Her Sixth Tony
The riveting Audra McDonald channels Billie Holiday in decline
Flash Back
Three decades on, Harry Flashman, the philandering protagonist of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series, is still sympathetic
Schools of Thought
Children’s literature has been hit hard by the culture wars. Anthony Horowitz suggests giving in less—and listening to Ricky Gervais more
Portrait Mode
Iké Udé’s carefully staged portraits set contemporary subjects in a world inspired by the drama of Dutch old masters
The Hard-Crusted Softy in Winter, Part II
Ten years after Gore Vidal’s death, the one biographer to remain friendly with the prickly master reveals poignant details of his final years
What a Glorious Feeling!
Seventy years after Singin’ in the Rain splashed its way through theaters, it remains perhaps the greatest movie musical ever made
The Other Other Paris
Still trying to book a summer getaway? Here’s a city you need to discover
Murder, They Wrote
Killers, poseurs, and arrivistes … criminals with social ambition and a taste for vengeance dominate this month’s new mystery novels
Big Tobacco, but for Big Fish
Investigating the dark underbelly of salmon farming, journalists find echoes of the oil and tobacco industries
A Master Trickster, Re-Discovered
Remy Charlip created fanciful books for children—as well as everything from theater design to choreography (including the “Air Mail Dances”!)
Finnish Firecracker
Live from Helsinki: Karita Mattila, diva without borders
Beethoven in the Fjord
Norway’s superstar of the keyboard, Leif Ove Andsnes, directs a chamber-music festival in his own backyard
A Numbers Game
We associate algebra, geometry, and calculus with practicality and logic. But the origins of math are as mysterious as any scripture
Charlie Siem
The violin virtuoso and Dior model making classical music cool
