In the Maestro’s Thrall
Inside the disturbing “cult” of young acolytes that catapulted conductor James Levine’s career.
Arts
Things Fall Apart
A feat of elegant design wowed elite architects and promised to bring education to poor children in Nigeria. Then it collapsed.
Laurie Metcalf Was Hiding in Plain Sight
“A unicorn, a monster, a phoenix, a machine, a heavyweight fighter, an astronaut, a superhero, a thoroughbred, a home-run hitter, a waitress juggling ‘16 entrees, 42 starters, 16 desserts,’ a jazz virtuoso, LeBron James, Magellan, Snuffleupagus. The actress Laurie Metcalf has been compared to all of these things.”
The Zankou Chicken Murders
The creator of the California-based food chain kills his mother, sister and, finally, himself.
From Hollywood to Anaheim, he had opened a chain of fast-food rotisserie chicken restaurants that dazzled the food critics and turned customers into a cult. Poets wrote about his Zankou chicken. Musicians sang about his Zankou chicken. Now that he was dying, his dream of building an empire, 100 Zankous across the land, a Zankou in every major city, would be his four sons’ to pursue. In the days before, he had pulled them aside one by one -- Dikran, Steve, Ara, Vartkes -- and told them he had no regrets. He was 56 years old, that was true, but life had not cheated him. He did not tell them he had just one more piece of business left to do.
Interview: Ursula K. Le Guin
“There’s always room for another story. There’s always room for another tune.”
The Man Who Made Black Panther Cool
Why was Christopher Priest nearly written out of comics history?
In the Jungle
How legends of the American music industry made millions off the work of Solomon Linda, a Zulu tribesman who wrote “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and died a pauper.
Does Beto O’Rourke Stand a Chance Against Ted Cruz?
Riding along with the El Paso congressman.
The Killer-Nanny Novel That Conquered France
Leïla Slimani’s best-seller explores the dark relationship of a mother and her babysitter.
If He Hollers Let Him Go
Searching for Dave Chappelle ten years after he left his show.
Best Article Arts Business Media
Bravo L’Artiste
A review of several books on Rupert Murdoch first criticizes the authors for not grasping the many sides of their subject, then offers a thesis of its own. He’s “not so much a man, or a cultural force, as a portrait of the modern world.”
"I love you, I’m here for you, and I’ll always be here for you. But I can’t save you."
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s widow on addiction, loss, and recovery.
All We Read Is Freaks
Teaching Emily Dickinson at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida.
What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?
The real question is this: can I love the art but hate the artist? Can you? When I say we, I mean I. I mean you.
Upon This Rock
A visit to the Christian rock Cross-Over Festival in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Shades of Greene
On Graham Greene, the master of “ethical ambivalence.”
Disneyland with the Death Penalty
On the sanitized wonderland that is Singapore.
Is It Too Late to Save the World?
The role of a writer in 2017.
Runaway Money
When she died in 1952, author Margaret Wise Brown left the rights to Goodnight Moon to a nine-year-old neighbor named Albert Clarke. The book became a classic. Clarke, living entirely off the royalties, became a deadbeat.
Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank Them
On the relative plausibility of impossible beings.
A Protest Messenger for Our Times
Projectionist provocateur Robin Bell lights up the night.
The Passion of David Bazan
During the 90s, David Bazan was Christian indie-rock’s first big crossover star. Then he stopped believing.
Fear of a Female Genius
On Joni Mitchell and canons.
Amy Tan on Writing and the Secrets of Her Past
“Who we become has so much to do with the experiences we had, and how we survived.”
My Lost City
When New York was perpetually on fire.
