Nate Bargatze's No Dummy

For years, the Hollywood establishment rejected him.

View in Browser  Monday, May 5, 2025 Last month, I spent several hours inside a house in suburban Nashville interviewing America's most-successful comedian, Nate Bargatze. During that conversation, plus a couple others, Bargatze shared his wild plans for the future. His ambitions are bigger than those of most comedians–bigger than most celebrities, in fact. They are so wild he admitted he was embarrassed to share them with the world. You can read all about them, and get a sense of what Nate is like off stage, in our lead story today. – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief   Plus: Is the Tecovas leather weekender worth the investment?  'The Last of Us' episode 4 introduces the character I've been waiting for For The Secret Lives of Men, we talked to a man who claims that testosterone from a sketchy clinic boosts his libido  Nate Bargatze Gets the Last Laugh For years, the Hollywood establishment rejected him. Now he's America's most successful comedian, with audacious plans for his life after standup—which is coming sooner than you think. Why is Bargatze only now, after two decades of consistent touring, exploding into the mainstream? Ask the suits. The Hollywood establishment passed on Bargatze more times than he can remember. While living in New York and then L.A. from 2005 to 2014, he pitched roughly ten sitcoms, filmed one pilot, tried out three times for Last Comic Standing, made it to the final round to be a Daily Show correspondent.   "I never got to do Letterman," he says. "I got told I was too mundane. I had to look the word up. I didn't know what it meant. It wasn't good."   Bargatze wanted those traditional Hollywood gigs badly. Nothing panned out.   "They have a system," he says. "I like their system. I try to be in their system. And then I just kept getting told no, so I had to go create my own thing." READ THE STORY Dear Republicans, Get a Grip on This Guy Already, Will You? Movies are getting made in other countries, usually because they can get a better deal than they can here, and this is a national-security threat? Charles P. Pierce has some questions for the President. >> The 10 Best Albums of 2025 (So Far) We're fully into festival season, and new records are on the way from Morgan Wallen, Lana Del Rey, and Miley Cyrus. But despair not, because the last few weeks have seen some excellent new music. Alan Light breaks down his favorites of the year. >> I Shouldn't Have to Tell You Not to Get Your News From Political Influencers I have avoided watching the White House daily briefing ever since Karoline Leavitt assumed the podium. This is partly because I have resolutely resisted watching any extraneous political coverage on the electric teevee machine. This is also because, under Leavitt, the daily White House gaggle has traded institutions like the Associated Press for what appears to be the Sunday night lineup from the Gaia channel. By Charles P. Pierce The Best Asics Will Renew Your Love for Sneakers I am an Asics stan. I do not like to run, although I do it sometimes. Everything seems to hurt during and after. But the first running sneakers I was fit for at a running store back in college—an old Gel-Kayano—were the first shoes that made the aftermath less bad.   Asics have stayed consistently good, and that's a hard thing to do in a world of hyped sneakers and quickened manufacturing times. They keep the good shoe parts good, even as they update styles with better technology and textiles. The changes are slow, so if you love a certain style, you won't feel like the next iteration is a whole new shoe. By Christine Flammia Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779