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The Daily

The Sunday Read: 'My Mustache, My Self'

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2020

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During months of pandemic isolation, Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The New York Times, decided to grow a mustache. The reviews were mixed and predictable. He heard it described as “porny” and “creepy,” as well as “rugged” and “extra gay.” It was a comment on a group call, however, that gave him pause. Someone noted that his mustache made him look like a lawyer for the N.A.A.C.P.’s legal defense fund. “It was said as a winking correction and an earnest clarification — Y’all, this is what it is,” Wesley said. “The call moved on, but I didn’t. That is what it is: one of the sweetest, truest things anybody had said about me in a long time.” On today’s episode of The Sunday Read, Wesley Morris’s story about self-identity and the symbolic power of the mustache. This story was written by Wesley Morris and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:25.6

I'm Wesley Morris.

0:31.6

I am a critic at The New York Times and I wrote an essay about my mustache.

0:40.8

I know what you're thinking.

0:42.4

The mother of all elections is like 10 minutes away and here I am about to tell you a story

0:49.3

about some stuff on my face.

0:52.3

But just bear with me and I'll tell you why.

0:57.5

I grew this thing the way a lot of people did a lot of things for the first time or you

1:02.7

know, at a boredom or curiosity during this pandemic to stave off the misery outside

1:08.5

our windows and front doors.

1:11.1

I decided with my friend Brian to grow a mustache.

1:16.6

So we get on the phone one day, we do a Zoom call and he reveals his and it's not good

1:24.8

by his own admission.

1:26.1

It is a handle bar mustache, not his thing.

1:29.7

And mine is a little more traditional.

1:32.5

It is a short, sharp thing that we both agreed looked pretty good.

...

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