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September 16, 2023
The Best
of
The
News
from
Abroad
No. 218
Weekend
Edition
Saturdays

at 6:00 AM
In This Week’s Issue
A Man In Full

From New York, Peter Stevenson and George Gurley recount the life and times of Tom Wolfe, the great chronicler of American social mores who, five years after his death, is roaring back into the public consciousness …

Page Burner

From Scandinavia, Guy Walters argues that the recent spate of Koran burning in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark isn’t necessarily a sign that those countries are growing less liberal …

Elon Agonistes

From Billionaires’ Row, Elon Musk biographer Walter Isaacson reveals the source of the entrepreneur’s “demon mode,” and his journey from being bullied in the playground to being bully-in-chief of X …

I’ll Be Seeing You

From Los Angeles, New Journalism legend Gay Talese decides that if Frank Sinatra won’t speak to him, he’ll write around him, in our final excerpt from his new memoir …

War-drobe

From Ukraine, Eugene Rabkin explores the booming secondhand-clothes market that has sprung up in the battle-torn country …

Offline Cook

From TikTok, Lynn Q. Yu reports that food influencers are breaking out of the ghetto of social media and creating (often terrible) restaurants in the real world …

A Man of His Words

From the writer’s desk, Pico Iyer recounts his excruciating attempts to make small talk with Nobel Prize winner J. M. Coetzee, as he reviews a haunting new book by the “master of unsparingness” …

But, Wait, There’s More!

Help! The Fyre Festival is staging a comeback … Putin and Kim walk into a bunker … Messi mesmerizes Miami … Anderson Cooper takes on the Astors … Italy’s most enchanting artists’ houses … movie theaters party on … rosé is booming, but vines are wilting … the auction of a Rolling Stone … François Halard wants to die with sea bass on his lips … Vote for the Attention Whore of the week!

But First …
Issue No. 218

The View from Here Throughout Scandinavia, copies of the Koran are being burned. Are the most liberal countries in the world growing intolerant? Or is this simply an example of their broad-mindedness?

By Guy Walters
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
Eight Questions

Daddy Issues The Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci biographer Walter Isaacson reveals what drew him to Elon Musk—and how a rare conversation with Musk’s father shed light on the billionaire entrepreneur’s erratic (to put it lightly) behavior

By Jim Kelly
Read On
Adventures in Journalism

Assignment: Sinatra
Part IV Talese turns in “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold”—one of the most memorable profiles in magazine history—and worries about the reaction from editor and subject

By Gay Talese
Read On
Adventures in Journalism: Part II

The Man in the White Suit Is Back With his pyrotechnic prose and clinical dissecting of social mores, Tom Wolfe was the pre-eminent chronicler of the United States in the late 20th century. Now, five years after his death, he’s back in the public eye

By Peter Stevenson and George Gurley
Photograph by Gasper Tringale
Read On
Air Supply

La Dolce Vita

Even if you’re not jetting off to Milan for Fashion Week, why not let the occasion serve as an opportunity to indulge your senses with some ever elegant Italian craftsmanship, as seen in our choice leather goods, hand-painted ceramics, and more?
Shop
Photo: Collection Christophel/© Riama Film/Gray-Film/Pathe/Alamy (Mastroianni and Ekberg)
Guest Edit

My Favorite Things Courtney Applebaum, the discerning interior designer favored by The Row’s Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, highlights the display-worthy essentials that fill her Los Angeles home

By Courtney Applebaum
Shop
Beauty and Wellness

Eye of the Beholder What does it take to reimagine one of the most treasured fragrances of all time? The new Dior perfumer tackles the J’adore mystique head-on. Our beauty-and-wellness guru sniffs around

By Linda Wells
Read On
The Beautiful Game

Miami Gets Messi Messimania means packed stadiums, $900 cheap seats, and pink jerseys on back order. How Lionel Messi has transformed Major League Soccer “literally overnight”

By Jordan Blumetti
Read On
After the Beautiful Game

The Best of the Rest Its core titles are rarely out of the U.K. Top 5, and its chattiest, The Rest Is Football, debuted at No. 1. How did Britain’s foremost soccer star, Gary Lineker, quietly build a podcast empire?

By Stuart Heritage
Read On
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index Elon Musk just loves to hog the spotlight, but can he tear your eyeballs away from Kim Jong Un and his bulletproof train?

Read On
Small Talk

From North Korea with Love

Overheard snippets of conversation between Vladimir Putin and his guest, Kim Jong Un
By John Ficarra
Illustration by Morten Morland
Read On
Best
Look These Americans A few things Will Vogt has loved since his teenage years: a Nikkormat camera, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing, and Robert Frank’s photography… Read Carolina Herrera: Colormania A recent consultation with an interior decorator yielded several instrumental tips for a home update… Wear New & Lingwood When two of my dearest friends got engaged last year, I was thrilled. The couple would be making a lifelong commitment, and their wedding… Shop Petra Palumbo There’s not much that housewares designer Petra Palumbo does that we are able to live without: the tartan cutlery, the terra-cotta tray… Wear Alex Eagle Simply because the weather in fashion capitals from London to New York this past week could be described as “tropical” doesn’t mean that… Listen Good Bad Billionaire According to Forbes, a new billionaire was minted every 17 hours during 2021. Still, we have yet to lose interest in the ultra-rich… Look These Americans A few things Will Vogt has loved since his teenage years: a Nikkormat camera, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing, and Robert Frank’s photography… Read Carolina Herrera: Colormania A recent consultation with an interior decorator yielded several instrumental tips for a home update… Wear New & Lingwood When two of my dearest friends got engaged last year, I was thrilled. The couple would be making a lifelong commitment, and their wedding… Shop Petra Palumbo There’s not much that housewares designer Petra Palumbo does that we are able to live without: the tartan cutlery, the terra-cotta tray… Wear Alex Eagle Simply because the weather in fashion capitals from London to New York this past week could be described as “tropical” doesn’t mean that… Listen Good Bad Billionaire According to Forbes, a new billionaire was minted every 17 hours during 2021. Still, we have yet to lose interest in the ultra-rich…
Chronicles of Disaster

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fyre Convicted grifter and event disorganizer Billy McFarland wants a second chance

By Caitlin Moran
Photo Illustration by Chop Choppish Shop
Read On
Radical Chic

Secondhand on the Front Lines Despite the war, Ukraine’s market for cast-off clothing from Western Europe continues to boom, thanks to the Internet and legions of fashion enthusiasts. And it’s not military surplus—it’s Comme des Garçons

By Eugene Rabkin
Read On
Sports

Game Changer In January, football player Damar Hamlin nearly died of cardiac arrest during a game. Instead of creating new safety measures, N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell is spinning the story as a triumph for the league

By Jack Sullivan
Read On
Small Talk
Modern Times

The Rise of the Chefluencer TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube stars whose recipes have been viewed billions of times online are translating followings into real-life storefronts. But is the food any good?

By Lynn Q. Yu
Read On
Open House

Under the Tuscan (and Umbrian) Sun A road trip around the homes, archives, and foundations of the artists of central Italy, and those who made their name there, from Beverly Pepper to Alberto Burri to Niki de Saint Phalle

By Patricia Zohn
Read On
Highlight

Watts’s Stacks The Rolling Stones drummer was a passionate collector of first editions and jazz ephemera

By Nancy Schoenberger
Read On
Book Reviews
Michael Knox Beran On

Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

by Anderson Cooper
and Katherine Howe
Read On
Pico Iyer On

The Pole

by J. M. Coetzee
Read On
Small Talk
Open Book

Better by Design A new book offers a survey of the U.S. Embassies built during the Cold War, designed by some of the world’s most celebrated architects, including Walter Gropius, Eero Saarinen, and Edward Durell Stone

By David B. Peterson
11
The view of the harbor from the U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, circa 1951.
The entrance to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, circa 1955.
The back of the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, featuring an auditorium annex designed by Marcel Breuer, circa 1956.
The U.S. Embassy in Rio, designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, 1953.
The U.S. Embassy in Dublin, circa 1957.
The U.S. Embassy in Athens, designed by Walter Gropius, circa 1956.
The U.S. Embassy in Oslo, designed by Eero Saarinen, circa 1955.
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, circa 1953.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
The U.S. Embassy in Havana, designed by Harrison & Abramovitz.
The U.S. Embassy in London, circa 1956–58.
Read On
Screen Savers

Lights, Camera, Party To make the theatrical experience fun again, Lucas King Weber and Keith Herron, two twentysomething cinephiles, are throwing parties at AMC screenings in Manhattan

By Susan Campos
Read On
Small Talk
“I consider every member of our family to be like family.”
“I consider every member of our family to be like family.”
Listen

Tom Wolfe’s Secret Weapon On this week’s podcast, Peter Stevenson reveals how the writer’s wife secretly reported on New York’s social elite

Read On
Highlight

Packed House After a decade of delays, the brand-new Perelman Performing Arts Center will finally host actors, dancers, and artists in Manhattan’s financial district

By Lewis Jacobsen
Read On
Close-up

Kelly Beeman The painter and illustrator was convinced art couldn’t be a full-time job. But when Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson came across her drawings on Instagram, overnight success followed

By Elena Clavarino
Read On
Terroir of Terror

Not a Rosé Future It’s the best of times and the worst of times for the quintessential summer drink. Hotter temperatures have boosted the wine’s popularity, but they’re also threatening its vineyards

By Cole Stangler
Read On
Small Talk
The Perfect Ending

François Halard

The photographer answers 33 of life’s most pressing questions
Read On
Jim McMullan’s Sketchbook
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

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Junior Editor

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Ann Schneider

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Adam Nadler

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H. Scott Jolley

Associate Editors

Carolina de Armas Lucy Horowitz Clara Molot Paulina Prosnitz Jack Sullivan

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Columnists

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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 Daphne Merkin

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

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Head of Audience Development

Rachel LeSage

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Technology

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Intern

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OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

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Advertising Director

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Financial & Business Operations

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Chief Merchant

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Shop Editor

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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

Issue No. 218
September 16, 2023
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Issue No. 218
September 16, 2023
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