Staff Picks
Don’t miss profiles of 31 little-known New Yorkers; the story of how Sesame Street was adapted for Russian TV; and a cookbook from the Via Carota chefs
The Hard-Crusted Softy in Winter
Ten years after Gore Vidal’s death, the one biographer to remain friendly with the prickly master reveals poignant details of his final years
The Bad Habits of Eve Babitz
The razor-sharp essayist and chess partner of Marcel Duchamp, who dated Jim Morrison, Harrison Ford, and Steve Martin, relentlessly explored the power of beauty
A Film Festival About Writers
The Brooklyn Public Library’s LitFilm festival explores the work of Maya Angelou, Leonard Cohen, and others, through the lens of film
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a history of crime as told through 100 objects, a look at Greta Garbo’s life off-screen, and a vivid sketch of daily life during the Roman Empire’s golden age
Luxury on Thin Ice
A champagne-fueled journey to the North Pole has confirmed that it’s melting. Was the glamorous voyage on Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot enough to soften the blow?
Bright Lights Hits the Big 4-0
Jay McInerney made his literary debut with Bright Lights, Big City. On its anniversary, the hedonistic Manhattan novel still defines his career, and a bygone era
I Love Lucy’s Other Half
Raised as a prince in pre-Guevara Cuba, Desi Arnaz fled to America and revolutionized TV with Lucille Ball—but he couldn’t escape the trauma of his youth
Being Bardot
A dazzling new coffee-table book collects Douglas Kirkland’s and Terry O’Neill’s photographs of Brigitte Bardot behind the scenes of some of her best films
Naked Ambition
Barbara Sturm is the jet-setting name behind one of the biggest skin-care success stories in recent history. But the road to the top has not always been smooth
The Unlikely Rise and Inevitable Fall of Vice
Once hailed as the “Millennial CNN,” Vice rode hipster shock journalism to a $5.7 billion valuation—before hubris, big business, and the fleeting currency of cool brought it all crashing down
