July 19, 2025 – Air Mail

A VINTAGE CONTEMPORARY

Once the most influential editor in American fiction, Gary Fisketjon was abruptly cast out of publishing in 2019. He talks to AIR MAIL’s Ash Carter about what’s next …

MONEY TALKS

Protests are fine, historian Adam Hochschild explains, but nothing moves decision-makers quite like a boycott threat. Tesla could be just the start …

A LARGE PINCH OF SALT

The latest literary scandal rocking Britain involves a James Frey–esque case of an author whose best-selling memoir The Salt Path turns out to be largely embellished …

ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL

Inside the wild rise and epic fall of Jho Low, the fugitive billionaire who turned stolen wealth into star-studded parties, grand yachts, and a Leonardo DiCaprio movie …

PRESIDENTIAL SIGN-OFF

In his final year of life, John F. Kennedy, long known for his mythmaking, began to face the truths he once refused to accept—first and foremost, his serial adultery and its effects on his wife, Jackie …

LENA LIVES ON

Girls creator Lena Dunham’s new Netflix series, Too Much, proves that love, like good TV writing, gets funnier and sharper with age …

Flex Libris

Once meant for critics and booksellers, publishers’ advance reader copies have become the latest status symbol and literary brag …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Pan Am returns from the dead … the new luxury destination for the super-wealthy … how Wagner’s “Ring” came to be … hope floats aboard a stylish barge on the Seine … Stamba Hotel has Georgia on its mind … Cast your vote in this week’s Attention-Whore Index Poll!

Issue No. 314

The View from Here It’s easy to despair. But history offers a playbook for dark times

By Adam Hochschild

Read On

The Road Less Fact-Checked After triumphing over adversity and disease, Raynor Winn wrote a memoir, The Salt Path, that became a sensation in England. A new report reveals that her story isn’t quite so straightforward

By Stuart Heritage

Read On

Jho’s Low Blow How a Malaysian businessman laundered billions, financed The Wolf of Wall Street, looted his country’s state fund, and walked away unscathed—unlike his partners in crime

By Tom Wright

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHOP CHOPPISH SHOP

Read On

Côte of Conduct

Pack your striped Lemlem one-piece, your French straw tote, and your bottle of Lazarus Douvos I Went Down on You in St. Tropez perfume, and join AIR SUPPLY in the South of France tout de suite

Shop

Photo: Kingsley-International Pictures Inc./Balbo/Photofest (Bardot)

Penelope Fletcher’s Favorite Things The co-owner of Paris’s Red Wheelbarrow bookshop likes Christophe Pourny soap, Chianti, and the Ekphrasis Collection from David Zwirner Books

Shop

The Attention-Whore Index Donald Trump covers up, Kristi Noem backtracks, and the Windsors talk peace

By George Kalogerakis

Read On

wear All My Love We’re not used to spending $179 on an evening look, but trust us: it feels good. The long-sleeved soft jersey Sammy dress…

pamper La Prairie x Gurney’s Are the crowds in Montauk giving you stress face? La Prairie has a solution for that. The Swiss skin-care experts are popping up…

shop Jane Again Cashmeres The hunt for the perfect cotton T-shirt usually turns up a host of usual suspects—Gap, Uniqlo…

Dine Comal Mourners of Gem Wine (R.I.P.), rejoice. The Lower East Side location is now home to Comal—a new, eclectic Mexican…

Wear Le Voyage en Panier Growing up with a fair-skinned, physician father—and now working with AIR MAIL beauty editors Ashley Baker and Linda Wells…

push Bugaboo There are strollers that collapse. And then there’s the Bugaboo Butterfly 2, which practically floats. Used on a recent trip…

wear All My Love We’re not used to spending $179 on an evening look, but trust us: it feels good. The long-sleeved soft jersey Sammy dress…

pamper La Prairie x Gurney’s Are the crowds in Montauk giving you stress face? La Prairie has a solution for that. The Swiss skin-care experts are popping up…

shop Jane Again Cashmeres The hunt for the perfect cotton T-shirt usually turns up a host of usual suspects—Gap, Uniqlo…

Dine Comal Mourners of Gem Wine (R.I.P.), rejoice. The Lower East Side location is now home to Comal—a new, eclectic Mexican…

Wear Le Voyage en Panier Growing up with a fair-skinned, physician father—and now working with AIR MAIL beauty editors Ashley Baker and Linda Wells…

push Bugaboo There are strollers that collapse. And then there’s the Bugaboo Butterfly 2, which practically floats. Used on a recent trip…

The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Pan Am The brand that pioneered the golden age of flying is staging a comeback—but can it exist in the cost-cutting world of international travel today?

By Chris Leadbeater

Read On

Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition Madrid is seeing a surge of wealthy Latin American newcomers, which is driving up rent prices across the city

By Isambard Wilkinson

Read On

Too Much Is Just Right Lena Dunham’s new TV show is a sharp, funny, expat rom-com that blurs the line between her life and art—as always

By Ashley Baker

Read On

Galley Envy Could the most coveted object of the summer be an uncorrected manuscript you can’t even buy?

By Carson Griffith

Read On

The Lies He Told Himself John F. Kennedy’s charm could sell anything, even to himself. But near the end, the spin started to wobble

By J. Randy Taraborrelli

Read On

Cliff-Hangers for the Commute One-minute micro-dramas—designed to be watched on your smartphone—are now a billion-dollar industry

By Blanca Schofield

Read On

Tim Bouverie On

Wagner and the Creation of the Ring

by Michael Downes

Read On

The World’s Most Expensive Planters Beloved by Bernard Arnault and King Louis XIV, the original Versailles planters are coming to America. Prepare to upgrade your patio!

By Ashley Baker

Read On

Renée Fleming Ponders the Big Picture In Aspen, America’s No. 1 diva gives Così Fan Tutte a considered makeover

By Matthew Gurewitsch

Read On

What J.F.K. Could Teach Trump About Lying and Deceit On this week’s podcast, the author of a new book on Kennedy looks at the character question

Read On

A Cut Above the Rest At 70, the artist William Kentridge is still tearing things up—literally

By Kirsty Lang

Read On

The Secret Gardens From Stephen Sills’s retreat in Westchester to Veere Grenney’s oasis in Tangier, a new coffee-table book showcases the private sanctuaries of celebrated interior designers

11

The designer Katie Ridder’s home in Millbrook, New York.

Stephen Sills’s home in Bedford, New York.

The late Barbara Wiseley’s garden in Montecito.

Charlotte Moss’s garden in East Hampton.

Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s garden in the Hollywood Hills.

*Top,* Thomas O’Brien’s garden in Bellport, New York; *above,* Sills’s guesthouse in Bedford.

Maxine Sloss’s garden in the Scottish Borders.

Read On

Whitney Peak Once a part-time Wendy’s employee, the 22-year-old actress is now starring in the next Hunger Games movie and making her stage debut alongside Pamela Anderson

By Paulina Prosnitz

Read On

A River Runs Through It How the French furniture designer Charlotte Biltgen and her husband converted an industrial barge into a stylish family home moored on the Seine

By Ian Phillips

Read On

Under the Georgian Sun Stamba Hotel, in Tbilisi, has made a business out of being a hive for hip locals and serving the best natural wines Georgia has to offer

By Alice Feiring

Read On

Brittany Snow

The Pitch Perfect actress answers 32 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 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 Jeanne Malle Paulina Prosnitz

Associate Editors

Victoria Herman Lucy Horowitz

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

Senior Photo Editor

Emine Gözde Sevim

Deputy Art Director

Zoé Gillette

International Editor

Isabelle Harvie-Watt

Head of Communications and Film/TV Development

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

Interns

Jimmy Fox Hannah Gross Charlie St. John

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 Jane Larkworthy Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley David Yaffe

The View from Here It’s easy to despair. But history offers a playbook for dark times

The Road Less Fact-Checked After triumphing over adversity and disease, Raynor Winn wrote a memoir, The Salt Path, that became a sensation in England. A new report reveals that her story isn’t quite so straightforward

Fired from Knopf in 2019, the literary Brat Packer and editor of everyone from Cormac McCarthy to Donna Tartt picks up his green mark-up pen again

Jho’s Low Blow How a Malaysian businessman laundered billions, financed The Wolf of Wall Street, looted his country’s state fund, and walked away unscathed—unlike his partners in crime

Pack your striped Lemlem one-piece, your French straw tote, and your bottle of Lazarus Douvos I Went Down on You in St. Tropez perfume, and join AIR SUPPLY in the South of France tout de suite

Penelope Fletcher’s Favorite Things The co-owner of Paris’s Red Wheelbarrow bookshop likes Christophe Pourny soap, Chianti, and the Ekphrasis Collection from David Zwirner Books

The Attention-Whore Index Donald Trump covers up, Kristi Noem backtracks, and the Windsors talk peace

The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Pan Am The brand that pioneered the golden age of flying is staging a comeback—but can it exist in the cost-cutting world of international travel today?

Nobody Expects the Spanish Acquisition Madrid is seeing a surge of wealthy Latin American newcomers, which is driving up rent prices across the city

Too Much Is Just Right Lena Dunham’s new TV show is a sharp, funny, expat rom-com that blurs the line between her life and art—as always

Galley Envy Could the most coveted object of the summer be an uncorrected manuscript you can’t even buy?

The Lies He Told Himself John F. Kennedy’s charm could sell anything, even to himself. But near the end, the spin started to wobble

Cliff-Hangers for the Commute One-minute micro-dramas—designed to be watched on your smartphone—are now a billion-dollar industry

The World’s Most Expensive Planters Beloved by Bernard Arnault and King Louis XIV, the original Versailles planters are coming to America. Prepare to upgrade your patio!

Renée Fleming Ponders the Big Picture In Aspen, America’s No. 1 diva gives Così Fan Tutte a considered makeover

What J.F.K. Could Teach Trump About Lying and Deceit On this week’s podcast, the author of a new book on Kennedy looks at the character question

A Cut Above the Rest At 70, the artist William Kentridge is still tearing things up—literally

The Secret Gardens From Stephen Sills’s retreat in Westchester to Veere Grenney’s oasis in Tangier, a new coffee-table book showcases the private sanctuaries of celebrated interior designers

Whitney Peak Once a part-time Wendy’s employee, the 22-year-old actress is now starring in the next Hunger Games movie and making her stage debut alongside Pamela Anderson

A River Runs Through It How the French furniture designer Charlotte Biltgen and her husband converted an industrial barge into a stylish family home moored on the Seine

Under the Georgian Sun Stamba Hotel, in Tbilisi, has made a business out of being a hive for hip locals and serving the best natural wines Georgia has to offer

The Pitch Perfect actress answers 32 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

Head of Communications and Film/TV Development

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

Interns

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