{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"May 9, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 356.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"For all of you out there who have always thought that the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was a little too modest, a little too plain, and, worst of all, a little too small, here comes the “Arc de Trump,” which is neither modest nor plain. And at 250 feet high, it is emphatically not small. If it is ever built—a possibility that will do nothing to improve either Washington, D.C., as a city or the position of the United States of America on the world stage—it would be the largest triumphal arch in the world.That, of course, is what the current occupant of the White House wants. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-view-from-here","summary":"For all of you out there who have always thought that the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was a little too modest, a little too plain, and, worst of all, a little too small, here comes the “Arc de Trump,”...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/axunj6g0zvthh45mrwatqjbvdy6l-6ed4f164518256161119f88bec95c653.jpg","author":{"name":"Paul Goldberger"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/paul-goldberger\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePaul Goldberger\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Whether it’s a proposed 250-foot arch, a billion-dollar ballroom, or a planned “Garden of Heroes,” everything Trump builds is a monument to himself","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/a33xtrk8n2hv57ghv046ifwz884u-65a876a337caf5bcea3fda3107659374.jpg","author":{"name":"Barry Blitt"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_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/2026-5-9/i-worked-for-the-real-wizard-of-the-kremlin","title":"I Worked for the Real Wizard of the Kremlin","content_text":"Do you want to see Mother Russia? Not the export version—bears, nesting dolls, the Bolshoi—but the Russia of Rilke, Cap d’Antibes, and truffle risotto. The country where the only thing that matters is how close you are to the czar, and everything else—people, laws, even money—is simply an instrument for getting closer. In other words, do you want to see the Russia that existed for people like me—those who worked under Vladislav Surkov, the inspiration behind the protagonist in Olivier Assayas’s The Wizard of the Kremlin?The film, based on the novel by Giuliano da Empoli, tells the story of Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano), a soft-spoken intellectual with ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/i-worked-for-the-real-wizard-of-the-kremlin","summary":"Do you want to see Mother Russia? Not the export version—bears, nesting dolls, the Bolshoi—but the Russia of Rilke, Cap d’Antibes, and truffle risotto. The country where the only thing that matters is how close you are to the czar,...","tags":["Film and Television","Russki Business"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/rbq03922kk34uia0wwh3855rbseg-bcc0910de084d1c8ef825027f8c8f7a4.jpg","author":{"name":"Andrew Ryvkin"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/andrew-ryvkin\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAndrew Ryvkin\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"In early-aughts Moscow, Vladislav Surkov educated me on the finer points of “pop propaganda.” Now he’s the inspiration for Olivier Assayas’s new film","shorts":false,"banner":"Russki Business","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-fergie","title":"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Fergie?","content_text":"In all the many minutes since we last considered the plight of Fergie, she is reported to have been spending her time in reflection. This seems unlikely but we’ll let it pass. If Sarah Ferguson had the capacity for reflection she wouldn’t be in the mess that she is now: on the run across Europe, from a freebie Swiss clinic to an Irish hotel and, now, a $2,700-a-night chalet in Austria, paid for with goodness knows what, and using burner phones to avoid detection.What might strike fear into the hearts of the royal family, though, is not the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-fergie","summary":"In all the many minutes since we last considered the plight of Fergie, she is reported to have been spending her time in reflection. This seems unlikely but we’ll let it pass. If Sarah Ferguson had the capacity for reflection...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Royal Follies"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/1ovbvsaxb24ojrcvg6kmyals0pz2-e045f1725b51c9c28675fea4740febb8.jpg","author":{"name":"Hilary Rose"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/hilary-rose\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eHilary Rose\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The former Duchess of York is fielding million-dollar offers to talk about Epstein and Andrew. What could possibly go wrong?","shorts":false,"banner":"Royal Follies","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/once-upon-a-time-in-cannes","title":"Once upon a Time in Cannes","content_text":"U.S. JETS HIT TERRORIST CENTERS IN LIBYA - The U.S. conducted a series of air strikes on Monday night against what the White House called “terrorist centers” and military bases in Libya…. The Associated Press in a dispatch from Tripoli said Colonel Qaddafi’s home was among the buildings hit on the raid there \u0026#8230;” — Bernard Weinraub, special to The New York Times, April 15, 1986HOLLYWOOD UNSURE ON CANNES TRIPS - Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Whoopi Goldberg have cancelled their trips to the Cannes Film Festival…. Mr. Scorsese, the director of “After Hours,” which is competing for prizes and ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/once-upon-a-time-in-cannes","summary":"U.S. JETS HIT TERRORIST CENTERS IN LIBYA - The U.S. conducted a series of air strikes on Monday night against what the White House called “terrorist centers” and military bases in Libya…. The Associated Press in a dispatch from Tripoli...","tags":["Film and Television","Buttering the Croisette"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/v6dexmno0s7hr2d4p70sbt8kzsyv-60cddf11848090f02543a089918cf5ab.png","author":{"name":"Mitch Glazer"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/mitch-glazer\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMitch Glazer\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Forty years ago, Muammar al-Qaddafi threatened to blow up the Cannes Film Festival. The author attended anyway, with Griffin Dunne—and the rest is history","shorts":false,"banner":"Buttering the Croisette","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/pied-a-terror","title":"Pied-à-Terror!","content_text":"On April 15, Mayor Zohran Mamdani shot a video outside 220 Central Park South. The limestone tower is home to Ken Griffin’s $238 million, 24,000-square-foot penthouse—one of his several pricey city properties, and just a piece of the billionaire’s wide-ranging real-estate portfolio. Standing across the street, Mamdani name-checked Griffin, then tapped the camera lens for emphasis before telling his 50 million viewers that he’d campaigned on a promise to tax the rich and that, “today, we’re taxing the rich.” Specifically, he said, “the richest of the rich … those who store their wealth in New York City real estate but don’t actually live here.” With a snarky lilt, he added, “Happy Tax Day, New York!” ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/pied-a-terror","summary":"On April 15, Mayor Zohran Mamdani shot a video outside 220 Central Park South. The limestone tower is home to Ken Griffin’s $238 million, 24,000-square-foot penthouse—one of his several pricey city properties, and just a piece of the billionaire’s wide-ranging...","tags":["Modern Times","Real Estate for the 1 Percent"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/x98ecx98njk53yube9y9vdyitvdw-51e333b592d3c1708619f297053e5904.jpg","author":{"name":"Michael Gross"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/michael-gross\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMichael Gross\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A new annual surcharge on New York’s luxury pieds-à-terre has the 1 percent crying robbery. But when has a tax ever actually driven the rich from Park Avenue?","shorts":false,"banner":"Real Estate for the 1 Percent","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-closet-intervention","title":"The Closet Intervention","content_text":"I get it all the time, the same message from different people: I have nothing to wear. I need to shop. What is behind the message is always the same: a full closet. Late-night purchases. Things still with their tags on. Things that were perfect in the store but have not recovered from the trip home.At some point you stop replying with suggestions. You do something else instead. You go to the closet. You stand there. You say very little. This is the most useful—and the most uncomfortable—thing anyone will do for the closet owner all year.Not everyone will agree to it. It requires a specific kind of person: someone self-aware, slightly desperate, and willing to have their two ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-closet-intervention","summary":"I get it all the time, the same message from different people: I have nothing to wear. I need to shop. What is behind the message is always the same: a full closet. Late-night purchases. Things still with their tags...","tags":["Style","Notes on an Aesthetic"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/irnmoz4x475g3ocr4t74rjzd6msp-09a71287327c703e3b472271a3add7c0.jpg","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The modern closet is full of good choices that somehow add up to nothing. How can you save it?","shorts":false,"banner":"Notes on an Aesthetic","category":"Style"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/glorious-country","title":"Glorious Country","content_text":"To stand in front of the immense The Heart of the Andes, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is to understand why Frederic Church","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/glorious-country","summary":"To stand in front of the immense The Heart of the Andes, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is to understand why Frederic Church","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ddqeh1wn1fs0tj27zf6ayak5txt4-39873a6b0b2c345e83b732ee72059437.png","author":{"name":"Jim Kelly"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_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/2026-5-9/selfridges","title":"Selfridges","content_text":"Selfridges’ new private universe, 40 Duke, is tucked inside its London flagship; part members’ club, part personal shopping salon, ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/selfridges","summary":"Selfridges’ new private universe, 40 Duke, is tucked inside its London flagship; part members’ club, part personal shopping salon, ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/msa8o5m946qoxqnktfu0g4yujgmf-16550cc2dce4b32d2ffaa548d198ef24.png","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"visit","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/beast-health","title":"Beast Health","content_text":"I can’t say enough good things about the Beast blender, invented in 2021 by the man behind NutriBullet. The design looks sleek ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/beast-health","summary":"I can’t say enough good things about the Beast blender, invented in 2021 by the man behind NutriBullet. The design looks sleek ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ghitqhb59v89j5shfr1i7cr1wbyl-3dd64932e8aa9d45229ec2fd456df719.png","author":{"name":"Julia Vitale"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/julia-vitale\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJulia Vitale\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"blend","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/54-ultra","title":"54 Ultra","content_text":"Best known for his stage name 54 Ultra, JohnAnthony Rodriguez’s two latest singles, “Turnaround” and “I’m Hooked,” showcase ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/54-ultra","summary":"Best known for his stage name 54 Ultra, JohnAnthony Rodriguez’s two latest singles, “Turnaround” and “I’m Hooked,” showcase ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/dg5joglw66mltzcmtjga06rgcyr7-18d6769919266cd0bd6cd78aa405d5d0.png","author":{"name":"Cassidy Sollazzo"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/cassidy-sollazzo\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eCassidy Sollazzo\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"listen","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/anni-albers","title":"Anni Albers","content_text":"For far too long, Anni Albers has been relegated to the background, her pioneering contributions to textile art confoundingly overlooked ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/anni-albers","summary":"For far too long, Anni Albers has been relegated to the background, her pioneering contributions to textile art confoundingly overlooked ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/dws4e5p7oo3v9yq971de0gtcy31j-18246cc55800750d0e3e7f7bfa6551dc.png","author":{"name":"Paulina Prosnitz"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/paulina-prosnitz\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePaulina Prosnitz\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"read","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/james-smith-sons","title":"James Smith \u0026 Sons","content_text":"Cavemen had clubs, Vikings had axes, but what can the modern man-about-town brandish to continue this martial tradition, while steering ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/james-smith-sons","summary":"Cavemen had clubs, Vikings had axes, but what can the modern man-about-town brandish to continue this martial tradition, while steering ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/puvgp56a5608dp4kifh386z3p997-29853d351cbf31817cd4587b26a4421a.png","author":{"name":"George Pendle"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/george-pendle\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGeorge Pendle\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"shop","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/thats-the-spirit","title":"That’s the Spirit!","content_text":"Farewell, then, Spirit Airlines. After 34 years, two bankruptcy filings, tens of thousands of dollars in fines for deceptive fare advertising, and at least one instance of a passenger urinating on the cabin floor after being denied bathroom access, you are no more.While some will celebrate the collapse of Spirit—you don’t get to be the most complained-about airline in North America across multiple years without making a few enemies—others will be less happy with the news. Approximately 17,000 people are now out of work. Countless passengers have been stranded in airports without their luggage. Last weekend, Reuters called Spirit aviation’s “first Iran war casualty,” which suggests the collapse might be the lead-off domino in a global cascade of airlines going under. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/thats-the-spirit","summary":"Farewell, then, Spirit Airlines. After 34 years, two bankruptcy filings, tens of thousands of dollars in fines for deceptive fare advertising, and at least one instance of a passenger urinating on the cabin floor after being denied bathroom access, you...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Flights of Fancy"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/5cngpdr5ss1dkmwcb8syzx9jlxld-59f87147a584cc4ea3c07dffd01ca7a6.png","author":{"name":"Stuart Heritage"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/stuart-heritage\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eStuart Heritage\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Inside the totally far-fetched grassroots campaign to revive the bankrupt Spirit Airlines for the people","shorts":false,"banner":"Flights of Fancy","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/stones-on-the-rocks","title":"Stones on the Rocks","content_text":"Current thinking says that 40-some percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. For couples who make rock ’n’ roll, the percentage is much higher—and so are the stakes. Creative differences, drug abuse, financial tangles, and exhaustion on the road contribute to rocky relationships that make George and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? seem like Couple of the Year. It’s no wonder some of the greatest musical partnerships flame out: Lennon and McCartney, Nicks and Buckingham, Sonny and Cher, even brothers Don and Phil Everly.So what’s different about Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/stones-on-the-rocks","summary":"Current thinking says that 40-some percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. For couples who make rock ’n’ roll, the percentage is much higher—and so are the stakes. Creative differences, drug abuse, financial tangles, and exhaustion on...","tags":["Books","Inside Story"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/19lkii5ry2vrznhl8fut7jiclyhw-692c8c6443f1e6e690a547ffaf4ba91a.jpg","author":{"name":"Bob Spitz"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/bob-spitz\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eBob Spitz\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Over the course of 65 years, a few near divorces, and several drug busts, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’s creative partnership remains—however improbably—one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most enduring","shorts":false,"banner":"Inside Story","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/dinner-through-the-gift-shop","title":"Dinner Through the Gift Shop","content_text":"New York’s art institutions have long flirted with the restaurant business—and a few have already proved the model works. The former Flora Bar at the Met Breuer, Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie, and the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art have successfully combined beautiful settings with food that runs from good to great. The Met’s Restaurant Associates outpost, however, serves phoned-in fare; the Guggenheim offers a meh sandwich and a Lavazza cappuccino. They’re the kinds of places where you sit when you’re visiting relatives and need a break, so long as it’s before four P.M. But the days of gift-shop-adjacent museum cafés serving dusty scones are numbered. New offerings are raising the bar, starting with the fact that they’ll stay open after museum hours. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/dinner-through-the-gift-shop","summary":"New York’s art institutions have long flirted with the restaurant business—and a few have already proved the model works. The former Flora Bar at the Met Breuer, Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie, and the Modern at the Museum of...","tags":["Food and Drink","Food With a Side of Culture"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/fok9gh02p3mydnbyutxtojxwweej-798e1ff09be7883aa39d8bb18eaa6577.png","author":{"name":"Christine Muhlke"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/christine-muhlke\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eChristine Muhlke\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"New York’s art institutions—from Sotheby’s to the Met—are getting into the restaurant business, and finally making it worth staying after dark","shorts":false,"banner":"Food With a Side of Culture","category":"Food and Drink"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/each-man-is-an-island","title":"Each Man Is an Island","content_text":"Ask a small child to draw loneliness, and the subjects most likely to take shape on the page are empty homes, weeping orphans, elderly widows, perhaps even a man keeping watch in a lighthouse, surrounded by nothing but a wide ocean. The realization that loneliness might be even more keenly felt in the midst of a familiar crowd is one that dawns with maturity. Where this knowledge of an unfulfilled yearning for connection begins, innocence ends.No one else writing today has been as explicit about the existential dimensions of loneliness as Elizabeth Strout. She has, throughout her extremely prolific output, infallibly found new ways to articulate for readers her fundamental preoccupation: the tragedy that is an unwitnessed life. “Loneliness can kill”—originally a line from ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/each-man-is-an-island","summary":"Ask a small child to draw loneliness, and the subjects most likely to take shape on the page are empty homes, weeping orphans, elderly widows, perhaps even a man keeping watch in a lighthouse, surrounded by nothing but a wide...","tags":["Books"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ulo8mkk7zs6u96z86yiwu95oxo11-3fa92467a696f616efdcc8b3c69a17f8.jpg","author":{"name":"Maria Albano"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/maria-albano\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMaria Albano\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Books","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-great-venetian-spritz-off","title":"The Great Venetian Spritz Off","content_text":"In 2023, a New York Times piece titled “The Martini Has Lost Its Mind” lamented how bartenders were suddenly using everything from Muscadet wine to kombu seaweed to chicken soup to make the classic cocktail. “The manic accessorizing of the martini is born not of creativity, but of competition,” it read. In Venice this week, as the Biennale unfurls across town, you can watch the same instinct express itself in wineglasses with very large straws. Only instead of the latest concoction, certain discerning attendees—the ones who have, pointedly, graduated from the Aperol spritz—are ordering a defiantly retro alternative, one that is muddy brown and faintly medicinal. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/the-great-venetian-spritz-off","summary":"In 2023, a New York Times piece titled “The Martini Has Lost Its Mind” lamented how bartenders were suddenly using everything from Muscadet wine to kombu seaweed to chicken soup to make the classic cocktail. “The manic accessorizing of the...","tags":["Food and Drink","Aperitivo O'Clock"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/dp5qwj3pf0zy41w6byutf4antn3z-98b540f3b7b51339026693e2d2febaf9.jpg","author":{"name":"Elena Clavarino"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_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 Aperol losing its fizz, Cynar—a faintly medicinal, artichoke-based liqueur—is suddenly on the rise","shorts":false,"banner":"Aperitivo O'Clock","category":"Food and Drink"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/form-over-function","title":"Form over Function","content_text":"Fashion has long been a cultural barometer. It’s also been disparaged as a frivolous bagatelle. Around 30 years ago, however, that dichotomy disappeared when fashion emerged as a global phenomenon, exploding beyond the pages of specialty publications and exclusive salons to reach every corner of the world, from social media to the hallowed halls of museums. It is in this environment that the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen has taken her place. With “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses,” an exhibition opening next Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum, viewers will have the chance to pore over 140 of her groundbreaking garments. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/form-over-function","summary":"Fashion has long been a cultural barometer. It’s also been disparaged as a frivolous bagatelle. Around 30 years ago, however, that dichotomy disappeared when fashion emerged as a global phenomenon, exploding beyond the pages of specialty publications and exclusive salons...","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/q7svevqg8vgqr227w4p8pj6uiw62-90d59891a575c48112dab7e44aeb70a7.jpg","author":{"name":"Patricia Mears"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/patricia-mears\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePatricia Mears\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A new exhibition in Brooklyn showcases 140 garments by the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, whose work blurs the line between fashion and sculpture","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/anna-konkle","title":"Anna Konkle","content_text":"On the first page of her debut memoir, The Sane One, Anna Konkle is pacing her apartment. The doorbell keeps ringing. Though she knows who it is, she hesitates. “On the other side is a man who has my same hair, cheeks, and nose, and who I haven’t seen for five years,” she writes. What follows is an excavation of her estrangement from her father, its roots reaching back to when she was six years old.Best known for co-creating the Hulu original series Pen15—pronounced “pen-fifteen,” though styled, with tween humor, to read as “penis”—Konkle has a knack ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/anna-konkle","summary":"On the first page of her debut memoir, The Sane One, Anna Konkle is pacing her apartment. The doorbell keeps ringing. Though she knows who it is, she hesitates. “On the other side is a man who has my same...","tags":["Film and Television","Close-up"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/uf75jamu7jue8e3g4rxl2mshfvyn-cc72c5b471f04fb5719c0a44dd787413.jpg","author":{"name":"Carolina de Armas"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_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":"The co-creator of \u003cem\u003ePen15\u003c/em\u003e isn’t done thinking about childhood—only this time she’s sticking to her own in a brutal yet funny coming-of-age memoir","shorts":false,"banner":"Close-up","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/sarah-hoover","title":"Sarah Hoover","content_text":"Educated in cultural theory at Columbia University and art history at New York University, Sarah Hoover began her career as an art dealer, liaison, and director at Gagosian, before meeting her husband, artist Tom Sachs. Soon after came two children, and what followed was upheaval—which she then turned into re-invention. Through essays on postpartum depression and a new memoir, The Motherload: Episodes from the Brink of Motherhood, Hoover has emerged as a leading voice on the subject. In time for Mother’s Day, the writer shares her key components to the good life. —Carolina de ArmasAirline: I dream of one where flight attendants feel empowered to tell men to keep their shoes and socks on, especially en route to the bathroom. In the meantime, I fly Delta One, if I can. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/sarah-hoover","summary":"Educated in cultural theory at Columbia University and art history at New York University, Sarah Hoover began her career as an art dealer, liaison, and director at Gagosian, before meeting her husband, artist Tom Sachs. Soon after came two children,...","tags":["The Perfect Ending"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ph278vvruxlgu4ictttr3jbpfzqa-87a63aae9a7a2be5edeb15d0f5c50bb7.jpg","date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":null,"subhead":"Ahead of Mother’s Day, the \u003cem\u003eMotherload\u003c/em\u003e author answers 63 of life’s most pressing questions","shorts":false,"banner":"The Perfect Ending","category":"The Perfect Ending"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/klaus-kremmerzs-sketchbook","title":"Klaus Kremmerz’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9/klaus-kremmerzs-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Klaus Kremmerz's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/2e1jecs912ikv4llidiim1h48wdu-7cf094fe8e7c53c0cf3f8f186a52ed9c.jpg","author":{"name":"Klaus Kremmerz"},"date_published":"2026-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"May 9, 2026","date":"2026-05-09","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-5-9"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/klaus-kremmerz\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eKlaus Kremmerz\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Klaus Kremmerz's Sketchbook","category":"Sketchbook"}}]}