Adventures in Absinthe
When I set out to expose a black-market counterfeiter of vintage absinthe, things didn’t go the way I expected
Yulia Navalnaya Picks Up the Baton
Eight months after the Kremlin murdered her husband, Alexei Navalny’s widow reflects on their marriage, their shared aspirations for their home country, and why she doesn’t hate Vladimir Putin
Teenage Wasteland
At the turn of the century, Abercrombie & Fitch led a pop-culture movement hyping up consumerism. Millennials bought in—and got duped
Call Him by His Name
In an interview, André Aciman discusses the inspiration for Call Me by Your Name and his new memoir, about his own teenage years spent in Italy
Deadly Pleasures to Listen to, Read, and Watch
Get in the Halloween spirit with this month’s best mystery podcast, book, and movie
All About Marilyn
Eve Arnold’s newly discovered pictures of Marilyn Monroe capture the enduring friendship between Magnum’s first female photographer and an actress fighting for success in a male-dominated world
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a memoir from the interwar Jane Austen, the musings of a thrice Booker Prize–shortlisted author, and a biography of the humorist Will Rogers
The Dickens of Appalachia
In an interview, Barbara Kingsolver discusses her little-known first book, the inspiration behind Demon Copperhead, and what J. D. Vance gets wrong about the rural South
Rosario Candela’s New York
The Jazz Age architect invented penthouse living, remaking the city’s skyline—and attracting buyers including Jackie O—along the way
The Living-Room M.F.A.
As the cost of graduate writing programs goes up and the degree’s perceived value declines, alternatives are springing up far from campus
Theft on the Nile
How a pair of intrepid, 19th-century British women smuggled an ancient coffin right out from under the noses of Egyptian site guards
The Invisible Man
Accompanying a retrospective in Barcelona, a new book collects more than 150 photographs by Louis Stettner, who captured the trials and triumphs of the 20th century’s working class while remaining virtually unknown
Not So “Easy Peasy”
Although commonplace in American and British jargon today, the origins of this popular phrase remain nebulous
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a window into the inner workings of Fleetwood Mac, a compelling history of the C.I.A., and a chronicle of the first pilots to circle the globe
Design Within Reach
Lamps, teacups, ashtrays … A new coffee-table book traces the life and work of the Italian designer Piero Fornasetti
On the Scent
During World War II, spies had a little-suspected weapon: perfume. It was used for everything from building an undercover alias to making covert correspondences seem like love letters
