Joseph Bien-Kahn
@josephbienkahn.com
Senior Editor at Esses Magazine
sports, movies, odd desert stuff, fire, adventure!
bylines: NYT Mag, NY Mag, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, GQ, SI, Wired...
[email protected]
sports, movies, odd desert stuff, fire, adventure!
bylines: NYT Mag, NY Mag, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, GQ, SI, Wired...
[email protected]
Pinned
Joseph Bien-Kahn
@josephbienkahn.com
· Jan 24
The Private Firefighters On Call for the Californians Who Can Afford Them
Andrew Sarvis of West Coast Water Tenders on the LA fires and the demand for private firefighers in Malibu and the Palisades.
www.rollingstone.com
We all know more and more people are hiring private firefighting crews in L.A.
But who are the private firefighters? Their price? Their vibe?
I drove up the Sierra Hwy to spend the day with a stuntman/teamster/firefighter to find out…
For @rollingstone.com
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
But who are the private firefighters? Their price? Their vibe?
I drove up the Sierra Hwy to spend the day with a stuntman/teamster/firefighter to find out…
For @rollingstone.com
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
truly an incredible bit to have this be on the about page of your website that exclusively consists of weekly videos of you talking to steve schmidt and a serialized recounting of the most humiliating things you can remember about your ex
November 22, 2025 at 7:10 PM
truly an incredible bit to have this be on the about page of your website that exclusively consists of weekly videos of you talking to steve schmidt and a serialized recounting of the most humiliating things you can remember about your ex
This whole Lizza-Nuzzi thing is a real stress test on working without factcheckers in the Substack/book publishing space….
November 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This whole Lizza-Nuzzi thing is a real stress test on working without factcheckers in the Substack/book publishing space….
My 3yo is finally healthy after a week+ fever. Bad news for my haters. Worse news for Paw Patrol streaming ratings…
November 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
My 3yo is finally healthy after a week+ fever. Bad news for my haters. Worse news for Paw Patrol streaming ratings…
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
My favorite piece of content today.
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My favorite piece of content today.
Subscribing to Esses Magazine is less per month than Lizza’s blog and you get 4 beautiful print mags and a year of Paid Substack is all I’m saying… essesmag.myshopify.com/products/ess...
Esses Subscription
Never miss an issue. Subscribe to Esses to join our worldwide community of readers and support independent print. As a subscriber, you’ll receive Esses delivered straight to your door each quarter — ...
essesmag.myshopify.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Subscribing to Esses Magazine is less per month than Lizza’s blog and you get 4 beautiful print mags and a year of Paid Substack is all I’m saying… essesmag.myshopify.com/products/ess...
I can’t pay for that. Would probably have shelled out $3. But $10 is too far…
November 22, 2025 at 5:51 AM
I can’t pay for that. Would probably have shelled out $3. But $10 is too far…
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
ryan lizza is clearly testing the limits of my dignity but man it’s late and i am 30 or 40 years old and i am going to go to sleep to a book on tape and wait for the screen grabs tomorrow
November 22, 2025 at 5:43 AM
ryan lizza is clearly testing the limits of my dignity but man it’s late and i am 30 or 40 years old and i am going to go to sleep to a book on tape and wait for the screen grabs tomorrow
The reason Mamdani could do that is because 1) he actually believes in something and can articulate it and 2) he has juice.
If a political party is interested in winning power, they should look for people with a belief system and juice.
If a political party is interested in winning power, they should look for people with a belief system and juice.
November 22, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The reason Mamdani could do that is because 1) he actually believes in something and can articulate it and 2) he has juice.
If a political party is interested in winning power, they should look for people with a belief system and juice.
If a political party is interested in winning power, they should look for people with a belief system and juice.
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
He’s becoming Zohran’s own Club Chalamet
November 22, 2025 at 12:02 AM
He’s becoming Zohran’s own Club Chalamet
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
They really all are the same song.
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
They really all are the same song.
Anyone doing gift guides? We have a fun holiday offer going live next week and would love to get Esses on your guide…
The kids love print media! Let’s get some magazines under your tree!
The kids love print media! Let’s get some magazines under your tree!
November 21, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Anyone doing gift guides? We have a fun holiday offer going live next week and would love to get Esses on your guide…
The kids love print media! Let’s get some magazines under your tree!
The kids love print media! Let’s get some magazines under your tree!
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
FIA on the second red flag:
“Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted. They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway” #F1 #LasVegasGP
“Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted. They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway” #F1 #LasVegasGP
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 AM
FIA on the second red flag:
“Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted. They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway” #F1 #LasVegasGP
“Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted. They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway” #F1 #LasVegasGP
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
this is the correct way to react to anything the president says-
November 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
this is the correct way to react to anything the president says-
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
Guy who has only written about Russiagate: Getting a lot of 'Russiagate' vibes from this...
Ok Matt Taibbi has posted.
November 20, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Guy who has only written about Russiagate: Getting a lot of 'Russiagate' vibes from this...
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
Greg Ginn hadn't done an interview in 13 years when I reached out. I figured he would say no, if he said anything at all. But after enlisting three Gen Z musicians to be in Black Flag with him, he decided it was time to talk. For @nytimes.com:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/a...
Black Flag’s Latest Reboot Has Everyone Talking (Even Greg Ginn)
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Greg Ginn hadn't done an interview in 13 years when I reached out. I figured he would say no, if he said anything at all. But after enlisting three Gen Z musicians to be in Black Flag with him, he decided it was time to talk. For @nytimes.com:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/a...
I got an Esses pitch from this writer (which I thankfully did not greenlight). If you're not an AI fabulist, please pitch me!
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I got an Esses pitch from this writer (which I thankfully did not greenlight). If you're not an AI fabulist, please pitch me!
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
Based on a few ethical lapses, perhaps journalism wasn’t a perfect fit for her style, but what else can you do with a last name like Nuzzi? Nominative determinism is undefeated…
November 19, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Based on a few ethical lapses, perhaps journalism wasn’t a perfect fit for her style, but what else can you do with a last name like Nuzzi? Nominative determinism is undefeated…
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
I wrote about it lol
defector.com/olivia-nuzzi...
defector.com/olivia-nuzzi...
Olivia Nuzzi Addresses The Worm | Defector
On Monday, Vanity Fair published the first excerpt of Olivia Nuzzi’s monograph to sexting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a book titled American Canto. The book, as Nuzzi claimed in a glamorized profile p...
defector.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I wrote about it lol
defector.com/olivia-nuzzi...
defector.com/olivia-nuzzi...
Reposted by Joseph Bien-Kahn
I have been thinking about this line today, on the value of editors, from the late great John Bennet, for no reason in particular.
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I have been thinking about this line today, on the value of editors, from the late great John Bennet, for no reason in particular.
We got Isack Hadjar as our cover star for @essesmag.com Issue 04. Story by Willem Marx is amazing and Zantz Han's photography is insane...
We do a limited run, so subscribe to secure your copy!
We do a limited run, so subscribe to secure your copy!
November 16, 2025 at 5:05 PM
We got Isack Hadjar as our cover star for @essesmag.com Issue 04. Story by Willem Marx is amazing and Zantz Han's photography is insane...
We do a limited run, so subscribe to secure your copy!
We do a limited run, so subscribe to secure your copy!
Made a meme. Plz spread…
November 16, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Made a meme. Plz spread…
If I was a MAGA congressman, I’d be wary to go too hard on the Trump Epstein defense, cuz there’s a 75% chance Trump admits to it accidentally on Truth Social within the month
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 PM
If I was a MAGA congressman, I’d be wary to go too hard on the Trump Epstein defense, cuz there’s a 75% chance Trump admits to it accidentally on Truth Social within the month
Michigan somehow winning out, beating Ohio State, and making the playoffs will be the dumbest outcome. This team sucks
November 15, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Michigan somehow winning out, beating Ohio State, and making the playoffs will be the dumbest outcome. This team sucks
MAGA shit being a curse on your football team is wild. Did not expect the football gods to go blue by the midterms…
November 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
MAGA shit being a curse on your football team is wild. Did not expect the football gods to go blue by the midterms…