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September 28, 2024
The Best
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No. 272
Weekend
Edition
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at 6:00 AM
In This Week’s Issue
THE LAST WOMAN STANDING

Louise Stratten recalls moving in with—and later marrying—director Peter Bogdanovich after her Playboy playmate sister, Dorothy (who was Peter’s former partner), was brutally murdered …

THE STAIN OF HARRODS

No thanks to the British Establishment, Mohamed Al-Fayed’s serial sexual harassment has long been an open secret. Now a former biographer reveals the resentments that motivated him …

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAOS VEGAS

Drugs, human trafficking, and gambling are all par for the course in the anarchic G.T.S.E.Z., the Chinese-owned “Golden Triangle” of land in Laos that’s turning into the next Sodom and Gomorrah …

FROM TEL AVIV WITH LOVE

After Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the Mossad is slowly rebuilding its aura of mystique—and fearsome reputation—by not taking credit for a series of highly sophisticated attacks on Hezbollah …

CHESS BUMP

Sally Rooney’s novels are typically as divisive as they are popular. And if critics who received advanced copies of her new book, Intermezzo, are any indication, this one is no different …

GOLDEN GIRL

Could a Marvel movie be in Elaine May’s future? In a rare interview, the 92-year-old actress and director reminisces about The Heartbreak Kid and discusses what comes next …

MEMBERSHIP MILANESE

A trio of new clubs—the Wilde, Ronin, and Casa Cipriani—are eager to breathe new life into the old Italian city’s social scene, one mezcal Negroni at a time …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Ina Garten’s revealing new memoir … a night at the AIR MAIL Newsstand with Saad Mohseni and Tom Freston … Lee Miller’s path to Hitler’s bathtub … Paris’s Le Meurice is better than ever … new signs of Trump’s dementia … the World War II spies who weaponized perfume … in Vienna, Marc Chagall is bigger than ever … Cast your vote for this week’s biggest Attention Whore!

But First …
Issue No. 272

The View from Here My weekend in the Laotian Las Vegas, where an opulent casino lies at the heart of a vast human-, drug-, and wildlife-trafficking operation

By Darius J. Rubin
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
5
Scandal

The Horror at Harrods Mohamed Al-Fayed has been revealed as a serial rapist who kept his victims quiet through threats and blackmail. His biographer reveals the resentment that fueled the magnate’s crimes

By Tom Bower
Read On
Hollywood Lives

Love Among the Ruins: Part Two Shattered by my sister Dorothy Stratten’s murder, Peter Bogdanovich and I were bonded for life. Not everyone in Hollywood approved

By Louise Stratten
As told to Sam Kashner
Read On
After Hours

A Night at the Newsstand Tom Freston, Christiane Amanpour, Dexter Filkins, Nick Pileggi, Ken Auletta, and others gathered at the AIR MAIL book-and-magazine outpost in Greenwich Village in celebration of media entrepreneur Saad Mohseni’s new book

By Jack Sullivan
Photographs by Daniel Paik
10
Top, Saad Mohseni and Tom Freston; above, Mohseni’s book, Radio Free Afghanistan.
Top, Darius J. Rubin, James Rubin, and Christiane Amanpour; above, Tina Brown.
Top, Garrett Moore, Orson Fry, and Bob Colacello; above, Anna Carter.
Top, Ken Auletta, Binky Urban, and Louise Grunwald; above, Saad Mohseni and Tom Freston.
Top, Tom Freston and Nick Pileggi; above, Rachel Feinstein.
Top, Ken Auletta and James Rubin.
Top, Carey Lowell; above, Saad Mohseni and Andrew Freston.
Top, Anu Duggal; above, Cambria Gordon and Michael Lynton.
Top, Melanie Liburd, Ben Anderson, and Tom Freston.
Above, Lilly Schoenbaum and Bill Freston.
Read On
Adventures in Journalism

His Back Pages AIR MAIL Co-Editor Graydon Carter’s upcoming memoir, about the glory days of magazines, recounts his travels among the famous, the infamous, and the not really famous at all

Read On
AIR SUPPLY

The Art of It All

AIR SUPPLY has pointy Emme Parsons shoes, a leather skirt from the Row, and Saint Laurent sunglasses, to make you look like your fall itinerary includes hopping from Frieze Masters to Art Basel Paris
Shop
Photo: Tony Vaccaro/Getty Images (model)
Landing Gear

A Clean Act The best robot vacuum cleaner! Speakers good enough for the Stones! A battery-powered lamp that could win design awards! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis
Read On
Guest Edit

Nili Lotan’s Favorite Things Designer Nili Lotan opened her first men’s store, in Tribeca, earlier this month. Here, she shares her picks for a life of enduring style

Shop
The Fog of War

Spy Games As the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks approaches, Israel’s Mossad is making not-so-secret moves to restore its damaged reputation

By Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv
Read On
Small Talk

Mar-a-Gaga Not-so-subtle signs Donald Trump has lost a step or two

By John Ficarra
Read On
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index Elon Musk spats with a warlord, Donald Trump struggles with a gender, and Mark Robinson swears he’s not what he said he is on a porn site

Read On
Best
SCROLL OffBall At their peak, Sports Illustrated and Grantland were beacons of light in the world of sports journalism—but times changed, and they… LISTEN Carney If you need an escape from today’s pop hits, Leon Russell’s 1972 indie album, Carney, is just for you. Released at the peak of Russell’s… COOK Midweek Recipes Once a café, Elliott’s now exists as a beautiful studio in a renovated newsstand space on a quiet residential road in Edinburgh. Its… WEAR Stable of Ireland Sonia Reynolds and Francie Duff founded Stable in 2016 with a simple objective: to celebrate traditional Irish craftsmanship… DECORATE Armani Giorgio Armani’s interior-décor offshoot, Armani/Casa, is making its own design upgrades in Los Angeles. Its store just relocated… SIP Emory Hotel Rooftop Bar The all-suite Emory Hotel, in London’s Belgravia, is located just next door to its sister… SCROLL OffBall At their peak, Sports Illustrated and Grantland were beacons of light in the world of sports journalism—but times changed, and they… LISTEN Carney If you need an escape from today’s pop hits, Leon Russell’s 1972 indie album, Carney, is just for you. Released at the peak of Russell’s… COOK Midweek Recipes Once a café, Elliott’s now exists as a beautiful studio in a renovated newsstand space on a quiet residential road in Edinburgh. Its… WEAR Stable of Ireland Sonia Reynolds and Francie Duff founded Stable in 2016 with a simple objective: to celebrate traditional Irish craftsmanship… DECORATE Armani Giorgio Armani’s interior-décor offshoot, Armani/Casa, is making its own design upgrades in Los Angeles. Its store just relocated… SIP Emory Hotel Rooftop Bar The all-suite Emory Hotel, in London’s Belgravia, is located just next door to its sister…
Small Talk
“The two spaces after a period were a dead giveaway.”
“The two spaces after a period were a dead giveaway.”
Social Studies

Into the Wilde In Milan, a new wave of members-only clubs is transforming the city’s social fabric

By Elena Clavarino
Read On
Lit Hubbub

The Sally Rooney Effect Writers, editors, and booksellers weigh in on the new book by the world’s most talked-about young novelist

By Erin Somers
Read On
Stage and Screen

Elaine May Speaks! A rare interview, over deviled eggs, at Sardi’s

By Roger Friedman
Read On
Elements of Style

For All Your Death-Defying Needs Whether you were Amelia Earhart, Ernest Hemingway, or a very hungover Clark Gable, the original Abercrombie & Fitch was the perfect store for adventurers of all stripes

By Henry R. Schlesinger
Read On
Small Talk
“Edgar, I said, ‘Never mind.’ And I was referring to the nachos.”
“Edgar, I said, ‘Never mind.’ And I was referring to the nachos.”
The Watchman

The Man with Designs on Your Time The Royal Oak and Nautilus made Gérald Genta the Taylor Swift of horological design. But even geniuses can have their off days

By Nicholas Foulkes
Read On
Books
Adam Platt On

Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir

by Ina Garten
Read On
Daphne Merkin On

Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue

by Sonia Purnell
Read On
Inside Story

On the Scent During World War II, spies had a little-suspected weapon: perfume. It was used for everything from building an undercover alias to making covert correspondences seem like love letters

By Elyse Graham
Read On
Open Book

Design Within Reach Lamps, teacups, ashtrays … A new coffee-table book traces the life and work of the Italian designer Piero Fornasetti

8
A plate from Piero Fornasetti’s “Tema e Variazioni” (Theme and Variations) series, 1950s.
Kiss, a cabinet by Barnaba Fornasetti, 2000.
Interno Armadio (Inside Wardrobe), a screen by Piero Fornasetti, 1950.
A pair of drawings from La Folie Pratique (Practical Madness), a series of 14 by Piero Fornasetti, 1945.
Oggetti e Frutti su Geometrico (Objects and Fruits on Geometric Pattern), a tray by Piero Fornasetti, 1950s.
Bocche (Mouths), a vase by Barnaba Fornasetti, 2009.
Il Bicchiere pel 1950 (The Glass for 1950), a calendar by Piero Fornasetti, 1950.
Palladiana (Palladian), a chest of drawers by Piero Fornasetti, 1950s.
Read On
Small Talk
Listen

The Sin City of the 21st Century On this week’s podcast, Darius J. Rubin visits a crime-ridden Asian Las Vegas shrouded in mystery

Read On
Photography

When Lee Met Dave From the front lines to Hitler’s bathtub, Lee Miller and my father, Dave Scherman, made one of the great photojournalistic duos

By Tony Scherman
Read On
Close-up

Irene Maiorino The Italian actress, who stars as Lila in the fourth and final season of My Brilliant Friend, describes her serendipitous connections with Elena Ferrante’s characters

By Caroline Reilly
Read On
Highlight
The Blue Circus, by Marc Chagall, 1950–52.

Moment of Moments

Just how relevant is Marc Chagall? With a big retrospective on this ever popular, downright lovable painter now opening at the Albertina Museum, in Vienna, it’s a question worth asking. In the decades since Chagall’s 1930s ascension to the art-world firmament, his idiosyncratic imagery—big-eyed cows, green-faced fiddlers, flying newlyweds—has become, if not exactly cliché, a much-hugged baby blanket from the glory years of European modernism. READ ON

The Blue Circus, by Marc Chagall, 1950–52. Read On
View With a Room

We’ll Always Have Le Meurice After a thoughtful renovation, the grande dame on the Rue de Rivoli is looking better than ever

By Michael Hainey
Read On
The Seasoned Traveler

Simone Rocha The designer reveals her travel routine

Read On
Pip Carter’s Sketchbook
2
A field full of poppies has a number of associations. For me, they are a glorious contradiction. They blaze en masse in scarlet and coral, but when picked, we realize how delicate they are.
The tissue-paper petals fall quickly when in your hand. In this painted-paper collage, I hope to capture their ephemeral and vibrant beauty.
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 Clara Molot

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 Jeanne Malle Paulina Prosnitz Jack Sullivan

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

Senior Photo Editor

Emine Gözde Sevim

Designer

Zoé Gillette

International Editor

Isabelle Harvie-Watt

Communications Director

Harrison Vail

Columnists

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

Writers at Large

Lili Anolik Bridget Arsenault 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 Pip Carter Paul Davis David Downton Andrea Ferolla Josh Gosfield Cathy Graham Eric Hanson Angelica Hicks 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

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Bill Keenan and Emily Davis

Air Supply General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Business Development Director

Catherine Scott

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

Chief Merchant

Jennifer Noyes

Shop Editor

Jessica Iredale

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. 272
September 28, 2024
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Issue No. 272
September 28, 2024
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