Norman Vanamee

Episode six of The Crown’s final season begins with a shot of Queen Elizabeth walking alone down an empty London street as church bells ring in the distance. An unseen newscaster says, “And so Coronation Day is upon us for the first time since 1953.” The Queen continues on her way past crowds taking down her portrait and then the scene cuts to a man walking through what appears to be Westminster Abbey. The voice continues, “The Queen is said to be devastated and will not attend the coronation. B…

Last month the Japanese automaker Lexus hired a team of backhoes to create an obstacle course at a ranch near Tucson, Arizona. They dug an enormous pit and carved deep gullies and a steeply tilted track on the side of a towering pile of dirt. After they finished, the usually sunny Arizona sky turned dark, and it poured rain for several days. Suddenly a merely tricky-to-navigate off-road trail was almost impassable. Lexus built the course so journalists and reviewers could try out the Overtrail…

Thirty-seven years ago an Austrian artist and showman named André Heller got 30 or so fellow artists to help him build an avant-garde amusement park called Luna Luna. Keith Haring covered a merry-go-round with his signature figures. Salvador Dalí decorated a surrealistic funhouse with mirrors and images of fried eggs. Rebecca Horn built the interactive Love Thermometer. And Jean-Michel Basquiat transformed an antique Ferris wheel with paintings and music by Miles Davis (Painted Ferris Wheel With…

On a chilly morning last week, a wind-, solar-, and hydrogen-powered research vessel named Energy Observer welcomed eight journalists for a tour. The oddly shaped boat (it’s 100 feet long and 40 feet wide) was docked in the shadow of One World Trade Center at New York’s Battery Park City Marina, and a bearded man named George Conty was waiting on its starboard side to help everyone aboard. Conty is one of Energy Observer’s boatswains, and it is his job to keep the equipment shipshape. “We’re goi…

A 282-year-old hotel on Martha's Vineyard begins its next chapter.

Go ahead and ask your friends. Everyone has a list of favorite Paris restaurants. Some will even drop you a Google Map. And, who knows, maybe they’re on to something. But you should also have a list of bulletproof greats. L’ArpègeThree Michelin stars for a ­vegetable-based menu? Alain Passard was the first to figure out how it’s done and the most adept at keeping it surprising by constantly updating the dishes. 84 Rue de Varenne, alain-­passard.comPierre GagnaireHow has he stayed on top of ­Pari…

With all the billionaires buying up Nantucket real estate and making litigious spectacles of themselves, you might wonder if there’s a need for a Snob’s Guide to this 48-square-mile island located off the coast of Massachusetts. Indeed, discerning travel advice is particularly vital in places where the mobs are monied and the legitimately wonderful can be obscured by the overhyped and overpriced. This holds especially true when traveling with children, who are generally not impressed by prime r…

Some Democrats were calling for an “open convention” after the first presidential debate. What happens now that President Biden has stepped aside?

Netflix’s new series The Decameron follows a group of wealthy strangers who shelter in a country estate to escape a lethal plague. Sound familiar?

The Apple TV+ show starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas is based a brilliant series of books by Mark Herron. Here's why you should read them in order.