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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Fallen Angels

Long before Facebook came up with algorithms to undermine young women’s confidence, Victoria’s Secret was already there pairing female insecurity with male fantasy to turn push-up bras into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The apotheosis was the company’s annual televised fashion show, where supermodels starved themselves to strut the runway in giant angel wings and a thong: all the glitzy vulgarity of a Miss America pageant—without a talent competition. Victoria’s Secret crashed in 2018 under the headwinds of the #MeToo movement and the disgrace of its owner and C.E.O., Les Wexner, a friend and business partner of Jeffrey Epstein’s. Fallen Angel, a captivating new podcast, produced by C13 and hosted by Vanessa Grigoriadis and Justine Harman, provides a full-frontal look at Wexner and his company’s inflated and deforming role in American culture and the expectations placed on women. Naturally, it comes out on the side of the angels. —Alessandra Stanley

Elsa Hosk in the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Photo: Lia Toby. Courtesy of WENN.com/Alamy.