The Art of Subtlety
To attract readers but stump libel lawyers, 20th-century magazine writers alluded to sordid gossip instead of printing it
Family Feuds
The story of famed U.K. department store John Lewis rivals that of the Murdoch clan in its similarities with Succession
Inside Afghanistan
At the core of the current Afghanistan disaster is the West’s misunderstanding of a country and its people. These books offer a good place to start
Family Business
To write his second novel, Atticus Lish asked himself, “What hurts?”
Kate Moennig
The actress’s pandemic podcast with The L Word co-star Leisha Hailey has become the new gay go-to
What It Was Like to Date John F. Kennedy
Sixty years after her affair with the president ended, a woman looks back
Sharon Horgan Goes Viral
Shot over 10 days, her new film is a raw look at lockdown’s effect on one family
Joan of Art
Joan Mitchell, who revolutionized postwar American art alongside “Ninth Street women” Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning, finally gets her due
The Bright Side of Life
A swarm of musicals open in London’s West End, proving that both the fun and the show must go on
Great Marketing Minds of 2021
Lest you think the cinema is intellectually bankrupt, Hollywood welcomes you to the Year of the Intense Middle-Aged Bearded White Guy in a Baseball Cap!
A Hello to Arms
Ernest Hemingway: renowned novelist, bullfighting aficionado, and … Spanish guerrilla fighter?
So Long, Summer
Whether you’re over the season or clinging on for dear life, tracks from the likes of Willie Nelson, the Kinks, and Rosemary Clooney will serve you well
Lost in Translation
The moment Japan opened its doors to the West, in the late 1800s, was the moment many of its traditions disappeared. A new volume brings them back
Opera Pick of the Week
Yuval Sharon’s Twilight: Gods crunches Richard Wagner’s four-night “Ring” cycle into a 60-minute crawl through a parking garage
Short List
What to read this week, from a history of a secret Nixon meeting to an exploration of French colonialism in Congo and a look back at Bernini’s Rome
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
How did a few German students manage to dig a tunnel under the Berlin Wall?
The Cult of Kahlo
Despite inspiring books, movies, and movements, the unibrowed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo remains elusive. A striking new volume adds to the allure
Opera Non Buffa
Opera is back with the summer festivals of Salzburg, Bayreuth, and Aix-en-Provence, but it’s as bleak as Mozart’s Requiem
