Morning Meeting

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This week, the always entertaining John Lithgow stops by, along with AIR MAIL columnist Douglas McGrath, to talk about the terrific new Off Broadway show that Lithgow has directed and McGrath wrote and stars in. As expected, it’s a lively, fun conversation. In addition, George Pendle looks at the Sisterhood of the Traveling Brownshirt: how European women are the new face of the far right. And then Hooman Majd brings his insights to the protests in Iran, and what they portend for the men who toppled the Shah. 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.