{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"May 2, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 355.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"Few people are as bullish about the future of A.I. as Elon Musk. On Thursday, he took the stand for the third day in the opening of his bitter legal battle against OpenAI, a company he co-founded in 2015 with Sam Altman and others as a nonprofit committed to developing A.I. for the benefit of humanity. The Tesla and SpaceX C.E.O. contributed nearly $40 million but ultimately left the organization in 2018 after a power struggle with Altman. OpenAI’s subsequent evolution into a for-profit entity is the stated reason for the current lawsuit. Musk claims that OpenAI, now valued ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-view-from-here","summary":"Few people are as bullish about the future of A.I. as Elon Musk. On Thursday, he took the stand for the third day in the opening of his bitter legal battle against OpenAI, a company he co-founded in 2015 with...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/x18kccfw9q4mlq3gsfii9dbufiec-3d09bb6e7e63fcf2e71c9b5605b5f5e5.jpg","author":{"name":"Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/quinn-slobodian\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eQuinn Slobodian\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem class=\"type-overline type-overline-10\"\u003eand\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/ben-tarnoff\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eBen Tarnoff\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Elon Musk says OpenAI abandoned its mission to protect humanity. But is his own A.I. crusade against the “woke mind virus” any better?","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/d0cti5nst6xbj2tv4b0ud22zi48s-dea9a7f06efd152c34bb440bbdb9438b.jpg","author":{"name":"Barry Blitt"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_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/2026-5-2/once-upon-a-time-in-gala-land","title":"Once upon a Time in Gala-Land","content_text":"In the past five years, the so-called Met Gala—the annual one-day benefit for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on Fifth Avenue—has raised some $113 million, including a record $31 million last May. That’s a lot of money, and more than any other cultural institution in New York City has ever raised at its yearly gala.It takes a village, of course, to achieve this level of fundraising prowess, and it probably would not have been possible to generate anywhere near this much money, let alone the extraordinary media attention that surrounds the Met Gala, without the leadership of the legendary former ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/once-upon-a-time-in-gala-land","summary":"In the past five years, the so-called Met Gala—the annual one-day benefit for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on Fifth Avenue—has raised some $113 million, including a record $31 million last May. That’s a lot of...","tags":["Modern Times","A Night at the Museum"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/z0gtok2klgqvn9tk1ufsixetg9bu-78cb914484298a17194352200d744cd6.jpg","author":{"name":"William D. Cohan"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/william-d-cohan\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eWilliam D. Cohan\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"How a midnight dinner for fashion insiders became a multi-million-dollar media spectacle, culminating with this year’s sponsorship by none other than the Bezoses","shorts":false,"banner":"A Night at the Museum","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/pod-save-the-king","title":"Pod Save the King!","content_text":"At exactly 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla entered Christie’s in Rockefeller Center for the reception portion of the King’s Trust Gala, the annual New York fundraiser for the youth charity he founded 50 years ago.After being shown a signed letter George Washington sent to Thomas Jefferson discussing the U.S. Constitution—which to royal eyes must have read like a Dear John letter—and being greeted by the gala’s co-chairs, Lionel Richie and Charlotte Tilbury, a command rang through the room: “Everybody get in your place, please.”The 150 guests waiting in the galleries—a Who’s Who ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/pod-save-the-king","summary":"At exactly 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla entered Christie’s in Rockefeller Center for the reception portion of the King’s Trust Gala, the annual New York fundraiser for the youth charity he founded 50 years ago.After...","tags":["Modern Times","Party politics"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/sg33lktmbcs898ep0bltdhr6msu4-9507e7bde76b8f861e93dbab557c323d.jpg","author":{"name":"Alyson Krueger"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/alyson-krueger\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAlyson Krueger\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"King Charles III’s recent visit to the United States brought a new ritual to high-society gatherings and, with it, a fresh status anxiety","shorts":false,"banner":"Party politics","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/dont-stop-til-you-get-enough","title":"Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough","content_text":"Last weekend, Michael, the big-screen film about Michael Jackson, brought in $97 million domestically and $217 million internationally, shattering records for music biopics. The King of Pop, dead since 2009, remains one of the most bankable stars on earth. Never mind that critics were unimpressed—“Frustratingly shallow,” The Guardian; “Barely counts as a movie,” The Boston Globe­—fans flocked to theaters to watch the early, relatively scandal-free life of Jackson unfold on-screen.A sequel now seems all but inevitable, though it will most likely have to confront the more controversial later chapters of Jackson’s life, including allegations of child molestation, which his family and estate have long denied. “My brother will always be loved,” said his sister La Toya Jackson outside the premiere of ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/dont-stop-til-you-get-enough","summary":"Last weekend, Michael, the big-screen film about Michael Jackson, brought in $97 million domestically and $217 million internationally, shattering records for music biopics. The King of Pop, dead since 2009, remains one of the most bankable stars on earth. Never...","tags":["News","the neverending story"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/3sqprdiin64st7x8wderzlgjikf9-7a715ecc0e600d882781e9687d7c398b.jpg","author":{"name":"Allison Samuels"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/allison-samuels\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAllison Samuels\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"From Michael Jackson and Prince to Elvis and Nipsey Hussle, the death of a pop star can be the beginning of a booming second act","shorts":false,"banner":"the neverending story","category":"News"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/strictly-personal","title":"Strictly Personal","content_text":"“Without my grandfather’s contribution to agriculture reforms in 1912, this nation would currently have to import its turnips,” one personal ad from the London Review of Books in 2002 reads. “While you think about that, I shall remove my clothes. Man. 55.” Personals like this one may feel like a relic—Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji, New York’s mayor and his wife, met on Hinge, after all—but love and lust have been satisfied by column inches since the 1800s.A personal ad or classified, in its simplest form, is a short notice placed in a newspaper by someone seeking companionship ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/strictly-personal","summary":"“Without my grandfather’s contribution to agriculture reforms in 1912, this nation would currently have to import its turnips,” one personal ad from the London Review of Books in 2002 reads. “While you think about that, I shall remove my clothes....","tags":["Modern Times","Modern Love"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/v0bym9hrqtcy4h8x50tp4wbxu3pk-657246e072c0a91c600ccc843d754afd.jpg","author":{"name":"Zara Meerza"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/zara-meerza\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eZara Meerza\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"As the dating world succumbs to the algorithm, a new generation of romantics is returning to the high-effort, low-tech holy grail of 1977: the personal ad","shorts":false,"banner":"Modern Love","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-air-mail-diary","title":"The AIR MAIL Diary","content_text":"It’s been hard not to think of London and only London this past week. There was Sabastian Sawe’s gobsmacking, world-record-setting 1:59:30 in the London Marathon, the first official sub-two-hour negotiation of that distance by a human. (Can you imagine being Yomif Kejelcha and uncorking a 1:59:41 but still not winning?) Also in London: Demis Roussos’s luggage! Two Louis Vuitton pieces once belonging to the popular singer (who died in 2015) went up for auction at Elmwood’s with pre-sale estimates of $1,500 to $2,400. In 1985, the luggage, Roussos, and some 150 others on TWA’s Flight 847 from Athens to ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-air-mail-diary","summary":"It’s been hard not to think of London and only London this past week. There was Sabastian Sawe’s gobsmacking, world-record-setting 1:59:30 in the London Marathon, the first official sub-two-hour negotiation of that distance by a human. (Can you imagine being...","tags":["News","News of the World"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/r6nx1jjjuxeyaxinedy93x7iqwh4-64ec633084f84e56f751da0418f9e50b.jpg","author":{"name":"George Kalogerakis"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/george-kalogerakis\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGeorge Kalogerakis\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The founder of SantaCon is on the naughty list, the Japanese government will pay for your tryst, and other strange stories from around the globe …","shorts":false,"banner":"News of the World","category":"News"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-bottom-of-the-harbor","title":"The Bottom of the Harbor","content_text":"Nobody has ever written like Joseph Mitchell and nobody ever will—even he couldn’t do it anymore ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-bottom-of-the-harbor","summary":"Nobody has ever written like Joseph Mitchell and nobody ever will—even he couldn’t do it anymore ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/jfedy41yaojzku7civzhxbhzco3a-17d21e13f0696fa76f8327e2273a70ef.png","author":{"name":"Jim Kelly"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_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/2026-5-2/the-cooper","title":"The Cooper","content_text":"For years, Charleston has been quietly climbing the ranks as the premier Southern city for lavish living. That trajectory only continues ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-cooper","summary":"For years, Charleston has been quietly climbing the ranks as the premier Southern city for lavish living. That trajectory only continues ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/kqlyn5zpydnxvepenwk264sdj22b-e919c49d5f0cd737285367810a3394d0.jpg","author":{"name":"Maggie Turner"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/maggie-turner\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMaggie Turner\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"stay","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/jamie-haller","title":"Jamie Haller","content_text":"The day has finally come. Jamie Haller, known for her quietly cult women’s footwear that feel broken into from the first try ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/jamie-haller","summary":"The day has finally come. Jamie Haller, known for her quietly cult women’s footwear that feel broken into from the first try ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/4h6yv1boq4r666hnolxnb5pz3jzo-3dd64932e8aa9d45229ec2fd456df719.png","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"strut","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/nausicaa","title":"Nausicaa","content_text":"“Well, that film has disappeared,” Agnès Varda said in 2009 about Nausicaa, her 1971 response to Greece’s 1967 right-wing ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/nausicaa","summary":"“Well, that film has disappeared,” Agnès Varda said in 2009 about Nausicaa, her 1971 response to Greece’s 1967 right-wing ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/3cg3zl4k5d0xl7jakfbn3cs5tyqn-9633aab856b63a0dca327705905d4533.png","author":{"name":"Eve Eismann"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_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/2026-5-2/mic-drop","title":"Mic Drop","content_text":"Located within the storied Art Deco walls of the former Larrabee Sound Studios, where Prince and Cher once recorded, Mic Drop ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/mic-drop","summary":"Located within the storied Art Deco walls of the former Larrabee Sound Studios, where Prince and Cher once recorded, Mic Drop ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/79id7hlbu3cmyot17pu1w2pzt8s2-851d6063e4f61c3d3977d6c93587005c.png","author":{"name":"Rachel Lesage"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/rachel-lesage\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eRachel Lesage\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"sing","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/montauk-catch-club","title":"Montauk Catch Club","content_text":"It’s always bizarre walking into an upscale supermarket in New York—a city surrounded by water and mere miles from the Atlantic ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/montauk-catch-club","summary":"It’s always bizarre walking into an upscale supermarket in New York—a city surrounded by water and mere miles from the Atlantic ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/wgncbn9r0322n2rat05kpof7s3sa-28207abbf83795241838b710345929a7.png","author":{"name":"Julia Vitale"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/julia-vitale\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJulia Vitale\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"shop","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/i-post-therefore-i-am","title":"I Post, Therefore I Am","content_text":"On a recent doomscroll, I collided with a clip that sent my brain into orbit. In it, Uncle Sam (government name: Altman), the C.E.O. of OpenAI, delivers a rousing speech for the ages. “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.” The thought is harrowing—not because it states the obvious: that technocrats are locked in a race to own your precious gray matter. That’s right, the human brain, our most valuable asset, is about to hit the market, I.P.O.-style. That’s the plan, anyway. And ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/i-post-therefore-i-am","summary":"On a recent doomscroll, I collided with a clip that sent my brain into orbit. In it, Uncle Sam (government name: Altman), the C.E.O. of OpenAI, delivers a rousing speech for the ages. “We see a future where intelligence is...","tags":["Modern Times","Copy That"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ewverdij1x9h53qvfjxud75xu9ka-7fdca46f2c2fb6394c3edb24bd8aefb0.png","author":{"name":"Camille Charrière"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/camille-charriere-1\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eCamille Charrière\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"From Substack “think pieces” to A.I.-optimized captions, Camille Charrière examines our new obsession with looking brainy while our brains go offline in her debut column for AIR MAIL","shorts":false,"banner":"Copy That","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/first-class-influencers","title":"First-Class Influencers","content_text":"In the sun-splashed corners of the Internet, this is a familiar scenario: “My post about this tiny little cottage on the sea in Sifnos got, like, 700,000 likes, and so many inquiries about how to book it,” Alexandra Taylor, the founder of the boutique travel agency Where to Wander, says. “But it’s pretty baseline in terms of amenities.” In those cases, Taylor redirects clients elsewhere, “shifting them to other properties that I have relationships with,” and booking the trips through an affiliate portal that earns her a commission.For years, the rise of Expedia and Airbnb convinced us the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/first-class-influencers","summary":"In the sun-splashed corners of the Internet, this is a familiar scenario: “My post about this tiny little cottage on the sea in Sifnos got, like, 700,000 likes, and so many inquiries about how to book it,” Alexandra Taylor, the...","tags":["Travel"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/k96p7j1lchw6gyp82kiiseps9bsj-42c71eec27ede53afca10b67093bc9ab.jpg","author":{"name":"Sheila Yasmin Marikar"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/sheila-yasmin-marikar\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eSheila Yasmin Marikar\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Amidst “sponsored” reviews and A.I.-generated listicles, travel agents—rebranded as “advisers,” and with newfound social-media savvy—are having a comeback","shorts":false,"banner":"Travel","category":"Travel"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/an-afternoon-in-washington-d-c","title":"An Afternoon in Washington, D.C.","content_text":"Call us Florence Nightingale. Air Mail took a short hop to the nation’s capital to host a closing party for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner weekend, and arrived just in time to provide an (alcoholic) balm and (gossipy) solace to the huddled masses who had spent the previous evening sprawled under folding banquet tables as yet another would-be assassin tried to kill Donald Trump. As one wag put it, “One assassination attempt may be regarded as a misfortune, but three … “In the leather-buttoned comfort of Ned’s Club, ambassadors, hacks, and wonks showed off their battle ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/an-afternoon-in-washington-d-c","summary":"Call us Florence Nightingale. Air Mail took a short hop to the nation’s capital to host a closing party for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner weekend, and arrived just in time to provide an (alcoholic) balm and (gossipy) solace...","tags":["Style","After Hours"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ze1f66mfde3rewbwrj739z5da4as-05c2972b4d7a0fd872e95b61c0cd4e34.png","author":{"name":"George Pendle"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/george-pendle\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGeorge Pendle\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A day after the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner fiasco, AIR MAIL arrived just in time to provide an (alcoholic) balm and (gossipy) solace to the huddled masses","shorts":false,"banner":"After Hours","category":"Style"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-story-of-jim-and-jan","title":"The Story of Jim and Jan","content_text":"Few writers could captivate readers, in person and on the page, so effortlessly as Jan (born James) Morris. She was blessed with an unstinting energy and buoyancy that had her dashing off postcards far and wide, answering e-mails with improvised poetry, and cold-calling younger writers to offer encouragement. Old friends might have been startled to see a handsome foreign correspondent transformed by gender-reassignment surgery in 1972 into a matron in twinset and fake pearls, but still Morris continued crisscrossing the globe well into her 80s, offering the most discerning readings of 20th-century cities we will ever have.Some may have wondered what shadows or secrets lay beneath the exuberant charm, and that is part of what drives Sara Wheeler’s compendious and at times skeptical biography. Four years ago, a longtime admirer of Morris’s, Paul Clements, produced a workman-like ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/the-story-of-jim-and-jan","summary":"Few writers could captivate readers, in person and on the page, so effortlessly as Jan (born James) Morris. She was blessed with an unstinting energy and buoyancy that had her dashing off postcards far and wide, answering e-mails with improvised...","tags":["Books"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/anh7p7zuwfoyfmwhq8sen69w5sh6-29f364d38c52d4753ec79b968bb7b352.jpg","author":{"name":"Pico Iyer"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/pico-iyer\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePico Iyer\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Books","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/all-aboard-aqua-lares","title":"All Aboard Aqua Lares","content_text":"Last month, I was attempting to board a violently bobbing Zodiac pneumatic tender in the harbor of Stone Town, in Zanzibar, in a driving rainstorm—bound for Aqua Lares, the new super-yacht from Aqua Expeditions founder Francesco Galli Zugaro.”Jump!” The barked command from a deckhand below made me freeze, but finally I lunged and landed on the deck. During the 10 minutes that followed, I was soaked to the bone by the waves breaking against the bow. When we reached the ship, it was almost as arduous to leave the tender as it had been to board it. What on earth had I gotten myself into? ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/all-aboard-aqua-lares","summary":"Last month, I was attempting to board a violently bobbing Zodiac pneumatic tender in the harbor of Stone Town, in Zanzibar, in a driving rainstorm—bound for Aqua Lares, the new super-yacht from Aqua Expeditions founder Francesco Galli Zugaro.”Jump!” The barked...","tags":["Travel","View With a Room"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/17pyk5zkyyigl66szv3c0jq868mp-52f25d1080226d4b23033c2226acadcf.jpg","author":{"name":"Alexander Lobrano"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/alexander-lobrano\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAlexander Lobrano\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"On Aqua Expeditions’ latest super-yacht, the journey from Zanzibar to the Seychelles comes with Michelin-starred meals, silk beach umbrellas, and reef shark spottings","shorts":false,"banner":"View With a Room","category":"Travel"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/all-about-peter","title":"All About Peter","content_text":"Farm animals were Peter Hujar’s first subjects. The photographer’s early years were spent with his Ukrainian mother and grandparents on a farm in central New Jersey, which exposed him to the emotionality of nature. Decades before his lens moved between nocturnal vagabonds in the East Village and names such as Diana Vreeland, William Burroughs, and Fran Lebowitz, the young man realized the power of his eye. He could monumentalize any subject, even if it was an aloof cow or a dilapidated shack. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/all-about-peter","summary":"Farm animals were Peter Hujar’s first subjects. The photographer’s early years were spent with his Ukrainian mother and grandparents on a farm in central New Jersey, which exposed him to the emotionality of nature. Decades before his lens moved between...","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/6fi4zptdogblgglxp8zit7vx03y7-3b6d652f6cfe66e2ee7cfb442af990a0.png","author":{"name":"Osman Can Yerebakan"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/osman-can-yerebakan\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eOsman Can Yerebakan\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Six months after the release of Ira Sachs’s film \u003cem\u003ePeter Hujar’s Day,\u003c/em\u003e three exhibitions in New York give long-overdue attention to the American photographer","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/shred-it","title":"Shred It!","content_text":"“Do you understand why we ride a piece of wood?” asks Fuckshit—a character nicknamed after his favorite compound expletive—in Jonah Hill’s skateboarding film, Mid90s. “Like, what that does to somebody’s spirit. You know? Just tryin’ to keep a positive attitude even though it’s hard as hell.” Those of us who’ve never experienced the thrill of landing an ollie or a kickflip might not fully grasp what he means. A new coffee-table book by Neil Macdonald, Elsewhere: The Story of UK Skateboarding 1987–2002, offers a way in.”This book exists now because it didn’t already,” writes Macdonald. He’s referring to a skateboarding generation that he and the photographer Wig Worland believe began in 1987 and had faded out by 2002—after the sport’s commodification. Instead of sunny California, where ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2/shred-it","summary":"“Do you understand why we ride a piece of wood?” asks Fuckshit—a character nicknamed after his favorite compound expletive—in Jonah Hill’s skateboarding film, Mid90s. “Like, what that does to somebody’s spirit. You know? Just tryin’ to keep a positive attitude...","tags":["Books","Open Book"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/mb47pd02s54atccd04hfoxsk2yt7-eed39bde693542a17e3e431ef10581b1.jpg","author":{"name":"Carolina de Armas"},"date_published":"2026-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 2, 2026","date":"2026-05-02","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-2"},"_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":"A new coffee-table book traces the unlikely rise of British skateboarding, beginning in the 1980s, when the sport found its own rainy, grungy identity far from its Californian roots","shorts":false,"banner":"Open Book","category":"Books"}}]}