Sunday Reads: Celebrating Dad Rock, Men’s Guide to Abortion and Horny Socialists

“Dad rock” can mean many types of music, depending on who your dad is. In my experience, “Break On Through” by the Doors, “Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer, and most surprisingly, “Click Click Boom” by Saliva are all equally dad rock. Also, sometimes when my dad sees something sad in a movie and doesn’t want to cry, he watches the music video for “Hey Ya!” by Outkast. So maybe that’s dad rock now, too. It’s a “genre” full of contradictions, but then again, so are dads. Tracy Moore’s spirited defense of dad rock, and its older, more boring vibes is a testament to that.

But back to me (because of course) — today, my father will no doubt engage in his frequent routine of driving my family insane by blasting all four of the aforementioned tracks. Honestly, though, I’m cool with it. Those songs slap.

Must Read

“Can Men Sharing Their Experiences With Abortion Make It A Better Experience For Everyone?”

Over the last month, Isabelle Kohn and the MEL features desk has been reporting on the 25 percent of American men whose girlfriends, wives, partners or one-night stands have had an abortion. For some, the decision was simple. For others, it was heartbreaking. Whatever the experience, though, there are ways that men can better support their partners — and themselves — throughout the process. READ MORE

More From The Week That Was

America’s Maternal Death Problem
It’s an unimaginable tragedy for a new father to lose their partner to childbirth — not to mention, to have to grieve while raising a newborn alone. C. Brian Smith spoke to the widowers left to pick up the pieces from what should have been the happiest day of their lives — i.e., the birth of their child — and explored why mothers are dying at such a high rate in one of the most advanced countries on earth.

The Grift That Keeps on Giving
The American Communications Network, or ACN, is a multi-level marketer that has mastered the scam of getting people to sell its telecommunications “products,” with the promise of huge paydays. It’s particularly become a grift targeted at British South Asian men in particular. And while these guys are lured by the opportunity to escape poverty by becoming independent businessmen, the vast majority end up going into debt as they chase unattainable sales goals.

Shaft’s Back
Shaft and the decades-spanning films the character has been featured in have left an indelible mark on black culture — and specifically, black men. With the release of this weekend’s latest installment featuring the famous private dick, Zaron Burnett III gathered a multigenerational roundtable of black men to discuss Shaft’s legacy on Black America.

Socialists Who Fuck
Forty-two percent of female OkCupid users said in a recent survey by the matchmaking brand that they’d choose political compatibility over great sex. So why would a socialist waste any time swiping left on MAGA bros when they could simply join a dating site exclusively for people of the same far-left persuasion? Behold the social matchmaking service Red Yenta.

Know When to Fold ‘Em
In our ongoing series about men who hit “rock bottom” only to recover and pull their shit together, this week we profiled Drew, a 39-year-old in the biopharmaceutical industry who developed a gambling addiction so bad, he once blew $10,000 in a single hand of poker. It still, though, took him a few more years to quit gambling for good.

All of Our ‘Sweat Week’ Content in 107 Words

Sweating the small stuff isn’t worth your time and energy. So stop doing it. … If sweat and piss are essentially the same thing, it stands to reason that you could hypothetically drink your sweat in a time of need, too, right? … Rejoice, clammy-handers: There are ways to make sure you don’t give a sweaty-ass handshake. … Speaking of sweaty hands, they also might mean that you have a sweaty-ass body, like these three guys who shared what it’s like to live with a condition that causes them to be constantly moist. … And maybe most importantly: Is sex actually good if you don’t break a sweat?

Question: ‘What’s the MEL Writers’ Room Like?’
Answer:

Break Bread with Dad

Especially the dishes that you can never shake, which in the case of this quintet of sons and daughters are the following…

• Catfish Soup
• Barbecue Pork Shoulder
• The Hungry Man Chicken Fried Steak Dinner
• Korean-style Asado
• Steakhouse Lamb Chops

Eat up!

But Don’t Just Take Our Word For It…

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Magdalene Taylor

Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.