Good Material, Bad Girl
A much-troubled film about Madonna is finally in the works—but can it survive its subject’s notorious perfectionism and boorish manners?
Death to the Pop Princess!
As Katy Perry’s latest single bombs, a new wave of Gen Z singers—from Chappell Roan to Charli XCX—is showing how to make music with brains as well as bounce
The Other Royal Family
A new, unauthorized biography of the Beckhams mocks their gaucheness and condemns their collusion with the media—but it can’t deny their power
Long Island Hopping
A road trip around the homes, archives, and collections of artists who found inspiration on Long Island, from Jackson Pollock to Judith Leiber
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a biography of Ayn Rand, a murder mystery set in the Deep South, and a collection of Ernest Hemingway’s letters
Christian Louboutin’s Guide to Paris
The fashion designer and creator of the red sole shares his favorite spots in his home city
Poster City
A new book collects a century of posters and advertisements that shaped New York City’s rise as the cultural capital of the world
Kevin Costner’s Post Apocalypse
The Postman was meant to be the Oscar winner’s magnum opus—instead it became the tale of a superstar’s self-indulgence
Clarence Maclin
In his breakout role, the formerly incarcerated actor stars alongside Colman Domingo and Paul Raci in the semi-biographical film Sing Sing
The Last Days of Joan Didion
Cory Leadbeater looked after the author in her final days—and after them, too
Is Milano the New Monaco?
On this week’s podcast, Elena Clavarino reveals why being a tax exile is the new flex for the 1 percent
Stranger than Fiction
Teatro Nuovo gives Carolina Uccelli’s lone surviving opera, Anna di Resburgo, a long-overdue second shot
The Making of a Movement
In the 1960s and 1970s, women’s liberation transformed America. Voices from that time tell how it came to be
Henry Alford’s “This or That”
A pop quiz of cultural phenomena
Black Sun
Gritty and glamorous, Chinatown combined the best of Old and New Hollywood
After Auschwitz
Revisiting the posthumous 2010 stage premiere of Mieczysław Weinberg’s fierce masterpiece The Passenger
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a modern twist on King Arthur’s court, a look at the women who shaped the ancient world, and a history of World War I’s Eastern Front
Cooked in the Books
When it comes to literary hit jobs, no public figures—from the Beckhams all the way to Mother Teresa—are safe from merciless biographers
