You got to a man I so genuinely admire on so many levels: Jacques Pepin

What a mensch.

Although I agree with "Impatient" on several points, if one is going to run a story of this type one should not leave out the fiercely original Mr. Clive Owen. He's the thinking person's sexy. An online interview had a vapid young woman asking him rude questions about his income, to which he gently and firmly replied, "That's none of your business." And if you saw the photos of him at a recent fashion show in a beautifully tailored suit, sitting next to Demi Moore you'd see how a real man wears clothes. Salon's list of dullards and junkies would be moot.

Call the interesting, but puhleeeeeze don't call them SEXY.

With the possible exception of Jacques Pepin.

Yum. There is nothing sexier than a man combined with food.

Alan Rickman: sexy, smart, edgy -- need we say more. Last year, many of us noted our adoration for this smart sex symbol

Stephen Colbert: behind those glasses, ooh baby

Keith Olbermann: smart, passionate...love him!

Johnny Depp: I don't know a woman...from a pre-teen to senior, who doesn't get a twinkle in her eye thinking about him

Charles Gibson: ABC News' anchor has that sort of warm fuzzy sexy thing going on

P.S. Don Draper was a good choice for #1... but it really is Draper, not Hamm -- something about the slicked back hair and the 60s suit and the master of the universe attitude seems to capture a long-gone sexiness

The list (which is an idea that has long been the staple of the teen magazines, not serious news magazines) included:

a man who tried to kill himself and a substance-abuser

a man who has been long rumored to have abused his first wife. (Wonder what Broadsheet would say about that.)

A closet case

If drugs, violence, and lies are sexy, I guess Salon nailed it.

Uhhh... Matt...Damon? I'm pretty much the only girl I know who *doesn't* get all swoony over him. Bleh.

I will, however, give a big thumbs up - or possibly a small fainting spell - to Alec Baldwin. Oddly, I always found weird and smarmy and cheesy and slightly creepy until "30 Rock," when all of a sudden oh my god the greying hair and the spot-on portrayal of Executive Sans Clue and the holy geez, he's hilarious. Squee, Alec Baldwin.

Strongbad? Seriously? Then I nominate Lyle from Achewood.

Also I'd nominate my boyfriend, G, who is brilliant and smokin', but you guys probably don't know who he is.

How could you not mention the only anchor with a conscience? Any old man with a few wrinkles and grey at the temples can be sexy (or so my wife says!) but a man who has the courage of his convictions ... POW!

Drat. Another year passes and I'm still not on the list.

And now I am sad.

And now, being sad, I am also sexy! Could next year be the one?

Hope renewed, I am no longer sad... And am no longer sexy. Drat!

This is tougher than I thought.

i dunno. i just find this premise boring.

Just read his speeches and look at his voting record and try to tell me he's not a dreamboat.

Sexiest Man?

Get a friggin camera why don't you?

Listen, I tire often of the meandering ramblings of this site. But this oversight...this extreme negligence in assessing facts...takes the cake!

To say the least, the description of what it is that makes me incredibly the sexiest man alive would have catapulted this site to the front of a long line of sites hoping to be known as niche. Political activist, humorist, possessor of an intellect that takes social and cultural criticism to a high art....and less we forget, very damn good looking too!

Very damn good looking!

How good looking you ask?

Well, let's just say Mona Lisa wants me. Yea, that's right. Mona Lisa, Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Beyonce and Jezebel herself all know who's got the look!

So why doesn't Salon?

Since I know you don't know, let me just say this.

Maybe next year you'll get it right!

why is alan greenspan not on the list? after years of seeing him in five second snipets on the 6 o'clock news i finally see an interview (thanks jon stewart) and nearly die. he is so incredibly smart i want to make love to his giant brain.

Steve Law had it right when he said Salon is losing its gravitas. I love a good time as much as the next girl, but seriously, you guys really need to work a little harder. The stories you're coming up with just don't seem like research efforts at all anymore.

And so even when it's fine to have fun, like the sexiest living man thing... your choices reveal your shallowness. Gay athletes, and cartoon characters?

There used to be at least mention made of the thinking woman's sex symbol, but now even that is gone. Quiet thoughtful serious actors, risk-taking politicians, brilliant writers..... none of it's there anymore.

Please Salon, buy some NoDoz and put some effort, some thought into it.....

I'm sorry, I have to burst the Judd Apatow love bubble that's been going on for awhile now (since 40 year old virgin, I think). Now, don't get me wrong, I think that film, and knocked up, and superbad, are all fantastic. However, this statement:

"Apatow even goes one better -- he lets their female counterparts be just as funny and messed up and terrified as they are."

bears some disagreement. Because it's just not totally true. Yes, he lets his female characters be messed up and terrified. But they still must be hot. Catherine Keener? Katharine Heigl? Hot popular teenage girls in superbad? They're all HOT.

So, to talk of Judd Apatow as some kind of dork savior, it's only in the strictest sense of "male" dork savior. Call me when he write a film about a dorky guy who is psyched to get the average looking but awesome girl. Or better yet, when someone lets a dorky looking girl star and be funny.