The Rules of the Dame
Helen Mirren may have turned 80, but she’s still acting—and aging—gracefully. Just don’t call her feisty
100 Years of the Photo Booth
Beloved by everyone from Andy Warhol to J.F.K., it’s a novelty whose novelty never wore off
Bowie in Aspic
From rejection letters to annotated Berlin menus, David Bowie saved it all. Now more than 90,000 artifacts are headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, offering unprecedented insight into the Starman and his method
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
A new book traces the tumultuous history of man and wolf—and debunks the myth of the “alpha” once and for all
Marcantonio Brandolini d’Adda’s Guide to Venice
The Italian glassware designer shares his favorite spots in his hometown
The Man Behind the Alien Mask
Bolaji Badejo was a six-foot-10-inch Nigerian graphic-design student in London until a chance pub encounter made him Ridley Scott’s most elegant monster
R. F. Kuang
At 29 years old, the Chinese-American author of the best-selling novel Yellowface is getting ready to publish her sixth book—and complete her fourth degree
Force of Nature
An exhibition of still-life paintings by Rachel Ruysch goes up in Boston, honoring the Dutch artist whose fame in the 18th century rivaled that of Rembrandt
The Echo of Art Deco
The architectural style was born 100 years ago. Its influence remains undiminished
Blame Canada
The Toronto International Film Festival has propelled the Hollywood hype machine for the past 50 years. Here are the newest causes for excitement
Picture This
A new coffee-table book collects Martyn Goddard’s photographs of Blondie, capturing the pop-punk band at their peak in the hot New York summer of 1978
Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch
A tartan noir for our times, and an excellent new British heist drama
Inspired by a Double Bagel
How the most one-sided defeat of Carlos Alcaraz’s life paved the way for his ascent to the top of the tennis world—and his moneymaking drop shot
Star Turn
After decades of character roles, Paul Guilfoyle, a CSI alumnus, plays the lead in a bittersweet film about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist
Billionaires Behaving Badly: The Summer Edition
On this week’s podcast, William D. Cohan reports from Nantucket
The Queen’s Gambit
Meyerbeer’s Ozymandian masterpiece Les Huguenots
The Designer Who Set Women Free
In contrast to Dior’s waist-cinching “New Look,” Claire McCardell’s “American Look” brought comfort to women’s fashion
Helen Rice’s Guide to Charleston
The artist, shopkeeper, and co-founder of the branding agency Fuzzco shares her favorite spots in her hometown
Face Time
From Whitney Houston to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Louise Bourgeois to Kate Moss, a new coffee-table book collects a lifetime of portraits by the photographer Bruce Weber
Grandmother Courage
The little-known story of the Argentinean women who fought to reclaim their stolen grandchildren—and helped topple a dictatorship
