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September 3, 2022
The Best
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No. 164
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In This Week’s Issue
When Kush Comes to Shove

From the reading room, Alessandra Stanley contrasts Jared Kushner’s memoir with that of Mussolini’s son-in-law, and finds it, well, wanting …

Man on the Run

From France, Michael Bronner takes us on the hunt for one of the most accomplished grifters in memory: Robert Freegard, the brainwashing genius and fascinating subject of his film Rogue Agent …

Tunnel Vision

From London, biographer Tom Bower traces the final, tragic hours of Princess Diana …

The Skin Game

From New York, our beauty-and-wellness columnist, Linda Wells, investigates a new treatment the wealthy are flocking to—and discovers there’s a bit less to it than meets the eye …

Hot Mess

From California, Sam Kashner recounts a bizarre marriage that makes the Amber Heard–Johnny Depp debacle look like true love …

Right and Wrong

Our Books Editor, Jim Kelly, sits down with Christopher Buckley and learns what William F. Buckley Jr. would have made of Donald Trump …

Fashion Statements

From London, Edward Enninful, the editor of British Vogue, answers 54 of life’s most pressing questions …

But First …
Issue No. 164

The View from Here As Jared Kushner reveals in his new book, the Trumps have more in common with the Mussolinis than he realizes

By Alessandra Stanley
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
Politics, Italian-Style

By Giorgia! As the favorite to be Italy’s next prime minister, is Giorgia Meloni—backed by bunga-bunga Berlusconi—the most dangerous woman in Europe?

By Nicholas Farrell
Read On
The Diana Chronicles I

Bed of Lies Dodi Fayed’s super-yacht, a Paris suite, 11 shots of whiskey—25 years after Princess Diana’s death, there are still more questions than answers

By Tom Bower
Read On
The Diana Chronicles II

The Way She Wore Thanks to TikTok, Princess Diana’s fashion is more talked-about than ever

By Ashley Baker
15
On June 29, 1994—the day that Prince Charles publicly admitted he had had an affair—Princess Diana wore an off-the-shoulder chiffon cocktail dress by Christina Stambolian to a Serpentine Gallery fundraiser. The “revenge dress” was born.
Blue jeans and a white blouse took on an entirely new meaning in 1997, when Diana wore the combination during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she was raising awareness for the dangers poised by land mines.
An avant-garde approach to hats at a polo match in Windsor in the summer of 1989.
The morning that her bombshell interview about life with Prince Charles aired on television sets all over Britain, Diana was photographed leaving the Chelsea Harbour health club in biker shorts, a kitschy sweater, and high-tops.
Diana’s inventive approach to eveningwear rarely failed to make headlines. In Saudia Arabia in 1986, she paired a two-tone satin gown with a glittering tiara.
Diana’s fashion was on the demure side in the 1980s. For the 1985 premiere of A View to a Kill, at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, she chose a pleated gown in silver lamé.
A minimalist moment—with maximum-impact jewelry—at the Costume Institute Gala, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1996.
A version of the infamous “black sheep” sweater, worn to a polo match in Windsor in June 1981, is still sold today.
The impact of the “Travolta dress,” worn during a White House gala dinner in 1995, was matched only by Diana’s dance moves.
Understated elegance, as seen at the 1983 wedding of Diana’s friend Anne Bolton.
Diana favored oversize frilly collars; she was also known to like polka dots. In 1983, the royal couple played with Prince William, in high style, in Auckland, New Zealand.
In the 90s, Diana’s look evolved into something more businesslike. For a Red Cross meeting in Geneva, she paired her suit with a sensible briefcase.
Some members of the royal family were said to be shocked when Diana wore a diamond-and-emerald choker—a wedding gift from the Queen—as a headband to an event in Melbourne.
In a black-and-white polka-dot dress by Victor Edelstein and a Philip Somerville hat at Ascot in June 1988.
Mastering the art of the “little white dress” at a concert in Italy in 1995.
Read On
Agent Provocateur

To Catch a Con Rogue Agent dramatized one of the strangest criminal cases in recent British history. Its release helped lead to an international manhunt

By Michael Bronner
Read On
Small Talk
“‘Help! Help!’ he frantically cried in vain.”
“‘Help! Help!’ he frantically cried in vain.”
Air Supply

Social Studies

We see your favorite influencer’s Pinterest board and raise you our curated collection of social media’s top products. From skincare to decorative objects, AIR SUPPLY did the endless scrolling, double-tapping, and social studies for you
Shop
Photo: Stephen Ladner/Condé Nast/Shutterstock (models)
Heartbreakers

The Spruce Deuce

Before Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, there was Howard Hughes and Jean Peters
By Sam Kashner
Illustration by Edward Sorel
Read On
Beauty and Wellness

Eye of the Beholder Who’s buying that $1,950 undereye serum sold out of a dodgy storefront on Madison Avenue? Our investigative beauty columnist finds out, and discovers that .01-percenters are just as susceptible to scams as the rest of us

By Linda Wells
Read On
Best
Eat Smyth Tavern John McDonald, the veteran restaurateur behind Manhattan hot spots such as Bar Tulix and Lure Fishbar is expanding his reign… Tour Neutra VDL Studio and Residences In 1932, the architect Richard Neutra built a house for his family that overlooked the Silver Lake Reservoir, in Los Angeles… Wear Industry of All Nations As much as your Air Mail style correspondent would like to take all the credit for discovering… Wear Saint Laurent Dear Anthony Vaccarello: just when we vowed to stride into fall wearing trousers that were made from something, anything, but denim… Watch Blow Out In the long opening shot of Blow Out—available next week in 4K from the Criterion Collection—we share a set of eyes with a serial killer… Listen Who Killed Daphne? When Maltese investigative journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, in a car bombing in 2017, the story made international… Eat Smyth Tavern John McDonald, the veteran restaurateur behind Manhattan hot spots such as Bar Tulix and Lure Fishbar is expanding his reign… Tour Neutra VDL Studio and Residences In 1932, the architect Richard Neutra built a house for his family that overlooked the Silver Lake Reservoir, in Los Angeles… Wear Industry of All Nations As much as your Air Mail style correspondent would like to take all the credit for discovering… Wear Saint Laurent Dear Anthony Vaccarello: just when we vowed to stride into fall wearing trousers that were made from something, anything, but denim… Watch Blow Out In the long opening shot of Blow Out—available next week in 4K from the Criterion Collection—we share a set of eyes with a serial killer… Listen Who Killed Daphne? When Maltese investigative journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, in a car bombing in 2017, the story made international…
Eight Questions

Catcher in the Wry Eight questions with Christopher Buckley, ranging in subject from his comic pandemic novel and George Bush 41 to what his parents would have made of Trump

By Jim Kelly
Read On
Interview

Long Live the King Ahead of his latest novel’s release, Stephen King divulges his writing routine and explains why social media is a “poison pill”

By Richard Osman
Read On
À La Carte

When Menus Were the Main Event … A delicious new book offers a visual history of menu design from 1800 to the present

19
A 1959 menu poster for London’s Le Caprice restaurant.
A poster for Cencio, in Milan, circa 1956.
A menu poster for the SS Veendam, of the Holland America Line, 1947.
A menu poster for the Royal Palace Hotel, in London, 1932.
A poster for Solmar, in Lisbon, circa 1954.
A menu poster for Sweden’s national airline, which re-entered postwar commercial aviation with a trio of new Douglas DC-14s, 1945.
A poster for New Year’s Eve at Maxim’s, in Paris, 1910.
A poster for the Eden-Roc Restaurant, in Antibes, 1923.
Top, a menu poster for the M.S. Kungsholm, of the Swedish American Line, 1936; above, a poster for Milchbar Pinguin, in then East German Leipzig, circa 1965.
A menu poster for the S.S. Roma, 1927.
A poster for the Restaurant des Ambassadeurs, in Paris, 1937.
A poster by David Hockney for Salts Diner, in Shipley, England, 1993.
A menu poster for the German S.S. Grosser Kurfürst, circa 1909.
A poster for Restaurant Cattelin, in Stockholm, circa 1960.
A poster for Lasserre, in Paris, 1956.
A poster for Éden, in Siófok, Hungary, 1968.
A poster for La Couronne, in Brussels, circa 1953.
A poster for the Café de Paris, 1936.
A poster for Mansion House, in London, 1884.
Read On
Books
Sarah Weinman On

Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime

by Joe Pompeo
Read On
Antonia Senior On

Act of Oblivion

by Robert Harris
Read On

Murder, They Wrote

by Lisa Henricksson
Read On
Small Talk
“Before you begin, let’s come up with a safe word I can say if I need you to stop.”
“Before you begin, let’s come up with a safe word I can say if I need you to stop.”
Inside Story

Some Strings Attached The little-known story of a wartime British ambassador who appeased Adolf Hitler but saw the error of his ways

By Charles Spicer
Read On
Listen

Tales of Two Grifters From Jared Kushner to an impostor M.I.5 agent, this week’s podcast has plenty of bad behavior—and more than a few laughs, thanks to Christopher Buckley

Read On
Highlight

The Hidden Highsmith A new documentary about the author of The Talented Mr. Ripley delves into the writer’s love life

By Graham Fuller
Read On
Air Mail Diary

Where Oligarchs Have Found Safe Harbors And other strange news about these curious days …

Read On
Small Talk
“There’s no good time to break up, but I wanted to wait until after Shark Week.”
“There’s no good time to break up, but I wanted to wait until after Shark Week.”
Close-up

Cynthia Addai-Robinson To step into J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantastical world for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel, the actress found common ground with her royal character

By Elena Clavarino
Read On

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Don’t Miss
Paris

The light of the world in the City of Lights: Ficre Ghebreyesus, the late husband of Elizabeth Alexander, has his first show in Paris …

London

Walk-in hours: the playwright, poet, and filmmaker Dipo Baruwa-Etti wrote The Clinic during his year-long residency at the Almeida Theatre; now it has its premiere …

Vienna

Signs and symbols: the Albertina museum presents 50 emotionally charged works to decipher the semiotics of Basquiat’s art …

San Francisco

Elton John, curator: the singer has selected 50 of Peter Hujar’s arresting portraits to go on display at Fraenkel Gallery …

Online

Blue and yellow forever: the Odessa Philharmonic flies Ukraine’s colors at the Berliner Festspiele …

Highlight
Anna-Eva Bergman’s painting N°30-1986, included in the Norwegian artist’s first American retrospective, opening next week at Perrotin gallery in New York.

Moving Mountains

Blessed be the artist who keeps a logbook, full of her impressions of a Christian Women’s Association cruise in the Far North of Norway. Anna-Eva Bergman’s talent as a caricaturist finds literary form with her description of “a swarm of bosoms decorated with small or large gold or silver crosses, hanging from the end of a long chain.” Bergman also grumbles about the boat’s bad food and bad lodgings. But all these disappointments evaporate on June 28, 1950, when Bergman stands on deck and witnesses the Arctic phenomenon of the midnight sun for the first time. READ ON

Read On
Discover
Culture

Senses and Sensibility From Beethoven to Bach, Handel to Homer, so many of the greats throughout history lacked the precise faculty their art required. What does it all mean?

By Randall Collins
Read On
Style

From Golden Spoons to Golden Statues

Contessa Marina Cicogna’s storybook life is as vibrant as those in the films she produced
written and illustrated by
David Downton
Read On
Small Talk
Great Lives

Just Another Revolution A director and producer at the vanguard of New Hollywood, Bob Rafelson infused his films with real life—and his life with high adventure

By Josh Karp
Read On
View With a Room

Good Vibrations A fresh infusion of contemporary art animates one of Sicily’s grandest hotels

By Daisy Allsup
Read On
The Perfect Ending

Edward Enninful

The editor and author answers 54 of life’s most pressing questions
Read On
Risko’s Sketchbook
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

Consulting Editor

Brendan Burford

Photo Director

Ann Schneider

Associate Editors

Elena Clavarino Jensen Davis Carolina de Armas Clara Molot Coco Paul-Henriot Paulina Prosnitz 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 Vassi Chamberlain William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Stuart Heritage George Kalogerakis Sam Kashner James Kirchick 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 Danielle Kosann Michael Lindsay-Hogg Ross MacDonald Joe McKendry James McMullan Donald Robertson Charles Dare Scheips Grant Shaffer Ed Sorel Ralph Steadman

International Editor

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Communications Director

Monika Camara Batista

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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

Designer

Zoé Gillette

Technology

Brooks Oakley Justin Rubaloff Sade Singleton

Intern

Gasper Tringale-White

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Bill Keenan and Emily Davis

Shop General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Advertising Director

Michael Pescuma

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Integrated Marketing Producer

Alex Dickerson

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

In Memoriam

Richard David Story Peter Bogdanovich André Leon Talley

Issue No. 164
September 3, 2022
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Issue No. 164
September 3, 2022
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