A Real-Life Benjamin Button?
Brendan Bracken, founder of the Financial Times and friend of Churchill’s, faked a premature-aging condition to satisfy his taste for being caned by teenage boys
Short List
What to read this week, from the latest in Henry Porter’s captivating Paul Samson series to books revisiting the pandemic’s early days and the myth of the Alamo
The Hypocritical Oath
Studies show Black patients react better to having Black doctors. So why is our whole medical system geared toward white doctors?
Is Paris Churning?
As the city reopens to tourists, we have some delicious stories about it
Arts Highlight: Midnight
It’s never too late for the romantic comedy that time forgot
Helene Hanff’s Diary
The story of Helene Hanff, the Bridget Jones of the postwar literary set, whose uproarious 84, Charing Cross Road has never been out of print
Animal Instinct
Marsel van Oosten’s photographs offer a tantalizingly close-up look at the world’s rarest wildlife
The Really Right Stuff
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, was the picture of calm during meetings with J.F.K. ahead of his journey. His archives reveal a human side
Paula Beer
The Berlin Film Festival darling who eschewed drama school for the real thing
La Scala’s Shining Star
Remembering the Italian ballerina Carla Fracci, Milan’s star dancer who died last month aged 84
Opera Pick of the Week
From Toronto’s Opera Atelier, a Niagara of Baroque images for Handel’s The Resurrection
Short List
Books to read this week, including fresh looks at Norman Jewison and Stephen Hawking, and an enlightened guide to parenting
Floral Tribute
The pioneering photographer Anna Atkins is not nearly as well known as her contemporaries, such as Henry Fox Talbot. Her work reveals photography’s transition from science to art
When Mildred Met Sally
How did American college dropout Mildred Gillars become Axis Sally, the voice behind English-language Nazi propaganda during W.W. II?
The Real Deal
As cultural workers have had their livelihoods crushed by the pandemic, the New Deal’s arts projects are suddenly relevant again
