In the latest issue of Esquire, writer Tom Junod analyzes the serious side of The Daily Show and compares comedian Jon Stewart to Fox News president Roger Ailes. Junod devotes most of the article to Stewart’s serious side, suggesting in recent years it has influenced and guided his work more than his comedic side. Talking [...]

As the folks over at Bitch magazine’s blog were quick to point out, there’s something a little bit… off… about Esquire‘s list of “36 Reasons It’s (Still) Good to Be an American Man.” I mean, yes, it’s odd that the magazine would deem certain high points in America’s culture — like nitrate-rich meat products, artificial popcorn toppings and great comedic American comedian who does comedy, Jon Stewart — as being solely for the consumption and eventual heart failure of American men, but it’s also quite odd that the magazine would choose to include former Alabama governor George Wallace as a reason why it is (still) great to be an American male.

The day before the brutal attack on CBS correspondent Lara Logan, the journalist gave an interview to Esquire‘s Foster Kamer, talking about security for herself and her team in Egypt and the time she spent in police detention during her previous visit to the country just days earlier.

Kamer interviewed Logan on the flight to Cairo February 10, one day ahead of the brutal attack and sexual assault by a mob that’s left Logan hospitalized back home in the U.S..

Last week’s epic Roger Ailes profile in Esquire contained tons of interesting tid bits. But, when you’ve got to make room for such hilariously bizarre literary flourishes as writing the entire thing as a parody of a Glenn Beck monologue, not all the interesting facts are going to make it to print. Yesterday, Esquire writer Tom Junod released some of the extra quotes from his research and they included this doozy: Ailes claims he met with Bill Clinton about doing his own talk show.

In an unusual–and revealing–interview with Esquire, Fox News chief Roger Ailes reveals why he no longer carries a Blackberry, how he was beaten up as a kid, and why he thinks MSNBC’s multi-million dollar promo campaign, “Lean Forward,” was a monumental waste of money. “Lean? They paid Spike Lee $3 million for ‘Lean’? What kind of word is that? Isn’t that their problem — that they’re leaning? Didn’t anybody say, What about ‘move’?”

We all know Ailes is a blunt and colorful speaker. But here, well, he’s quite amazing.

Arthur Hochstein was the art director of Time magazine for 15 years, through the end of 2009. During his time there he designed over 1000 covers, including some of the most memorable magazine images of recent years. His iconic cover designs include everything from OJ Simpson, 9/11, the War in Iraq, George Bush, and Barack Obama. And although the covers of Time included some of the best illustrators and photographers in the world, many of the covers were photo-illustrated by Hochstein himself, who created numerous humorous and pointed images.

Yesterday, Esquire contributor Tom Junod shared an…interesting theory of his: that Republicans’ resurgence can be explained in large part due to “semi-sexy” women (he counted Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, and Michele Bachmann among them), whereas Democratic women are “either old or unattractive.” Today, The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur had both Junot and The Nation executive editor Betsy Reed on MSNBC to discuss “sex over substance” in politics.

This morning, Tom Junod over at Esquire‘s political blog offered his take on why Republican voters have been more energized than Democratic ones: sex appeal. In an article titled “How D.C. Became Hollywood for Semi-Attractive People,” he argues that conservative women like Christine O’Donnell, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Michele Bachmann are both “crazy” and the new “standard of beauty,” while lib ladies are “either old or unattractive.” As he puts it, “the Democrats became the CNN to the Republican Fox, clueless in their competence, bewildered by their own best intentions.”

Never one to shy away from publicity and attention, Ann Coulter headlined gay conservative fundraiser, Homocon, this weekend and everyone is reacting as planned in Coulter’s perfectly choreographed appearance. Progressives and gays and lesbians are appalled, conservatives are titillated, and GOProud has gotten tons of ink.

While Sarah Palin is popular with various groups of Americans, there’s one group of Britons with whom she is becoming increasingly unpopular: Sarah Palins. Esquire reports that “the Sarah Palins of the world are not exactly enjoying this election cycle.” Snippets from the Facebook messages received by random Palins include: “You should never have been born,” “You bitch,” and “You’ve insulted every single black American.”

Yesterday Esquire released a rather explosive 8,000 word essay about former Clinton-era Speaker of the House and presumptive GOP Presidentail Candidate Newt Gingrich. The epic expose is sure to make a lot of news, and become an ongoing factor in Gingrich’s political future, because the writer chose a very interesting method of getting to know the candidate: by interviewing his ex-wife Marianne Gingrich. In a follow up blog post, writer John H. Richardson revealed his motivation behind the interview: his racist comments.

There are a number of significant clues out this week that reveal plans that former House Representative (and current Fox News analyst) Newt Gingrich will make a presidential bid in 2012. First is the report that he’s currently “putting real legwork on the ground in Iowa.” Second is the doozy of a story out today in Esquire that outlines his potential candidacy AND his character via an in-depth interview with his former wife Marianne. Lots of salacious details sure to make news in the coming weeks and months.

There’s a lot to be said about Hollywood nepotism in New York. In the case of James Franco, it means making the most of this lavish praise, the most recent example of which would be having his short fiction from his MFA get optioned by Scribner for an October release and having excerpts printed in this month’s Esquire. So how is the Pineapple Express‘ star’s writing? It’s exactly what you’d expect.

Esquire, Fortune, Playboy, Vanity Fair, New York: End the War on Christmas Magazine Covers! Who knows, magazines might even increase those newsstand sell-through numbers that are all doing so terribly if they just get back into the holiday spirit. To make a case, we’ve collected the Top 20 Christmas Magazine Covers of All Time.

Esquire‘s innovation doesn’t end with December’s augmented reality 3-D Robert Downey Jr. In fact, that’s just the beginning, as now they’ve rolled out a completely digital version of January’s “Meaning of Life” issue. The Hearst title is one of the first to offer a paper-less version of such quality, not through the world wide web, but with an iPhone app. For $2.99 you can buy the whole January issue in a format designed optimally for your Apple brand mobile smartphone.

Esquire is teasing its upcoming December issue as a new “living, breathing, moving, talking magazine,” using 3-D technology and augmented reality to integrate real images and graphics with both its articles and advertisements. The issue features six interactive “boxes” and at least one Lexus ad in which readers can use their computers to see bonus three-dimensional features. Will this lure advertisers? It better.

The latest issue of the UK edition of Esquire features actor/comedian Ricky Gervais shot with arrows. It’s a visual reference to the famous Muhammad Ali Esquire cover from April 1966, and that cover is, of course, a clever visual nod to the famous paintings of St. Sebastian. And although it may be time to give that particular homage a well-deserved rest, this got us thinking about other magazine covers that have referenced magazine covers. Here’s a brief recent history.

Over at Webdesigner Depot, Angela West has put together an excellent list of 30 of the most controversial magazine covers of all time. A) we wish we had thought of it first, and B) we urge our readers to check it out.

Desperate times. Entertainment Weekly, the magazine that is consistently rumored to be going web-only, is including a video ad (literally) in its upcoming print issue. Is it merely another desperate sign of magazines trying to bring what interest on the web to print? Aren’t we post-novelty?

We normally count on graffiti-chic Esquire covers to be the edgiest of the men’s mags . But this month, Esquire tries to hard, leaving the door wide open for the September Details and a brooding, bloodshot Tom Brady — edgy but relatable.

Every week we take a look at the newsstand and try to pick the winners and losers. We call this feature “Cover Wars” and this week we’re looking at the world of men’s magazines — or should we say ‘magazines that men might like to read’. We’re always looking for something a little smarter to read, especially if photos of Brad Pitt eating donuts over his keyboard are involved.

Every week we take a look at the newsstand and try to pick the winners and losers. We call this feature “Cover Wars” and this week we’re looking at the July issues of the leading Men’s Lifestyle magazines, which featured a lot more skin than usual.