{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"May 30, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 359.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"It was only a matter of time before Taek Jho Low asked the White House for a pardon. Low, the Malaysian-born Wharton School dropout, better known as Jho Low, is accused by federal prosecutors of looting billions from 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund he helped launch in 2009. He is reportedly in hiding under Chinese protection, while still believed to control vast sums of money.The request was audacious, even by the standards of a man accused of one of the largest financial frauds in history. A government insider says the pardon is unlikely: “He is a very bad guy. He fooled a lot of people.” But never say never with Trump in the White House. Especially when the fugitive in question may still be worth billions. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-view-from-here","summary":"It was only a matter of time before Taek Jho Low asked the White House for a pardon. Low, the Malaysian-born Wharton School dropout, better known as Jho Low, is accused by federal prosecutors of looting billions from 1MDB, the...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/z3gyiwzuhrslux9e9me8bhkn5qlk-641235b18ae772c27e6e54d4a703ad2f.jpg","author":{"name":"Jennifer Gould"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-gould\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Gould\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Trump has pardoned thousands of people in return for barely disguised bribes. But in Jho Low, the flamboyant fugitive behind the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB fraud, he may have hooked his biggest fish yet","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/evqxnr9z6j94iv8hqwghnqvdu0w2-95bfa30a4d06fccaf488bb50e7b69873.jpg","author":{"name":"Barry Blitt"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_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/2026-5-30/inside-the-search-for-nancy-guthrie","title":"Inside the Search for Nancy Guthrie","content_text":"Time sure as hell doesn’t heal all wounds. Not when an 84-year-old grandmother with a heart condition has been abducted. Not when there are droplets of dark red blood staining the stone slabs trailing away from the front door of her desert home. Not when the ransom notes have stopped coming. And not when “missing without a trace” is another word for “dead.”This is the anxious situation that the Special Task Force, a combined F.B.I. and Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department unit, investigating the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, is trying to come to terms with as the search ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/inside-the-search-for-nancy-guthrie","summary":"Time sure as hell doesn’t heal all wounds. Not when an 84-year-old grandmother with a heart condition has been abducted. Not when there are droplets of dark red blood staining the stone slabs trailing away from the front door of...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Gone Girl"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ln9o7wgw38k32283w5uv1ge4ql9l-29bb2ec59346e1933c246be6519f3970.jpg","author":{"name":"Howard Blum"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/howard-blum\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eHoward Blum\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Her kidnapping riveted the nation—as did the botched hunt for Guthrie’s abductor. Yet even as hopes dim, a resourceful task force soldiers on","shorts":false,"banner":"Gone Girl","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-andrew-cover-up","title":"The Andrew Cover-Up","content_text":"The man formerly known as Prince Andrew may be sweating this weekend. On Thursday documents concerning his appointment as the special representative for trade in 2001 were made public, revealing unease about a decision pushed through by Queen Elizabeth. Last Friday, Thames Valley police announced they were broadening their investigations into him to include allegations of sexual misconduct. Now we learn that the force is examining an allegation that he behaved inappropriately towards a woman at Royal Ascot in 2002.All these developments are important. A freedom of information (FoI) request I made several years ago, in the course of my research for ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-andrew-cover-up","summary":"The man formerly known as Prince Andrew may be sweating this weekend. On Thursday documents concerning his appointment as the special representative for trade in 2001 were made public, revealing unease about a decision pushed through by Queen Elizabeth. Last...","tags":["The Royal Family","Royal Follies"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/c3jpn92rvbjdjq2niklnhmy6x5us-0b087cfe3d7350f628879182e31499e0.png","author":{"name":"Andrew Lownie"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/andrew-lownie\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAndrew Lownie\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"As police broaden their inquiries into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, his biographer argues that the royal family—and the officials surrounding it—have spent years suppressing the full story","shorts":false,"banner":"Royal Follies","category":"The Royal Family"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-fall-of-the-house-of-mango","title":"The Fall of the House of Mango","content_text":"Wearing tortoiseshell glasses and a tweed blazer, Isak Andic didn’t look much like a titan of the Spanish fashion industry when he appeared at the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Catalonia in 2011. The Mango founder laughed warmly as he fielded questions from fresh-faced students and admitted that even he, on occasion, got it wrong.The clothing brand had recently chosen the Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué to front its latest advertising campaign. But Isak Andic readily admitted: “It was the idea of my son, Jonathan.” The billionaire businessman explained that he had been reluctant, preferring Rafael Nadal, the tennis ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-fall-of-the-house-of-mango","summary":"Wearing tortoiseshell glasses and a tweed blazer, Isak Andic didn’t look much like a titan of the Spanish fashion industry when he appeared at the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Catalonia in 2011. The Mango founder laughed warmly as he...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","fashion victim"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/qpxyg4yxbq8kb3oax0p9bccc1ojd-183f32963a5a288678ff469d8efda2ff.jpg","author":{"name":"Katie Gatens"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/katie-gatens\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eKatie Gatens\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"After the billionaire founder of the fast-fashion label plunged to his death on a Catalan mountain trail, his ineffectual heir became a prime suspect","shorts":false,"banner":"fashion victim","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/winning-the-cold-war-in-bed","title":"Winning the Cold War in Bed","content_text":"EIGHT SLEEP POD 5A way to keep the marital bed harmoniousSarah Jane likes a cold bed and a warm room. I like a warm bed and a cold room. I suspect some variation of this is not uncommon among couples. Eight Sleep, an extremely slick and ambitious New York company, has been selling hard on social media—at least on mine; maybe it hears our disputes about bed temperature—a new and seriously expensive “intelligent sleep system.”A cover goes over your mattress and can cool it to 54 degrees or heat it to 110, making one side hot and ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/winning-the-cold-war-in-bed","summary":"EIGHT SLEEP POD 5A way to keep the marital bed harmoniousSarah Jane likes a cold bed and a warm room. I like a warm bed and a cold room. I suspect some variation of this is not uncommon among couples....","tags":["Tech and Gadgets","Landing Gear"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/nxurcxcgxkz80rs2gyrtkhj59z0t-b4a7c367049a78eeb6af82202657b228.png","author":{"name":"Jonathan Margolis"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jonathan-margolis\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJonathan Margolis\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A cheap Apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree! A smart Lego brick for the tech at heart! And more …","shorts":false,"banner":"Landing Gear","category":"Tech and Gadgets"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/heywood-hill","title":"Heywood Hill","content_text":"Heywood Hill, the storied Mayfair bookstore known to be the favorite of magazine royalty (Graydon Carter, Anna Wintour) ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/heywood-hill","summary":"Heywood Hill, the storied Mayfair bookstore known to be the favorite of magazine royalty (Graydon Carter, Anna Wintour) ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/mwskbusyx3pon2saoako2yddboh2-28168ac803c8a24e992ad360c1c3f576.png","author":{"name":"Paulina Prosnitz"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/paulina-prosnitz\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePaulina Prosnitz\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"subscribe","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/plunkitt-of-tammany-hall","title":"Plunkitt of Tammany Hall","content_text":"George Washington Plunkitt may not be the most corrupt politician in New York’s history, but thanks to ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/plunkitt-of-tammany-hall","summary":"George Washington Plunkitt may not be the most corrupt politician in New York’s history, but thanks to ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/oiv6v9swk4j54uu1geknrhrs9jun-03c82d77880dbfda14066629588d43a8.png","author":{"name":"Jim Kelly"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_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/2026-5-30/florentine-kitchen-knives","title":"Florentine Kitchen Knives","content_text":"I have no business (and even less desire) to be in the kitchen, but these Spanish knives make a compelling ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/florentine-kitchen-knives","summary":"I have no business (and even less desire) to be in the kitchen, but these Spanish knives make a compelling ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/l5agxm37lif5335q7ul55rb7kfkl-8dd6ebc6e734d1d6c0bdc3631aafa736.png","author":{"name":"Catherine Scott"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/catherine-scott\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eCatherine Scott\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"cut","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/nothing","title":"Nothing","content_text":"I am more or less always listening to music, yet I’ve never been able to bring myself to invest in high-end headphones. Whether ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/nothing","summary":"I am more or less always listening to music, yet I’ve never been able to bring myself to invest in high-end headphones. Whether ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/j0aag6igkq4muyaohoji7hndwsjf-429b283fbb05de5bda5f6ec787b458dc.png","author":{"name":"Spike Carter"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/spike-carter\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eSpike Carter\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"listen","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari","title":"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari","content_text":"Don’t let this silent film’s 1920 release date deter you: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will have you ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari","summary":"Don’t let this silent film’s 1920 release date deter you: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will have you ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/4wznvs5qvz0oduqu5z96ay28u05d-578c12da35e2ba0ff035988169e6d95c.png","author":{"name":"Eve Eismann"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_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/2026-5-30/lebanon","title":"Lebanon","content_text":"“Summer is such a rich season for cooking Lebanese food, because our kitchen contains so many salads and grain and vegetable dishes ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/lebanon","summary":"“Summer is such a rich season for cooking Lebanese food, because our kitchen contains so many salads and grain and vegetable dishes ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/4txc5atnnb20fi2to0bn1rcxbg9d-5fdc535444629a14b0beb015c81950b5.png","author":{"name":"Alec Lobrano"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/alec-lobrano\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAlec Lobrano\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"cook","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/home-away-from-homes","title":"Home Away from Homes","content_text":"Every summer, the .1 percent packs their cars—or their helicopters—and ventures to the eastern tip of Long Island. For many, that means opening up their second home. For some, it means deciding which one.Collecting multiple properties out east isn’t a new phenomenon, but as the price of entry reaches dizzying heights, it’s become an even more exclusive status symbol for the ultra-wealthy to own more than one multi-million-dollar pad. (Netflix star and broker Ryan Serhant dubs such a home the “Fun House.”)Joe Farrell, a onetime Wall Streeter turned property developer who specializes in shingle-style spec houses, is ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/home-away-from-homes","summary":"Every summer, the .1 percent packs their cars—or their helicopters—and ventures to the eastern tip of Long Island. For many, that means opening up their second home. For some, it means deciding which one.Collecting multiple properties out east isn’t a...","tags":["Modern Times","Hamptons Babylon"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/hbaaap3cvihlpc7or0u8o4dhna21-530eae1dd30975bee94ab79f83aeb546.jpeg","author":{"name":"Andrew Zucker"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/andrew-zucker\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAndrew Zucker\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Seemingly undeterred by record real-estate prices on the eastern tip of Long Island, the ultra-wealthy are complementing their second homes with … more homes","shorts":false,"banner":"Hamptons Babylon","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/woman-of-mystery","title":"Woman of Mystery","content_text":"It’s July 13, 1962, and there’s Marilyn Monroe on the beach in Santa Monica with a curious expression. I’m looking at her right now. Her blond hair is mussed, her face resting on her hand. She’s wearing a wool, hand-knitted Cowichan-style cardigan, an item from her own wardrobe.The picture was taken by photographer George Barris during Monroe’s last session, less than a month before her tragic death. The image has long been among my favorites of the actress. And according to Barris, Monroe loved it, too. “That’s really me, freckles and all. The real me,” Barris remembered her telling him. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/woman-of-mystery","summary":"It’s July 13, 1962, and there’s Marilyn Monroe on the beach in Santa Monica with a curious expression. I’m looking at her right now. Her blond hair is mussed, her face resting on her hand. She’s wearing a wool, hand-knitted...","tags":["Film and Television","Hollywood Lives"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/apofns8hxgsr2spjh6wq59jz8pny-f4d472fcd52a4a75ad04928f39066f92.jpg","author":{"name":"Kim Morgan"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/kim-morgan\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eKim Morgan\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Marilyn Monroe continues to fascinate us a century on, because we’re still trying to figure her out","shorts":false,"banner":"Hollywood Lives","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-joy-of-missing-out","title":"The Joy of Missing Out","content_text":"At Nijkleaster, a working monastery in rural Friesland, in the Netherlands, a five-day retreat costs $610. There are no luxury amenities, no wellness consultations, no technology. Just a Frisian meadow, monastic rhythm, and the instruction to listen to what stirs within you. It is fully booked for the year. There is, naturally, a waiting list.In the English countryside, coach Emma Georgiou runs a four-day retreat called “Return to Self,” pitched at “high-performing individuals” ready to ask: “Who am I beyond what I produce?” The promise is nervous-system restoration, reflective inquiry, and “mornings that unfold slowly.”These are not the corporate wellness weekends or spa days of a decade ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-joy-of-missing-out","summary":"At Nijkleaster, a working monastery in rural Friesland, in the Netherlands, a five-day retreat costs $610. There are no luxury amenities, no wellness consultations, no technology. Just a Frisian meadow, monastic rhythm, and the instruction to listen to what stirs...","tags":["Modern Times"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/2oz5vsul5u4xc371pi5onqrb8en0-6af8d979248e8b69ed4fe49a5f50708f.png","author":{"name":"Naomi May"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/naomi-may\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eNaomi May\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"After decades spent optimizing their lives, the affluent are now paying to be bored, silent, and uncomfortable","shorts":false,"banner":"Modern Times","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-hardest-days-night","title":"The Hardest Day’s Night","content_text":"In June and July of 1966, the Beatles performed in Europe, Japan, and the Philippines, where, in Manila, they were accused of snubbing then First Lady Imelda Marcos. Travel resumed in August, when the band hit 14 American cities in 19 days. This tour was plagued from the start by John Lennon’s remark that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” a quote from a London interview that detonated in the American Bible Belt, triggering death threats, record burnings, and calls for boycotts. On August 28, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, frenzied fans breached the barriers and stormed the field. The band was rushed into a secure room and held there until the chaos subsided. They were well and truly done with it all. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-hardest-days-night","summary":"In June and July of 1966, the Beatles performed in Europe, Japan, and the Philippines, where, in Manila, they were accused of snubbing then First Lady Imelda Marcos. Travel resumed in August, when the band hit 14 American cities in...","tags":["Books","Open Book"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/rgoaijjafypb9gwjt9p8cmp9ppe1-e3168d395a1c5b29f0e8b9e1c0e6f4dc.png","author":{"name":"Elena Clavarino"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/elena-clavarino\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eElena Clavarino\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"With photographs by Jim Marshall, a new coffee-table book revisits the charged, melancholy night the Beatles played the last concert of their final tour","shorts":false,"banner":"Open Book","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-eternal-child","title":"The Eternal Child","content_text":"Louis Malle, one of the most talented and controversial film directors of the 20th century, was drawn to taboos as surely as kids are drawn to flames and trouble. Though a contemporary of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, he never wasted a moment being a critic, and was therefore not considered a member of the nouvelle vague. His wealthy Northern French family’s fortune was founded on sugar beets; even today, their beautifully packaged, fancy La Perruche sugar cubes look hand-cut. His parents were not pleased that their brilliant youngest son wanted to become a film director instead of running the family business, so to placate them, Malle enrolled at the Paris institute of advanced cinematographic studies, known as l’ ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-eternal-child","summary":"Louis Malle, one of the most talented and controversial film directors of the 20th century, was drawn to taboos as surely as kids are drawn to flames and trouble. Though a contemporary of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, he never...","tags":["Film and Television","Film"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/lxd0x55m5vj9i48x4w3gf6vsu19o-d7835559944835bcb9442041da90e9d4.png","author":{"name":"Joan Juliet Buck"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/joan-juliet-buck\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJoan Juliet Buck\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A new documentary sheds fresh light on Louis Malle, the \u003cem\u003enouvelle vague \u003c/em\u003econtemporary whose films tackled complicated subjects with innocence and curiosity","shorts":false,"banner":"Film","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-unstoppable-jasper-johns","title":"The Unstoppable Jasper Johns","content_text":"The swoopy curves, pointy wings, and titanium sheen of Frank Gehry’s galactic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao make the perfect hangar for “Jasper Johns: Night Driver.” The retrospective, which opened yesterday, spans decades and includes hundreds of paintings, sculptures, drawings, stage designs, and assemblages from an American artist of Picasso-esque output. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/the-unstoppable-jasper-johns","summary":"The swoopy curves, pointy wings, and titanium sheen of Frank Gehry’s galactic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao make the perfect hangar for “Jasper Johns: Night Driver.” The retrospective, which opened yesterday, spans decades and includes hundreds of paintings, sculptures, drawings, stage designs,...","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/9qzakb2nsgd077fbkc5p5u80zzl4-b85989cb35dd4b7cd30c98f40d9f3f29.jpg","author":{"name":"James Wolcott"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/james-wolcott\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJames Wolcott\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A retrospective in Bilbao, Spain, collects decades of work by the last great living survivor of the postwar generation","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/michele-di-robilant","title":"Michele di Robilant","content_text":"When the art dealer Edmondo di Robilant co-founded Robilant + Voena in 2004, his son, Michele, was eight years old. Family businesses, Michele would one day learn, should be treated like old-master paintings: preserved carefully, handled delicately, and rarely altered. Twenty-two years later, as director of the newly independent Robilant gallery, he understands those nuances firsthand.Born in London to the Canadian journalist Maya Even, Michele moved to Venice in 2004 with his mother to learn his father’s language—the same year Edmondo opened the gallery’s first outpost, on Dover Street. “It was quite a shock because it happened from ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/michele-di-robilant","summary":"When the art dealer Edmondo di Robilant co-founded Robilant + Voena in 2004, his son, Michele, was eight years old. Family businesses, Michele would one day learn, should be treated like old-master paintings: preserved carefully, handled delicately, and rarely altered....","tags":["Culture","Close-up"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/vsx3nv0kkxnp66rlydmyl49ddofc-6a405ffd0f37b766abe18652a18cf412.jpeg","author":{"name":"Jeanne Malle"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jeanne-malle\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJeanne Malle\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The son of the art dealer Edmondo di Robilant spent years forging his own path through the art world. Now, at 30, he’s helping steer the newly independent Robilant gallery into a new era","shorts":false,"banner":"Close-up","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/whats-don-is-don","title":"What’s Don Is Don","content_text":"Strange as it may seem in this philistine age, there was a time when academics were regarded as pillars of society. In Britain between the 1940s and the 1980s, university professors, especially those from Oxford and Cambridge, were esteemed not merely for their specialist knowledge or pedagogical value but for their wider contribution to civic life. Friends of politicians and civil servants—many of whom they had taught as undergraduates—they advised on matters of state, sat on royal commissions, stood as members of Parliament, joined the House of Lords, and served as diplomats and intelligence officers. Even more noticeably, they ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/whats-don-is-don","summary":"Strange as it may seem in this philistine age, there was a time when academics were regarded as pillars of society. In Britain between the 1940s and the 1980s, university professors, especially those from Oxford and Cambridge, were esteemed not...","tags":["Books"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/sytayiynqbhdb2ckk62bb4zdga1t-deb98fb42b168edc8c46df0fc8f4a358.jpg","author":{"name":"Tim Bouverie"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/tim-bouverie\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eTim Bouverie\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Books","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/monks-pinot-and-thomas-jefferson","title":"Monks, Pinot, and Thomas Jefferson","content_text":"The end of April marked the opening of the long-awaited Château la Commaraine, a new hotel in the little town of Pommard, in the southern section of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. The town itself is almost as intoxicating as the highly valued red wine produced here. Pommard has two châteaux, an 18th-century church, around 500 inhabitants, and 28 official premier cru climat vineyards. The Pinot Noir wines were mentioned by Gustave Flaubert in Madame Bovary, and the juxtaposition of their powerful structure and elegant flavor was described by Victor Hugo as “C’est le combat du jour et de la nuit” (the fight between night and day). Now the town finally has a suitably wonderful place to stay. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/monks-pinot-and-thomas-jefferson","summary":"The end of April marked the opening of the long-awaited Château la Commaraine, a new hotel in the little town of Pommard, in the southern section of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. The town itself is almost as intoxicating as the highly...","tags":["Travel","View With a Room"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/6v2bhxdbelnhasds1wdf4psc9f00-9309529422b75808108d212c5556acd3.png","author":{"name":"Mary Lussiana"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/mary-luissiana\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMary Lussiana\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"In Burgundy’s storied village of Pommard, a newly restored 12th-century château reopens as a hotel, reviving historic vineyards once praised by America’s third president","shorts":false,"banner":"View With a Room","category":"Travel"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/marcellus-halls-sketchbook","title":"Marcellus Hall’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30/marcellus-halls-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Marcellus Hall's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/m3plvthzuolxbpltiivo8pp1luyw-7f6ef15c1dbad2de003fbdc6a295799c.jpg","author":{"name":"Marcellus Hall"},"date_published":"2026-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 30, 2026","date":"2026-05-30","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-30"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/marcellus-hall\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMarcellus Hall\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Marcellus Hall's Sketchbook","category":"Sketchbook"}}]}