Postcard New England
The early days of skiing in the United States were wild and woolly, with rope tows, aristocratic instructors, and five-to-a-room boarding houses
The Mystery of Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim’s biographer looks back at the signs she missed when interviewing the legendary composer and lyricist
The Great (Culture) War
In 2023, while some cities celebrated femininity with Taylor Swift and Barbie, others pivoted toward angry country music. Do universal pop-culture trends even exist anymore?
Could You Be an Attention Whore?
On this week’s podcast, the keeper of our Attention-Whore Index reveals the worst of this year’s worst
On Top of the World
A new coffee-table book offers a delightful guide to Alpine travel across France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Germany
For the Ages
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made 24 bold and imaginative films before falling out of favor. Now the duo that Martin Scorsese and Tilda Swinton credit as influences are getting their due
These Hills Are Made for Stalkin’
Visiting Scotland’s Letterewe Estate is like stepping back in time
The Real “Danish Girl”?
Lucia Lucas, baritone, walks the walk as the transgender trailblazer Lili Elbe
Side Effects
Neuroscientist Candace Pert’s pioneering medical research was meant to help end drug addiction. Instead, Big Pharma used it to create opioids
Soviet Sojourn
A new coffee-table book collects photographs of dachas, colorful cottages that have dotted the Russian countryside since the 18th century
A Man Out of Time
How Robert Altman and a down-on-his-luck Elliott Gould re-invented the detective movie
Black Emanuelle Matters
A saucy sexploitation-movie series is being re-assessed as a groundbreaking feminist work in an exhaustive new boxed set
The Amsterdam Diaries
The 12 Years a Slave director, Steve McQueen, and his partner, Bianca Stigter, discuss the making of Occupied City, a new documentary about Nazi-era Amsterdam
Why Was the “Indiana Jones of Lost Movies” Accused of Manslaughter?
On this week’s podcast, John von Sothen reports from Paris on a trial fit to be a film
Marguerite Humeau
For her latest exhibition, the French artist has installed nearly 90 sculptures across Colorado’s San Luis Valley
Good Help Is Hard to Find
Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter’s cult masterpiece, The Servant, turns 60
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Advance
Publishers are handing out six-figure book deals to young, debut authors. How long can the bubble last if nearly all of them are losing money?
