The Attention Whore of the Year Awards
Harry? Donald? Elon? Meghan? Whom did you choose as the biggest swanker, windbag, and blatherskite of 2023?
Taliban Fanboys
“Lord Miles” is a twice-captured, twice-rescued danger tourist seeking to monetize his cozy ties to the terrorist rulers of Afghanistan
The View from Here
From Kabul’s Serena to Jerusalem’s King David, war hotels have long served as headquarters and havens for international journalists. In the war in Ukraine, the Kharkiv Palace is the new gathering place
Burn After Watching
How a flamboyant Frenchman who rose to fame for restoring lost film classics—and burning old film onstage to impress audiences—ended up on trial for manslaughter
By Hook or by Crook
David Henty can mimic Picasso, Monet, Modigliani, Caravaggio, Basquiat, and more. The ex-convict may be the world’s greatest art forger, and he has the plaque to prove it
The View from Here
A veteran comedy writer is suddenly rendered speechless
Drawing a Blank
Fergie guest-hosts the ill-fated British chat show This Morning, offering underwhelming relationship advice and struggling to read the teleprompter
I Was a Trump Ghostwriter
Back in the 1990s, when Donald Trump was still in his larval stage, it was almost possible to feel sorry for him
The Attention-Whore Index
Can a weeping Kim Jong Un defeat a cheering Shohei Ohtani? Not if Elon Musk and his conspiracies have anything to do with it. Plus, bizarre news from around the world
Al Jaffee
The ingenious Mad-magazine cartoonist was as quick-witted and irreverent in person as he was on paper
The Not-So-Dolce Vita
In Italy, the murder of a female university student has riled up women of all ages. Are the protesters reacting to the killing or something deeper?
The View from Here
Under China’s darkening shadow, Taiwan survives on a cocktail of caution and muted defiance
When the Penguins Went Red
Thirty years ago, the owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins decided to bet big on Moscow’s legendary Red Army hockey team. What came next was both a miracle and a nightmare
Marina Cicogna
The Italian countess transcended her gilded background to become Europe’s first major female film producer
The Whole $59 Million Yards
Dress by Dior and music by Maroon 5—yes, the viral “wedding of the century” was between a car dealer’s daughter and her 29-year-old groom facing serious jail time
Putin’s Gold Rush
Russian archaeologists are looting Ukrainian museums of gold, artifacts, and weapons that the Kremlin says prove that Russia is an ancient civilization many thousands of years old. (It’s not)
The Attention-Whore Index
So-called racist royals and a disloyal ambassador vie with Donald Trump and his recurring dishwasher obsession. Who is demanding the most of your attention? Plus: the world’s strangest stories, collected for you!
The Trenches of Academe
Allegations of anti-Semitism have students, faculty, and donors at Harvard in an uproar—and the university’s new president is caught in the middle
The View from Here
Male Israeli intelligence officers dismissed warnings from the front lines that a Hamas attack was imminent. It had a lot to do with the fact that the soldiers sounding the alarm were women
Muddy Waters
Last year, the U.S. seized a $300 million yacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian billionaire with close ties to Vladimir Putin. The question is: Which one?
Va-Va-Vroom!
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is decadent and depraved—and a massive commercial success
Tall Tales
Assessing George Santos’s improbable rise from Brazil to Capitol Hill and his ouster, his biographer warns that the former congressman could be a Donald Trump in the making
Larry Fink
The great photographer, who died last week, left behind a treasure trove of penetrating, perturbing images
In the Pink
After securing an all-new team for just $25 million in the city of his choice, David Beckham brought Lionel Messi, the world’s most popular player, to Miami and may well have changed the sport in the U.S. forever
