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Upcoming exhibiting artist @jamesnachtwey is currently on the ground in Ukraine documenting the atrocities of war in real-time. In April, the @newyorkermag published a piece with American journalist Luke Mogelson and Nachtwey as they surged into Bucha, Ukraine as loved ones and volunteers try to make sense of the destruction.​​​​​​​
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“Memoria” at Fotografiska


James Nachtwey was working in Afghanistan when he heard that Russia had invaded Ukraine. The eminent war photographer packed up his gear and traveled nonstop for five days to Kyiv, arriving just in time to celebrate his 74th birthday. (Laura Haim recently wrote a story in Air Mail about Nachtwey and other retirement-age photographers who answered the call of Ukraine.) The photographs Nachtwey took of Russian destruction for The New Yorker, Air Mail, and other publications are as harrowing as any of those that memorialized conflicts in South Africa, Rwanda, Bosnia, Palestine, Chechnya, and Iraq. Fittingly, a retrospective of his finest work, at Fotografiska in New York, is titled “Memoria.” Nachtwey, who has called himself an “anti-war” photographer, has spent his life documenting the most brutal acts of inhumanity while paying homage to the dignity of the victims. It’s a rare combination and well worth seeing close up. (fotografiska.com) —Alessandra Stanley

Imprint

Casey Rubber Stamps


Tucked away in the East Village is a time warp of a store: Casey Rubber Stamps. They specialize in—you guessed it—rubber stamps, a product typically relegated to just a single shelf in craft stores. The 43-year-old shop (21 of them done in its current location) has stamps for every occasion. Need a customized return stamp for your mail? No problem. How about a Top Secret stamp? They have that, too. One with a nude woman in a top hat, riding a lobster, sipping a coupe of champagne? Yes, even that. The array of Air Mail-themed stamps is a personal favorite. It’s the perfect place to find a gift for a friend or foe; for the latter, I suggest one of their many satanic stamps. (caseyrubberstamps.com) —Gracie Wiener

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Crypto Island


In November 2021, several strangers who’d met on the Internet formed a group called ConstitutionDAO, to raise enough money to buy the United States Constitution at a Sotheby’s auction. DAO, a concept beloved by crypto bros, stands for “decentralized autonomous organization.” In this case, “decentralized” meant that anyone who donated Ethereum to the group had a say in what the organization did with the physical document—if they procured it. While they raked in nearly $47 million worth of crypto, ConstitutionDAO lost the auction to billionaire C.E.O. of Citadel Kenneth Griffin. In the first episode of the new podcast Crypto Island, host P. J. Vogt talks to the people behind the group and asks why they even cared about a Sotheby’s auction. Vogt dedicates episodes to different crypto schemes that are easy to shrug off as stupid pranks. He is skeptical, but he isn’t dismissive. (podcasts.apple.com) —Jensen Davis

Carry

Salt


Salt is known, first and foremost, as a purveyor of colorful bag straps inspired by the Wayuu-mochila tradition and handwoven by Colombian artisans. Now, just in time for spring, founders Marla Toplitzky and Kacy Lubell have trotted out the Paloma, a bucket-tote hybrid that can be worn as a shoulder, crossbody, or tote bag. Made of Japanese denim, it’s offered in four colors, with a choice of eight different top handles. Our favorite spring style is the white denim with a matching white leather French-braid strap. Wear it with a swishy dress in mornings, afternoons, and evenings alike. While it’s the scaled-down size that’s all the rage these days, the bag is deceptively spacious, thanks to its squarish shape. It manages to fit a wallet, phone, handful of beauty products, and a paperback. What else does one really need? ($365, shoppesalt.com) —Ashley Baker

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The Continental Literary Magazine


In 2021, the Hungarian writer Sándor Jászberényi started collecting nonfiction essays, reported pieces, fiction, and poetry from writers in his country—and across Central Europe—for the first issue of The Continental Literary Magazine. The mission of the quarterly: to bridge the cultural gap between that region and United States. The theme of the first issue, winter 2022, was prejudice. (It was released just four months before Russia invaded Ukraine, and now feels more relevant than ever.) The latest issue, spring 2022, revolves around craving and includes a poem by Michal Habit, an illuminating interview with Marina Abramović, and an essay by Silvester Lavrík, among many other pieces. While there’s a digital-only subscription, we recommend getting the print one—the physical copies are too beautiful to pass up. ($19.90 per issue, continentalmagazine.com) —Elena Clavarino

Watch

Slow Horses


The British are unrivaled champions of failure, perhaps because, in elite circles, success, or the flaunting of it, is considered tacky. Some of their best fictional characters are deliciously bad company—take the eponymous heroes of Lucky Jim, Kingsley Amis’s 1954 novel, and Butley, a 1971 play. Slow Horses, an excellent British espionage series based on Mick Herron’s novels, adds Jackson Lamb to the pantheon of losers. Gary Oldman plays Lamb, a drunken, slovenly, and hate-filled M.I.5 agent in charge of Slough House, a grubby office that serves as a rubber room for spies who failed in the field but cannot be fired. Lamb is cruel, insulting, and determined to keep his misbegotten charges from doing any meaningful work. A shocking terrorist act in London nevertheless pulls Lamb’s pariahs back in the game—despite the best efforts of his old rival, Diana Taverner, the bloodcurdlingly cold deputy director general of M.I.5, expertly played by Kristin Scott Thomas. While set in contemporary London, this is an old-school, John le Carré–style thriller, and all the better for it. (tv.apple.com) —Alessandra Stanley

Issue No. 147
May 7, 2022
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Issue No. 147
May 7, 2022