“Wait —” is a weekly newsletter in which Caity Weaver investigates an unanswered (and possibly unasked) question in the news and pop culture. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox. The ancient Greek poets tell us that Achilles honed many of his survival skills (medicine, martial arts, playing the lyre well) under the…
Less than a week into Black History Month, in two episodes of retail déjà vu, Adidas and Gucci have apologized and pulled products criticized as racist. The offending Gucci item was an $890 black-knit women’s balaclava that could be pulled up over the lower half of the wearer’s face. The sweater included bright red lips…
It tingles. It feels good. And it has nothing to do with sex. (Unless you want it to.) By now, you may have heard of the phenomenon of A.S.M.R., the soothing, static-like sensation that some people feel in response to certain triggers. These “brain tingles” are often said to pulsate on the scalp or back,…
When my mother died suddenly last year, at the age of 63, they started coming: gift cards for Seamless, GrubHub and Uber Eats that pinged softly in my inbox. “Don’t forget to eat,” read the note accompanying one credit. Another said, “Because you can’t eat flowers.” Many of these sympathy gifts came from friends living…
When Nina Compton first drew national attention by competing in a 2013 season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” she fell just short of victory. Last May, she secured a far more prestigious prize: She was named best chef in the American South by the James Beard Foundation, the culinary world’s Oscars. Ms. Compton, 40, won for…
Eddie Obermueller thought I would take his last name once I became his wife. I first showed my hesitation by joking that doing so would amount to an over-500 percent character count increase for me, Sally Ho. But in truth, the name Sally Obermueller just felt jarring because it looked and sounded nothing like Phuong…
In fashion, a designer who is enjoying breakout success and buzz tends to be described as “having a moment.” Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy had a moment when she was revealed as the designer of Meghan Markle’s wedding dress. When Vetements lured the whole of the front row to an obscure Chinese restaurant in a…
On this week’s Modern Love podcast, the actress Debra Winger reprises her reading of “You May Want to Marry My Husband,” a moving essay written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal as she was dying from ovarian cancer. Ms. Rosenthal passed away 10 days after her essay was published. She was a memoirist, children’s book author and…
Checking your weather app these days is about as fun as checking your credit score. But while you can’t do anything about the forecast, you can do something about how you face it. Consider the just released Polo 11 puffer jacket, for example, which actually creates warmth, thanks to a USB-chargeable internal heating element. It’s…
Congratulations! You’re having a Fashion Week. Even if you won’t be attending it. New York is about to host its fashion week, which brings thousands of people and millions of dollars into the city for a “week” (loosely defined) of mostly private shows for a mostly industry (but increasingly influencer-stocked) audience. The women’s wear and…