In January of 2015, three friends—design writers and curators, the sorts of women who wear cool cover-ups, interesting sunglasses, and hats that have never been unevenly squashed inside a suitcase—went to the beach together in Malibu.
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This week, much of the world (myself included) mocked Melania Trump’s dystopian Christmas aesthetic. Some noted that her White House decorations, which include a dark hallway lined with spotlit branches, looked an awful lot like the “stick labyrinth” at the end of True Detective. Others wondered whether the first lady’s inspiration board included the White Witch from Narnia and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. Melania Trump’s director of communications, Stephanie Grisham, even summed up the effect in a single, perfect tweet:
US first lady Melania Trump is in the Christmas spirit, as she has extensively documented on social media.
The Codex Quetzalecatzin, a manuscript dating back to the late 1500s, sounds like an artifact from an Indiana Jones movie. Essentially an ancient map of an area including present-day Mexico City and Puebla, it was created during a period when both Spanish colonizers and indigenous people were using maps to lay claim to their land.
A Swedish power plant that aims to eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2020 has taken to burning recycled wood and garbage—including clothes from H&M’s central warehouse, as first reported on Swedish public television.
According to a new law signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday (Nov. 26), the Russian government now has the power to label media outlets that receive funding from outside Russia as “foreign agents.”
How many plates of leftover microwaved mashed potatoes does a person really need to eat?
This story is part of our guide to five gift-giving philosophies to help you find the perfect gift.
How do you give a good gift?
The bar at Gaskins, a cozy tavern in the upstate New York hamlet of Germantown, is a pretty perfect place for autumn drinking. That’s where I discovered the Sharky: a rye-based cocktail made bracingly crisp with apple cider and a generous squeeze of lemon. The addition of your favorite amaro—Gaskins used Nardini—adds some bittersweet depth and sophistication.
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Welcome to Quartzy, a new edition from Quartz, focused on living well in the global economy.
When it comes to admiring the trappings of other peoples’ lives—autumnal sweaters and doe-eyed dogs curled up on plush duvets, the deep suntans of exotic vacations, artfully arrayed homegrown tomatoes—there’s no medium quite like Instagram. Scrolling through can feel like catching glimpses through windows of the charmed, well-lit luxuries of other people’s lives—making one’s own feel lacking in comparison.
RIP landlines. ☎️ I bought this pink princess phone with visions of cradling it on my shoulder chatting while I cooked, just like my mom used to do. But landlines are expensive now, and I couldn’t justify the extra monthly bill in a new apartment, so I sold it at a stoop sale. I still think about it sometimes.
As women everywhere know, deciding between heels and flats can be fraught. But it’s nice to have options.
Wildfires in northern California wildfires have destroyed some 1,500 structures, including homes and businesses, and prompted California governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in counties that include the famous winemaking regions of Napa and Sonoma. Grapes are far from the only crop endangered by the seasonal dry Diablo winds fanning flames across the region.
On Monday, October 9—also known as Columbus Day in the US—while residents of New York City debated whether statutes of the man responsible for setting in motion New World genocide and slave trading should be allowed to stand, members of some 75 Native American tribes gathered for second day on Randall’s Island to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.
There is nothing funny about powerful men using their position to intimidate, harass, and abuse women. That has never stopped American late-night comedy shows of using their platforms to address and ridicule the US presidents, executives, and stars who’ve been accused of such behavior—Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly, and Bill Cosby among them.
As the comedian Marc Maron pointed out in his new standup special, Too Real, Tom Petty was the rare artist who both liberal bohemians and cultural conservatives could agree upon.
St. Louis, Missouri
This summer, I began to engage in a secret ritual. In the wee, dark hours of morning, I would rise from my bed and drive to Malibu, a short 20 minutes before rush hour. There, I would park on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, pull on a wetsuit, shoulder a surfboard down to the water, and paddle out as the sun rose. Surfers call this dawn patrol.
