How the English graphic designer set the course for contemporary visual culture.

A profile of Marlon Brando, 33, holed up in a hotel suite in Kyoto where he was filming Sayonara.

How the CIA used a fake science fiction film to sneak six Americans out of revolutionary Iran. The declassified story that became Ben Affleck’s Argo.

A leading sci-fi writer takes stock of China’s global rise.

Now Peter Max’s associates are trading lurid allegations of kidnapping, hired goons, attempted murder by Brazil nut and art fraud on the high seas.

Bennington College in the 1980s was a hothouse of sex, drugs, and future literary stars—among them, Donna Tartt, Bret Easton Ellis, and Jonathan Lethem. Return to a campus and an era like no other.

A profile of Joss Sackler.

Camille Billops abandoned her four-year-old to become the artist she knew she was meant to be. Twenty years later, her daughter wanted to know: why did you leave me?

A profile of Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings.

In 2005, the painting sold at auction for $1,000. Its most recent price? $450 million.

The long fight against racism in romance novels.

Before The Jerky Boys and Longmont Potion Castle there was Mal Sharpe.

A profile of a dresser of celebrities.

A profile of “Cathy” creator Cathy Guisewite.

Jason Dill is rebuilding one of the coolest skate brands on the planet, one hand-cut collage at a time.

Does the ubiquitous dance troupe really present five thousand years of civilization reborn?

Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour?

A profile of André Leon Talley.

As early as 1948, the Oscars sucked.

The secret diary of Nina Simone.

A profile of the designer, who died on February 19, 2019.

A profile of Toni Morrison.

A profile of photographer William Christenberry.

Discussions of character with the Late Show host.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s new movie, inspired by Gerhard Richter, blurs the line between fiction and biography. Richter says that it goes too far.