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?
Master and Commander
The U.S.S. Lincoln projects American sea power on a small speck off the coast of Newfoundland
The Underground
The retro grandeur of Soviet-era metro stations
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
Prima Time
Francesca Hayward arrives in Cats, Coppélia, and Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words
Apollonia Poilâne
The woman behind the legendary Paris bakery recommends the best cookbooks
The Panto Season ‘Tis upon Us
The British pantomime is noisy, camp, and a complete hoot
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
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
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
Impeachment-Palooza
With disequilibrium the order of the day, some podcasts make smart, entertaining sense of it all
First Love
Little-known correspondence from Elizabeth Bishop offers a glimpse into the poet’s romantic life
Donald Trump’s Completely Unverified London Diary*
The “stable genius” becomes a laughingstock
Once More unto the Holidays
Reliably spirited tracks from David Bowie, Prince, Dire Straits, XTC, Talking Heads, Ice Cube, Buzzcocks, the Clash, and more
America’s Next Top Model
Now in its 23rd year, this American city is ready for its close-up—as is its surprise builder!
EPISODE IV: “The Clue Lay in the Outsider Art!”
Still more correspondence from Lansy Everett, formerly of the New York Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Vogue, Worth, and Harper’s Bazaar
B. J. Novak
So much more than a children’s book: on metafiction for kids
Sometimes, Bigger Is Better
Never-before-seen Avedon, a Trump-free Palm Beach, Helmut’s nudes: everyone loves a beautiful coffee-table book, and this year options abound
