In Defense Of The Pickup Artist

Spring 2026

Lose the feather boa, the Burning Man goggles, and the pre-planned script. Keep the lost art of actually trying.

By Magdalene Taylor

BEFORE INCELS, LOOKSMAXXING, AND BODY COUNT BECAME HOUSEHOLD TERMS, there once was a type of guy known as a pickup artist. The year was 2005: YouTube had just launched, Martha Stewart was released from prison, and a writer named Neil Strauss published a book called The Game: Penetrating the Secret Soci...