Issue No. 12 | Father Figures

Boys to Men

Freud be damned: there is perhaps no family role more fraught than that of a father. Men are expected to play the role of protector, provider, politician, peacemaker, or even punisher. But what about those men who never had the luxury of being properly fathered—or those for whom their own experience of fatherhood has been destructive? This month we focus on dads, literal and figurative, and the legacies they leave behind. Anchored by the powerful feature documentary The Work, our June issue includes a story about a daughter’s inheritance from her fisherman father, musings from a stay-at-home dad, and a long-form feature about Warrior Week, a grueling self-help retreat for men.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARC ASPINALL

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Dreams of a Father

By Ta-Nehisi Coates and Lyndon J. Barrois

The best-selling author reflects on his youth and how parenthood made him the man—and the writer—that he is today.

America’s Floundering Fathers

By Hallie Bateman and Angela Serratore

They wanted to start a revolution, not win Parent of the Year.

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The Work

By Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous, Gethin Aldous, Rob Allbee,, and James McLeary

During an intensive therapy session at a California prison, convicts and civilians come face-to-face with the men they were—and the men they want to become.

Outside Voices: Life After The Work

By Mark Mahaney and Vivian Ho

For these ex-convicts, participating in the Inside Circle program made life beyond prison look like something worth living for.

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Like Father, Like Sons: The Family Behind The Work

By Vivian Ho, Tim Hussin, and Erin Brethauer

How creating a documentary about their father’s prison program became a journey for the McLeary brothers.

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Daddy Dearest

By Yan Cong and Christina Larson

Mao’s face is still everywhere in modern China. But now Xi Jinping is ready for his close-up.

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My Old Man and the Sea

By Cole Barash and Anna Fitzpatrick

A third-generation trap fisher on how her dad got her hooked on the family business.

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The Warrior Pose

By Bryan Thomas and Kent Russell

Side by side with the recruits of Warrior Week, who are prepared to do whatever it takes to become better men.

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Mixtape

Father Figures Mixtape

6 Parts | 1 hr 20 min Six stories of dads—the ones who stay, the ones who leave, and the ones who are out for blood.

The kind of know-how you can’t get from a book.
My Father’s Tools
7 mins
My Father’s Tools
His dad taught him what to bring—not how to deal with what was left behind.
Negative Space
6 mins
Negative Space
A divorced dad is torn between making his daughter happy and spending time with her.
The Cut
15 mins
The Cut
A young girl goes to great lengths to connect with her emotionally unavailable father.
Semele
13 mins
Semele
A Russian mother and son find out the Soviet Union isn’t the only thing having an identity crisis.
Little Potato
14 mins
Little Potato
When a lonely guy meets a friendly dad and his family, he finds out there’s no such thing as a free ride.
Knife Point
26 mins
Knife Point
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The Ballad of Rich & EJ

By Preston Gannaway

A photographer documents a father and son for nearly 12 years following the loss of the boy’s mother.

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Marchez Avec Vos Pères

By Hugh Kinsella Cunningham

What happens when spiritual leaders take national leaders to task.

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Fathers Out of Order

4 Parts | 19 min Confessions from the priests who usually receive them.

Resisting temptation required a 12-step program.
Father Ryan
5 mins
Father Ryan
When he refused to implicate the people he had helped, a New York priest ended up in prison.
Father Pat
5 mins
Father Pat
An activist priest who says thoughts and prayers “are meant to move us to action.”
Father Michael
5 mins
Father Michael
The first openly trans man to be ordained by the Old Catholic Church believes queerness is a gift from God.
Father Shannon
5 mins
Father Shannon
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Soon We’re Both Screaming

By Dakota McFadzean

A stay-at-home dad finds brief solace in the quietude of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

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Kings

By Jessica Beshir 

A man who grew up without a father finds fulfillment in mentoring another.

Making a ‘Monologue’: A Conversation with Lyndon J. Barrois

By Anna Holmes and Lyndon J. Barrois

A conversation with the animator who reimagined Ta-Nehisi Coates’s interview with Topic.

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Off Topic

Who’s Your Daddy?

By Mayukh Sen and Oliver Munday

How televised paternity tests became a racialized American spectacle.

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About the Cover: Father Figures

By Topic Staff

Marc Aspinall discusses his midcentury-style cover art for Topic’s June issue.

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