{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"October 17, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 379.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"I recently attended a meeting of the Democratic Socialists of America, where I officially enrolled as a member. Though I was new to the party, I put forth a number of proposals, many of which were met with considerable enthusiasm and, I’m happy to report, have now been incorporated into their manifesto. I present them herein.1.Let’s never forget we’re all in this together. Therefore, we have determined that all doors to private homes must remain unlocked at all times. Strangers may enter as they please to open your fridge, use your bathroom, floss, or just relax and watch a ball game. This open-door policy is the perfect way to get to know our fellow Americans. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-view-from-here","summary":"I recently attended a meeting of the Democratic Socialists of America, where I officially enrolled as a member. Though I was new to the party, I put forth a number of proposals, many of which were met with considerable enthusiasm...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/s0a9b3boykfi4c112yy56n57cyg3-85884e70181d4b9f5dfd59ab53234d59.jpg","author":{"name":"Larry David"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/larry-david\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eLarry David\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Larry David dons his keffiyeh, grabs his Little Red Book, and joins the Democratic Socialists of America. Naturally, the creator of \u003cem\u003eCurb Your Enthusiasm \u003c/em\u003ehas a few suggestions to make everyone uncomfortable","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/vllmm0p4gtdq7o4ecfw959rjkk77-c49c17574d390d4692f12038725fe752.jpg","author":{"name":"Barry Blitt"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/barry-blitt\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eBarry Blitt\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Barry Blitt's Sketchbook","category":"Sketchbook"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-shadow-of-the-putney-pusher","title":"The Shadow of the Putney Pusher","content_text":"The principle that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty has ancient roots. But the sisters of Nicholas Brandram say it counted for little this past June, when London’s Metropolitan Police turned up at his front door with the press in tow. The 44-year-old army veteran and HSBC director was arrested on suspicion of being the “Putney Pusher”—the jogger who, in 2017, shoved a woman into the path of a moving bus, briefly uniting a Brexit-divided nation in outrage.The CCTV footage of the incident had caused a sensation: a woman falling into the path of the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-shadow-of-the-putney-pusher","summary":"The principle that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty has ancient roots. But the sisters of Nicholas Brandram say it counted for little this past June, when London’s Metropolitan Police turned up at his front door with the...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Anatomy of a Scandal"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/p6ov5lfet8hho2z260p5h177kci7-8277e0910d750195b448797616e091ad.jpg","author":{"name":"Eilidh Hargreaves"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/eilidh-hargreaves\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eEilidh Hargreaves\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Nine years after a jogger shoved a woman into the path of a London bus, a suspect with royal connections was arrested. Now he is dead, and his sisters want answers","shorts":false,"banner":"Anatomy of a Scandal","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/its-elizabeth-holmes-i-understand-well-be-making-a-film-together","title":"“It’s Elizabeth Holmes … I Understand We’ll Be Making a Film Together”","content_text":"“Every person that worked on this movie was going through a similar feeling of cognitive dissonance,” Lance Oppenheim, the documentary director, said recently of You Can See Everything, the film he made with Nathan Fielder about the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. “We would unpack the day’s events, and no one could agree on the seemingly mundane moments that would transpire.”When I read that, I felt a wave of relief. Even gratitude. Because in 2016, shortly after leaving The New York Times and joining Vice and HBO, I spent two days inside Theranos with Holmes as her company collapsed and she moved towards the federal fraud conviction that forms the backdrop of the new film. I still do not understand what happened in that building. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/its-elizabeth-holmes-i-understand-well-be-making-a-film-together","summary":"“Every person that worked on this movie was going through a similar feeling of cognitive dissonance,” Lance Oppenheim, the documentary director, said recently of You Can See Everything, the film he made with Nathan Fielder about the Theranos founder Elizabeth...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","blood, lies, and videotape"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/xfrtn0lzqos3bitbcxdqe37fh7dr-81d5b8c7fffb7ce86e643361211b3666.jpg","author":{"name":"Ravi Somaiya"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/ravi-somaiya\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eRavi Somaiya\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The Theranos documentary that wasn’t","shorts":false,"banner":"blood, lies, and videotape","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/kelly-clarkson-and-the-bird-that-divided-brooklyn","title":"Kelly Clarkson and the Bird That Divided Brooklyn","content_text":"As we all know, the Internet long ago devolved into little more than a crude disagreement machine. Nothing gets the world going like arbitrarily taking sides in an argument based on painfully incomplete information. We have seen this dynamic play out with everything from the recent Lindsay Clancy and Cornell cases to the color of a dress and the moral duty of photographing named men during food-delivery shifts.But now it seems that the form has finally been perfected. An ideal dispute has landed in our laps. Nobody can say with any real certainty who is right or wrong, but based on gut feeling alone, the Internet has already drawn lines. To wit: Are you Team Kelly Clarkson, or are you Team Whimsical Artisanal Brooklyn Curiosity Shop? ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/kelly-clarkson-and-the-bird-that-divided-brooklyn","summary":"As we all know, the Internet long ago devolved into little more than a crude disagreement machine. Nothing gets the world going like arbitrarily taking sides in an argument based on painfully incomplete information. We have seen this dynamic play...","tags":["Modern Times","petty woman"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/2b7h3vfy8nrt3wg7x9umxk152mgx-6ba61dd079294a0594a85f061ee61e8e.jpg","author":{"name":"Stuart Heritage"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/stuart-heritage\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eStuart Heritage\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The singer’s claim that she got the \u003cem\u003ePretty Woman \u003c/em\u003etreatment in a ritzy New York toy store has sparked a frenzy of heated opinions","shorts":false,"banner":"petty woman","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-bordeaux-bargain","title":"The Bordeaux Bargain","content_text":"Fifteen years ago, I visited Noma in Copenhagen, which had just been named No. 1 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Perusing the wine list, I was surprised to discover there was not a single Bordeaux on offer. “It doesn’t really match with our style of cooking,” the sommelier said when I asked about this glaring omission. In the years since, this has become less surprising, as Bordeaux has been replaced by Burgundy in the purchases of wealthier buyers and by the Loire in the case of young acolytes of natural wine. Many renowned Bordeaux now sell for less than their ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-bordeaux-bargain","summary":"Fifteen years ago, I visited Noma in Copenhagen, which had just been named No. 1 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Perusing the wine list, I was surprised to discover there was not a single Bordeaux on offer. “It doesn’t...","tags":["Food and Drink","The Last Vice"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/rg4cfzdqjve2s8zypgcdd96wn32s-26b30d51352fdb3b173d805d5fbd40d0.jpg","author":{"name":"Jay McInerney"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jay-mcinerney\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJay M\u003cem\u003ec\u003c/em\u003eInerney\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"As wealthy collectors turn to Burgundy and younger oenophiles flock to the Loire, some of France’s best wines are selling for a relative steal. Our wine critic explains why it’s time to stock up","shorts":false,"banner":"The Last Vice","category":"Food and Drink"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/dress-code/style/2026/10/of-advice-and-men-3","title":"Of Advice and Men","content_text":"Finally, October. Men’s wear’s peak season has arrived. No more wispy fabrics. It’s time to bring out the chunk and layer up. We’ve got a lot of seasonal-specific questions this month, so let’s get to them.Q: I live in New York and I’m 30 years old and need to get serious. I want a winter coat that can take me from the office into date nights. Ideas?A: As I told my friend Honor Brodie years ago when she was leaving Los Angeles and returning to Manhattan, “In New York, your winter coat is your car.” In other ...","url":"https://airmail.news/dress-code/style/2026/10/of-advice-and-men-3","summary":"Finally, October. Men’s wear’s peak season has arrived. No more wispy fabrics. It’s time to bring out the chunk and layer up. We’ve got a lot of seasonal-specific questions this month, so let’s get to them.Q: I live in New...","tags":["Style","Rock of Eye"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/hwy4irtdl74exbzi181tsj15q8g4-904b3e6053ecbf2fa39b94424a25df53.gif","author":{"name":"Michael Hainey"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/michael-hainey\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMichael Hainey\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Our men’s-wear advice columnist champions dressing like a lumberjack—and settles other pressing autumn-style queries","shorts":false,"banner":"Rock of Eye","category":"Style"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/cara-cara","title":"Cara Cara","content_text":"Cara Cara has made a very good business of cheerful prints and crisp poplin, so suede, shearling, and tailored wool are something ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/cara-cara","summary":"Cara Cara has made a very good business of cheerful prints and crisp poplin, so suede, shearling, and tailored wool are something ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/8y1vlwfu95kwsf7a39slda5s0qpe-d013c7496d443690fdfc60d28217b02e.png","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"wear","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/jolt","title":"Jolt","content_text":"What a shiny and privileged life Ted Scheiman seemed to lead: a graduate of Hotchkiss and Yale, he seemed destined to be another ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/jolt","summary":"What a shiny and privileged life Ted Scheiman seemed to lead: a graduate of Hotchkiss and Yale, he seemed destined to be another ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/b83oshqud282feg0mll3ulr227cl-4eecaf0abf09f6eddce1304c34a9e16b.png","author":{"name":"Jim Kelly"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jim-kelly\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJim Kelly\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"read","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/nothing","title":"Nothing","content_text":"Founded in 2020, London-headquartered Nothing is one of the only tech companies I find to be doing exciting things in the dismal space ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/nothing","summary":"Founded in 2020, London-headquartered Nothing is one of the only tech companies I find to be doing exciting things in the dismal space ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/babkes3stylm1rr5ozvxxjp8eyoe-18246cc55800750d0e3e7f7bfa6551dc.png","author":{"name":"Spike Carter"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/spike-carter\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eSpike Carter\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"buy","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-night-of-the-hunter","title":"The Night of the Hunter","content_text":"Spelled out on his left knuckles is H-A-T-E, and on his right, L-O-V-E. Although a commercial and critical flop ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-night-of-the-hunter","summary":"Spelled out on his left knuckles is H-A-T-E, and on his right, L-O-V-E. Although a commercial and critical flop ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/qiv0fezgmm0ekk7kb134ilceu7js-d94f45487e2abcd7f73a71b34a8a0ec4.png","author":{"name":"Eve Eismann"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/eve-eismann\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eEve Eismann\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"watch","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/laboratorio-paravicini-x-the-ark-elements","title":"Laboratorio Paravicini x The Ark Elements","content_text":"Hosting season is upon us—but that doesn’t mean we should revert to ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/laboratorio-paravicini-x-the-ark-elements","summary":"Hosting season is upon us—but that doesn’t mean we should revert to ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/coatshb7kyi4wrmw6lynonoyvrhz-27a72faf9d8c6e5278840d8b20b6c615.png","author":{"name":"Jimena Elmufdi"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jimena-elmufdi\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJimena Elmufdi\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"set","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/partita-playlist","title":"Partita Playlist","content_text":"Barbara Kingsolver needs no introduction. Neither does her latest novel, Partita, which follows a classical-piano prodigy ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/partita-playlist","summary":"Barbara Kingsolver needs no introduction. Neither does her latest novel, Partita, which follows a classical-piano prodigy ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/e65ditsdsyw9f2qzkim9g2rinht9-d113f1c3f9ed8019288f4e8ddecfb8ec.png","author":{"name":"Carolina de Armas"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/carolina-de-armas\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eCarolina \u003cem\u003ede\u003c/em\u003e Armas\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"listen","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-sant-ambroeus-diaries","title":"The Sant Ambroeus Diaries","content_text":"Entering Sant Ambroeus on New York’s Madison Avenue a few weeks ago, I noticed a beautiful display of luscious chocolates and pink cakes, each adorned with the number 90. “Not for sale,” I was told. Rather, the delicacies were made for the restaurant’s 90th anniversary, a milestone that fed my curiosity: how did Sant Ambroeus make it through nine decades, including a World War, a Cold War, the Red Brigades and corruption scandals in Italy, the coronavirus epidemic, and several changes in ownership, all while keeping its soul, quality, tradition, and spirit intact on both sides of the Atlantic?So many other beloved ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-sant-ambroeus-diaries","summary":"Entering Sant Ambroeus on New York’s Madison Avenue a few weeks ago, I noticed a beautiful display of luscious chocolates and pink cakes, each adorned with the number 90. “Not for sale,” I was told. Rather, the delicacies were made...","tags":["Food and Drink","An Immaculate Confection"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/l5x8ckvuknxzi3pglo72y7mq4ah0-19b3c7629796ec6c680ce5e543e75ee0.jpg","author":{"name":"Mario Calvo-Platero"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/mario-calvo-platero\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMario Calvo-Platero\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Ninety years since opening as a small Milanese café, the Italian institution has changed hands, grown to 30 locations, and watched its hometown rise from former Austrian rump state to international cultural capital","shorts":false,"banner":"An Immaculate Confection","category":"Food and Drink"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-world-according-to-tina-barney","title":"The World According to Tina Barney","content_text":"Sitting at the back of the Olney Gleason gallery in Chelsea, Tina Barney points to Jill and Polly in the Bathroom, a photograph she took in 1987. It’s a picture of her sister and niece wearing matching pink bathrobes in a pink room lined with pink floral curtains. Barney traces her hand along the edges of the mirror and sink, showing me how they form two parallel lines that lead toward the middle. A hairbrush rests perpendicularly at the end of the sink. In the rules of 17th-century Dutch painting, she explains, this is the central point of tension. In the 1980s, the French philosopher Roland Barthes called it the punctum.  ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-world-according-to-tina-barney","summary":"Sitting at the back of the Olney Gleason gallery in Chelsea, Tina Barney points to Jill and Polly in the Bathroom, a photograph she took in 1987. It’s a picture of her sister and niece wearing matching pink bathrobes in...","tags":["Arts and Letters","class pictures"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/jfxxn844sv6ibs3uglo7etnog6ks-4bc79ff105b8e8781f9645109b48112d.jpg","author":{"name":"Elena Clavarino"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/elena-clavarino\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eElena Clavarino\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Raised among Lehmans and Paleys, the photographer didn’t pick up a camera until well into adulthood. Five decades later, an exhibition examines how her fashionable youth found its way into her groundbreaking work","shorts":false,"banner":"class pictures","category":"Arts and Letters"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/churning-up-soho","title":"Churning Up SoHo","content_text":"Thomas Straker, the 36-year-old British chef, is as well known in London for his deceptively simple but refined cuisine as he is for his good looks and appetite for partying. Now he is bringing a version of his Notting Hill restaurant, the eponymous Straker’s, across the pond to New York’s SoHo, taking over the former site of Keith McNally’s Lucky Strike diner on Grand Street.The move seems preordained for many reasons, not least of which being that Straker, like his predecessor, is a natural-born charmer, possessed of the uncanny ability to lure stars to his venues. (Everyone from ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/churning-up-soho","summary":"Thomas Straker, the 36-year-old British chef, is as well known in London for his deceptively simple but refined cuisine as he is for his good looks and appetite for partying. Now he is bringing a version of his Notting Hill...","tags":["Food and Drink","hot to handle"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/cj9gdodyjxzljr79njfhs29dlick-4a8a08f09d37b73795649038408b5f33.jpg","author":{"name":"Vassi Chamberlain"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/vassi-chamberlain\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eVassi Chamberlain\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The British chef Thomas Straker—London’s heartthrob and the Internet’s “Butter King”—dishes on his many martinis, taking Manhattan by storm, and his very public spat with Keith McNally","shorts":false,"banner":"hot to handle","category":"Food and Drink"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/gonzo-in-paradise","title":"Gonzo in Paradise","content_text":"In May 1980, Running magazine offered Hunter S. Thompson an all-expenses-paid trip to cover the Honolulu Marathon, promising “an excellent fee.” Thompson recruited his longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and the assignment became The Curse of Lono, a full-bore Gonzo account of Hawaiian misadventures, punctuated with Steadman’s feverish drawings. Dismally received upon release, and long out of print, the black sheep of Thompson’s bibliography is now being reissued. Below, Thompson’s letter to Steadman outlining a few modest ambitions for the trip.Dear Ralph,I think we have a live one this time, old sport. Some dingbat named Perry up in ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/gonzo-in-paradise","summary":"In May 1980, Running magazine offered Hunter S. Thompson an all-expenses-paid trip to cover the Honolulu Marathon, promising “an excellent fee.” Thompson recruited his longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and the assignment became The Curse of Lono, a full-bore Gonzo account...","tags":["Books","Adventures in Journalism"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/pkv2jzv8m4qexexoxsgdgx2nz0b5-fc68d186bbaf8701ff7e62cc7471b361.jpg","author":{"name":"Hunter S. Thompson"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/hunter-s-thompson\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eHunter S. Thompson\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"When Hunter S. Thompson set out to cover the Honolulu Marathon—with a touch of cockfighting on the side—he first had to convince his old pal Ralph Steadman to join him …","shorts":false,"banner":"Adventures in Journalism","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/murder-they-wrote","title":"Murder, They Wrote","content_text":"The return of pneumonic plague, the blob-like ooze of data centers, the revival of the rattail ’do—disasters seem to be looming around every corner right now. With that in mind, here’s a look at three new books shaped by catastrophes large and small.The largest is the sinking of a luxury ocean liner called the Empress of Ireland in 1914, in which 1,012 lives were lost off the coast of Canada. That’s almost as many as went down with the Titanic, yet it’s been mostly forgotten. In Miss Wolcott’s Ghost, Louise Penny weaves together that disaster, a dead body ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/murder-they-wrote","summary":"The return of pneumonic plague, the blob-like ooze of data centers, the revival of the rattail ’do—disasters seem to be looming around every corner right now. With that in mind, here’s a look at three new books shaped by catastrophes...","tags":["Books","Mystery"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/i0z6ibu8hzrhsekcenlm4ysmrpk0-62f5f8bb6b3b8f7365eaf1d2c6e44702.jpg","author":{"name":"Lisa Henricksson"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/lisa-henricksson\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eLisa Henricksson\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The strange sinking of a luxury ocean liner! A train hijacking en route to London! Disasters punctuate this fall’s best mysteries…","shorts":false,"banner":"Mystery","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-book-really-wanted-to-sing-all-along","title":"“The Book Really Wanted to Sing All Along”","content_text":"In Tibetan, the word bardo means “gap.” It is also a Buddhist term for the transitional state between death and reincarnation. In the award-winning 2017 novel by George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo, that gap is occupied by characters who neither accept nor acknowledge that they are dead. Instead, they await a “recovery” that will return them to their former lives. This coming Monday, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting the world premiere of Lincoln in the Bardo—music by Missy Mazzoli and libretto by Royce Vavrek. The opera illustrates the journey of its protagonists toward the truth of their deaths. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-book-really-wanted-to-sing-all-along","summary":"In Tibetan, the word bardo means “gap.” It is also a Buddhist term for the transitional state between death and reincarnation. In the award-winning 2017 novel by George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo, that gap is occupied by characters who...","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/h8ti86da9tcw32xpqau257q963d3-0d43c83e4c0c5e6c3617ccb503c43c9c.jpg","author":{"name":"Neal Goren"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/neal-goren\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eNeal Goren\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The Metropolitan Opera presents the world premiere of \u003cem\u003eLincoln in the Bardo,\u003c/em\u003e an operatic adaptation of the 2017 novel by George Saunders","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-last-frontier","title":"The Last Frontier","content_text":"Jack Bousfield was a legend in Africa, a fourth-generation white hunter who had guided Clark Gable, Lee Radziwill, and Ernest Hemingway, among a dozen others. He had been gored by a rogue elephant and claimed to have shot 53,000 crocodiles. But sometime in the 1960s, he traded his gun for a camera. By the early 70s, he was looking for a base to put down roots. When he suggested building a safari camp on the edge of the Makgadikgadi salt pans in the Kalahari, Botswana, everyone said he was mad.But when Bousfield came to the Kalahari, he fell ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17/the-last-frontier","summary":"Jack Bousfield was a legend in Africa, a fourth-generation white hunter who had guided Clark Gable, Lee Radziwill, and Ernest Hemingway, among a dozen others. He had been gored by a rogue elephant and claimed to have shot 53,000 crocodiles....","tags":["Travel","View With a Room"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/4iwaxcn2g4be0j0beulqegjcj8q0-4eacae8622630dc3e241390046601165.jpg","author":{"name":"Stanley Stewart"},"date_published":"2026-10-17T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"October 17, 2026","date":"2026-10-17","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-10-17"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/stanley-stewart\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eStanley Stewart\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"How a wilderness outpost built by legendary hunter Jack Bousfield—guide to Clark Gable and Ernest Hemingway—became Botswana’s most decadent tented hotel","shorts":false,"banner":"View With a Room","category":"Travel"}}]}