January 1, 2022 – Air Mail

Parting is Such Sweet Pleasure

John Ficarra tallies up the 14 people, trends, and annoyances that left us (fortunately!) in 2021 …

Welcome to 1984

Ian Bremmer warns us that Facebook and other data titans have become the 21st century’s true superpowers. Have Zuck & Co. already defeated democracy? …

Life B4 Studio 54

Michael Callahan transports us to El Morocco, the star-studded, super-exclusive epicenter of New York nightlife from 1939 to 1969 …

Style Setter

Vassi Chamberlain catches up with the young designer and curator who has London buzzing …

On The Right Track

Six epic European rail trips that are not only good for your soul, they’re easy on the planet …

Starman

David Yaffe listens to Toy, the previously unreleased David Bowie album, and hears sounds that are magical and joyful …

Issue No. 129

The View from Here Good-bye to all that

By John Ficarra

Read On

For Meta or Worse Big Tech is becoming the government. Can anyone rein in Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Co.?

By Ian Bremmer

Read On

4

Stars and Stripes For three decades, a zebra-patterned banquette at the El Morocco put you at the center of New York nightlife—as long as you were on the right side of the room

By Michael Callahan

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Bowie’s Back A never-before-released David Bowie album hits the airwaves

By David Yaffe

Read On

Wear Extreme Cashmere The Amsterdam-based designers of Extreme Cashmere have a not-so-modest proposition: Cashmere is more than a fabric—it’s a lifestyle…

Sow Brunello Cucinelli Despite what the weather suggests, spring isn’t all that far off. Those who have already ordered their annuals know the importance…

Eat CaviAIR Perish the thought that any Air Mail reader is not a caviar expert. However, if you were, say, “asking for a friend”…

Send Clementina Sketchbook Even though Clementina Zegna is a millennial, she’s committed to old-fashioned letters…

Play Priorities If you really want to get to know someone, play a board game with them—watching someone guess, bluff, argue, or accuse a loved one…

Brew Baratza Electric Coffee Grinder In two and a half years, my Baratza Encore electric coffee grinder has endured six moves…

Wear Extreme Cashmere The Amsterdam-based designers of Extreme Cashmere have a not-so-modest proposition: Cashmere is more than a fabric—it’s a lifestyle…

Sow Brunello Cucinelli Despite what the weather suggests, spring isn’t all that far off. Those who have already ordered their annuals know the importance…

Eat CaviAIR Perish the thought that any Air Mail reader is not a caviar expert. However, if you were, say, “asking for a friend”…

Send Clementina Sketchbook Even though Clementina Zegna is a millennial, she’s committed to old-fashioned letters…

Play Priorities If you really want to get to know someone, play a board game with them—watching someone guess, bluff, argue, or accuse a loved one…

Brew Baratza Electric Coffee Grinder In two and a half years, my Baratza Encore electric coffee grinder has endured six moves…

New Year, New You

Say hello to 2022! We have a hunch it will be a great one. So why not put your best foot forward with a collection of items that promise to keep your mindset fresh, body active, and home organized—or, at the very least, your heart full of good intentions

Shop

Photo: MGM/APL Archive/Alamy (Gable and Twiggy)

My Favorite Things Richard Christiansen, founder of the Chandelier Creative agency, recently channeled his passions into the debut of Flamingo Estate, his hilltop idyll in L.A. and the name of his new home-and-garden brand. Here are a few items of particular interest to him right now

By Richard Christiansen

Shop

Photo: Christian Högstedt (Christiansen)

Born to Sing Verdi Hawaiian star baritone Quinn Kelsey anchors the Met’s new Rigoletto

By Matthew Gurewitsch

Read On

Blake Slatkin The young music producer has collaborated with Justin Bieber, the Kid LAROI, and Lil Nas X on top hits

By Jensen Davis

Read On

The Only Podcast You Need Tune out the world and tune in to great conversation

Read On

“If you work hard, exploit your employees, take advantage of a pandemic, use loopholes to avoid taxes, and hoard your wealth, you can someday, in an act of extreme self-indulgent, meaningless vanity, be an astronaut.”

Landing Gear Zen is the head that wears this crown; videoconferencing hardware with Hollywood ambitions; a wildlife-observation device for the birds; and more

By Jonathan Margolis

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Winged Victory How did designer and curator Alex Eagle end up at the epicenter of London cool?

By Vassi Chamberlain

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On Track for a Great Escape Six epic train trips you need to take in 2022

By Chris Haslam

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Masters of Disguise Stéphan Gladieu’s enchanting photos explore a spiritual West African masquerade of epic proportions

16

Emerging from the sacred forest of Koditan, in Sakété, Benin. Called upon by the forest’s oracle, participants rejoin the world of the living.

Guarding the safety of the home, in Cotonou.

Embodying ancestors in order to settle familial disputes, near Cotonou.

Embodying the deceased men in a family, mainly through dance and acrobatics, in Abomey.

Guarding the family home of the Tokpaholou aydé clan, in the village of Gbegoudo.

Embodying the wicked people who have died in a family marked by violence and incessant dancing, in Ouidah.

Embodying the deceased wicked, left, and the men, right, in Cotonou.

Symbolizing the minor family dignitaries, in Porto-Novo, Benin’s capital.

Embodying the deceased men in a family, in the village of Tori-Gare.

Twin Egungun participants, embodying the deceased men in a family, Cotonou.

Embodying the queen mother, the great-grandmother of a local general, in Porto-Novo.

Representing a dignitary, in Porto-Novo.

Emerging from the sacred forest of Koditan.

Read On

Milton Esterow On

The Vanished Collection

by Pauline Baer de Perignon

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Paul Lay On

The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood

by Tristram Hunt

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It’s Robert Welch’s World—We’re Just Living in It How the relatively unknown American conservative shaped our society more than anyone else

By Edward H. Miller

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“Clown pirates!! Whatever you do, don’t underestimate their numbers!!”

3

My new book, *Alcohol: A Love Story,* recalls fond memories of my interactions with drink, presented as a collection of painted flashbacks.

From my earliest days of pouring altar-boy wine, in the 70s, to my very recent introduction to a drink called “ranch water”—after a relocation to Dallas—it’s all in here.

Half-painted, half-alphabetical musings, the book is a testament to “Don’t think, just paint.” The one exception to this rule happened when my son, who recently became a pool boy after college, mentioned that an Arnold Palmer with booze is called a “John Daly.” I had to paint that immediately. Cheers! (*Alcohol: A Love Story* can be purchased directly from the artist.)

Is Edited By

Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley

Deputy Editors

Ashley Baker Chris Garrett Michael Hainey Nathan King Julia Vitale

Design Director

Angela Panichi

Chief Technology Officer

John Tornow

Books Editor

Jim Kelly

Arts Intel Report Editor

Laura Jacobs

Features Editor

Ash Carter

Executive Editor

David Foxley

Photo Director

Ann Schneider

Associate Editors

Elena Clavarino Jensen Davis Coco Paul-Henriot Jacob Robbins Elinor Schneider Roxy Solis

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

Columnists

Cazzie David Emma Freud Lisa Henricksson
Walter Isaacson Pico Iyer Rachel Johnson
John Lahr Jonathan Margolis Douglas McGrath
Linda Wells James Wolcott

Writers at Large

Lili Anolik Joseph Bullmore William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Stuart Heritage George Kalogerakis Sam Kashner Alexander Lobrano Alexandra Marshall

Contributing Artists

Monica Ahanonu Barry Blitt André Carrilho Paul Davis David Downton Andrea Ferolla Josh Gosfield Cathy Graham Duncan Hannah Eric Hanson Angelica Hicks Pip Johnson Hilary Knight Jenny Kroik Michael Lindsay-Hogg Ross MacDonald Joe McKendry James McMullan Donald Robertson Charles Dare Scheips Grant Shaffer Ed Sorel Ralph Steadman

International Editor

Isabelle Harvie-Watt

London Editor

Bridget Arsenault

Architectural Consultant

Basil Walter

Communications Director

Monika Camara Batista

Head of Audience Development

Rachel LeSage

Cartoon Editor

Bob Mankoff

Music Supervisor

Randall Poster

Copy Editor

Adam Nadler

Research & Legal Editor

Matt Kapp

Photo Editor

Emine Gozde Sevim

Production Editor

H. Scott Jolley

Technology

Brooks Oakley Justin Rubaloff Sade Singleton

Intern

Gasper Tringale-White

Chief Operating Officer

Bill Keenan

Chief Marketing Officer

Emily Davis

Shop General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Sales Director

Michael Pescuma

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Integrated Marketing Producer

Alex Dickerson

Account Manager

Dillon Freeman

Integrated Marketing Manager

Georgia Karakostas

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

In Memoriam

Richard David Story (1952–2021)

The View from Here Good-bye to all that

For Meta or Worse Big Tech is becoming the government. Can anyone rein in Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Co.?

Stars and Stripes For three decades, a zebra-patterned banquette at the El Morocco put you at the center of New York nightlife—as long as you were on the right side of the room

Bowie’s Back A never-before-released David Bowie album hits the airwaves

Say hello to 2022! We have a hunch it will be a great one. So why not put your best foot forward with a collection of items that promise to keep your mindset fresh, body active, and home organized—or, at the very least, your heart full of good intentions

My Favorite Things Richard Christiansen, founder of the Chandelier Creative agency, recently channeled his passions into the debut of Flamingo Estate, his hilltop idyll in L.A. and the name of his new home-and-garden brand. Here are a few items of particular interest to him right now

Born to Sing Verdi Hawaiian star baritone Quinn Kelsey anchors the Met’s new Rigoletto

Blake Slatkin The young music producer has collaborated with Justin Bieber, the Kid LAROI, and Lil Nas X on top hits

The Only Podcast You Need Tune out the world and tune in to great conversation

Beijing

London

New York

Washington, D.C.

Online

Landing Gear Zen is the head that wears this crown; videoconferencing hardware with Hollywood ambitions; a wildlife-observation device for the birds; and more

Winged Victory How did designer and curator Alex Eagle end up at the epicenter of London cool?

On Track for a Great Escape Six epic train trips you need to take in 2022

Masters of Disguise Stéphan Gladieu’s enchanting photos explore a spiritual West African masquerade of epic proportions

It’s Robert Welch’s World—We’re Just Living in It How the relatively unknown American conservative shaped our society more than anyone else

Cool down the pace in the New Year with Jamaican music from Dennis Brown, Sly & Robbie, Popcaan, and more

Is Edited By

Deputy Editors

Design Director

Chief Technology Officer

Books Editor

Arts Intel Report Editor

Features Editor

Executive Editor

Photo Director

Associate Editors

Art Director

Columnists

Writers at Large

Contributing Artists

International Editor

London Editor

Architectural Consultant

Communications Director

Head of Audience Development

Cartoon Editor

Music Supervisor

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Photo Editor

Production Editor

Technology

Intern

Chief Operating Officer

Chief Marketing Officer

Shop General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Sales Director

European Sales Director

Integrated Marketing Producer

Account Manager

Integrated Marketing Manager

Financial & Business Operations

Chief Strategy Adviser

In Memoriam