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Unwind

The Well at Mayflower Inn


It’s not that I needed an excuse to visit the Mayflower Inn & Spa, a restorative and beautifully designed hotel in Washington, Connecticut. But now that they’ve announced a new wellness retreat, created in partnership with the Well, which also operates a lovely health-centric club around the corner from Air Mail HQ, I think I’ll have to go. The hotel will now offer an infrared sauna, cryotherapy chamber, all-season swimming pool, biophilic thermal pool (that’s surrounded by plants, for maximum relaxation), forest bathing, and, naturally, a slew of spa services from lymphatic treatments and craniosacral therapies to facials from Biologique Recherche. If I go off the grid entirely, you’ll know where to find me. (aubergeresorts.com)—Ashley Baker

Scent

Auto Fragrance


I can’t imagine the smells rideshare drivers must be subjected to on a daily basis, so I don’t blame them for layering several Little Trees fresheners on their rearview mirror. But one too many queasy car rides put me off car scents permanently—until, that is, I finally bought my own wheels during lockdown and my friend gave me the Holy Ficus auto fragrance from D. S. & Durga, the perfume company behind such hits as Cowboy Grass and Radio Bombay. It’s a small luxury: the scent is strong without being overpowering. So if you, say, stop at McDonald’s on a road trip and accidentally leave your trash in the car overnight … nobody will ever know. ($12, dsanddurga.com) —Daisy Alioto

Hold

Rhea Kalo Vase


The ancient Greeks were on to something when they started making vases some 3,000 years ago. And these slightly off-kilter ceramic ones, which are Grecian, like their forebears, are a delight. Made in a small creative studio based in Athens called Rhea Kalo, they are molded and painted by hand, ensuring each is one of a kind. At a time when so much of homeware plays it safe, in colorways that range from biscuit to beige, these bright blues, greens, and pinks are both distinct and refreshing, and sold in sizes ranging from mini (4.7 inches) to tall (6 inches). Fill one up with flowers or simply set it on its own as decoration. (from $87, thesette.com) —Bridget Arsenault

Michael Africa Jr. listens during a news conference, in Philadelphia. His mother, Debbie Africa, a member of the radical group MOVE, was released from prison on Saturday, nearly 40 years after the group engaged in a shootout that killed a Philadelphia police officer in 1978. Debbie Africa was pregnant at the time and gave birth to Michael in prison. She is the first of the so-called “MOVE 9” to be released on parole. Police Killing MOVE Member Paroled, Philadelphia, USA - 19 Jun 2018
Watch

40 Years a Prisoner


On August 8, 1978, hundreds of Philadelphia police sieged the communal home of Move, a Black-liberation-and-nature-advocacy group. An officer was killed in the ensuing shootout, and nine of Move’s members were convicted for his death, each receiving a sentence of 30 years to life. Tommy Oliver’s compelling new documentary details the four-decade fight to free the Move 9. It’s central focus is the son of two of the group’s incarcerated members, Mike Africa Jr., who was born in his mother’s prison cell shortly after her arrest, and who has thus spent his life entangled in the system that robbed his parents of their freedom, and him of his family. Through Africa’s search for both truth and justice, the film sheds much-needed light on a pivotal moment in American history and its relationship to the prison-industrial complex, while also movingly portraying the most intimate harms committed by this broken system. (hbo.com) —Clementine Ford

Issue No. 74
December 12, 2020
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Issue No. 74
December 12, 2020