Cutting Through the Noise
From Homer’s singing Sirens to Doctor Who’s sonic screwdriver, sound as a deadly weapon has long captivated our imagination. But have we overlooked its true dangers?
Simon Kim’s Guide to Las Vegas
The restaurateur behind Korean steakhouse Cote shares his favorite spots in the city
How Jane Birkin Became the Queen of It Girls
On this week’s podcast, Joan Juliet Buck remembers the British girl who conquered Paris and how her style still influences women
Anatomy of an It Girl
How a British woman named Jane became the French bag named Birkin
“The Morandi of His Era”
An exhibition in Frankfurt honors Carl Schuch, the long-neglected 19th-century painter who is only now getting his due
Gore Vidal at 100
“A narcissist is someone better looking than you are”
Don’t Call Richard Osman Cozy
The author discusses the Helen Mirren–led adaptation of his best-selling book The Thursday Murder Club, his podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment, and why he considers “cozy crime” a reductive label
Succession, Plus Beer and Brutality
Guinness heiress Ivana Lowell on the moment she realized her real-life family drama was made for the screen
The Mirror and the Megaphone
Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt is the first great film about cancel culture
Memo to POTUS
Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s October Surprise
Every Child Left Behind
David Lan’s new play, about the plight of refugee children post–World War II, questions the meaning of home in a shattered world
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss Geoff Dyer’s memoir of growing up in postwar England, a Pulitzer-winning nature writer’s account of summers in Newfoundland, and a story of a Taoist priest visiting the Mayans
Robert Redford
At a time when our country feels like it’s on fire, it’s hard to imagine a world without the actor—and his friend Paul Newman
Maria de la Orden’s Guide to Madrid
The Spanish fashion designer and co-founder of La Veste shares her go-to spots in her hometown
Hail, the Conquering Hero
In Salzburg, the French countertenor Christophe Dumaux stuns as Handel’s Julius Caesar
Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch
Two mystery books unfolding on either side of the Atlantic, and a new Maigret TV show set in present-day Paris
Passion on the Potomac
A new book hints at an affair between Jackie Kennedy and Robert McNamara spanning J.F.K.’s death, the Vietnam War, and several marriages
Matisse vs. the Nazis
Despite a teaching post in San Francisco and a visa to Rio de Janeiro, the artist chose to stay in France and pursue his “degenerate” art during W.W. II
Fawlty Reasoning
How has Fawlty Towers, one of the most offbeat, provincial, inappropriate, and heavily excoriated shows of all time, remained popular for 50 years? Nobody quite knows …
The Man Who Would Be Rockefeller
On this week’s podcast, Jonathan Alter takes us inside the story of the con man who grifted his way into the American establishment
