{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"August 8, 2026 – Air Mail","description":"Welcome to Air Mail Issue number 369.","favicon":"https://static.airmail.news/assets/icons/apple-touch-icon.png","home_page_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8","feed_url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8.json","items":[{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-view-from-here","title":"The View from Here","content_text":"The pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing once said a machine can be thought to have achieved human-level intelligence when we can’t tell it’s a machine, a moment we seem to have arrived at. It’s a breakthrough that has inspired a lot of fear. Yet the biggest challenge of A.I. isn’t what the machines are thinking of us, according to Stuart J. Russell, one of the foundational figures of modern A.I. and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. It’s the way we have been thinking about these thinking machines.Since the 1990s, Russell has been saying that the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-view-from-here","summary":"The pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing once said a machine can be thought to have achieved human-level intelligence when we can’t tell it’s a machine, a moment we seem to have arrived at. It’s a breakthrough that has inspired a...","tags":["The View from Here","But First ..."],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ymi8gbulidvfjjm5n8b5e3h5nb82-aa7d83469bc4ea4b48d633344645d1e4.jpg","author":{"name":"Michael Oreskes"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/michael-oreskes\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMichael Oreskes\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Why are A.I. agents suddenly going rogue? The computer scientist who wrote the textbook on the subject has the answer—and the solution","shorts":false,"banner":"But First ...","category":"The View from Here"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/barry-blitts-sketchbook","title":"Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook","content_text":null,"url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/barry-blitts-sketchbook","summary":null,"tags":["Sketchbook","Barry Blitt's Sketchbook"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/lbw38gaqxaw2ngu1qpnnnqp5hkhc-9e8871acc727ee20a3b7dc4b9c045de7.jpg","author":{"name":"Barry Blitt"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_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/2026-8-8/a-nanny-state-on-the-charles","title":"A Nanny State on the Charles","content_text":"Looking back now, the stripper pole may have been the beginning of the end. Dudley Co-op, the only “alternative” dorm on the Harvard campus, had its share of lefty undergrad accoutrements—a Communist Manifesto mural, communal vegetarian meals—but when the school banished the living-room stripper pole a few years ago, it was a sign that the historic co-living house had perhaps overstayed its welcome.Last week, Harvard made it official, informing Dudley’s 23 residents that the co-op, based across two sprawling Victorians a short walk from Harvard Yard, would shut down after the coming academic year. The e-mail was notably ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/a-nanny-state-on-the-charles","summary":"Looking back now, the stripper pole may have been the beginning of the end. Dudley Co-op, the only “alternative” dorm on the Harvard campus, had its share of lefty undergrad accoutrements—a Communist Manifesto mural, communal vegetarian meals—but when the school...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Lights Out"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/f2bajl0yzhc63x2t9ual1wae1tvz-37ea34982a957e75224b843ed0b38b41.png","author":{"name":"Sage Lattman"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/sage-lattman\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eSage Lattman\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Harvard has come for what may be its last campus outlier: Dudley Co-op, a lefty co-living alternative to the polished, increasingly bland school culture","shorts":false,"banner":"Lights Out","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-curious-case-of-the-zendaya-spider-brooch","title":"The Curious Case of the Zendaya Spider Brooch","content_text":"When a star borrows jewelry to wear on a red carpet, the information about it is typically announced in a simple press release issued by the jeweler or their publicity firm. On July 24, however, a major credit quickly gave way to a tangled web of confusion.It all started at 10:53 A.M., when Chopard, the Swiss jeweler and watchmaker, sent out a press release featuring two pictures of Zendaya at the Shanghai premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, alongside a description of the massive diamond-and-19-carat-yellow-sapphire spider brooch the actress wore pinned to the hip of her archival ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-curious-case-of-the-zendaya-spider-brooch","summary":"When a star borrows jewelry to wear on a red carpet, the information about it is typically announced in a simple press release issued by the jeweler or their publicity firm. On July 24, however, a major credit quickly gave...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","An Intricate Web"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/0pate8lnz6anyzzy03wxg0s3cesz-bb9c8279e4b74b7fff5c1bea718eb162.jpg","author":{"name":"Marion Fasel"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/marion-fasel\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMarion Fasel\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Two historic jewelry houses claimed a giant yellow-sapphire piece worn by the actress on a \u003cem\u003eSpider-Man \u003c/em\u003ered carpet as their own. Now it has seemingly disappeared. What happened?","shorts":false,"banner":"An Intricate Web","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/epsteins-music-camp-hunting-ground","title":"Epstein’s Music-Camp Hunting Ground","content_text":"It was the summer of 1997 and Amber, a student at Interlochen, an elite arts school in Michigan, was on a lunch break from class. As she walked down a winding path linking the school’s cabins, the 14-year-old was approached at a wishing well by a couple and their Yorkshire terrier. Amber remembers them asking if she was enjoying her studies and whether she planned to return the next year. She wasn’t sure, she told them—it would depend on whether she was able to secure a scholarship. That couple were Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.In hindsight, Amber, who has requested anonymity, realized they were seeking a “perfect candidate” for abuse. “I guess what they were sensing at that moment was that I was financially vulnerable,” she told ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/epsteins-music-camp-hunting-ground","summary":"It was the summer of 1997 and Amber, a student at Interlochen, an elite arts school in Michigan, was on a lunch break from class. As she walked down a winding path linking the school’s cabins, the 14-year-old was approached...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","School for Scandal"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/mo8h6jewhc66tzzikykkzentr7ku-f1290186a5d0b1ceab27f4e77c0c5d68.jpg","author":{"name":"Josie Ensor"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/josie-ensor\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJosie Ensor\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"The abuse was well underway when 14-year-old Jeffrey Epstein first arrived at Interlochen Arts Camp. It got worse decades later when he returned to groom his next victims","shorts":false,"banner":"School for Scandal","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-dark-side-of-the-sun","title":"The Dark Side of the Sun","content_text":"On Majorca’s rugged west coast, there’s a cliffside restaurant where diners order paellas the width of the table while looking out at Sa Foradada. Its name—“the pierced one”—refers to the rock formation’s 60-foot-wide hole, which frames the Mediterranean like a natural picture window.Lately nicknamed the less poetic “Billionaires’ Bay,” this stretch of coastline has become a favored anchorage for the super-yachts of the rich and famous. This summer alone, David Geffen’s 82-room Rising Sun has been moored there, with Kris Jenner, Pedro Pascal, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston among those spotted aboard.On August 12, however, all eyes ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/the-dark-side-of-the-sun","summary":"On Majorca’s rugged west coast, there’s a cliffside restaurant where diners order paellas the width of the table while looking out at Sa Foradada. Its name—“the pierced one”—refers to the rock formation’s 60-foot-wide hole, which frames the Mediterranean like a...","tags":["Crime and Scandal","Trouble in Paradise"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/k6jedscm8k6dkxvxw2xb097ugyci-02cb64d55208fafdcc1335f7f191ff39.jpg","author":{"name":"Alice Lindsell"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/alice-lindsell\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAlice Lindsell\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"As Majorca strains under record tourism, next week’s total solar eclipse threatens to push the once quaint Spanish island to a breaking point","shorts":false,"banner":"Trouble in Paradise","category":"Crime and Scandal"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/james-franco-the-alien-and-the-re-invention-of-celebrity","title":"James Franco, the Alien, and the Re-Invention of Celebrity","content_text":"In June, James Franco joined TikTok to announce some startling news: there was an alien living in his garage. In a series of bizarre posts, a haggard and agitated Franco attempted to convince viewers that no matter how “crazy” he sounded, “this is real.” “I know how this looks,” he said, wearing a ratty blue T-shirt inexplicably adorned with two vertical lines fashioned with yellow masking tape, forming the “pause” symbol. “This dude’s, like, 48 years old and, like … get[ting] in on this Internet game. That’s not what’s going on.”On July 13, Franco revealed security footage of the alien, which looked like a guy dressed up in an alien costume. ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/james-franco-the-alien-and-the-re-invention-of-celebrity","summary":"In June, James Franco joined TikTok to announce some startling news: there was an alien living in his garage. In a series of bizarre posts, a haggard and agitated Franco attempted to convince viewers that no matter how “crazy” he...","tags":["Modern Times","Hollywood's New Age"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/sn3tfstldyzgdublh6y80w5b16et-c4ca4238a0b923820dcc509a6f75849b.jpg","author":{"name":"Nancy Jo Sales"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/nancy-jo-sales\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eNancy Jo Sales\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Perhaps for the first time, a major movie star is pursuing our attention as shamelessly as any other wannabe influencer","shorts":false,"banner":"Hollywood's New Age","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/are-they-dead-yet","title":"Are They Dead Yet?","content_text":"A good obituary is an art form, and there are few practitioners as deft as Sam Roberts, who has been writing about the recently deceased ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/are-they-dead-yet","summary":"A good obituary is an art form, and there are few practitioners as deft as Sam Roberts, who has been writing about the recently deceased ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ldptwfthcefbsdolx8ag4z70fftq-86b6be835d7aa2ee5a48027abd7b33e1.png","author":{"name":"Jim Kelly"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_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/2026-8-8/liis","title":"Liis","content_text":"Combine elemi resin, tobacco leaves, redwood pine, and incense, and you get a hypnotic fragrance reminiscent of a coastal artist conclave ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/liis","summary":"Combine elemi resin, tobacco leaves, redwood pine, and incense, and you get a hypnotic fragrance reminiscent of a coastal artist conclave ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/hy32xmg6tyexd5b4mszlxx97xal9-452ee53fed5af0c615ee436c187fac13.png","author":{"name":"Gracie Wiener"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/gracie-wiener\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eGracie Wiener\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"spritz","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/don-juan","title":"Don Juan","content_text":"Since Don Juan was introduced in 1630 by dramatist Tirso de Molina, the Spanish Lothario has appeared in numerous re-interpretations ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/don-juan","summary":"Since Don Juan was introduced in 1630 by dramatist Tirso de Molina, the Spanish Lothario has appeared in numerous re-interpretations ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/mb31v5r8o85oczji407fdkr8b4vg-147b926833d1a3ccbc0a4679811baa40.png","author":{"name":"Eve Eismann"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_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/2026-8-8/sunshine-superman","title":"Sunshine Superman","content_text":"“What goes on all around me? / What goes on? I really wanna know.” The third album from Scottish folk artist Donovan placed him alongside ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/sunshine-superman","summary":"“What goes on all around me? / What goes on? I really wanna know.” The third album from Scottish folk artist Donovan placed him alongside ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ydy3fyl657smdnisq6v0m3lu8z3r-e19e9eaed5babd084a73455b9e5f063c.png","author":{"name":"Cassidy Sollazzo"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_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/2026-8-8/borne-x-the-pouf","title":"Borne x The Pouf","content_text":"If it weren’t for the bugs, snakes, filth, and sleeping conditions, I’d jump at the chance to be a contestant on Survivor. And if I were, I’d smuggle ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/borne-x-the-pouf","summary":"If it weren’t for the bugs, snakes, filth, and sleeping conditions, I’d jump at the chance to be a contestant on Survivor. And if I were, I’d smuggle ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/xi38zt6sssq4zu4p7eds7d7c564u-4c022b3e5ce79393e97a00d682e02305.png","author":{"name":"Linda Wells"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/linda-wells\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eLinda Wells\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"light","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/abrams-animal-farm","title":"Abrams Animal Farm","content_text":"Block Island, with its fetchingly patriotic downtown and Vineyard Vines–clad summer crowd, can feel like a highly concentrated hub ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/abrams-animal-farm","summary":"Block Island, with its fetchingly patriotic downtown and Vineyard Vines–clad summer crowd, can feel like a highly concentrated hub ...","tags":["Recommended","Best"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/ecn1f65gpsvawdd8cwu6tu2e12gr-88d14b138039309c6af28f55c9c9e3bf.png","author":{"name":"Clara Hillis"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/clara-hillis\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eClara Hillis\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"visit","shorts":true,"banner":"Best","category":"Recommended"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/a-grill-to-make-grown-men-weep","title":"A Grill to Make Grown Men Weep","content_text":"the konnected joe Digital Charcoal grill and smokerA high-tech competitor to the Big Green EggIt’s not something I would admit in the smartest circles, but I do like channeling my inner Fred Flintstone and barbecuing large lumps of flesh these summer nights. It absolutely has to be a charcoal or wood grill, though. Barbecuing with gas or electricity seems to miss the point by some distance; that’s just cooking in the garden.The problem with charcoal, however, is lighting it without using possibly carcinogenic chemical fire starters, or natural starters that don’t work, or easy-light briquettes which are ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/a-grill-to-make-grown-men-weep","summary":"the konnected joe Digital Charcoal grill and smokerA high-tech competitor to the Big Green EggIt’s not something I would admit in the smartest circles, but I do like channeling my inner Fred Flintstone and barbecuing large lumps of flesh these...","tags":["Tech and Gadgets","Landing Gear"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/f2izvjsta31dkm52lh0pkz2kh5f2-7088b9acdd61419036f851d24524e5cb.png","author":{"name":"Jonathan Margolis"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/jonathan-margolis\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eJonathan Margolis\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Earphones that sound like a million dollars! A folding phone that gets the jump on Apple! And an app for tracking oligarchs’ yachts …","shorts":false,"banner":"Landing Gear","category":"Tech and Gadgets"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/papers-please","title":"Papers, Please!","content_text":"In 2014, Pavel Durov, the billionaire Russian-born founder of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, faced growing conflict with the Russian Federal Security Service. Tensions had begun with his refusal to turn over personal data from Ukrainian protesters, who were using his Russian social-network platform, VKontakte. This was, to put it mildly, a bold move.Consequently, he was swiftly removed as C.E.O. of the company by its board. Shortly after that, to nobody’s astonishment, major control of VKontakte shifted to pro-Kremlin, oligarch-linked entities. The whole thing didn’t sit too well with Durov, who promptly planned his departure from Russia. In ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/papers-please","summary":"In 2014, Pavel Durov, the billionaire Russian-born founder of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, faced growing conflict with the Russian Federal Security Service. Tensions had begun with his refusal to turn over personal data from Ukrainian protesters, who were using...","tags":["Modern Times","Citizens of the World"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/z23i3tdlbn0v9xqu9cp1hsx86ypd-aa8e5626b7b750cec275e5633a43e51a.jpg","author":{"name":"Lucas Chancellor"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/lucas-chancellor\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eLucas Chancellor\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"What’s in your wallet? If you’re a 21st-century tech baron, a growing stack of passports","shorts":false,"banner":"Citizens of the World","category":"Modern Times"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/dominic-sessa","title":"Dominic Sessa","content_text":"If “The third time’s the charm” holds any truth, Anthony Bourdain’s three summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, make a compelling case. In 1972, a young, self-destructive, and, perhaps most importantly, unemployed Bourdain landed a job washing dishes at a seafood restaurant called the Flagship and slowly moved his way up to the salad station.He returned the following summer, swaggering into the same restaurant—now under new ownership—wearing a blue Pierre Cardin seersucker suit, talking a big game, and expecting a promotion to the broiler. Instead, a hot sauté pan, a wimpy yelp, an ill-fated osso buco Milanese, and the ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/dominic-sessa","summary":"If “The third time’s the charm” holds any truth, Anthony Bourdain’s three summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, make a compelling case. In 1972, a young, self-destructive, and, perhaps most importantly, unemployed Bourdain landed a job washing dishes at a seafood restaurant...","tags":["Film and Television","Close-up"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/h00i6fvh1zodqdoawt2wnczrmiku-022e1be0ff38acd43f1dca28cad75a01.jpg","author":{"name":"Carolina de Armas"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_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":"Plucked from Deerfield Academy five years ago for his breakout role in \u003cem\u003eThe Holdovers,\u003c/em\u003e the 23-year-old is back on-screen as Anthony Bourdain in \u003cem\u003eTony,\u003c/em\u003e starring opposite Antonio Banderas and Leo Woodall","shorts":false,"banner":"Close-up","category":"Film and Television"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/portrait-of-a-country","title":"Portrait of a Country","content_text":"The photographer Lee Friedlander likes to work alone. Since the age of 14, when he picked up a camera and began capturing images almost every single day, Friedlander has printed all of his photographs himself. Instead of an assistant, his signature 35-mm. Leica is his companion of choice.Born in 1934 in Aberdeen, Washington, Friedlander studied photography from 1953 to 1955 at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, then switched coasts to New York soon after. There, he met fellow photographers Richard Avedon and Walker Evans, and launched his career taking portraits of jazz artists such as Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. In the same decade, Friedlander roamed the country’s various landscapes as a visual ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/portrait-of-a-country","summary":"The photographer Lee Friedlander likes to work alone. Since the age of 14, when he picked up a camera and began capturing images almost every single day, Friedlander has printed all of his photographs himself. Instead of an assistant, his...","tags":["Books","Open Book"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/142bfina5fsgkyubd6ua0qw5mm6e-7e058e87d92d7b78164d5fa91ca312ba.jpg","author":{"name":"Maggie Turner"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/maggie-turner\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eMaggie Turner\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"A new coffee-table book collects more than 100 rare and previously unpublished photographs by Lee Friedlander, America’s pre-eminent chronicler","shorts":false,"banner":"Open Book","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/murder-they-wrote","title":"Murder, They Wrote","content_text":"Feeling a little let down by the female characters in the summer’s biggest movie? Did Penelope, Helen of Troy, Athena, Calypso, and the rest of the Greek gals and goddesses deserve to be more epic than the attractive but flattened handmaidens even IMAX couldn’t enhance? If you’re craving truly mythic women, there are legions in this summer’s crop of mysteries and thrillers. I’ve narrowed the field down to three books that feature memorable women fighting their way through systems tainted by corruption, patriarchy, and obsession.Heather is the second novel from Caitlin Mullen, whose debut, Please See Us, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel in ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/murder-they-wrote","summary":"Feeling a little let down by the female characters in the summer’s biggest movie? Did Penelope, Helen of Troy, Athena, Calypso, and the rest of the Greek gals and goddesses deserve to be more epic than the attractive but flattened...","tags":["Books","Mystery"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/d5hliqj3mu1wir0ijiq0htxl2155-4b028231e9764b70994c769c5e0d49aa.jpg","author":{"name":"Lisa Henricksson"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/lisa-henricksson\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eLisa Henricksson\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"This summer’s best mystery books feature heroines of Homeric proportions, from a female police chief who resuscitates a tragic cold case to a union leader turned drug queenpin","shorts":false,"banner":"Mystery","category":"Books"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/americas-sweetheart","title":"America’s Sweetheart","content_text":"The Statue of Liberty holds paradoxes. Forget the myth that it was a gift from the French government. Its sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, crowd-funded the statue by selling early drawings of it. And the publisher Joseph Pulitzer raised money to foot the bill for its pedestal, built on Liberty Island, off the southern tip of Manhattan. Did you know the landmark was originally envisioned as a colossal torch-bearing Egyptian woman—a lighthouse that would stand at the north entrance to the Suez Canal? ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/americas-sweetheart","summary":"The Statue of Liberty holds paradoxes. Forget the myth that it was a gift from the French government. Its sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, crowd-funded the statue by selling early drawings of it. And the publisher Joseph Pulitzer raised money to...","tags":["Culture","Highlight"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/7bisbfznrgwlbsg88xaotmm95z98-111cd4a8466a092ebe1ca487eeb9f231.jpg","author":{"name":"Osman Can Yerebakan"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/osman-can-yerebakan\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eOsman Can Yerebakan\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"From Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to Andy Warhol, \u003cem\u003eTitanic \u003c/em\u003eto \u003cem\u003eGhostbusters II,\u003c/em\u003e an exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas, explores the history and legacy of the Statue of Liberty","shorts":false,"banner":"Highlight","category":"Culture"}},{"id":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/a-change-of-spirit","title":"A Change of Spirit","content_text":"On a sunny summer day in the pretty pastel-painted port of Bandol, I boarded a wooden outboard for a 10-minute trip to the 1950s. Or, rather, an artfully curated and discreetly luxurious version of this exuberant postwar decade as it was lived on the craggy island of Bendor, a privileged pleasure compound surrounded by the sweeping blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.After a five-year, $115 million renovation led by Hardel Le Bihan Architectes, the storied Provençal island reopened to the public on May 1. Its 93 rooms are distributed across two luxury hotels, Delos and Soukana, plus an ...","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8/a-change-of-spirit","summary":"On a sunny summer day in the pretty pastel-painted port of Bandol, I boarded a wooden outboard for a 10-minute trip to the 1950s. Or, rather, an artfully curated and discreetly luxurious version of this exuberant postwar decade as it...","tags":["Travel","View With a Room"],"image":"https://photos.airmail.news/sq17074fwwx152cd5hotnxevhqev-c10b8e8021773fc3d4d9e7c4d0fb72b3.jpg","author":{"name":"Alexander Lobrano"},"date_published":"2026-08-08T06:00:00.000-04:00","_issue":{"name":"August 8, 2026","date":"2026-08-08","url":"https://airmail.news/issues/2026-8-8"},"_article":{"byline_html":"\u003cem\u003eBy\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"/alexander-lobrano\" data-purpose=\"author\" class=\"text-inherit\"\u003eAlexander Lobrano\u003c/a\u003e","subhead":"Once a retreat for Salvador Dalí, Josephine Baker, and Jean-Paul Belmondo, liquor magnate Paul Ricard’s private island in the South of France has reopened as a luxury resort after a $115 million restoration","shorts":false,"banner":"View With a Room","category":"Travel"}}]}