Subscribe
Editors’ Picks:
Read the Latest Issue
Crime and Scandal
Modern Times
Cartoons
The Morning Meeting Podcast
January 6, 2024
The Best
of
The
News
from
Abroad
No. 234
Weekend
Edition
Saturdays

at 6:00 AM
In This Week’s Issue
BARKING MAD

The only thing more difficult for agents to manage than celebrity pets—yes, somehow petfluencers are a thing now—is their drama-queen owners …

SEXIST BEAST

Vladimir Putin is a misogynist at heart, but when it comes to punishing the women who defy him, he’s perfectly willing to give them the same treatment as male dissidents such as Alexei Navalny …

THE GALLIC WARS

#MeToo has finally come for Gérard Depardieu, and ramped up France’s generational divide, with even President Emmanuel Macron taking sides …

BOOM AND BUST

Entrepreneur Michelle Mone built her fortune, and landed a seat in the House of Lords, on a line of push-up bras. Now she’s being sued by the British government to the tune of $155 million …

PAST EXPIRATION

La Grenouille may still be operating 60 years after its inception, but the grande dame of New York City French restaurants—whose building is for sale for $15 million—bears little resemblance to the establishment it once was …

FRIDAY-NIGHT SPITE

For as long as he can remember, Buzz Bissinger has been angry at the world. In his new AIR MAIL column, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Friday Night Lights is airing all of his grievances …

GOING NUTS

Flora Gill investigates the “almond mom” phenomenon, in which weight-conscious mothers pass their diet obsessions on to their daughters …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

A new West End production rips into Boris Johnson … the Neapolitan nonprofit keeping pizza-makers around the world honest … British explorer Ranulph Fiennes has a deeply personal study of T. E. Lawrence … the 10 must-see paintings at the Met’s newly reopened European galleries … Cast your vote in the first Attention Whore poll of the year!

But First …
Issue No. 234

The View from Here In Putin’s Russia, the only way that women are equal to men is in the brutality of their punishments

By Alessandra Stanley
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
Sinking Treasure

Oh, Mon Depardieu! Scores of sexual-harassment charges are finally catching up with France’s most decorated actor. And that’s when the culture wars stepped in

By Alexandra Marshall
Read On
Assets and Liabilities

Baroness Bra Comes Undone Before Michelle Mone sat in the House of Lords, she made a fortune in lingerie. Now that she’s accused of selling defective P.P.E. to the government, gravity is working against her

By Patrick Kidd
Read On
Air Supply

The Big Sleep

Hang up your party hat and rest easy: AIR SUPPLY’s spellbinding selection has just the right charm to turn your shut-eye into a deep and luxurious slumber
Shop
Photo: Everett Collection (Benjamin and Prentiss)
Guest Edit

My Favorite Things The imaginative interior designer shares his favorite finds, from trompe l’oeil accents to striking objects to elevate your day-to-day

By Adam Charlap Hyman
Shop
Food Fight

The Death of La Grenouille? New York’s fabled French restaurant is up for sale, the result of a Shakespearean feud among the owning family that has pitted brother against brother

By Corby Kummer
Read On
Small Talk
“I’m literally naked, about to be hacked to bits, and you’re crying?!?”
“I’m literally naked, about to be hacked to bits, and you’re crying?!?”
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index Who will take the first title of the year? Nikki Haley? Jeff Koons? You-Know-Who? Plus, the world’s most delectable stories, collected for your reading pleasure!

Read On
Pet Peeves

Biting the Hand That Feeds You With huge social-media followings, pet influencers—yes, that’s a thing—are landing big brand deals. The issue for agents: the animals’ catty owners

By Susan Campos
Photograph by Jeff Minton
Read On
Department of Complaints

Phone Rage In a new column, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Buzz Bissinger is infuriated, incensed, and enraged by the world around him—particularly his new phone service

By Buzz Bissinger
Read On
Best
Carry Angie Power In January, life should assume a new structure, but that logic does not apply to evening bags. This is not the time for a prim… Sip Upstairs Inspired by Bemelmans Bar Between the Ludwig Bemelmans murals, the jazz standards, and the delightfully lethal martinis… Spin NY Togei Kyoshitsu New year, new you, new hobbies. For those already having their 2024 identity crises, make haste to NY Togei Kyoshitsu and take… Listen NINM Lab It’s hard to escape nostalgia. Even I miss the simpler times of indoor smoking, power lunches, and Studio 54, and I was born in… Shade Selima Optique Carolyn Bessette Kennedy died nearly 25 years ago, but like her fellow 90s style icon Princess Diana, she is having a moment… Stomp J. Wilder “These handmade men’s shoes will launch thousands of conversations,” promises the husband-and-wife duo behind J. Wilder, whose son… Carry Angie Power In January, life should assume a new structure, but that logic does not apply to evening bags. This is not the time for a prim… Sip Upstairs Inspired by Bemelmans Bar Between the Ludwig Bemelmans murals, the jazz standards, and the delightfully lethal martinis… Spin NY Togei Kyoshitsu New year, new you, new hobbies. For those already having their 2024 identity crises, make haste to NY Togei Kyoshitsu and take… Listen NINM Lab It’s hard to escape nostalgia. Even I miss the simpler times of indoor smoking, power lunches, and Studio 54, and I was born in… Shade Selima Optique Carolyn Bessette Kennedy died nearly 25 years ago, but like her fellow 90s style icon Princess Diana, she is having a moment… Stomp J. Wilder “These handmade men’s shoes will launch thousands of conversations,” promises the husband-and-wife duo behind J. Wilder, whose son…
The Skinny

An Almond a Day Keeps the Calories Away How a dieting trend bred a generation of women with eating disorders—and mommy issues

By Flora Gill
Read On
West End Story

The Iannucci Treatment

Boris Johnson and his successors, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, are skewered on the London stage in a caustic new play by Veep and The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci
By John Lahr
Photo illustration by Paul Davis
Read On
Small Talk

Amicus Curious Making a killing in the poetry biz to pursue the magic of briefs and appellate courts

By Simon Webster
Read On
The Art World

Look Again The vice-chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art at Christie’s New York recommends the 10 must-see paintings in the Met’s newly reopened European-art galleries

By Max Carter
Read On
Film Classics

Of Human Bondage Released more than 60 years ago, Dr. No, the first entry in the supercharged spy series, could have been just another B-rate action film. And then Sean Connery strolled in

By Tom Nicholson
Read On
Red-Sauce Rules

That’s Amore For nearly 40 years, a little Italian nonprofit has worked toward a big goal: preserving the sanctity of Neapolitan pizza around the world. (San Marzano tomatoes only, please!)

By Elena Clavarino
Read On
Listen

Julia Roberts and Baroness Bra Patrick Kidd reveals how Michelle Mone used the actress’s cleavage to carry her from Dickensian poverty to the House of Lords and, now, scandal

Read On
Small Talk
“Ladies and gentlemen, the cabin door is now closed. You may now celebrate the triumph of an empty middle seat in your row.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the cabin door is now closed. You may now celebrate the triumph of an empty middle seat in your row.”
Close-up

Helen Rice The creative consultant and owner of Charleston’s most stylish housewares shop discusses remaking her favorite city in her own image

By Chris Black
Read On
Open Book

Garry Winogrand in Color A new book collects rarely seen color work by the master of postwar American street photography, from the bustling byways of Manhattan to the shaded underside of Coney Island’s boardwalk

By Tracy Doyle
14
New York City in 1961, top, and 1966, above, photographed by Garry Winogrand.
The White Sands National Monument, in New Mexico, 1964.
New York City circa 1960s, top, and 1967, above.
Coney Island, circa 1952–58.
New York City in 1967, top, and 1966, above.
New York City, 1965.
New York City, circa 1955–58, top, and 1967, above.
Los Angeles International Airport, 1964.
Top, Coney Island, circa 1952–58; above, Chet Baker at the Newport Jazz Festival, in Rhode Island, 1955.
Top, a self-portrait by Winogrand, taken in New York City circa 1955–58; above, New York City, 1967.
New York City, 1965.
New York City in 1965, top, and circa 1960s, above.
New York City, 1967.
Top, the Central Park Zoo, in New York City, 1967; above, New York City, circa 1960s.
Read On
Small Talk
Film

Keeping Up with the Hösses Based on a Martin Amis novel, The Zone of Interest is told from the perspective of an Auschwitz commandant and his family

By Vincenzo Barney
Read On
Books
Cullen Murphy On

Lawrence of Arabia: My Journey in Search of T. E. Lawrence

by Ranulph Fiennes
Read On
David Yaffe On

The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial

by John Densmore
Read On
Small Talk
“10 - 9 - 8 - 7 — Get your finger out of my ear! Buzz, go sit down. Now I lost count. Re-starting my countdown: 100 - 99 - 98 — Buzz, I swear to God … ”
“10 - 9 - 8 - 7 — Get your finger out of my ear! Buzz, go sit down. Now I lost count. Re-starting my countdown: 100 - 99 - 98 — Buzz, I swear to God … ”
Highlight
The Reina Sofía Museum puts the spotlight on the social realist’s distressing works, including Scotts Run, West Virginia, 1937.

Shock and Awe

Ben Shahn would have been delighted to see his work in the museum that houses Picasso’s Guernica. Shahn’s goal, after all, was to use art to protest cruelty and to make injustice visible. Presenting inhumanity in a contemporary style that draws us in, Shahn employed color and line to summon the viewer’s full attention. It was an unusual ability—to excite us optically while at the same time distressing us emotionally—but, like Picasso’s, Shahn’s heart was awake to the harsh realities of life. The exhibition “Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity,” at the Reina Sofía Museum, in Madrid, is a jolt that’s both exhilarating and distressing. READ ON

Read On
Great Lives

Jane Birkin Born in England and adopted by France—the singer, model, and muse, as seen through the eyes of her longtime friend and compeer

By Charlotte Rampling
Read On
Josh Gosfield’s Sketchbook
“Peace and love? Yes, please! Can we have some more of that?”
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 Editors

Elena Clavarino 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 Lucy Horowitz Clara Molot Paulina Prosnitz Jack Sullivan

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

Senior Photo Editor

Emine Gözde Sevim

Designer

Zoé Gillette

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 Daphne Merkin Sam Wasson

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

Audience Growth Manager

Merritt Johnson

Cartoon Editor

Bob Mankoff

Music Supervisor

Randall Poster

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

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

Chief Merchant

Jennifer Noyes

Shop Editor

Zoe Ruffner

E-Commerce Manager

Isaac Metlitsky

E-commerce Associate

Lilly Schoenbaum

In Memoriam

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

Issue No. 234
January 6, 2024
Loading issue contents …
Issue No. 234
January 6, 2024
View the Archives
Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through
our links, AIR MAIL may earn an affiliate commission.