LeBron James' The Shop on HBO is an unfiltered glimpse of the black experience in present-day America

Slate

The barbershop-set talk show, which premiered this week, "lovingly seizes the aura and aesthetics of the barbershop, historically a revered safe space and bastion of unbridled camaraderie in the black community," says Derreck Johnson. "No topic is off-limits within these walls. The shop itself is almost a cast member. It’s not just a place to get a shave and a haircut. A barbershop worth its weight in sheen oil can shape-shift into a local news outlet, therapy session, flea market, comedy club, or soapbox during any given day. For the pilot episode of The Shop, LeBron pulls no punches while he discusses the struggles of being a black man in America, even for someone of his stature."