Bonjour Tristesse
Once again, the French novelist Michel Houellebecq is a step ahead of current events. But his themes are timeless
Prince Among Men
The photographer behind My Name Is Prince, the largest-ever collection of images of the star, recalls the extraordinary experience of being in his orbit
No, Virginia, There Isn’t a Santa Claus!
Revisiting a Spy piece that proved, once and for all, scientifically, what no child wanted to hear
The Underground
The retro grandeur of Soviet-era metro stations
The Panto Season ‘Tis upon Us
The British pantomime is noisy, camp, and a complete hoot
Music to Festoon By
Jollity and beauty from Joni Mitchell, Lena Horne, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Louis Armstrong, the Pogues, Eartha Kitt, and more
Little Woman
Florence Pugh is a kick playing the least likable March sister in Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel
Why Are We Still Loving Friends?
It’s the most streamed show on Netflix. Teenagers quote its jokes—even though it is 25 years old. So what explains its appeal?
EPISODE V: “Nothing Ever Changes in Palm Beach”
A little more correspondence from Lansy Everett, formerly of the New York Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar
Master and Commander
The U.S.S. Lincoln projects American sea power on a small speck off the coast of Newfoundland
Prima Time
Francesca Hayward arrives in Cats, Coppélia, and Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words
Impeachment-Palooza
With disequilibrium the order of the day, some podcasts make smart, entertaining sense of it all
First Impressions
A new book remembers more than a decade spent in the orbit of Beckett and de Beauvoir. Here, its author describes her early encounters with the literary stars
Apollonia Poilâne
The woman behind the legendary Paris bakery recommends the best cookbooks
First Love
Little-known correspondence from Elizabeth Bishop offers a glimpse into the poet’s romantic life
