{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"July 18, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 366.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"How I long for the good old days of 2025, when it felt like the only people who had to worry about A.I. were writers, artists, designers, actors, musicians, analysts in any field, teachers, coders, editors, and tens of millions of back-office employees.Did you know the Pentagon has now integrated A.I. into its operating systems? I didn’t, until the news broke in March that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had officially declared Anthropic a “supply-chain risk” because the company declined to remove safety constraints from its Claude A.I. That’s in contrast to OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, which has ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-view-from-here","summary":"How I long for the good old days of 2025, when it felt like the only people who had to worry about A.I. were writers, artists, designers, actors, musicians, analysts in any field, teachers, coders, editors, and tens of millions...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/9c3uwgkchqy3lo6yc2wbo8h184m2-afdd876ae23e128619775de930bbe1bc.jpg","author":{"name":"Bruce Handy"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/bruce-handy\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eBruce Handy\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"In \u003cem\u003e2001: A Space Odyssey,\u003c/em\u003e the murderous supercomputer HAL ends up deactivated. What would ChatGPT have done differently? \u003cem\u003eAh, what a great question!\u003c/em\u003e","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/jnjt8is5aoz827npzqoqu14aufu9-706292fdc1e86c9701b65412669a6732.jpg","date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":null,"subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Barry Blitt's Sketchbook","category":"Sketchbook"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/italys-very-own-mar-a-lago","title":"Italy’s Very Own Mar-a-Lago","content_text":"Before Mar-a-Lago, there was Villa Certosa. Donald Trump bought his Florida estate in 1985, a few years before the late Silvio Berlusconi acquired his Brobdingnagian property on the northeastern coast of Sardinia, but it was Italy’s bombastic prime minister who provided the contemporary model of a villa where international politics and frat-house spirit merged. During the 2000s, Villa Certosa became a global catalyst of international political discussion, while remaining at a comfortable remove from the protocols and formalities of the traditional places of government.For decades, Mar-a-Lago existed merely as the holiday home of a real-estate developer of dubious ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/italys-very-own-mar-a-lago","summary":"Before Mar-a-Lago, there was Villa Certosa. Donald Trump bought his Florida estate in 1985, a few years before the late Silvio Berlusconi acquired his Brobdingnagian property on the northeastern coast of Sardinia, but it was Italy’s bombastic prime minister who...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Estate of Excess"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/shrammotislzal8a7oggw0gp7s69-f25fcedeaa2c5224322024e4f71264dd.jpg","author":{"name":"Mattia Ferraresi"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/mattia-ferraresi\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMattia Ferraresi\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A look inside Villa Certosa, which played host to all manner of politics and misbehavior (plus, an artificial volcano) during Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s controversial bunga-bunga years, before being sold to the Qataris","shorts":false,"banner":"Estate of Excess","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/heeeres-hunter","title":"Heeere’s Hunter!","content_text":"Last month, Hunter Biden reappeared from the wilderness. For the better part of a decade, trapped in a whirlwind of nepotism accusations, crack addiction, sex workers, federal gun and tax convictions, and an abandoned laptop with a narrative so convoluted that it necessitated its own 7,800-word Wikipedia page, the younger Biden son attempted to stay as quiet as someone with his surname and flair for drama could hope to be. But then came an apparent change of heart.After he announced almost seven years of sobriety in an X post on May 23, someone accused him of owning the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/heeeres-hunter","summary":"Last month, Hunter Biden reappeared from the wilderness. For the better part of a decade, trapped in a whirlwind of nepotism accusations, crack addiction, sex workers, federal gun and tax convictions, and an abandoned laptop with a narrative so convoluted...","tags":["Modern Times","The Son Also Rises"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/fmsb31cs8sk35bhyiob57q3y6jv2-3ee02cd2971e015df6f0ce86c5b57620.jpg","author":{"name":"Stuart Heritage"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/stuart-heritage\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eStuart Heritage\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Joe Biden’s ever problematic son has launched a Substack featuring everything from \u003cem\u003eAnchorman \u003c/em\u003ecomparisons to open letters to Joe Rogan","shorts":false,"banner":"The Son Also Rises","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/masters-of-the-wilderness","title":"Masters of the Wilderness","content_text":"Rock stars can be demanding guests. Rock legends, having grown accustomed to decades of wealth and fame, even more so. Add a relentlessly active brood of adult children and their film-star partners, and suddenly a guided glacier hike and hot-stone massage just won’t cut it.Over several seasonally elongated days at Deplar Farm in Iceland—one of the luxury adventure-travel firm Eleven’s 12 lodges around the world—one stadium-filling rock legend and his family fished for trout in a glacial river, rode horses on the beach, watched humpback whales blast out of the ocean, enjoyed a cold plunge and a Viking ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/masters-of-the-wilderness","summary":"Rock stars can be demanding guests. Rock legends, having grown accustomed to decades of wealth and fame, even more so. Add a relentlessly active brood of adult children and their film-star partners, and suddenly a guided glacier hike and hot-stone...","tags":["Travel","The great escape"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/p1f09spsk1i32cfg92iw0n1zhlqu-999b696b5a64b1fc1a50bed087069d8a.jpg","author":{"name":"Mark Healy"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/mark-healy\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMark Healy\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A luxury travel firm gives restless high achievers the vacations they crave: extreme adventures in exquisite lodges—and no strangers killing the vibe","shorts":false,"banner":"The great escape","category":"Travel"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/journey-to-the-odyssey","title":"Journey to The Odyssey","content_text":"It’s 1:37 A.M. on Friday, July 17, and the line to get into the two A.M. showing of The Odyssey, at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square 13, is so long it’s beginning to look like an epic poem. Tickets for this 70-mm. IMAX screening were purchased weeks, months, and, in some cases, a year in advance.With the city blanketed in smoke from Canada’s wildfires, those shuffling in to catch Christopher Nolan’s two-hour-52-minute film look less like moviegoers than they do soldiers emerging from the fog after a Homeric battle, armor swapped out for pajama pants. The crowd is mixed: old, young, dating-app date, mother and newborn child. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/journey-to-the-odyssey","summary":"It’s 1:37 A.M. on Friday, July 17, and the line to get into the two A.M. showing of The Odyssey, at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square 13, is so long it’s beginning to look like an epic poem. Tickets for...","tags":["Modern Times","troy story"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/p5zi04lbg98srdg0e3nuz8d9gx8l-cfd9fe4630bf747ee5d2631f258408ed.jpg","author":{"name":"Jo Rosenthal"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jo-rosenthal\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJo Rosenthal\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Scenes from the first 2:00 A.M. screening of Christopher Nolan’s 70-mm. epic at New York’s movie mecca: the IMAX at AMC Lincoln Square 13","shorts":false,"banner":"troy story","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/love-in-the-afternoon","title":"Love in the Afternoon","content_text":"From the director of Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/love-in-the-afternoon","summary":"From the director of Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/w2o4exhc2dvp18q992alpsxxwkhs-5a790166c8c242336c16aa5b66d53a2f.png","author":{"name":"Eve Eismann"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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/2026-7-18/shinola","title":"Shinola","content_text":"The Runwell is the watch that put Shinola on the map, and after more than a decade, the company has decided it’s worth bringing back ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/shinola","summary":"The Runwell is the watch that put Shinola on the map, and after more than a decade, the company has decided it’s worth bringing back ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/i86h8rq5h94hlxx7jt4mastwrkky-05bf5c756204371e230585e0e439a71b.png","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"wear","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/tribe","title":"Tribe","content_text":"The renowned journalist and war correspondent Sebastian Junger has never owned a smartphone. Instead of watching real-world events ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/tribe","summary":"The renowned journalist and war correspondent Sebastian Junger has never owned a smartphone. Instead of watching real-world events ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/e922x5mg4u4l3cwrlogqkjaun42v-f544675c47070a16c19f9c9bae66e0cf.png","author":{"name":"Maggie Turner"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/maggie-turner\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMaggie Turner\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"read","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/sungazer","title":"Sungazer","content_text":"The Melbourne quartet’s first album in 10 years comes after a much-needed break. With that time under the radar, they were able ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/sungazer","summary":"The Melbourne quartet’s first album in 10 years comes after a much-needed break. With that time under the radar, they were able ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/unde7xjj2c9mjm3ijnd7qaa6ubhg-dc8ebc727184ab0a54467fa737888934.png","author":{"name":"Cassidy Sollazzo"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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/2026-7-18/the-daily-hue","title":"The Daily Hue","content_text":"I never asked myself, “What if there was Wordle, but for art-history majors?,” but somehow I stumbled across the answer ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-daily-hue","summary":"I never asked myself, “What if there was Wordle, but for art-history majors?,” but somehow I stumbled across the answer ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/xvelehfnfo6y62ccrv801m248qc5-19e7ed20ca05ce26ebde2803bea91e50.png","author":{"name":"Gracie Wiener"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/gracie-wiener\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGracie Wiener\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"play","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/these-old-shades","title":"These Old Shades","content_text":"Did Bridgerton do it for you? Have you an affinity for Empire waists and calling playboys “rakes”? If your answer to at least one of these ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/these-old-shades","summary":"Did Bridgerton do it for you? Have you an affinity for Empire waists and calling playboys “rakes”? If your answer to at least one of these ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/f2wolkodbhefosmh6o8uo70r7n7p-480345ab7a38924b6e96452ca72b10e1.png","author":{"name":"Gabriella Maestri"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/gabriella-maestri\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGabriella Maestri\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"read","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-woman-in-my-suitcase","title":"The Woman in My Suitcase","content_text":"Every vacation, I pack for a woman with a much more active social calendar than the one I have. She changes for dinner every night, wears different shoes depending on the angle of the sunset, and is forever finding herself invited somewhere that requires a silk camisole and, more importantly, the one bra capable of supporting it. I have never met this woman, but I continue to pack for her out of respect.She works out. Every day, apparently! The running shoes go in optimistically, followed by the leggings and the sports bra, packed by someone who clearly has a genuine, healthy relationship with exercise. (Spoiler alert: they will not leave the packing cube.) ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-woman-in-my-suitcase","summary":"Every vacation, I pack for a woman with a much more active social calendar than the one I have. She changes for dinner every night, wears different shoes depending on the angle of the sunset, and is forever finding herself...","tags":["Style","Notes on an Aesthetic"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/6nx9gf7ectbqdi9nqak0wpp9aiu5-12ea7a6135c2c1e97aa1c3d3362bf67a.jpg","author":{"name":"Jennifer Noyes"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jennifer-noyes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJennifer Noyes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"I keep packing for the woman I might become on vacation. She has excellent taste and terrible attendance","shorts":false,"banner":"Notes on an Aesthetic","category":"Style"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/eyes-wide-shut","title":"Eyes Wide Shut","content_text":"In May, I cashed in on my marital status to attend the premiere of the “raunchiest music video of all time being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.” I was gagging to know what all the fuss was about. An NDA should never preclude you from telling your wife why you’re late for dinner on Christmas Eve. Being a disgruntled plus-one paid off, though. Madonna’s new album, Confessions II, is a banging return to form, wildly sexual and a little bit trollish, too. Cue 14 minutes of high camp, including a cut to Kate (Moss) that will go down in history. Every cameo was greeted with a cheer (loudest for Debi Mazar). MOTHER is back! ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/eyes-wide-shut","summary":"In May, I cashed in on my marital status to attend the premiere of the “raunchiest music video of all time being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.” I was gagging to know what all the fuss was about. An...","tags":["Modern Times","Copy That"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ktc2qyxh9va01f4x61pu6hoxfjka-66f00e8027e8c2ac6dac61cb7dfaae3c.jpg","author":{"name":"Camille Charrière"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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":"Madonna wants us to put “our fucking phones down,” but the algorithm is an intoxicating drug. As nightlife surrenders to the digital gaze, our columnist asks: Can the unrecorded night out survive?","shorts":false,"banner":"Copy That","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-hora-hubbub","title":"The Hora Hubbub","content_text":"It’s midnight. Somewhere between their fifth and sixth gin-and-tonic, two young men whisper into a D.J.’s ear as the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” roars around them. Grinning like teenagers about to pull off a prank, they scurry to the long tables where, hours before, a bride and groom enjoyed their first moments as spouses. As they carry two chairs back toward the dance floor, the recognizable first few notes of the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” begin to pour out of the speakers. While the rhythmic melody accelerates, the jubilant crowd hoists the helpless couple in the chairs, laughing as they grip their seats for dear life. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-hora-hubbub","summary":"It’s midnight. Somewhere between their fifth and sixth gin-and-tonic, two young men whisper into a D.J.’s ear as the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” roars around them. Grinning like teenagers about to pull off a prank, they scurry to the long tables...","tags":["Modern Times","goying up in the world"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/nw26boeid0boisv91kqx0or7eq3p-ebfed42e1e86a0d24ed03521ba99d6c3.jpg","author":{"name":"Jeanne Malle"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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 traditional Jewish dance has become commonplace at gentile weddings. Is it appropriation or appreciation?","shorts":false,"banner":"goying up in the world","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-sport-of-all-sports","title":"The Sport of All Sports","content_text":"It’s almost over. Tomorrow at three P.M., at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Spain will play Argentina in the World Cup final, the crowning game in soccer, the climax of hundreds of matches across six continents going back three years to 2023.A year or so from now, the run-up will begin again, aiming for the 2030 final, which will take place in either Madrid or Casablanca. The teams for the earliest games are typically drawn from the lowest ranked Asian nations, the likes of Macau, Guam, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Nepal, and it’s possible in theory that one or two of them could make it to the 2030 final. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-sport-of-all-sports","summary":"It’s almost over. Tomorrow at three P.M., at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Spain will play Argentina in the World Cup final, the crowning game in soccer, the climax of hundreds of matches across six continents going back three...","tags":["Books","Open Book"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/sigzwl9ic6d9ul32refe9kccgenv-387795c86765346eca0c041bac00348b.jpg","author":{"name":"Jonathan Margolis"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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 game of the people, by the people”: as the World Cup comes to a close, a coffee-table book—and a devoted fan—pays tribute to the elegance and grandeur of soccer","shorts":false,"banner":"Open Book","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-eternal-ana-mendieta","title":"The Eternal Ana Mendieta","content_text":"Ana Mendieta wanted to make an impression. Clever, engaging, and barely five feet tall, she was the artist as drama queen, photocopying her breasts on a Xerox machine, or setting off gunpowder around her silhouette. These actions were not exhibitionist. Her goal was profound. Mendieta was dissolving the boundaries between herself, nature, and the spirit world. She created her own myth while honoring the mythologies of primitive civilizations. Her tragic early death only embellished this legacy.”Ana Mendieta,” a retrospective that opened last Wednesday at the Tate Modern Gallery, shows just how successful she was at leaving her mark. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-eternal-ana-mendieta","summary":"Ana Mendieta wanted to make an impression. Clever, engaging, and barely five feet tall, she was the artist as drama queen, photocopying her breasts on a Xerox machine, or setting off gunpowder around her silhouette. These actions were not exhibitionist....","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/h786ajv8hqdilh7eiih3d14tqa33-9635f27da9668e5cf06aa0c77f460fa6.jpg","author":{"name":"Patricia Zohn"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/patricia-zohn\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003ePatricia Zohn\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Four decades after her contentious death, the pioneer of body and land art—known for dissolving the boundaries between herself, nature, and the spirit world—is celebrated with a retrospective in London","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-love-story-hollywood-just-cant-quit","title":"The Love Story Hollywood Just Can’t Quit","content_text":"The Academy has long resisted fully venerating any of the versions of A Star Is Born. The original 1937 film may have earned nominations for directing and acting, but it only received a win for Best Original Story. While the 1954 remake saw its stars, Judy Garland and James Mason, both nominated for acting, it failed to win even one award. The 1976 reboot, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, was snubbed in all major categories, taking home only Best Original Song, for “Evergreen.” And the most recent incarnation, starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, attracted eight nominations but suffered a similar fate to the 1976 film, snatching the same single statuette, for the song “Shallow.” ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/the-love-story-hollywood-just-cant-quit","summary":"The Academy has long resisted fully venerating any of the versions of A Star Is Born. The original 1937 film may have earned nominations for directing and acting, but it only received a win for Best Original Story. While the...","tags":["Books"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/hxd98nh85f7vr7jjig7ufdh878y6-14d55cfbf5e5efa579e924d968b0d59a.jpg","author":{"name":"Nathan Smith"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/nathan-smith\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eNathan Smith\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":null,"shorts":false,"banner":"Books","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/home-is-where-the-art-is","title":"Home Is Where the Art Is","content_text":"The riverside hamlet of Tivoli, in upstate New York, has long been the cultural heart of the otherwise quiet town of Red Hook. The first thing you see when you pull into town is the corner building with a wrap-around porch—a 19th-century hotel, burned down and rebuilt in 1910, then run as a locals-only bar by the owner’s relatives, where I had early under-age forays into hard liquor until it closed at the turn of the millennium. Coming out of my old apartment across the street, I once tripped over David Bowie and his wife Iman, strolling by with their baby daughter. One never knows who Tivoli will bring. In 2002, it brought artists Brice and Helen Marden, who purchased Rose Hill, a historic 23-acre estate. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/home-is-where-the-art-is","summary":"The riverside hamlet of Tivoli, in upstate New York, has long been the cultural heart of the otherwise quiet town of Red Hook. The first thing you see when you pull into town is the corner building with a wrap-around...","tags":["Travel","View With a Room"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/nnl1k71suhs3d8ck1ox6dp6c67c7-5be5d8fff490237095fa73f009ca51b6.jpg","author":{"name":"Janet Mercel"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/janet-mercel\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJanet Mercel\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"On the banks of the Hudson in Tivoli, New York, Helen Marden runs a hotel filled with blue-chip art from the collection she built with her late husband, Brice Marden","shorts":false,"banner":"View With a Room","category":"Travel"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/marcellus-halls-sketchbook","title":"Marcellus Hall’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18/marcellus-halls-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Marcellus Hall's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/857fpmpc5wj7m99lqjczmw1ymjo9-8086906d3ae49d4b57ebf6e9d41ea643.png","author":{"name":"Marcellus Hall"},"date_published":"2026-07-18T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"July 18, 2026","date":"2026-07-18","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-7-18"},"_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"}}]}