Fodder for the Summer Slowdown

Run out of things to watch? Try these ...

Hello Wonderful.

While San Francisco sulks through its annual June (and now July) gloom—one of us Zooms in a sweater to the astonishment of colleagues sweltering in normal summer—we've been heads-down beta testing THE WHAT AI, the AI literacy app we vibe-coded to bring our favorite curated lessons to the world. Especially to women, who are glaringly absent from the rooms where these models get built. But enough about our screen time. Here's what caught our eye everywhere else this week.

Love,

G+A

P.S. We don’t paywall because we believe that if you enjoy THE WHAT, you’ll help keep us going. We celebrate our paid subscribers in The Wall of Fame.

THE FILM.
Leave it to Steven Soderbergh to make larceny lovable. The Christophers is his latest sleight of hand—a two-hander that hums on charm, deceit, and the eternal question of what a work of art is actually worth. Ian McKellen, as a washed-up painter, gives a masterful performance, and the luminous Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) matches him brushstroke for brushstroke. Critics are swooning (95% on the Tomatometer), fitting for a film about fakes with actors who are the real deal.

THE RED.
Hat tip to our bff VV, who turned us on to The Red Hand Files, an entertaining newsletter from Nick Cave who answers reader questions with his signature laconic wit and self-deprecation. One week it’s grief and the intelligence of the universe; the next it’s a fan writing in to ask,

“Why do so many artists go soft after having kids? Is this what happened to you, you think?”

Nick’s answer: “Definitely.”

THE HORROR.
The internet’s favorite parlor game has come for the horror aisle. The theory du jour: that this year’s Obsession and last year’s Weapons (two films we really liked even though horror is not typically our jam) secretly share a world, linked by the “One Wish Willow” and Aunt Gladys’s ritual stick. Both films draw from the same folkloric well. Nature is rarely neutral, and the branch you snap off might snap something back. And you might not like it …

THE CURSE.
You think you know the Jackie O story. You do not. Old Money Luxury’s dive into her 1968 marriage to Aristotle Onassis is a jaw-on-the-floor, outrageous read: a Kennedy family-approved prenup running 170 clauses, whale-foreskin bar stools on the Christina O (yes, really), a soprano mistress two streets over, and a husband who—when grief curdled into cruelty—started calling his wife a witch and leaking her photos to the press.

THE FISH.
Can’t make it to Spain this summer? Pretend you are there with your own version of Boquerones Fritos (fried fresh anchovies, a squeeze of lemon, and homemade aioli). Except you can achieve this with a can of tinned sardines. Pantry alchemy at its finest, and a very persuasive argument for buying the good Spanish tins. Spain on a fork.

We want to know what’s on your WHAT List?

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SUMMER UPDATE TO OUR SHOPMY

We keep a running list of everything we’re buying, trying, and loving. SHOP books, clothes, and other goodies here. Updated weekly. Check out the new summery additions to our Everyday Chic category.

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