The House Always Wins
Sara King, the self-proclaimed “slot whisperer” of Las Vegas, used other people’s money to bet big. Then her luck ran out
Françoise Gilot
Picasso’s muse and lover who left him after 10 abusive years continued a successful career as an artist and memoirist in her own right
The View from Here
Bob Dylan’s masterly new album offers a ghostly narrative for our post-pandemic world
Bling Empire
Vladimir Putin relocates his ex-wife and two daughters to “tsar’s village,” the “Versailles of the North,” an elite district surrounding his official residence west of Moscow
Changing Places
Linda Fairstein put Yusef Salaam in prison for the attack on the Central Park jogger. He was exonerated and is running for office; she is excoriated and living as a pariah
The Attention-Whore Index
Joe Biden makes a novel play for your attention. But can he beat such grizzled showboaters as Harry and Meghan, Tucker Carlson, and Donald Trump?
A Flap over a Mop
Some people tip their hairdresser. Boris Johnson gave his an M.B.E.
The Attention-Whore Index—Grand-Master Edition!
Sometimes you have to bow to the experts. For all Harry’s wails and Trump’s moans, the real masters of neediness can be found on Instagram
O Father, Where Art Thou?
Ignoring paternal advice can have long-standing consequences
Prince of Wails
Harry spends hours and hours on the stand yet fails to provide any evidence that his phone was hacked during his $12.5 million therapy session
The Bookman Goeth
Nobody read more—or faster—than Robert Gottlieb
The View from Here
Silvio Berlusconi, the lying, womanizing, orange-tinted former Italian P.M. who died this week, resembled Trump, but not as much as they say. For one thing, he had charm
Surprise Ending
When former Simon & Schuster C.E.O. Richard Snyder died last week, he left two things in his wake: a legacy as a difficult but revolutionary publisher, and a fourth wife who wanted it all
Rocket Woman
The most powerful politician in North Korea might not be “little rocket man” but his gatekeeper, chief adviser, and sibling, Kim Yo-jong
Criminals Yesterday, Influencers Today
From O. J. Simpson to Anna “Delvey” Sorokin, Amanda Knox to the Tinder Swindler, ex-cons are social media’s new favorite thing
Poison Pen
A Utah mother of three allegedly killed her husband to collect on his life-insurance policy. Then she wrote a bereavement book for kids
The View from Here
Where the 1960s had love and the 1980s greed, the 2020s are quickly being defined by anger. Forget the Roaring 20s—welcome to the Raging 20s!
Rise of the Senior Swiftie
It’s not just tweens and teens who are knocked out by Taylor Swift. She’s a hit with the boomers too
Strange Bedfellows
Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s studies of human sexuality required many eager test subjects. One—the cult writer and filmmaker Kenneth Anger—became an unlikely lifelong friend
Grave New World
Jensen Huang used to clean toilets. Now he runs a trillion-dollar A.I. company that could change the course of history
Bend It Like M.B.S.
As the Gulf states jockey for control of the Arabian Peninsula, they’re waging battle through an unlikely proxy: European football
The Attention-Whore Index
Elon Musk rules the roost. Chris Licht gets the boot. Can Prince Harry reclaim his throne? Plus: the oddest news from around the world
Proceed to Checkout
Newly engaged fauxlanthropists Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez have mastered the art of “strategic giving” from their half-a-billion-dollar yacht
Armie Hammer Breaks His Silence: Coda
Two years ago, allegations of rape destroyed the actor’s career. This week, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped its case against him