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October 12, 2024
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No. 274
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In This Week’s Issue
THIS IS FILMMAKING. THERE ARE RULES!

White Russians! Nihilists! Bowling on Shabbos! Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and others reflect on the making of The Big Lebowski …

THE HOME FRONT

As the Russo-Ukrainian war rages on, our woman in Moscow describes the daily life of citizens who fear their authoritarian government but are too focused on survival to rebel …

PAGE-BURNER

Is Melania Trump’s new memoir worth slogging through? Before hitting the bookstore, take Andy Borowitz’s all-things-Melania quiz …

REAL-ESTATE WARS

How an anonymous billionaire’s plans to tear down mansions along Chicago’s Winnetka waterfront turned into a public, personal, and seemingly endless conflict among the super-rich …

FRANK DISCUSSIONS

The postponement of Martin Scorsese’s Sinatra—set to star Leonardo DiCaprio—is just the latest in a series of hiccups that have prevented a blockbuster Frank Sinatra biopic from getting made …

WHEELY, WHEELY MESSY

Fast cars! Champagne! Love triangles! It’s all there in Formula 1, with influencer Estelle Ogilvy jumping from her latest driver boyfriend back to her old one …

BIG APPLES TO APPLES

Long before Eric Adams and his gang of hoodlums presided over New York City, there was Jimmy Walker, a much-beloved mayor who had his flaws but led with panache …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Transcripts from the Trump-Putin calls … a rollicking oral history of the New York Post … how Maria Bakalova became the right wing’s least favorite actress … Al Pacino revisits his troubled childhood … a metal detector that might actually make you rich … Cast your vote in this week’s Attention-Whore Index Poll!

But First …
Issue No. 274

The View from Here Moscow is fighting one war in Ukraine and another one within

By Katya V.
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
1 Percent Problems

A Chicago Turf War When a flashy, young private-equity mogul sought to build a lavish compound on the shores of Lake Michigan, he didn’t count on pushback from the area’s old money

By Ben Ryder Howe
Read On
Ol’ Blue Eyes Confidential

Frank Sinatra Gets Whacked Martin Scorsese’s gritty biopic of Frank Sinatra has been shelved. Was it the singer’s family, or Gen Z’s lack of interest, that killed it off?

By Alexander Larman
Read On
Air Supply

The Long Weekend

Is it already time for a first-semester mini-break? Pack up your family, your friends, or the new romantic interest secured for so-called cuffing season. Master the coast or the countryside with AIR SUPPLY’s guide to the idyllic three-day weekend
Shop
Photo: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images (Bardot and Terzieff)
Guest Edit

Irene Neuwirth’s Favorite Things The California-based jeweler is known for her eye for colorful stones and playfully unpretentious designs. Her precious picks include Joanna Czech skin care, Gregory Parkinson napkins, and Casa Dragones tequila

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The Merry Wife of Mar-a-Lago

Does It Be Best? Melania Trump’s book is the red Christmas tree of First Lady memoirs

By Andy Borowitz
Read On
Small Talk
Past is Prologue

The Sinner of City Hall There was a time when New Yorkers loved a fun-loving, hard-partying, bribe-taking, crony-rewarding mayor

By Sam Roberts
Read On
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index Elon Musk is jumping for Trump, Ron DeSantis is ghosting Kamala, and King Charles is shrieking with fear

Read On
Film Classics

A Lotta Ins, a Lotta Outs, a Lotta What-Have-Yous The origin—and immortality—of The Big Lebowski

By Josh Karp
Read On
Landing Gear

Private Eyes A security-camera system that runs on solar power! The cheapest way to strike gold! A treasure trove of sound effects, courtesy of the BBC! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis
Read On
Best
CARRY Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton’s Neverfull handbag has been slung on the shoulders of the style set for the past 17 years. Now the maison has launched… SHOP Dede Johnston Photographer Dede Johnston has focused much of her energy on capturing the magic of alpine landscapes. Now her images have… WATCH Scavengers Reign The creators of the Emmy-nominated animated series Scavengers Reign wisely dispense with the endless exposition that… SIP Dom Pérignon Aficionados of champagne and contemporary art, listen up. Dom Pérignon’s latest special edition of its 2015 vintage is a tribute to… WATCH Happy Clothes “I’m an exaggeration queen,” says Patricia Field, one of the most successful costume designers of our time. At 82, Field is known… READ RE/Search #8/9: J. G. Ballard “At a time when nobody believes that the future will be ‘better,’ it’s definitely time to understand why… CARRY Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton’s Neverfull handbag has been slung on the shoulders of the style set for the past 17 years. Now the maison has launched… SHOP Dede Johnston Photographer Dede Johnston has focused much of her energy on capturing the magic of alpine landscapes. Now her images have… WATCH Scavengers Reign The creators of the Emmy-nominated animated series Scavengers Reign wisely dispense with the endless exposition that… SIP Dom Pérignon Aficionados of champagne and contemporary art, listen up. Dom Pérignon’s latest special edition of its 2015 vintage is a tribute to… WATCH Happy Clothes “I’m an exaggeration queen,” says Patricia Field, one of the most successful costume designers of our time. At 82, Field is known… READ RE/Search #8/9: J. G. Ballard “At a time when nobody believes that the future will be ‘better,’ it’s definitely time to understand why…
Small Talk

Moscow Hotline Selected excerpts from the phone conversations between former president Donald J. Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin

By John Ficarra
Illustration by Ross MacDonald
Read On
Sex on Wheels

Fast & Loose A Formula 1 love triangle has erupted between two up-and-coming drivers and the glamorous Anglo-French influencer Estelle Ogilvy

By Kate Wills
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHOP CHOPPISH SHOP
Read On
Music

Oops! They Diddy It Again A TikTok conspiracy theory shows how quickly wild—and completely unfounded—rumors can come to dominate social media

By Clara Molot
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Close-up

Ave Maria! She got Rudy Giuliani to fiddle with his crotch in the Borat sequel. Now Maria Bakalova steals the show as Ivana Trump in the new movie The Apprentice

By Graham Fuller
Read On
Architecture

The Rudolph Revival A wunderkind who spent his later years in the wilderness, the visionary architect Paul Rudolph is finally getting the retrospective he deserves

By Paul Goldberger
Read On
Interiors

Baby, It’s Warm Inside In gray England, choosing paint colors is both an art and a science. Now the search for the hottest shades is going global

By Daisy Dawnay
Read On
Book Excerpt

Rosario Candela’s New York The Jazz Age architect invented penthouse living, remaking the city’s skyline—and attracting buyers including Jackie O—along the way

By David Netto
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Small Talk
Writing

The Living-Room M.F.A. As the cost of graduate writing programs goes up and the degree’s perceived value declines, alternatives are springing up far from campus

By Micah Cash
Read On
Books
Bruce Handy On

Sonny Boy: A Memoir

by Al Pacino
Read On
Tom Scocca On

Paper of Wreckage: The Rogues, Renegades, Wiseguys, Wankers, and Relentless Reporters Who Redefined American Media

by Susan Mulcahy and
Frank DiGiacomo
Read On
Small Talk
Listen

Inside the Strange World of Melania On this week’s podcast, Andy Borowitz takes us inside the new memoir by Mrs. Trump

Read On
Highlight
Paul Ruschá in Life Mask, from his 1970s-postcard self-portrait series.

Funny Face

In 1949, when the artist and collector Paul Ruschá was six years old, his family motored from Oklahoma City along Route 66 to visit his grandparents in California. They made a pit stop in the dusty town of Winslow, Arizona, where the five of them—Paul, his parents, and his older siblings, sister Shelby and brother Ed—ate breakfast in a roadside café. That establishment went belly-up eons ago. But the building that housed it remains, and it happens to be a mere tumbleweed toss away from El Gran Garage, a hulking, 8,000-square-foot structure that the Los Angeles–based Ruschá bought in 2006. It’s his getaway home, studio, sometime exhibition space, and all-purpose man cave. READ ON

Paul Ruschá in Life Mask, from his 1970s-postcard self-portrait series. Read On
Highlight

The Ives Conundrum Celebrating 150 years of Charles Ives, the masterful American composer we’re still quick to dismiss as a crank

By Matthew Gurewitsch
Read On
Photography

Party Animals From laughing seals to dancing monkeys to sexy hippos, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards use humor to raise environmental awareness

14
Shake Ruffle Rattle and Roll, photographed by Tapani Linnanmäki.
Top, I’ll Tell You a Secret, by Jan Piecha; above, Holding On for a Ride, by Alexander Fine.
Alright Mate Back Off—This Is My Bird, by Andy Rouse.
Top, Nagging Is a Universal Concept, by Scott Frier; above, Saying My Prayers, by Christine Haines.
England Cricket’s Latest Secret Weapon!, by Rouse.
Top, Mafia Boss, by Takashi Kubo; above, Wait Which Zebra Is in Front, by Sarosh Lodhi.
Otter Guru, by Charles Janson.
Mantis Flamenca, by Jose Miguel Gallego Molina.
Top, I’m Too Sexy for My Love, by Artur Stankiewicz; above, Laughing Out Loud, by Ingo Hamann.
The Pavarotti of Owls, by Fred Amico.
Top, Easy Fellas—Hajime!, by Philippe Ricordel; above, In Love, by Andrea Rosado.
Song of the Zeisel, by Kath Aggiss.
Top, Hide and Seek, by Leslie McLeod; above, Stuck Squirrel, by Milko Marchetti.
You’re Not My Mother, by Randy Herman.
Read On
The Seasoned Traveler

Anna Weyant The art world darling, dubbed the “millennial Botticelli,” reveals her travel routine

Read On
Danielle Kosann’s Sketchbook
The Mysteries That Were Ours is one of 18 works in (and the title of) my new exhibition, which showcases an imagined world where women thrive without societal boundaries. The women depicted in the paintings—such as the oil pastel on paper above—reclaim their sensuality by asserting control over their own narratives and representations. ”The Mysteries That Were Ours” runs through November 9 at Salon 21, in New York City.
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In Memoriam

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

Issue No. 274
October 12, 2024
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Issue No. 274
October 12, 2024
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