April 8, 2023 – Air Mail

THE SPY WHO LOATHES ME

From Israel, Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv report on how even super-secretive Mossad agents are openly protesting Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken the nation’s judiciary …

Blood in Brussels

From Belgium, Joseph Bullmore unravels the violent murder of a billionaire baroness by her own stepson, a counter-espionage spy …

Daylight Grubbery

From New York, Alan Richman chews over the sky-high prices in the city’s restaurants …

Unconventional Wisdom

From the newsroom, Ash Carter delves into the journalistic investigations of Edward Jay Epstein, whose contrarian ways have busted myths surrounding J.F.K.’s assassination and Watergate …

Finding Neverland

From Newark, Charles Leerhsen pulls back the curtain on Kailasa, a friendly Hindu nation that has been fooling governments around the world into believing it actually exists …

Spin Doctor

From Los Angeles, Stuart Heritage reports on Dr. David B. Agus and the plagiarism scandal that has engulfed both him and his ghostwriter …

King’s Landing

From Buckingham Palace, Katie Bowman reveals King Charles’s favorite holiday getaways—many of which you can stay at. Bringing your own toilet seat is optional …

Gritty Palace

From Venice, Elena Clavarino explores the perpetually dark palazzo Ca’ Dario, which is rumored to be cursed …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Harry Styles re-writes the laws of masculinity … English soccer’s dark horse … Bruce Bozzi yaks with Rob Lowe … Felicity Blunt, Stanley Tucci’s wife, is having her moment … the Air Jordan gets its own Ben Affleck–directed movie … David Grann answers our Eight Questions … Georgia O’Keeffe overtakes MoMA … the Lebanese designers shaking up your living room … The Attention-Whore Index is waving at you! …

Issue No. 195

The View from Here In New York, the cost of dinner has never been higher. The restaurateurs aren’t happy about it, either

By Alan Richman

Read On

The Spy Who Loathes Me Even super-secretive Mossad agents are openly rebelling against Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken Israel’s judicial system

By Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv

Read On

The Accidental Journalist Over a long and unconventional career, Edward Jay Epstein learned to assume nothing—landing scoops on everything from the Kennedy assassination to Watergate along the way

By Ash Carter

Read On

The Country That Never Was The Hindu nation of Kailasa is making friends across the world. Such a shame it doesn’t exist

By Charles Leerhsen

Read On

Liar Liar Generation plagiarism isn’t just for college students. World-renowned nonfiction writers, including New York Times best-selling author Dr. David B. Agus, are having their books recalled

By Stuart Heritage

Photo Illustration by Chop Choppish Shop

Read On

Organized Affairs

The new year presents an oft-needed excuse to de-clutter your home—and perhaps even cleanse your mind in the process. Herewith, everything you need to achieve lasting peace and order, from French soap flakes to handwoven nesting baskets

Shop

Photo: ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images (Randall and Klugman)

My Favorite Things The Emmy Award–nominated costume designer behind HBO’s teenage fever dream Euphoria shares her sartorial must-haves—from classic sunglasses to one asymmetric dress—and more of what’s on her wish list

By Heidi Bivens

Shop

The Attention-Whore Index There are puerile billionaires and whining authors scrabbling for your attention. But can any of them beat the orange elephant in the room? You decide!

Read On

Jury’s Out Notes from inside 100 Centre Street on the day Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts

By Bill Keenan

Read On

Dinner with Rob Lowe On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the West Wing actor and podcaster explains why he hated the “Brat Pack” label, reveals Francis Ford Coppola’s bizarre directing methods, and much more

Read On

What Women Want How Harry Styles avoided the playboy label—despite having lots (and lots) of girlfriends—and became an exemplar for “positive masculinity”

By Sarah Ditum

Read On

Shoot the Rich Myriam Ullens de Schooten—“Mimi”—was a warm and respected philanthropist. Then her stepson, a former Belgian spy, shot her at close range. But new details reveal a looming third act

By Joseph Bullmore

Read On

“The price is for the neck up. Anything else is extra.”

Tottenham Hothead Antonio Conte, former manager of the British Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur, went down swinging … at his own team. But did he have a point?

By Jonathan Margolis

Read On

A Man in Full As a stylist, artist, photographer, and filmmaker, Michael Roberts defied convention at every turn

By Amy Fine Collins

Read On

Read Grumbalina Fairy tales are great, but at the end of the day unfortunate realities—like sibling strife, laziness, and pollution—always get in the way…

Whiff Celine There are ceramics, and then there are Céramiques. The latter are created by Celine, and in addition to existing as beautiful objects…

Carry Prada It’s a classic for a reason: Prada’s deconstructed Raffia tote, one of the house’s best-sellers since it was introduced in 2021, has returned…

Play Alexandra Llewellyn As video games continue to evolve into the metaverse, there’s something increasingly comforting about the lo-fi simplicity of board games…

Sip Bā’sik There are neighborhood bars, and then there’s Bā’sik. Jay Zimmerman and Derrek Vernon’s Williamsburg watering hole has become…

Watch The Year Between Who hasn’t had a period of feeling lost? A “between year” where nothing seems to line up? For Alex Heller, that moment nearly cost her…

Read Grumbalina Fairy tales are great, but at the end of the day unfortunate realities—like sibling strife, laziness, and pollution—always get in the way…

Whiff Celine There are ceramics, and then there are Céramiques. The latter are created by Celine, and in addition to existing as beautiful objects…

Carry Prada It’s a classic for a reason: Prada’s deconstructed Raffia tote, one of the house’s best-sellers since it was introduced in 2021, has returned…

Play Alexandra Llewellyn As video games continue to evolve into the metaverse, there’s something increasingly comforting about the lo-fi simplicity of board games…

Sip Bā’sik There are neighborhood bars, and then there’s Bā’sik. Jay Zimmerman and Derrek Vernon’s Williamsburg watering hole has become…

Watch The Year Between Who hasn’t had a period of feeling lost? A “between year” where nothing seems to line up? For Alex Heller, that moment nearly cost her…

Sleeping Around A farmhouse in Romania, a monastery in Greece, a cottage in Cornwall—King Charles’s preferred getaways are surprisingly plebeian. And most are open to the public

By Katie Bowman

Read On

The Felicity Factor With an army of star authors under her wing, Felicity Blunt, a London literary agent and the wife of the actor Stanley Tucci, is having her moment

By Sarah Ditum

Read On

“I should be mad, but that was an impressive hack.”

A Case of the Venetian Jitters The spooky story of Ca’ Dario, the city’s cursed—and much whispered about—palazzo

By Elena Clavarino

Photo illustration by Chop Choppish Shop

Read On

Slam Dunk Ben Affleck directs a career-making film with an unlikely star: a Nike sneaker

By John Arlidge

Read On

Mutiny on the Wager The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon author David Grann discusses his latest book, the 18th-century mutiny-and-shipwreck story The Wager

By Jim Kelly

Read On

In 1916, Georgia O’Keeffe, by day an art teacher in Canyon, Texas, could often be found by night crawling around on the floor of her top-story rented room. With cramps in her feet, yet feeling “downright reckless,” she fought to capture a jag of lightning or a rising moon on a foot-high stack of cheap paper until she “got it right.” Working rapidly—first in charcoal (sometimes wearing the skin off her fingers from the rubbing) and eventually in pastels, graphite, or watercolors—was a way of seeing things over time, as if in a series of photographs, a practice she’d learned at college. READ ON

The Museum of Modern Art’s new Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition spotlights the artist’s lesser-known paper works, including Evening Star No. III (1917), pictured here. Read On

Discover

New York Restaurants and the High Price of Eating Out On this week’s podcast, Alan Richman reveals how N.Y.C. restaurants charge $100 for a $12 bottle of wine

Read On

“Hey, Alexa—turn the heat down to 63, lock the door when we leave, raise the children, get them into a good school, leave them the house when we pass away, and have them bury us in companion plots on a hill at Green-Wood Cemetery.”

David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem Even after an explosion destroyed their Beirut studio, the young design duo is building bespoke furniture that’s captured the art world’s attention

By Elena Clavarino

Read On

John Lahr On

True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work, and Times

by Robert Greenfield

Read On

Tobias Grey On

Bruno Schulz: An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History

by Benjamin Balint

Read On

Articles of War How an author discovered W. E. B. Du Bois’s definitive history of Black participation in W.W. I, and why it remained unfinished—and largely forgotten

By Chad L. Williams

Read On

Nina Campbell

The interior designer answers 51 of life’s most pressing questions

Read On

Is Edited By

Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley

Creative Director

Angela Panichi

Deputy Editors

Ashley Baker Ash Carter Chris Garrett Nathan King Julia Vitale

Chief Technology Officer

John Tornow

Editor at Large

George Pendle

Books Editor

Jim Kelly

Arts Intel Report Editor

Laura Jacobs

Senior Editor

Elena Clavarino

Junior Editor

Jensen Davis

Photo Director

Ann Schneider

Copy Editor

Adam Nadler

Research & Legal Editor

Matt Kapp

Production Editor

H. Scott Jolley

Associate Editors

Carolina de Armas Clara Molot Paulina Prosnitz

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

International Editor

Isabelle Harvie-Watt

London Editor

Bridget Arsenault

Communications Director

Harrison Vail

Columnists

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

Writers at Large

Lili Anolik Johanna Berkman Joseph Bullmore Vassi Chamberlain William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Michael Hainey 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 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

Contributing Photographers

Jonathan Becker Justin Bishop Alex Board James Emmerman Marcos Fecchino Daniel Paik Art Streiber Sharon Suh Justin Weiner

Architectural Consultant

Basil Walter

Head of Audience Development

Rachel LeSage

Cartoon Editor

Bob Mankoff

Music Supervisor

Randall Poster

Photo Editor

Emine Gozde Sevim

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

Air Supply General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Advertising Director

Michael Pescuma

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Account Manager

Dillon Freeman

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

AIR SUPPLY

Chief Merchant

Jennifer Noyes

Shop Editor

Zoe Ruffner

E-Commerce Manager

Isaac Metlitsky

E-Commerce Associates

Coco Paul-Henriot Roxy Solis

In Memoriam

Peter Bogdanovich Duncan Hannah Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley

The View from Here In New York, the cost of dinner has never been higher. The restaurateurs aren’t happy about it, either

The Spy Who Loathes Me Even super-secretive Mossad agents are openly rebelling against Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken Israel’s judicial system

The Accidental Journalist Over a long and unconventional career, Edward Jay Epstein learned to assume nothing—landing scoops on everything from the Kennedy assassination to Watergate along the way

The Country That Never Was The Hindu nation of Kailasa is making friends across the world. Such a shame it doesn’t exist

Liar Liar Generation plagiarism isn’t just for college students. World-renowned nonfiction writers, including New York Times best-selling author Dr. David B. Agus, are having their books recalled

The new year presents an oft-needed excuse to de-clutter your home—and perhaps even cleanse your mind in the process. Herewith, everything you need to achieve lasting peace and order, from French soap flakes to handwoven nesting baskets

My Favorite Things The Emmy Award–nominated costume designer behind HBO’s teenage fever dream Euphoria shares her sartorial must-haves—from classic sunglasses to one asymmetric dress—and more of what’s on her wish list

The Attention-Whore Index There are puerile billionaires and whining authors scrabbling for your attention. But can any of them beat the orange elephant in the room? You decide!

Jury’s Out Notes from inside 100 Centre Street on the day Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts

Dinner with Rob Lowe On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the West Wing actor and podcaster explains why he hated the “Brat Pack” label, reveals Francis Ford Coppola’s bizarre directing methods, and much more

What Women Want How Harry Styles avoided the playboy label—despite having lots (and lots) of girlfriends—and became an exemplar for “positive masculinity”

Shoot the Rich Myriam Ullens de Schooten—“Mimi”—was a warm and respected philanthropist. Then her stepson, a former Belgian spy, shot her at close range. But new details reveal a looming third act

Tottenham Hothead Antonio Conte, former manager of the British Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur, went down swinging … at his own team. But did he have a point?

A Man in Full As a stylist, artist, photographer, and filmmaker, Michael Roberts defied convention at every turn

Sleeping Around A farmhouse in Romania, a monastery in Greece, a cottage in Cornwall—King Charles’s preferred getaways are surprisingly plebeian. And most are open to the public

The Felicity Factor With an army of star authors under her wing, Felicity Blunt, a London literary agent and the wife of the actor Stanley Tucci, is having her moment

A Case of the Venetian Jitters The spooky story of Ca’ Dario, the city’s cursed—and much whispered about—palazzo

Slam Dunk Ben Affleck directs a career-making film with an unlikely star: a Nike sneaker

Mutiny on the Wager The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon author David Grann discusses his latest book, the 18th-century mutiny-and-shipwreck story The Wager

Chicago

Atlanta

Athens

Montreal

New York

New York Restaurants and the High Price of Eating Out On this week’s podcast, Alan Richman reveals how N.Y.C. restaurants charge $100 for a $12 bottle of wine

David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem Even after an explosion destroyed their Beirut studio, the young design duo is building bespoke furniture that’s captured the art world’s attention

Articles of War How an author discovered W. E. B. Du Bois’s definitive history of Black participation in W.W. I, and why it remained unfinished—and largely forgotten

The interior designer answers 51 of life’s most pressing questions

Is Edited By

Creative Director

Deputy Editors

Chief Technology Officer

Editor at Large

Books Editor

Arts Intel Report Editor

Senior Editor

Junior Editor

Photo Director

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Production Editor

Associate Editors

Art Director

International Editor

London Editor

Communications Director

Columnists

Writers at Large

Contributing Artists

Contributing Photographers

Architectural Consultant

Head of Audience Development

Social Media Manager

Cartoon Editor

Music Supervisor

Photo Editor

Designer

Technology

Intern

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Air Supply General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Advertising Director

European Sales Director

Financial & Business Operations

Account Manager

Chief Strategy Adviser

Chief Merchant

Shop Editor

E-Commerce Manager

E-Commerce Associates

In Memoriam