Author: Jack Ward

Seeing a voice gradually fade away instead of abruptly is particularly depressing. Even though Dennis Locorriere was the lead singer on “Sylvia’s Mother” for more than 50 years, fans who were closely following his career began to notice something wasn’t quite right by last November. On Thanksgiving, he declared his retirement from touring, portraying it as a decision to finally enjoy life away from the road. In retrospect, it seems more like a man silently getting ready for what was about to happen than a celebration. Locorriere passed away at home in Worthing, on the southern coast of England, on…

The way Noah Shebib discusses his own brain has an almost theatrical quality. According to a 2020 Rolling Stone profile, he took a yellow Post-it note and drew two ovals—one empty and the other slashed through with a dark line—to show the damage that years of untreated inflammation had done to his brain tissue. For a man who spent twenty years creating some of the most polished, evocative music in contemporary hip-hop, it’s an odd, striking picture. It’s difficult to ignore the contrast. 40, as almost everyone refers to him, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 22,…

Nobody really discusses the little ritual that takes place in injectable clinic waiting rooms. The receptionist mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that caffeine isn’t ideal before treatment, so someone walks in holding an iced coffee and finishes it in the lobby. It’s a brief moment. However, it alludes to something more significant that practitioners have been observing for some time—quietly, almost reluctantly, as if no one wants to be the one to ruin everyone’s morning ritual. To be precise, the mechanism is not mysterious. Dehydrated tissue reacts differently to a needle than well-hydrated tissue, and caffeine acts as a mild…

Recently, a certain type of bride has been appearing at laser clinics, and it’s not the kind you’d anticipate from the outdated stereotype of regretful tramp-stamp removal. Between consultations, she is frequently in her late twenties and uses her phone to compare dress necklines with the precise location of a tattoo on her collarbone while scrolling through TikTok. Whether or not she regrets the ink is not the question. Whether the ink matches the image of her walking down the aisle is the question. It’s difficult to ignore how precise the timing has become. Clinics report a consistent influx between…

Conversations with trans women who have undergone laser hair removal frequently bring up a specific incident. The appointment itself isn’t the problem. The following morning, I’m standing in front of the bathroom mirror, feeling nothing where there used to be stubble by noon when I run my hand along my jaw. Maybe a small thing. However, it’s difficult to ignore the apparent weight of that tiny object. Although practically no one outside the community seems to be discussing it, clinics that treat trans clients have been quietly growing for years. It doesn’t really matter where you enter one of these…

In a metaphorical sense, my mother has worked on other people’s faces for forty years; she has fixed issues, smoothed things over, and never once stopped to consider what her own skin truly needed. Therefore, it wasn’t really about vanity when I scheduled us both for a skin clinic on a calm Tuesday morning. If I’m being completely honest, it was an excuse to get her into a room where, at last, someone would give her some attention. The clinic itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy. White walls, a waiting area with two leather chairs that didn’t match the rest of the…

These days, you’ll notice something if you walk into any Boots or Sephora. Foundation and lipstick are no longer piled on the shelves closest to the entrance, which retailers reserve for items they believe will sell the quickest. They have an abundance of serums. Five years ago, only a dermatologist would have casually used terms like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and peptides in little glass bottles. Teens who browse TikTok these days are familiar with it. It’s difficult to ignore how swiftly this occurred. Makeup was not so much overshadowed by skincare as it was. As of 2023, skincare products accounted…

A certain type of story about Michael Sheen is never quite told correctly, and it usually begins with an incorrect question. During a Good Omens promotional tour in 2019, a journalist asked him directly if he was dressed in a fat suit to play the angel Aziraphale. He wasn’t. Michael Sheen alone was responsible for that. When Sheen interrupted Chris Hemsworth’s story about wearing a sixty-pound latex suit for Avengers: Endgame, the exchange became somewhat of a running joke and was recounted on The Graham Norton Show. “A journalist asked me if I was wearing a fat suit, and I…

Viewers immediately noticed that David Harbour’s character Floyd had a gut when DTF St. Louis debuted on HBO in early March 2026. a genuine, noticeable, shirt-straining belly that appeared to be completely at odds with the body Harbour had meticulously preserved throughout his subsequent Stranger Things seasons. In a matter of days, questions about whether or not David Harbour gained weight for DTF, as well as how much and how quickly, began to circulate on Reddit and social media. The response proved to be more bizarre than most people had anticipated. Harbour, who is now fifty, did not put on…

Tyson Fury frequently returns to a line that functions somewhat like a shield. “I beat everybody with a fat belly.” This January, while sitting in front of a phone camera in Thailand, he repeated the statement, dismissing the usual chorus of admirers who call him fat. The odd thing is that he’s largely correct. His record is difficult to dispute for a man who has never once appeared to be a textbook athlete. Fury’s weight has always played a role in his narrative, sometimes making the most noise. He swings from lean and quick to heavy and leaning more than…