May 10, 2025 – Air Mail

TOPIC OF CANCER

A year ago, an exclusive AIR MAIL investigation revealed shocking rates of cancer among Roanoke College’s young alumni. In part two of her series, Clara Molot uncovers more cancer—and attempts by the school to downplay the potential dangers …

TRUMPING TRUMP

One is an internationally renowned economist who steered his country from the edge of financial ruin. The other is a felon whose shoddy business résumé is laden with bankruptcies. Is Mark Carney the perfect foil to Donald Trump?

YANKEE STAY HOME

As the Trump administration continues to tighten the borders, foreign travel into the country is plummeting, and Americans living abroad, or just returning from vacation, are worried about re-entering their homeland …

FOOL’S GOLD

Paperweights and pens! Military flags and decorative angels! In a style reminiscent of history’s flashiest—and most ruthless—dictators, Donald Trump has coated the Oval Office entirely in gold …

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

Nearly three decades after the death of Princess Diana, her legacy remains one less characterized by her political attitudes than the way in which she chose to mother her children …

ON WEDNESDAYS THEY WORE PINK

Foremost among the early-2000s teenage-culture boom (from Clueless and American Pie to Anne Hathaway and the Olsen twins) was Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, which so aptly defined its era it may have led to the end of it …

CHERNOW YOU’RE TALKING

In an interview with Jim Kelly, Ron Chernow discusses his early novelistic aspirations, how his Alexander Hamilton book became a Broadway hit, and why Mark Twain was the perfect subject for his latest biography …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

How the Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctioneers prepare to lay down the gavel … the billionaire behind a buzzy general store … Andy Warhol’s muses, revisited … inside the ultra-rich’s padel obsession … the best way to tour Norway’s fjords … Hugh Bonneville’s favorite things … Cast your vote in this week’s Attention-Whore Index Poll!

Issue No. 304

The View from Here A man who solves economic crises as opposed to creating them, Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, is the perfect foil for Donald Trump

By Lisa Van Dusen

Read On

Business or Pleasure? After a four-year renovation rumored to have cost millions, the Sagaponack General Store has finally reopened. Meet its new proprietor, a local billionaire named Mindy Gray

By Carrie Monahan

Read On

Pickleball Be Damned! In Los Angeles, padel—a cross between squash, tennis, and racquetball—is becoming the sport of choice for the 0.1 percent

By David T. Friendly

Read On

Roanoke’s Requiem: Part II Last May, we investigated a mysterious cancer surge at Roanoke College. Amid new revelations of toxic chemicals and more cancer, the search for answers continues

By Clara Molot

Read On

Memorial Day Kickoff

So it begins. Summertime, the season of easy living. AIR SUPPLY’s Memorial Day guide has everything you need to usher in an air of optimism and outdoorsiness. Get in the spirit with nautical stripes by Prada and Max Mara, Fas Pendezza’s outdoor Ping-Pong table, and Chateau d’Esclans rosé

Shop

Photo: David Massey/Condé Nast/Getty Images (boaters)

Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s Favorite Things The two Italian artists are known for their colorful, absurdist, and surrealist imagery. But they also love good hair and skin-care sets from Kérastase, Humanrace, and more

Shop

Working from Yacht Forget W.F.H.—with the help of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite-Internet service, the rich are taking remote work to new depths

By Ben Clatworthy

Read On

The Attention-Whore Index Lady Gaga warbles, Marjorie Taylor Greene howls, and Prince Harry wails

By George Kalogerakis

Read On

Sweet as Sugar Keep an eye on your sugar intake the fun way! An R.C. plane that won’t break the bank! The best way to take candid photos! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis

Read On

The People’s Mother From McDonald’s to Disneyland, mums’ races, and school drop-offs, no aspect of Princess Diana’s identity was more heavily scrutinized than her role as a mother to William and Harry

By Edward White

Read On

Sparkle Pomellato Any jewelry lover worth his or her salt will tell you that if you’re going to start collecting Pomellato, the Nudo collection is a fine…

Read Looking for a Story At the age of 94, the creative-nonfiction pioneer John McPhee is still writing. Good news indeed. Here is more good news…

track Traintrackr “I’ve always liked collecting and displaying data in different ways,” says Richard Hawthorn, founder of Traintrackr. Having studied…

Browse The Perfect Does “perfect” mean something different to everyone? Not always, according to artist Courtney Broadwater, editor and writer…

FLY Blade For those splitting their time between New York City and going out East this summer, the Blade Hamptons Limitless pass offers…

WRITE Blackwing 602 As detailed at length in AIR MAIL Editor Graydon Carter’s memoir, When the Going Was Good, pencils are important…

Sparkle Pomellato Any jewelry lover worth his or her salt will tell you that if you’re going to start collecting Pomellato, the Nudo collection is a fine…

Read Looking for a Story At the age of 94, the creative-nonfiction pioneer John McPhee is still writing. Good news indeed. Here is more good news…

track Traintrackr “I’ve always liked collecting and displaying data in different ways,” says Richard Hawthorn, founder of Traintrackr. Having studied…

Browse The Perfect Does “perfect” mean something different to everyone? Not always, according to artist Courtney Broadwater, editor and writer…

FLY Blade For those splitting their time between New York City and going out East this summer, the Blade Hamptons Limitless pass offers…

WRITE Blackwing 602 As detailed at length in AIR MAIL Editor Graydon Carter’s memoir, When the Going Was Good, pencils are important…

An Auctioneer Prepares: Christie’s With art sales increasingly moving outside the salesroom, the Adrien Meyer schmooze-fest never stops

By Charles Leerhsen

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHOP CHOPPISH SHOP

Read On

An Auctioneer Prepares: Sotheby’s Oliver Barker’s theatrics have attracted a cult following of “Barkerheads”

By Bianca Bosker

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHOP CHOPPISH SHOP

Read On

All That Glitters Isn’t Gold Trump’s garish redecoration of the White House rivals the interior-design tastes of Saddam Hussein and King Midas

By Craig Brown

12

Donald Trump in his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower, 2005. Photographed by Jonathan Becker.

Golden cherubs, fireplace ornaments, and coasters abound in Trump’s Oval Office.

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, not to be mistaken for Saddam Hussein’s palace.

Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, considered one of the most brutal tyrants in modern world history.

Vladimir Putin with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian at the Kremlin, earlier this year.

Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled with martial law from 1972 to 1981, sitting at a gilded desk during a press conference.

Imelda Marcos, pictured in 1976 at the Presidential Palace in Manila, allegedly owned a collection of more than 1,000 pairs of shoes.

A golden couch bearing the face of Aisha Qaddafi, the daughter of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The couch was found in her mansion after her family was overthrown, in 2011.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran, sitting on an ornate throne on the day of his coronation, in 1967.

The summer residence of Reza Shah Pahlavi and, later, his son Mohammad Reza.

A golden statue of president Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled Turkmenistan from 1985 to 2006. During his leadership, the country had the lowest life expectancy of any in Central Asia.

Saddam Hussein’s residences in Baghdad and Basra, photographed just months after the dictator was overthrown, in 2003, following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Read On

“I Don’t Want to End Up in a Honduran Jail” Some travelers are canceling trips in response to Trump’s actions. Others are taking extreme precautions

By Leigh Giangreco

Illustration by Ross MacDonald

Read On

The Mean Girls Next Door How Tina Fey turned a self-help manual for anxious mothers into the quintessential teen movie of the early aughts

By Bruce Handy

Read On

Naked and Underpaid From Michelangelo to Picasso, nude models have long been undercompensated muses to the greats. Now, in Florence, they’re threatening to strike

By James Imam

Read On

Richard Lacayo On

Warhol’s Muses: The Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine

by Laurence Leamer

Read On

The Man Behind the Mustache Ron Chernow discusses adapting his Hamilton biography into the hit musical, how to cure writer’s block, and the complicated, thrilling subject of his latest book: Mark Twain

By Jim Kelly

Read On

Eighties Mania! From the eruption of Mount Saint Helens to the rise of Madonna, Indira Gandhi’s assassination, and shoulder pads, two new books capture the bold, anarchic spirit of the decade

12

Catherine Deneuve, photographed by David Bailey for *Vogue,* 1982.

Princess Diana, for a National Portrait Gallery commission, 1988.

The model Anette Stai and designer Yves Saint Laurent, for *Harper’s Bazaar,* 1983.

*Top,* the model Catherine Bailey, wife of David Bailey, in Saint Laurent for *Vogue Italia,* 1983; *above,* Bailey and the model Cecilia Chancellor in Valentino for *Vogue Italia,* 1984.

Bailey in Fausto Sarli for *Vogue Italia,* 1982.

The model Jeny Howorth in Stephen Jones for British Vogue, 1986.

The actress Lauren Hutton in Comme des Garçons for *Tatler,* 1983.

*Top,* the model Inès de La Fressange in Chanel for *Cosmopolitan,* 1985; *above,* Bailey in Azzedine Alaïa for *Observer Fashion,* 1986.

The model Kelly LeBrock in Callaghan for *Vogue Italia,* 1982.

The model Christy Turlington in Ralph Lauren for *Vogue Italia,* 1987.

The model and designer Susie Cave, for *Vogue Italia,* 1985.

Read On

What’s Old Is New Again The vice-chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art at Christie’s New York recommends the 10 must-see paintings in the newly reopened Frick Collection

By Max Carter

Read On

Jack Kirby’s cover for Captain America No. 1, 1940.

They were largely anonymous and unsung, sons of immigrants, restless and creative minds, storytellers, dreamers. They invented an entire universe that, almost a century later, stands as a tentpole of American popular culture, though only recently has their work attracted the interest of museum curators. And Jack Kirby was perhaps the greatest of them all. READ ON

Read On

When a Billionaire Buys Your General Store On this week’s podcast, Carrie Monahan looks at the latest oddity among the 0.1-percenters on Long Island’s East End

Read On

Lily McInerny In a starring role alongside Chloë Sevigny, the 26-year-old brings new energy to a coming-of-age classic

By Carolina de Armas

Read On

Norse Code The spectacular fjords and luscious chill of Norway offer the perfect escape from physical—and political—discomfort

By Ashley Baker

Read On

Hugh Bonneville

The actor answers 40 of life’s most pressing questions

Read On

Reading Raymond Chandler is like bird-watching or hunting Easter eggs. He doesn’t indulge the reader’s taste for blood and violence the way other pulp writers do. His startling and odd descriptions of characters smack you in the face instead. “He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food” is how he introduces a hoodlum wearing a loud sport coat. It’s both funny and menacing. I don’t read and re-read the Psalms or *Finnegans Wake,* but I re-read Chandler endlessly for the pure pleasure of finding a surprise on every page.

Is Edited By

Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley

Creative Director

Angela Panichi

Deputy Editors

Ashley Baker Ash Carter Chris Garrett Nathan King George Pendle Julia Vitale

Chief Technology Officer

John Tornow

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

Junior Editors

Carolina de Armas Paulina Prosnitz

Associate Editors

Victoria Herman Lucy Horowitz Jeanne Malle 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

In Memoriam

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

The View from Here A man who solves economic crises as opposed to creating them, Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, is the perfect foil for Donald Trump

Business or Pleasure? After a four-year renovation rumored to have cost millions, the Sagaponack General Store has finally reopened. Meet its new proprietor, a local billionaire named Mindy Gray

Pickleball Be Damned! In Los Angeles, padel—a cross between squash, tennis, and racquetball—is becoming the sport of choice for the 0.1 percent

Roanoke’s Requiem: Part II Last May, we investigated a mysterious cancer surge at Roanoke College. Amid new revelations of toxic chemicals and more cancer, the search for answers continues

So it begins. Summertime, the season of easy living. AIR SUPPLY’s Memorial Day guide has everything you need to usher in an air of optimism and outdoorsiness. Get in the spirit with nautical stripes by Prada and Max Mara, Fas Pendezza’s outdoor Ping-Pong table, and Chateau d’Esclans rosé

Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s Favorite Things The two Italian artists are known for their colorful, absurdist, and surrealist imagery. But they also love good hair and skin-care sets from Kérastase, Humanrace, and more

Working from Yacht Forget W.F.H.—with the help of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite-Internet service, the rich are taking remote work to new depths

The Attention-Whore Index Lady Gaga warbles, Marjorie Taylor Greene howls, and Prince Harry wails

Sweet as Sugar Keep an eye on your sugar intake the fun way! An R.C. plane that won’t break the bank! The best way to take candid photos! And more …

The People’s Mother From McDonald’s to Disneyland, mums’ races, and school drop-offs, no aspect of Princess Diana’s identity was more heavily scrutinized than her role as a mother to William and Harry

An Auctioneer Prepares: Christie’s With art sales increasingly moving outside the salesroom, the Adrien Meyer schmooze-fest never stops

An Auctioneer Prepares: Sotheby’s Oliver Barker’s theatrics have attracted a cult following of “Barkerheads”

All That Glitters Isn’t Gold Trump’s garish redecoration of the White House rivals the interior-design tastes of Saddam Hussein and King Midas

“I Don’t Want to End Up in a Honduran Jail” Some travelers are canceling trips in response to Trump’s actions. Others are taking extreme precautions

The Mean Girls Next Door How Tina Fey turned a self-help manual for anxious mothers into the quintessential teen movie of the early aughts

Naked and Underpaid From Michelangelo to Picasso, nude models have long been undercompensated muses to the greats. Now, in Florence, they’re threatening to strike

The Man Behind the Mustache Ron Chernow discusses adapting his Hamilton biography into the hit musical, how to cure writer’s block, and the complicated, thrilling subject of his latest book: Mark Twain

Eighties Mania! From the eruption of Mount Saint Helens to the rise of Madonna, Indira Gandhi’s assassination, and shoulder pads, two new books capture the bold, anarchic spirit of the decade

What’s Old Is New Again The vice-chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art at Christie’s New York recommends the 10 must-see paintings in the newly reopened Frick Collection

When a Billionaire Buys Your General Store On this week’s podcast, Carrie Monahan looks at the latest oddity among the 0.1-percenters on Long Island’s East End

Lily McInerny In a starring role alongside Chloë Sevigny, the 26-year-old brings new energy to a coming-of-age classic

Norse Code The spectacular fjords and luscious chill of Norway offer the perfect escape from physical—and political—discomfort

The actor answers 40 of life’s most pressing questions

Is Edited By

Creative Director

Deputy Editors

Chief Technology Officer

Books Editor

Arts Intel Report Editor

Senior Editor

Investigations Editor

Photo Director

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Production Editor

Junior Editors

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

In Memoriam