There is a classic New Yorker cartoon from 2017 that is extremely relevant now: a man in obvious domestic extremis wonders aloud whether he is working from home or living at work. These days, who can tell the difference? But as we approach Labor Day here in the US, we have an opportunity to, if not separate the work we do from the person we are, as Ms Toni Morrison’s father counselled her to do, at least to consider how inextricably they are now braided together.

This year in particular, as many Americans so acutely feel how bound up their own personal wellbeing is with their employment, and amid yet another round of protests and history-making strikes, we’d like to encourage you to take some time away from the Slack notifications and work emails to consider your worth, both in the office (if such a thing exists any more) and outside of it (if that ever happens). This, after all, is what Labor Day is really about (even if, over the past 20 years, we’ve forgotten the “labor” part and treated the holiday mostly as an excuse to make travel plans and fire up the grill).

To help you along, we’ve taken care of all your planning, all the “work” you’d have to do this weekend, enlisting a panel of experts to set you straight on everything from what to wear, what to eat, to watch, listen to and even shop for throughout your (hopefully) restful holiday weekend. Happy Labor Day. Here’s to you.

By Mr Josh Peskowitz, menswear consultant and stylist

“This Labor Day marks the end of the summer that never really started for many people in America. It’s been the weirdest one of my life – though not wholly unpleasant. But, unfortunately, my two favourite summertime activities (going to the beach and cooking out) have been curtailed or cancelled. Here in New York City, the beach can still be enjoyed responsibly but the grilling has been hard to come by. If it’s going to happen, Labor Day weekend will be the time. It is, after all, a CDC-sanctioned outdoor activity. And for summer dressing, in the out of doors, comfort and elegance is key.

“This summer (what with our masks and sanitisers aplenty), of course, utility is also necessary – and by utility I mean pockets. Camp-collar shirts have been my go-to, but this summer, I turn to the guayabera to carry all the extras. Add some loose, cropped trousers and slide-on shoes (no socks) and you’re ready to catch these beers, burgers and cheer from a safe six feet.”

_By Mr Will Blackmon, owner of _The Wine MVP

“It’s the time of the year where we wrap up the summer and honour trade unions and workers in the US. What better way celebrate than by grilling up some amazing food and pairing them with some delicious wine? The one thing about being a host is that everyone has different palates and preferences. It is easy to put several different items on the grill, but when it comes to wine, how can you please everyone? The beauty with wine is that there is something for everyone. I have a simple wine selection process when it comes to hosting a barbecue.

“To begin, always start the day off with some sparkling wine. It is fun, refreshing and the perfect aperitif – wonderful on its own and great with light foods such as bruschetta or seafood appetisers. [Check out Bellissima Prosecco Brut].

“In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the US states to make Labor Day an official public holiday, so let’s pay homage by throwing an Oregon Pinot Noir in the mix. Due to its light tannins and fruity flavours, Pinot Noir is a wine that works for both those who want grilled salmon or those who just want a hot dog. [Try 2017 Roserock (Drouhin Oregon) Zéphirine Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir].

“Last but not least, Cabernet Sauvignon. You can’t have a barbecue without the big boys. You’ll need a bold wine that will stand up to your burgers, steaks and ribs. [Check out a bottle from Mendoza, Argentina Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2016]”.

By Mr John Freeman, writer and editor of Freeman’s Biannual

• Mill Town: Reckoning With What Remains by Ms Kerri Arsenault

“A future classic of long-form reporting, Arsenault’s debut memoir is a complicated love letter to the author’s hometown – Mexico, Maine – the site of a paper mill that was the town’s biggest employer, but also a devastating polluter, pumping so many dioxins into the water supply that the area earned the moniker, ‘Cancer Valley’. When her own father dies, also of cancer, Arsenault goes home to reckon with what remains and find a culprit, the latter task so open-ended it causes her to rethink how you tell a story of redemption.”

• A Certain Clarity: Selected Poems by Mr Lawrence Joseph

“Born the son of a Syrian-Lebanese grocer, raised in the wake of the riots in Detroit, trained in law at Cambridge and Michigan, Lawrence Joseph is America’s best poet on labour. Not simply on the way the body is rewarded by and abused in the act of doing work. Joseph can also dramatise the cost of its abstraction into equity and digital capital. Moving between language of intimacy and techno-capital, Joseph creates a poetry of strange, slick surfaces and sudden vernacular ruptures. He can curse with the best bond trader and talk metaphysics with a German philosopher, but it’s how Joseph can veer close to the heart in the middle of all this that takes your breath away.”

By Mr K Austin Collins, film critic, Vanity Fair

“My go-to Labor Day recommendation every year is Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar (1978). That’s partially because it’s strange that Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel once starred in one of the most bleak and infuriating American movies about race, class and the union struggle that I can think of, yet for its evergreen relevance few people seem to have seen it. It’s also, relatedly, because the guy who wrote Taxi Driver wrote and directed said movie – it was his directing debut! – and yet, still, so few people have seen it. So, watch it. Great drama with a whirlwind of ideas. 

“When you’re all wrung out and (hopefully) well into your intoxicants after that, try the one-of-kind immersive documentary Leviathan, from 2012, which isn’t a ‘documentary’ in the talking head or binge-friendly sense the term has come to imply today, but rather a near-wordless trip into the abyss. You join a New England trawler on one of its voyages out to sea, but the whole thing is a mess of noise and work; the camera gets passed between the fishermen and the movie crew and, fully exposed to the elements, dropped, toppled and kicked around in this capitalist machine. It sounds like nonsense. But rarely has labour felt more physical, yet somehow also spectral and terrifying, than in this movie.”

_By Mr Michael Williams, founder of _A Continuous Lean

“Cooking dinner is my excuse to get out of the house to light things on fire and drink a few beers. It’s all about self-love at this point. The grilling season in California can be year-round, but, now, in our WFH reality, every day presents an opportunity to do some grilling. Since I’m home all day, I will often start a marinate or prep at lunch in an effort to have dinner on the table early, say, 5.00pm (we have little kids who need a bath, book and bed early). 

“I’m 100 per cent charcoal-powered – no gas grills for me. The flagship is a Big Green Egg that handles the long smoking cooks and I can even crank it up to 800ºF and cook pizza on the grill. The daily driver is the classic Weber kettle grill with FOGO lump Charcoal. Good charcoal makes a difference when it comes to temperature and consistency. More important than charcoal or a grill is a quality butcher. My favourites in LA are Standing’s Butchery on Melrose and A Cut Above in Santa Monica. Both are excellent and I always call and speak to them about what has come in and what is looking good. Anytime I have a fire going I am relaxing with a beverage. This summer, I’ve been drinking a lot of Victoria (my favourite Mexican beer) ice-cold out of the Colman cooler (which reminds me of my dad) or Jack Rudy G&Ts via my Vitamix blender (I drink mine out of a free Erewhon mason jar for maximum West LA feelings).

“Music is essential and my grilling playlist frequently features country or classic songs such as “Ventura Highway” by America, which gets me every time. Style-wise, I’ve got nothing to prove so comfort and good vibes carry the day. That means an Aloha shirt, shorts and a pair of Birkenstocks. A good backyard cookout is like a free therapy session. You get to relax, do something with your hands, have a drink and clear your head all at the same time. That seems more important than ever this summer.” 

In what has been a very tough year for restaurants and their staff, the chef and restauranteur behind the beloved New York City spots Estela, Café Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar, Mr Ignacio Mattos has been scrambling to do right by his teams as well as frontline workers in Manhattan to whom he catered, literally, during the very worst of the pandemic by bringing packed lunches to hospital workers around town. For this Labor Day guide, Mr Mattos shares a simple toast recipe, highlighting the perfect produce of the season, tomatoes, “which are abundant and at their peak this time of year,” Mr Mattos says. “You want them on the riper side, and as you will see, you’ll want quite a bit of them.”

Tomatoes with Fromager d’Affinois on toast

• A rectangular loaf of pumpernickel or other dense, seeded bread (you’ll have plenty left over)
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp softened Fromager d’Affinois or other triple-cream French cheese, such as brie (with or without rind, as desired)
• 1 firm but ripe heirloom tomato, sliced into 1⁄8 inch-thick rounds
• Kosher salt
• Grey salt

Lay the loaf of bread on one end and slice off the bottom crust with a bread knife and discard. Then slice a plank, about 1⁄8 inch-thick off the bottom (this is what you’ll use for the toast). It’s easiest to do this by standing the loaf up on one end and slicing down into it to start, then laying the loaf down once you’re an inch or so in, so the slice doesn’t break and continue to cut the bread (try to get it as even as possible, but don’t stress about it too much), and cut off the crusts from this slice.

Heat a large carbon-steel or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add about 1 tsp of the olive oil. Add the slice of bread and toast it on both sides, pressing down on the bread with the back of a spatula for about 5 minutes so it cooks evenly until you have a good char and most of the surface of the bread is a nice deep brown. It’s OK to have a few blackened bits; if the edges are burnt, just slice them off.

Rub one side of the warm toast lightly with the garlic, then smear on the cheese in a light, even layer. Lay the sliced tomato out on the cutting board and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and then with a small pinch of grey salt for texture. Arrange them on the toast, letting them drape over the sides give it all a light drizzle of the remaining olive oil. Eat with a fork and knife.

By Mr Sid Mashburn, designer and vinyl-head

“Here are some songs that hopefully are a bit of a lift,” says Mr Sid Mashburn. “This is the time of the year that reminds me of earlier sundowns threading some pine needles, getting that late summer glisten on, anticipating, with nerves, Friday evening twilight, a small town pageant, corn dogs, drums in the distance, parents working the concession stand and friends gathering in the bleachers, everybody in town there cause there’s nothing else to do. And besides, where else would you be?”

Listen to Mr Mashburn’s playlist here