🇺🇦 Graydon Carter here ...

The Attention Whore of the Year Awards!; Gen Z–ers vs. boomers; Michelin secrets; Sondheim revisited; and more.

December 30, 2023 Issue N⁰ 233 You are not currently a paid member and have limited access to AIR MAIL. Subscribe today. Good Morning! It's the weekend, and we have delights from all over You Can Jump in Now Here's Just Some of What We Have in This Issue From Modesto Despite a small budget, a disastrous production, and no prior commercial success, a 28-year-old George Lucas made American Graffiti one of the most beloved coming-of-age films of all time From the Attention-Whore Index With Musk, Trump, and King Charles, 2023 was rife with corruption, public meltdowns, and plain old bad behavior. AIR MAIL is proud to reveal this year's top Attention Whores! From the Critic's Chair The Michelin Guide can make or break a restaurant. As it expands to cover hotels, Adam Hay-Nicholls investigates its nebulous criteria—and asks if bellboys are quivering in their caps From the Zeitgeist While Taylor Swift, Barbie, and Beyoncé won over cities across the U.S., the suburban heartland was listening to increasingly aggressive, male-dominated country music From Broadway Famously reclusive, the composer Stephen Sondheim divulged all to his biographer, Meryle Secrest, from kinky sex and cocaine to his troubled relationship with his mother From New York The Russian prince Obolensky—who had an affair with Babe Paley, married an Astor, and was friends with Jackie O—hosted some of the city's toniest supper clubs From France Le Grand Mazarin has just sprung up in Le Marais, in Paris. To Alexander Lobrano, this magnificent yet cozy five-star hotel perfectly reflects its historic neighborhood From the Archives How skiing in New England transformed from a hobby of woodsy types to the newest lark among café society From the Social Lexicon Come the New Year, the youngest baby-boomers will turn 60, and Gen Z–ers will enter their partying zenith. We compared the best of both generations to see who comes out on top From Our AIR SUPPLY Shop Get toasty ahead of the snowiest winter months with a turtleneck bodysuit, a snug pair of moon boots, a cashmere ski mask, and much more Happy Saturday! Dig In!

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