
Morning Meeting
Welcome to Morning Meeting, where AIR MAIL’s Ashley Baker and Michael Hainey take you inside the stories people are talking about this week—and tip you off to the ones the editors are talking about for next week. We cover the people shaping your world that you want to know more about (and more often the stuff they don’t want you to know about). And we talk with friends of AIR MAIL—writers, reporters, and style-setters. So listen in every Saturday as Morning Meeting brings you what’s new and exciting from the world of AIR MAIL.
Latest episodes

Dec 10, 2022 • 33min
Episode 117: Harry and Meghan: The Royal Cosplayers
This week, Ashley and Mike have more than a few thoughts on Meghan and Harry and their reportedly $100 million exercise in royal cosplay. Then, Linda Wells reports on how sleep has become the new sex (performance anxiety included). And speaking of sex, Stuart Heritage joins from the U.K. to discuss the corruption scandal in the House of Lords, the “Baroness Bra,” and how Julia Roberts is associated with the whole hooha. Then, Mark Ellwood explains the rise of the “thrillionaire”—thrill-seeking .01 percenters who are looking for out of the ordinary vacations. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dec 3, 2022 • 35min
Episode 116: Spies and Models! John le Carré and Kate Moss
This week, acclaimed author Pico Iyer joins Ashley and Mike to share what he discovered about the singular spy novelist John le Carré while reading a new collection of his letters. Later, Michael Gross reports on Kate Moss’s new venture and how she’s challenging the modeling industry. And finally, Juli Weiner stops by with a smart idea for gift-giving. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nov 26, 2022 • 32min
Episode 115: The Mobster and the Maître d’
This week, Ashley and Mike are joined by one of New York’s best-known maître d’s, Michael Cecchi-Azzolina, who reveals how he was almost whacked by a member of the Gotti crime family for refusing to serve him drinks. And speaking of crime, Michele McPhee reports from Beverly Hills on a bizarre scam involving a dentist to the stars of Hollywood and the N.B.A. Then Katya V., a poet and feminist in Moscow, tells us why she is determined to stay in Putin’s increasingly unlivable Russia, even as many of her friends escape. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nov 19, 2022 • 38min
Episode 114: A Special Show on Downtown New York
This week, Graydon Carter joins Ashley and Mike to discuss AIR MAIL’s first-ever special issue, devoted entirely to downtown New York. In addition, James Wolcott takes us on a tour of CBGB, the Mudd Club, and some of the other notorious (and now gone) rock clubs from the 70s and 80s. And speaking of music: Chris Black reports on Electric Lady, the Greenwich Village recording studio started by Jimi Hendrix, while Stephanie Danler shares her memories of seeing a pre-fame Lady Gaga in 2006 at Pianos. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nov 12, 2022 • 31min
Episode 113: Hollywood's Lost Stories Come to Light
This week, Sam Wasson, the author of one of the great books on moviemaking, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, joins Ashley and Mike to talk about his latest book about the city of dreams, Hollywood: The Oral History. In addition, Marcia DeSanctis reveals her idea for a winter travel destination that should go to the top of everyone's bucket list. And speaking of winter and the holidays, food writer and editor Christine Muhlke shares her thoughts on the best new cookbooks of the season. All this and more make this week's show one you won't want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nov 5, 2022 • 30min
Episode 112: Liz Truss: Even Weirder Than We Thought!
Remember Liz Truss? In a new book, she admits she’s even weirder than we thought she was. And this week, Stuart Heritage joins us from the U.K. to reveal what else he’s learned about the shortest-serving P.M. in the history of Great Britain. In addition, Linda Wells has a report on the new (and pricey) trend in weight-loss management. And then Liberty Ross rolls in to talk about how she’s bringing American-style roller rinks to London. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 29, 2022 • 31min
Episode 111: Can King Charles Flip the Script on “The Crown”?
This week, Stuart Heritage joins Ashley and Mike from the U.K., where he looks at King Charles's attempt to flip the script on the new season of The Crown, as well as the Palace's nervousness about Harry's impending memoir, Spare. Later, William D. Cohan reports on the bizarre billionaire feud between Bill Gates and the creator of Beanie Babies. And then Alexandra Marshall details what's inside the new memoir by the wife of the movie director Roman Polanski.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 22, 2022 • 31min
Episode 110: The Hot Mess That Was Liz Truss
This week, Hugh Bonneville—you know him best as Robert Crawley from Downton Abbey —joins Ashley and Mike in a very fun conversation about his new memoir. In addition, Stuart Heritage reports from London on the smoldering wreckage of a mess that is a former prime minister known as Liz Truss. Then Cullen Murphy discusses a best-seller about the environment from 50 years ago, and why it’s still powerful reading today. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 15, 2022 • 28min
Episode 109: How TikTok Turned a Disease Into a Hot Brand
This week, Ashley and Mike are joined by Eleanor Cummins, who explains how TikTok has turned a little-known disease into a hot brand among Gen Z and others. In addition, Michael Oreskes reports on new books by Trump associates that detail the shocking extent of the grifter-in-chief’s destructiveness. And Joseph Bullmore has the bizarre tale of the LSD-loving British aristocrat who is suing her art dealer for fraud. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 8, 2022 • 31min
Episode 108: The Big Trump Book “Confidence Man”—And What What You Need to Know
This week, James Kirchick joins Ashley and Mike to discuss our favorite intimate revelations in Confidence Man, the new blockbuster Trump book by Maggie Haberman. And speaking of intimates, Linda Wells reports on the woke-ification of Victoria’s Secret, and then Stuart Heritage sizes up the mess Liz Truss has managed to make of the U.K., in less than a month on the job. All this and more make this week’s show one you won’t want to miss.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.