On a recent episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart had a visit from John Mulaney. Mulaney was there to discuss the season finale of his Netflix talk show “Everybody’s Live,” in which he fought three teenage boys in a wrestling-style match, which he joked was the secret to eternal youth.
“Obviously, there's a lot going on right now. This isn’t the most important message you'll hear tonight, but everyone should fight three teenagers once a year,” Mulaney quipped. “You'll feel so much better…I feel invigorated. I've never been more present in my life, because I had to be for that fight.”
John Mulaney appeared on The Daily Show to discuss his show Everybody's Live, on which he fought three teenage boys. The Daily Show, www.youtube.com
Indeed, the season finale of “Everybody’s Live,” which has become known for its unabashed quirkiness, included a match between Mulaney, 42, and three teen boys, all aged 14 (their combined ages, of course, being 42).The four of them, all in navy suits, went head to head while the studio audience as well as Adam Sandler and Sean Penn, guests on the show that day, watched and cheered them on. Mulaney was ultimately, hilariously defeated. “If you want to watch this episode,” Stewart tells The Daily Show audience, “it is maybe the most perfect hour long episode of television.”
Not only was it comedy, though, it also became a fun way to upend ideas of toxic masculinity. Mulaney joked that this was a way to solve the “crisis of masculinity,” “that if you want to really get to the root of it, you get three of them together, get them in nice suits and helmets, and you get in a suit yourself, and you go at it.” Of course you can tell by the way that Mulaney talks about it he thinks the “manosphere” and “men’s rights activists” from which such an idea comes from is a joke itself, so the bit becomes satire.
Jon Stewart fully leans into the bit. “I haven't looked at it in this way. You weren't just fighting for entertainment. In many ways, this was a crusade to save American youth and maleness.” Accordingly, the audience laughs uproariously.
Ultimately, though, Mulaney brings the bit to a more personal place. “It's basically, probably, unconsciously all building up to me fighting my own son, who's three and a half,” Mulaney joked to Stewart.
In recent interviews, Mulaney has discussed the role fatherhood has played in his life, one that extends into his comedy. “I now know the person that I want to make laugh,” he said last year on Conan O’Brien’s podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. “I like other people in my life, but if there's someone's eyes I want to see light up, it's my son when I get home…I used to need so much to feel any kind of happiness in the day. If I see a garbage truck with him now, we’re both so psyched. It’s like I’m seeing a celebrity.” It’s as if that’s the counterbalance to toxic masculinity after all.
Mulaney’s days of fighting his son are well into the future, but at least now he has the practice. In the meantime, hearing his son’s laugh is all he needs.
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.