February 1, 2025 – Air Mail

FRAUGHT TOPIC

In an interview with Johanna Berkman, former U.N. special adviser Alice Nderitu discusses Israel’s war against Hamas and her decision not to call it a genocide …

THE ART OF THE STEAL

Donald Trump once called crypto a “scam.” Now he’s released his own $TRUMP memecoin for seemingly no other reason than to fleece his own fan base …

UP IN SMOKE

Comparisons between modern-day America and the declining Roman Empire are numerous—especially when it comes to the Los Angeles wildfires and Pompeii’s fiery end …

LIVIN’ LA VIDA BROKE-A

First Brad Pitt, now Princess Leonor! The latest in A.I.–impersonation scams revolves around the 19-year-old heir to the Spanish crown, and it’s successfully defrauding TikTok users out of hundreds …

RUB OF THE GREEN

Although Trump seems all too serious about his plan to purchase Greenland, a 1917 document that grants first buying rights to the U.K. may stand in his way …

SCHEMER OF THE HOUSE

The latest get-rich-quick scheme: invest your money the Nancy Pelosi way. Copycat investors are using an app that allows users to mimic politicians and hedge-fund managers to beat the market several times over …

APRÈS-STREAM

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has started an ultra-exclusive members’ club at Utah’s Powder Mountain ski resort, to the chagrin of some locals who feel he’s destroyed a hidden gem …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

James Bond lacks a star, a script, and a plan … we tested DeepSeek—and it doesn’t remember Tiananmen Square … the TV show that has Italians debating over Mussolini … the Bridget Jones “frazzled” look is so back … the Pope who dabbled in espionage … history’s greatest Arctic rescue … Who was this week’s biggest Attention Whore?

Issue No. 290

The View from Here By towing the crypto line—and cashing in himself—Donald Trump has inadvertently revealed the industry’s true face. And it’s not pretty

By Jacob Silverman

Read On

Who Killed James Bond? The last movie in the series, released three years ago, promised the beloved agent would return—but fans are still waiting

By Jonathan Dean

Read On

“I Was Hounded, Day In, Day Out” Alice Nderitu, the U.N.’s former special adviser on the prevention of genocide, on her contentious tenure. An AIR MAIL exclusive

By Johanna Berkman

Read On

Super Bowl

Hey, chief. Game day cometh. Even if you can’t tell a Hurts from a Mahomes, it’s not all for the birds. Join 123 million of your fellow humans and get in the spirit with Philly soft pretzels, Joe’s KC BBQ, and creative merchandise—green Cariuma sneakers, a red Ilaria Icardi ring—that will take you through game day and beyond. AIR SUPPLY’s Super Bowl guide is a win-win

Shop

Photo: James Drake/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images (Namath)

Mieke ten Have’s Favorite Things The stylist’s first book, Interiors Styled by Mieke ten Have, documents a love of intense color, patterns, and an unorthodox use of flowers. Here, she shares her taste for distinctive décor

Shop

A Plague O’ All Your Villas! After devastating Naples, an invasive American insect has made its way to Rome, killing the city’s classic umbrella pine trees by the thousands

By Tom Kington

Photo illustration by Chop Choppish Shop

Read On

The Pelosi Effect Don’t ask how the former Speaker of the House and her husband managed to tremendously outperform the market and almost every hedge fund in America—just follow their lead!

By Rachel Mortimer

Photo illustration by Chop Choppish Shop

Read On

To Live and Die in L.A. As residents reckon with the wildfires, some experts question whether Los Angeles is a modern-day Pompeii—and a harbinger of American decline

By Jonathan Margolis

Read On

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Chatbots A review of DeepSeek’s new chatbot! Sonos’s latest speaker brings theater-quality sound into your home! Play like a Rolling Stone without getting thrown out of your hotel! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis

Read On

Frazzle-Dazzle With topknots, too-big cardigans, and well-worn Mulberry bags, Bridget Jones is back—and so is her frazzled aesthetic

By Laura Antonia Jordan

Read On

The Princess Bribes Swindlers on TikTok are impersonating 19-year-old Princess Leonor, the much-beloved heir to the Spanish throne—and cheating her fans out of hundreds of dollars

By Matthew Campbell

Read On

The Attention-Whore Index Elon Musk is raising heil, DeepSeek is causing angst, and Donald Trump is bringing back the Sturm und Drang

Read On

The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire A 1917 document grants Britain the right of first refusal to buy Greenland—casting a shadow over Donald Trump’s grand plans for the ice sheet

By Peter Conradi

Read On

STRUT Balenciaga If anyone can get us to road-test a fashion sneaker, it’s Balenciaga. Now the house that Demna built has launched the Monday—…

SIP Rothaus Tannenzäpfle Alkoholfrei For those looking to extend Dry January into February, there are…

WEAR Prada Snowsuit season won’t last forever. Before long, the rains will come, so be prepared. Prada’s Re-Nylon raincoat is here to help…

CUT David Mallett For a haircut or treatment that epitomizes French elegance, the David Mallett Salon in Paris’s Second Arrondissement is the…

Treat Loser’s Eating House When it comes to celebrating a birthday, anybody who is anybody in New York City (Martha Stewart…

READ Gambling Man Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire investor and SoftBank mogul, likens himself to Napoleon, but a closer analogy might be…

STRUT Balenciaga If anyone can get us to road-test a fashion sneaker, it’s Balenciaga. Now the house that Demna built has launched the Monday—…

SIP Rothaus Tannenzäpfle Alkoholfrei For those looking to extend Dry January into February, there are…

WEAR Prada Snowsuit season won’t last forever. Before long, the rains will come, so be prepared. Prada’s Re-Nylon raincoat is here to help…

CUT David Mallett For a haircut or treatment that epitomizes French elegance, the David Mallett Salon in Paris’s Second Arrondissement is the…

Treat Loser’s Eating House When it comes to celebrating a birthday, anybody who is anybody in New York City (Martha Stewart…

READ Gambling Man Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire investor and SoftBank mogul, likens himself to Napoleon, but a closer analogy might be…

Moving Mountains Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is transforming Utah’s Powder Mountain into a private members’ club. Is he the ski resort’s savior or its saboteur?

By Harriet Alexander

Read On

Inside the Dream Factory In an interview, Steven Soderbergh talks George Clooney, A.I., the problem with Hollywood studios, and his new ghost movie, Presence

By Robbie Collin

Read On

La Duce Vita A new TV series on the Fascist dictator asks: Why do Italians still defend Benito Mussolini?

By Mattia Ferraresi

Read On

Kevin Fedarko On

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue

by Buddy Levy

Read On

Trump’s Big, Sketchy Payday On this week’s podcast, Jacob Silverman reveals why Trump and crypto, a currency favored by criminals, are the perfect partners

Read On

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Pope How John Paul II revealed himself as a master of espionage in the Vatican’s secret fight against Communism

By Yvonnick Denoël

Read On

Nature Versus Nurture At the Saruni Basecamp safari camps, in Kenya, visitors experience the best of both worlds

By Marcia DeSanctis

Read On

“It’s not the timing of our relationship that’s wrong. It’s the lighting.”

Quintessa Swindell The 27-year-old actor stars in Ridley Scott’s new thriller, Prime Target, while simultaneously making their directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival

By Paulina Prosnitz

Read On

Signed, Sealed, Delivered A new book of Edward Gorey’s letters offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the mind of one of America’s greatest illustrators

8

A sampling of envelopes sent by Edward Gorey to Tom Fitzharris between 1974 and 1975.

Read On

Dance of the Nine Opals, painted by Ithell Colquhoun in 1942.

In 1948, on BBC television, the artist Ithell Colquhoun demonstrated mysterious methods of summoning the spirit world into her work. For fumage, she passed a sheet of paper above a lit candle to create smoky trails. For parsemage, she sprinkled chalk over water to capture the patterns on paper. For décalcomanie, she achieved Rorschach-style images by pressing paint between papers. READ ON

Read On

Edmund White

The trailblazing writer of gay literature answers 71 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

Investigations Editor

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

Deputy Art Director

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 Spike Carter Vassi Chamberlain William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Matthew Gurewitsch 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

Account Manager

Dillon Freeman

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

AIR SUPPLY

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 David Yaffe

The View from Here By towing the crypto line—and cashing in himself—Donald Trump has inadvertently revealed the industry’s true face. And it’s not pretty

Who Killed James Bond? The last movie in the series, released three years ago, promised the beloved agent would return—but fans are still waiting

“I Was Hounded, Day In, Day Out” Alice Nderitu, the U.N.’s former special adviser on the prevention of genocide, on her contentious tenure. An AIR MAIL exclusive

Mieke ten Have’s Favorite Things The stylist’s first book, Interiors Styled by Mieke ten Have, documents a love of intense color, patterns, and an unorthodox use of flowers. Here, she shares her taste for distinctive décor

A Plague O’ All Your Villas! After devastating Naples, an invasive American insect has made its way to Rome, killing the city’s classic umbrella pine trees by the thousands

The Pelosi Effect Don’t ask how the former Speaker of the House and her husband managed to tremendously outperform the market and almost every hedge fund in America—just follow their lead!

To Live and Die in L.A. As residents reckon with the wildfires, some experts question whether Los Angeles is a modern-day Pompeii—and a harbinger of American decline

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Chatbots A review of DeepSeek’s new chatbot! Sonos’s latest speaker brings theater-quality sound into your home! Play like a Rolling Stone without getting thrown out of your hotel! And more …

Frazzle-Dazzle With topknots, too-big cardigans, and well-worn Mulberry bags, Bridget Jones is back—and so is her frazzled aesthetic

The Princess Bribes Swindlers on TikTok are impersonating 19-year-old Princess Leonor, the much-beloved heir to the Spanish throne—and cheating her fans out of hundreds of dollars

The Attention-Whore Index Elon Musk is raising heil, DeepSeek is causing angst, and Donald Trump is bringing back the Sturm und Drang

The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire A 1917 document grants Britain the right of first refusal to buy Greenland—casting a shadow over Donald Trump’s grand plans for the ice sheet

Moving Mountains Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is transforming Utah’s Powder Mountain into a private members’ club. Is he the ski resort’s savior or its saboteur?

Inside the Dream Factory In an interview, Steven Soderbergh talks George Clooney, A.I., the problem with Hollywood studios, and his new ghost movie, Presence

La Duce Vita A new TV series on the Fascist dictator asks: Why do Italians still defend Benito Mussolini?

Trump’s Big, Sketchy Payday On this week’s podcast, Jacob Silverman reveals why Trump and crypto, a currency favored by criminals, are the perfect partners

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Pope How John Paul II revealed himself as a master of espionage in the Vatican’s secret fight against Communism

Nature Versus Nurture At the Saruni Basecamp safari camps, in Kenya, visitors experience the best of both worlds

Quintessa Swindell The 27-year-old actor stars in Ridley Scott’s new thriller, Prime Target, while simultaneously making their directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival

Signed, Sealed, Delivered A new book of Edward Gorey’s letters offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the mind of one of America’s greatest illustrators

The trailblazing writer of gay literature answers 71 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

Investigations Editor

Photo Director

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Production Editor

Associate Editors

Art Director

Senior Photo Editor

Deputy Art Director

International Editor

Communications Director

Columnists

Writers at Large

Contributing Artists

Contributing Photographers

Architectural Consultant

Social Media Manager

Head of Audience Development

Audience Growth Manager

Cartoon Editor

Music Supervisor

Technology

OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ARE

Air Supply General Manager and Brand Partnerships

Business Development Director

European Sales Director

Financial & Business Operations

Account Manager

Chief Strategy Adviser

Chief Merchant

Shop Editor

E-Commerce Manager

E-commerce Associate

In Memoriam