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March 29, 2025
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No. 298
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In This Week’s Issue
SETTLING THE SCORE

Sexual-harassment allegations against the Grammy-winning composer Danny Elfman nearly put an end to his career. An AIR MAIL investigation by Jacob Bernstein reveals there’s more to the story than meets the eye …

THE ILLUSIONISTS

How the conspiracy theories—and theorists—underlying Oliver Stone’s 1991 thriller about the J.F.K. assassination stoked the false narratives that propelled Trump into the White House for a second time …

IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME

A series of bombings have sent shock waves through Geneva. More startling even than the alleged perpetrator—arrested at a crypto A.T.M.—is the target: luxury watchmaker Patek Philippe …

PRESSING MATTERS

In an Eight Questions interview with his old pal Jim Kelly, Graydon Carter looks back on his Canadian upbringing, his spat with Trump, and his storied career in journalism, as chronicled in his memoir, When the Going Was Good …

THE GREAT DIVIDE

A century ago, the novel that captivated casual readers and literary giants alike with its insightful skewering of Jazz Age consumerism and the American Dream was not The Great Gatsby but Anita Loos’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes …

TICKET TO RIDE

Thousand-dollar loafers! Hurdling horses! On-site leather craftsmen! At the Hermès Saut show-jumping competition, in Paris, the worlds of luxury fashion and equestrianism exist in perfect harmony …

THE LAST PLAYBOY

Amy Fine Collins looks back on the remarkable life of Reinaldo Herrera—the Vanity Fair taste-maker, New York City man-about-town, and husband of designer Carolina Herrera—who died last week at 91 …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Could America run out of toilet paper? … Debra Messing’s favorite things … the artist who was a friend of Renoir’s, a rival of Rodin’s, and a mentor to Brancusi … Lawrence Wright on Israel-Palestine … this month’s best mysteries … inside Graydon Carter’s book party hosted by Mike Bloomberg … Who was this week’s biggest Attention Whore?

But First …
Issue No. 298

The View from Here A 1960s hoax by liberal luminaries including E. L. Doctorow fueled the conspiracy theories that Trump has relied on his entire political career

By Ash Carter
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
Facing the Music

The Alien and the Fawn Accusations of sexual harassment upended the career of award-winning Hollywood composer Danny Elfman. But what really happened between him and his accuser?

By Jacob Bernstein
Read On
Oh, Crap!

Down the Tubes With Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports driving up the cost of a key ingredient in American toilet paper, experts say a shortage may well be on the horizon

By Will Pavia
Read On
Eight Questions

My Adventures in Journalism In an interview, AIR MAIL Co-Editor Graydon Carter discusses Trump’s short fingers, the enduring magic of New York, and his memoir on the golden age of magazines

By Jim Kelly
Read On
Air Supply

April Showers

Await May flowers in style with AIR SUPPLY’s guide to embracing April showers. Rivay’s waxed-cotton field jacket, Salie 66’s trench, and AIR MAIL’s very own best hotel umbrella ever will have you singin’ in the rain
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Photo: Charles Phelps Cushing/ClassicStock/Alamy (Grand Central Station)
Guest Edit

Celia Muñoz’s Favorite Things The founder and creative director of children’s-wear collection La Coqueta and mother of five adores vintage Van Cleef & Arpels, Westman Atelier lipstick, Loewe sneakers, and more

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Crime and Scandal

Ticking Time Bomb Inside a chilling campaign of homemade explosives and escalating ransom threats with an unexpected target: Switzerland’s most storied watchmaker, Patek Philippe

By Makana Eyre and Phineas Rueckert
Read On
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index The Vances intimidate Greenland, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez intimate Venice, and Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz exculpate themselves

Read On
Best
CARRY Gucci Congratulations, you survived winter. If that’s not grounds for a new handbag, then we don’t know what is. Let Gucci help… STRUT Valentino It’s almost like he’s trying to bankrupt us. Alessandro Michele, the new creative director at Valentino, has unleashed his first… VISIT Nili Lotan x Alison Mosshart x She Is the Music Alison Mosshart, the lead singer for the Kills and the Dead Weather, is also an accomplished painter… READ Paradise Logic Set in the Eden that is Gowanus, Brooklyn, this book follows 23-year-old Reality Kahn in her primordial mission to… EAT Natoora The story goes that, in December of 1999, Franco Fubini was at Citarella, the high-end New York grocery store, when he overheard… STRUT Aera If there’s one thing Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Bad Bunny would agree on, it’s that python print is a neutral. And thanks… CARRY Gucci Congratulations, you survived winter. If that’s not grounds for a new handbag, then we don’t know what is. Let Gucci help… STRUT Valentino It’s almost like he’s trying to bankrupt us. Alessandro Michele, the new creative director at Valentino, has unleashed his first… VISIT Nili Lotan x Alison Mosshart x She Is the Music Alison Mosshart, the lead singer for the Kills and the Dead Weather, is also an accomplished painter… READ Paradise Logic Set in the Eden that is Gowanus, Brooklyn, this book follows 23-year-old Reality Kahn in her primordial mission to… EAT Natoora The story goes that, in December of 1999, Franco Fubini was at Citarella, the high-end New York grocery store, when he overheard… STRUT Aera If there’s one thing Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Bad Bunny would agree on, it’s that python print is a neutral. And thanks…
Small Talk

Elon, Elon, Elon The hazards of talking politics over dinner

By Alan Zweibel
Photo illustration by Chop Choppish Shop
Read On
Horse-World Dispatch

Riding High Museum-quality saddles, free-flowing champagne, and the finest show jumping in the world make the Saut Hermès competition much more than an equestrian’s paradise

By John von Sothen
Read On
After Hours

A Night in Celebration of Graydon Carter At a party hosted by Michael Bloomberg, Martha Stewart, Candice Bergen, and Diane Sawyer gathered to toast the editor’s new memoir, When the Going Was Good

By Jack Sullivan
Photographs by Daniel Paik
13
Top, Michael Bloomberg and Graydon Carter; above, Martha Stewart.
Top, Diane Sawyer; above, Bob Colacello and Jonathan Becker.
Top, Graydon Carter watches Michael Bloomberg’s speech; above, Tony Danza and Mary Donovan.
Top, Candice Bergen and Graydon Carter; above, Isabella Carter, Anna Carter, and Michael Bloomberg.
Top, Patrick McMullan and Amy Fine Collins; above, Christine Baranski, Gay Talese, and Isabel Cowles.
Top, Karah Preiss and Lisa Taddeo; above, Derek Blasberg and Chris Mitchell.
Top, Carl Swanson and Alex Vadukul; above, Edward Menicheschi, Jennifer Zuccarini, and Samira Nasr.
Top, Tad Friend, Aimée Bell, David Kamp, Anne Kreamer, Kurt Andersen, Susan Morrison, Graydon Carter, George Kalogerakis, and Michael Hainey; above, Wayne Lawson.
Top, Victor Garber; above, Shannon Wu and Joe Kahn.
Top, Louise Grunwald and friend; above, Anna Carter, Kurt Andersen, and Anne Kreamer.
Top, Clara Molot and Marie Brenner; above, Michael Bloomberg, Diana Taylor, and friend.
Top, Alessandra Stanley and Victor Garber; above, Barry Diller and Graydon Carter.
Top, Madeline Sorel and Ed Sorel.
Read On
Literary Classics

Loos Woman The novelist who beat F. Scott Fitzgerald at his own game

By Michelle Stacey
Read On
Books
Daphne Merkin On

The Human Scale

by Lawrence Wright
Read On
Small Talk
The United States of Brunettes
The United States of Brunettes
Listen

Inside the Danny Elfman Sexual-Harassment Story On this week’s podcast, Jacob Bernstein discusses his reporting on the #MeToo case that has baffled Hollywood

Read On
Open Book

Zen and the Art of Being Ruth Asawa Coinciding with a major San Francisco exhibition, an updated biography of the sculptor chronicles her journey from Japanese-internment-camp prisoner to art-world pioneer

11
Ruth Asawa with one of her hanging wire sculptures, circa 1957.
Untitled (S.250), by Asawa, circa 1955.
Asawa at work, 1956.
With one of her hanging loop-wired sculptures, 1957.
Working inside one of her sculptures, 1957.
With one of her form-within-a-form sculptures, 1951.
With her children in her San Francisco home studio, 1957.
With one of her sculptures, 1951.
Untitled (S.108), circa 1970.
In her dining room, 1963.
Standing by the redwood doors she carved for her home, 1963.
Read On
Murder, They Wrote

Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch This month’s best crime-fiction book and TV shows

By Lisa Henricksson
Read On
Highlight
The artist in his Paris studio, 1890.

Medardo Rosso’s Free Form

Medardo Rosso is not a name you are likely to know, but Renoir and Degas looked up to him as a friend who went in directions they would not have dared. Later artists, from the Italian futurists to Brancusi, considered him a mentor. Rosso’s experiments gave courage to those who would abandon the rules of classicism, and who were ready to dissolve form. He seduced his audience by making sculptures, photographs, and drawings that are at once sumptuous and mysterious. Opening today at the Kunstmuseum Basel, the large and comprehensive exhibition “Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture” is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in a haunting universe. READ ON

Read On
Close-up

Annie Meyers-Shyer The daughter of the powerhouse duo behind The Parent Trap has fostered a cult following of her own with her home-décor Instagram account, This Oak House

By Nadine Zylberberg
Read On
Great Lives

Reinaldo Herrera An international arbiter of style whose manners were matched by his joie de vivre and loyalty

By Amy Fine Collins
Read On
Small Talk
“Ooh, is that the new diabetes Talking iMeter 5?”
“Ooh, is that the new diabetes Talking iMeter 5?”
View With a Room

High Art in Low Countries At the Pulitzer Amsterdam, guests can find stylish lodgings amid a booming, blooming city

By Ashley Baker
Read On
The Perfect Ending

Debra Messing

The Will & Grace actress answers 33 of life’s most pressing questions
Read On
The Planet
Meet Grus americana, the whooping crane: a towering, snow-white bird with a wingspan stretching more than seven feet. Instead of chirping, they “whoop,” letting out a trumpet-like call that carries for miles. With jet-black wing tips and dagger-like bills, they stalk the shallows for lunch—reptiles, voles, and the occasional berry. Every spring, males leap, flap, and toss grass into the air to impress potential mates. If the performance lands, they pair for life. These devoted couples fly 2,500 miles each year, migrating between Canada and the Gulf Coast. But their path is fraught as they pass over oil fields, wind farms, and cities. Now, under the Trump administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service won’t take enforcement action against any private party that accidentally kills migratory birds. There are only 800 of these cranes left. Don’t let the president get away with spoiling their nesting and feeding grounds. To help, donate here. —Elena Clavarino
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In Memoriam

Peter Bogdanovich Duncan Hannah Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley David Yaffe

Issue No. 298
March 29, 2025
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Issue No. 298
March 29, 2025
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