He waits for her where they have agreed to meet, at a wine bar on the Lower East Side. It’s not the sort of place he’d run into anyone he knows, but still he’s nervous, right up until she walks in. She spots him immediately—he’s the only guy in a suit—and threads her way […]
Are You Still Afraid of Javier Bardem?
Javier Bardem is on his knees. “Look at my face,” he explains delightedly, pointing to his iPhone, which displays a photo of him backstage at an AC/DC show. In it, he is genuflecting at the feet of the band’s lead guitarist, Angus Young, his muscular arms wrapped tightly around the diminutive rocker in a way […]
The Thankless Task of Being Michael Moore
You’d think that by now They would have stopped giving Michael Moore such a hard time. Everything he portended in Roger & Me, his 1989 film about the impact of the closing of General Motors plants on his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and everything he has been banging on about for 30 years since — outsourcing, automation, corporate hegemony, […]
Stanford Professor Robert Sutton Has a Theory on Why 2017 Is Filled With Jerks
We are living in a world full of assholes. To be sure: There are no census figures to back this up. There is no national registry from which to draw statistics. But one need only look at the headlines to see that the asshole population has not only grown in recent years but also spawned […]
Silicon Valley Has Gone All-In on A Cappella
One of the truest things in life is that where there are nerds, there is a cappella. Thus, as Silicon Valley has taken over as the nerd capital of the world, the hills outside of San Francisco have come alive with the sound of unaccompanied vocal harmonies. “There’s like a real Silicon Valley tech-company a […]
Swanning Through the Hamptons (and Talking Trump) With Alec Baldwin
Saturday in the Hamptons, the hedgerows are trimmed, the hydrangeas are bushy, and the sun is at peak performance. Outside Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee in Amagansett, a group of men and women in luxury sportswear are gathered, and the air fills with the soothing sound of high-end gossip. Chappaqua … We stayed there … His first […]
The Genius of Gossip Girl
How a wunderkind producer, seven tabloid-ready stars, an army of bloggers, and a nation of texting tweenagers are changing the way we watch television. Before you see them, you can hear them. The sound is low but insistent, a hum that gradually develops into something recognizable.OmigodOmigodOmigod. Dan DanDanDanDan. Gotalktohimgotalktohimgotalktohim! Samantha Ahern and a group of […]