and Beats’ perfect Airpods Max rivals.

Good Grief

Turns out fashion's ultimate blank canvas has four legs and a food bowl. GQ digs into why designers from Bode to Zac Posen can't stop dressing Snoopy.

Read at GQ

Telling Time

Grand Seiko's limited SBGW325 is already sold out in the U.S. Worth hunting down overseas if a matte blue dial with a 60-year design lineage sounds like your kind of watch.

Read at Esquire
2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Test: Middleweight Brawler

“

The throaty roar of Sport hits all the right notes without emitting excessive droning while cruising.”

2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Test: Middleweight Brawler

Read at Car and Driver

The Big Picture

George Lucas finally opened his billion-dollar museum in Los Angeles. Star Wars is just seven percent of it.

Read at Inverse

Sweat Equity

Beats just cracked the formula for serious workout headphones that don't make you choose between performance and sound quality.

Read at Gear Patrol
 
J.Crew Barn Jacket 40th Anniversary

J.Crew Barn Jacket 40th Anniversary

J.Crew has just relaunched its Barn Jacket, pairing a new 2026 version with a reissue of the original 1986 design. The campaign, shot across the country with a wide cast including Spike Lee, Chance The Rapper and Dave Franco, leans on the jacket’s workwear heritage and staying power as a wardrobe staple. Pick one up before they all sell out.

Learn more

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For Tuesday, September 22nd

Inside closets of influential men, livestreaming while free-soloing El Capitan and Yeti unveils its most ambitious cooler to date.

Dressed to Impress

GQ went inside the closets of 13 influential men (from Lenny Kravitz and architect Bjarke Ingels to writer David Sedaris) to see what a wardrobe actually reveals about a man. Turns out, quite a lot.

Read at GQ

Less Is More

Patrick Dempsey builds lean muscle at 60 by doing less in the weight room. Breaking down the counterintuitive rule that keeps him looking good without burning out.

Read at Men's Journal
Why I Free-Solo El Capitan

“

So, yeah, in some ways I’d rather be dangling by three fingers than dealing with life’s day-to-day headaches.”

Why I Free-Solo El Capitan

Read at The New Yorker

Easy Wear

The raglan tee has a better shoulder-broadening effect than almost any other cut. The case for reconsidering this one.

Read at The Art of Manliness

Stay Cool

Yeti finally confirmed what cooler obsessives have been waiting on … an electric cooler is coming, and it's just one of six new products the brand teased at a recent event.

Read at Gear Patrol
 
Nonfiction
An Unexpected Life
1

An Unexpected Life

By Gloria Steinem

Available now

Steinem, who just passed at 92, publishes her highly anticipated final memoir recounting her extraordinary life, including founding Ms. magazine and fighting for women’s rights for six decades. Her My Life on the Road proved she writes about movements the way a reporter does: on the ground, without self-congratulation.

Buy at Amazon

How Bright the Path Grows
2

How Bright the Path Grows

By Marcia Chatelain

Out September 29

Marcia Chatelain won the Pulitzer for Franchise, which used McDonald's to explain Black capitalism in America better than most economics books manage. Her follow-up arrives next fall. If you read one work of American history this year, make it the one from the historian who already proved she can reframe a subject you thought you understood.

Buy at Amazon

This Cursed Beautiful Land
3

This Cursed Beautiful Land

By Evan Gershkovich

Out September 29

Gershkovich spent 16 months in a Russian prison on fabricated espionage charges. This is the book he came back with—part captivity account, part reported portrait of a country he covered for years before it took him. One of the most anticipated books for the fall, it’s being called “propulsive . . . a taut thriller.”

Buy at Amazon

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For Monday, September 21st

Essential trap exercises for defined shoulders, why giving a sh*t feels impossible now and Whistlepig’s ancient Egypt‑inspired rye.

Trap Stars

Your traps cover a third of your visible back muscle, and GQ says you're almost certainly neglecting them. Three trainer-approved moves fix that fast.

Read at GQ

Sole Mates

While adidas keeps mutating the Samba, this Aurora Coffee/Off White OG makes a quiet case for the original. It reads like a Wales Bonner collab without the collab markup.

Read at Highsnobiety
Why It Feels so Hard to Give a Sh*t Right Now, According to a Therapist

“

I just don’t care anymore, and that scares me more than getting fired.”

Why It Feels so Hard to Give a Sh*t Right Now, According to a Therapist

Read at Men's Health

Two-Wheeler

Here are 15 new motorcycles worth getting excited about, from Ducati to Triumph and beyond.

Read at Gear Patrol

Pharaoh Real

WhistlePig's latest Boss Hog rye was inspired by a tiger nut cake recipe carved into an Egyptian tomb 3,000 years ago. Robb Report says it's one of the best releases in years.

Read at Robb Report
 
Vintage Cocktail Shakers
Vintage Cocktail Shakers

Vintage Cocktail Shakers

Your home bar could use a little history. Skip the shiny new stuff and hunt down a vintage cocktail shaker instead. Whether it’s sleek midcentury stainless steel or something a little more eccentric, an old shaker brings instant character, unexpected design and a bit of whimsy to your setup before you even pour a drink.

Shop on eBay

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For Friday, September 18th

Hands-on with the latest Apple Watch, an evening in Paris with Drake’s and Glendronach unveils new sherry cask‑matured whisky.

Wrist Check

Ceramic is back on Apple Watch, and Hodinkee got some quality time with the new Series 12 and Ultra 4 to tell you if it's worth the upgrade.

Read at Hodinkee

Race Ready

HYROX is brutal on any body, but here’s a week-by-week prep plan built specifically for men over 40 who want a bib number without the blown knee.

Read at Men's Journal
An Evening at Chez Paul

“

The room is exactly as we had hoped it would be. A mirage of red neon and gastronomic pleasure.”

An Evening at Chez Paul

Read at Drake's

Jailbreak

Seven former prisons are now hotels worth booking on purpose. Here’s the most historically loaded ones, including a Berlin cell block that once sheltered anti-Nazi activists.

Read at Quartz

Cask Study

The Macallan gets all the sherry cask glory, but Glendronach has been doing it for 200 years. Their new Boynsmill House Edition is the $125 bottle your bar has been missing.

Read at Robb Report
 
On the Big Screen
The Uprising
1

The Uprising

Paul Greengrass

Now showing

Paul Greengrass returns to the handheld, procedural historical thriller with The Uprising. He made United 93 and Captain Phillips, so expect real events compressed into something tense and legible rather than reverent. Early chatter suggests he's taken liberties with the record. Worth seeing in a theater.

In Theaters

The History of Concrete
2

The History of Concrete

John Wilson

Now showing

John Wilson spent four seasons on How To with John Wilson turning New York's sidewalk detritus into accidental philosophy. The History of Concrete is his first feature — same anxious narration, same footage nobody else would think to shoot, now with room to wander. Watch it before someone explains it to you.

In Theaters

Primetime
3

Primetime

A24

September 25

Lance Oppenheim, who made the unsettling Some Kind of Heaven and Ren Faire, turns to Chris Hansen and the To Catch a Predator era, with A24 distributing. Oppenheim's specialty is finding the strangeness inside American institutions, and network true-crime TV is fertile ground.

In Theaters

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For Thursday, September 17th

McLaren is finally building that long‑awaited SUV, Jeff Koons x Hublot and stunning hotels worth the trip.

Vroom

McLaren is committing to a full-scale revival. We’re talking a new factory, in-house engines, 1,000 new hires, and yes, an SUV.

Read at Jalopnik

Icon At Home

Architectural Digest unearthed 10 rare photos of Clint Eastwood off-set, and it turns out the man had impeccable taste long before he had the budget for it.

Read at AD
Hublot and Jeff Koons Just Dropped a Striking New Watch Inspired by His Big Inflatable Dogs

“

What appears effortless and playful is, in reality, an extraordinary exercise in engineering, craftsmanship and detail.”

Hublot and Jeff Koons Just Dropped a Striking New Watch Inspired by His Big Inflatable Dogs

Read at Robb Report

Sole Mates

Most luxury sneakers are overbuilt and over-logoed. GQ narrows it down to 16 pairs from Prada, Bottega Veneta and others that actually age well.

Read at GQ

Check In

Some hotels give you a room. But these architecturally stunning properties give you a building worth flying across the world for.

Read at Quartz
 
Organize Your Fridge

Organize Your Fridge

A disorganized fridge costs more than space. It wastes food, dulls appetite and turns everyday eating into a low-grade negotiation. Most men think of the fridge as storage. Some treat it like it’s a junk drawer. But it’s not. The best refrigerator is actually a system.

Learn more

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For Wednesday, September 16th

7 doctor‑approved hair loss treatments, the world’s top 100 pizzerias and sleep specialists' actual habits.

Good Hair Day

Two-thirds of men notice hair loss by 35, so Men's Health asked dermatologists which treatments actually work. Turns out they all reach for the same thing first.

Read at Men's Health

Tick Tock

Rolex just revived a vintage collector favorite with the Perpetual Padellone, a 39mm annual calendar moonphase that only needs one correction a year.

Read at Hodinkee
The 100 Best Pizzerias in the World, According to a New Ranking

“

The pizza capital of the world is no longer in Naples—and it isn’t in New York.”

The 100 Best Pizzerias in the World, According to a New Ranking

Read at Robb Report

Vroom

Porsche is marking 75 years of the 550 Spyder with an 80%-scale electric replica limited to just 250 units. It seats two, hits 50 mph, and has a Race mode.

Read at Road & Track

Sleep On It

Quartz went straight to the source and asked sleep specialists what they actually do. Turns out the basics work.

Read at Quartz
 
UNIQLO : U Fall/Winter 2026 Collection

UNIQLO : U Fall/Winter 2026 Collection

UNIQLO’s designer collaboration with Lemaire's Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran wraps with this Fall/Winter 2026 capsule, the last after a decade of pairing minimalist, workwear-inflected design with UNIQLO’s price points. The lineup includes a hooded blouson, barrel chinos, a double-face sweater, and a crew neck tee, the same understated basics that made the sub-label a staple.

Learn more

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