The Man Who Captured Sinatra
On this week’s podcast, Gay Talese reveals the story behind “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” his masterpiece of magazine writing
Down the Memory Hole
An arresting new biography gives George Orwell’s intrepid first wife her due
Exit Laughing
The producer of the legendary comedy show Laugh-In has one regret: allowing Richard Nixon to do a cameo
Barbie Ruins the World
After watching Barbie make its billions, all the toy brands—from Hot Wheels to Play-Doh—want a piece of the action
The Barbie Girl Variations
A Spanish cellist in Sweden who moonlights on piano gives Aqua’s golden oldie a half dozen makeovers
Shark Tales
Restoring New England’s great-white-shark population presented conservationists with a new challenge: convincing beachgoers it was good news
Stands to Treason
A look back at the 1945 trial of Philippe Pétain, France’s World War II–era head of state who was accused of plotting to overthrow democracy
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a comic-strip biography of Charles M. Schulz, a look back at Germany’s turbulent 1923, and the story of how Borges, Heisenberg, and Kant challenged reality
Emma Seligman
In Bottoms, a comedy about a queer fight club, the young director collaborates with college friends, who happen to be rising stars in Hollywood
Au Revoir, les Femmes
A new documentary tells the little-known story of a group of 230 non-Jewish women of the French Resistance who were sent to Auschwitz
Picasso Unseen
Rare, intimate pictures taken by the Irish photographer Edward Quinn over the course of his 19-year friendship with Picasso capture the artist in his downtime
Hot Messes in East Hampton!
On this week’s podcast, Linda Wells reveals how big egos are bringing big drama to gyms out East
Always Beckoning
Beck, laughing wild amid severest woe, is on tour through September 10, with upcoming stops in Texas, Chicago, Toronto, and cities along the East Coast
Low Shelf Esteem
In the last decade, “sad girl” literature, novels about well-off girls who drink, go to therapy, and are consumed by self-loathing, has taken over contemporary fiction
An Actor’s Actor
Rob Brydon, who makes a brief cameo as Sugar Daddy Ken in Barbie, discusses choosing his family over his career and the fun of projects outside of Hollywood
Bad Romance
Set in the 19th century, William Boyd’s latest novel spans the life of a fictional writer who counts Percy Shelley and Lord Byron as friends
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a memoir from the legendary producer of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, an account of life as a lighthouse keeper, and a classical composer’s search for her birth parents
Better Fish to Fry
A look inside Toyosu, Tokyo’s largest fish market, where buyers congregate before dawn to bid on pricey bluefin tuna
Making Trouble
In an interview, former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust discusses growing up in the American South, the ending of affirmative action, and her new memoir, Necessary Trouble
