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
Emily Fairn
With roles opposite Martin Freeman and Willem Dafoe under her belt, the 26-year-old Liverpudlian is now starring in House of Guinness
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
Let Them Eat Cake!
From fans to feathers, paintings to pumps, an exhibition in London traces the evolution of Marie Antoinette’s tastes in fashion and decoration
Agitrons,Waftaroms, and Neoflects, Oh My!
Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker’s Lexicon of Comicana—a lovingly ironic send-up of comic-strip conventions—remains the gold standard, 50 years on
The Chairman in Profile
Gay Talese and Edward Sorel, the writer and illustrator of “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” on the origins, aftermath, and eventual sanctification of the greatest profile in magazine history
Oh, Goodness! Those Guinnesses!
Can a new Netflix series make sense of one of the most cursed families in Europe? First, let’s face facts
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
Downton and Out
With the last of the Downton Abbey movies in theaters, Lily James, Matthew Goode, and other cast members recall working with Maggie Smith and how Downton-mania spread across the pond
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
On the Basis of Sexuality
The little-known story of the gay Black Korean War veteran who sued the state of Florida in 1961 for firing him due to his sexuality—and won
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a look into the year that defined World War II, a children’s book about Indian cuisine, and a biography of an American nature writer
Maria Veerasamy’s Guide to Stockholm
The C.E.O. of the Swedish interior design company Svenskt Tenn shares her favorite spots in her adopted city
A Lighter Shade of Darren Aronofsky
His movies—Black Swan, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream—are notoriously heavy. But the director’s latest, Caught Stealing, is a romp around the East Village of the 1990s
Ken Follett’s World Without End
The Welsh thriller author on producing such a vast archive—and the lure of Stonehenge, the subject of his latest book
Runner-up
The 107 Days that shook Kamala Harris
