Editor’s Note: The Pornhub Literary Supplement

You’re forgiven if you’re already forgotten what prompted this issue, but way back in January, during a Supreme Court hearing, Justice Alito asked about Pornhub, "Is it like the old Playboy magazine? You have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr.?" Like everyone else, we thought this was very funny. We still think it is very funny.

A lot has happened since then. The less said about it all in this space the better.

These days we often feel helpless and overwhelmed, and although we would never pretend that what we’re doing here is revolutionary, we do feel a responsibility to keep making beautiful, weird things that make us laugh, make our friends laugh, and carve out just a little bit of space for pleasure amid all the madness.

We received an extraordinary number of submissions in response to our short-run call based on a silly offhand comment made by a powerful and dangerous man. Writers across the world took our vague, broad call and ran with it in so many directions—some pretty gross!—and we were once again feeling grateful to have this community to help us get through some pretty rough times.

The pieces in this online issue are surprising, bold, funny, dark and just the right level of tasteless (one included in its cover letter, “CW for ass eating but in a tasteful way,” which didn’t guarantee publication but sure got our attention). Not everything in this issue is directly about sex; the old Playboy stories weren’t either. The goal was to capture a specific tone and mindset, to give you a classy tab you can keep open and switch over to at a moment’s notice, should the need arise.

Listen, it’s a fucked up time to be alive. Let’s at least try to enjoy it while we can.

Tom McAllister, Barrelhouse Nonfiction Editor