Culturally relevant things: Giant starring John Lithgow (definitely). East of Eden by John Steinbeck (possibly!). And the winner of Eurovision (almost certainly not, but still fun).
THEATER
John Lithgow and the Whole Separating the Art From the Artist Thing
A profile that gets at some of the thorniest issues of our time.
This issue’s cover story is a profile by Rebecca Alter of the versatile and masterful actor John Lithgow, who’s currently nominated for a Tony for playing Roald Dahl in Giant. The play encompasses the British children’s author’s pro-Palestinian views as well as his virulent antisemitism. As Rebeca writes, Giant is evoking strong audience reactions: “A friend told me that when he went to see it, a woman in the audience kept going ‘Woo!’ whenever [Aya Cash’s character] Jessie brought up Israel’s right to defend itself. Cash confirmed that those lines occasionally get mid-scene applause and whoops and that Dahl’s pro-Palestine lines sometimes receive applause as well.” Rebecca also spoke to Lithgow about his decision to play Dumbledore in the forthcoming Harry Potter HBO series. She’s very brave! We talked about it.
What do you make of Aya Cash’s claim that the cast doesn’t talk about politics?
I thought that was interesting, but I also know that John and Elliot Levey [who plays Dahl’s publisher] had also told me that they definitely talk at least a bit about politics. It may just be that while I’m sure there’s some productions in New York City where the cast and crew have a circle and have a talking stick and talk about what’s happening in the news, that is very much not this show’s process. That’s the impression I got from the playwright, Mark Rosenblatt. This was a play that was already in development prior to October 7, and it’s set in 1983, and that’s what it’s about.
Were you impressed with John’s candor?
The fact that he volunteered to say that the show resonates with the news today because Israel has, much like in 1982, bombed civilian infrastructure like hospitals is more than I think a lot of actors on Broadway in 2026 would say.
Was it difficult for you to bring up J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans activism with our next Dumbledore?
I opened it up with John by being like, We’ve hit this part of the conversation where inevitably this is something we’re gonna talk about. He has resigned himself to having clearly not known about any of this beforehand. I need to say that he is so, so extremely smart and well-read, but he is also 80, so he wasn’t in the weeds of Twitter discourse beforehand. And he falls on the side of Harry Potter books have done a lot of good for millions of kids, and it’s nice to keep that going and to be a part of it.
BOOKS
Catch East of Eden Fever Now
John Steinbeck’s 650-pager is the trendy classic you’ll see at the beach this summer.
Move over, Stoner. Make way, Lonesome Dove. The next book to fit into the Venn diagram overlap between “was on the syllabus, but you never read it” and “suddenly everywhere” will be East of Eden, Fran Hoepfner claims:
The obvious reason: Zoe Kazan’s adaptation of East of Eden will be out on Netflix this fall, and it would be the perfect thing to be pedantic about for months on end with your friends and loved ones at dinner. Steinbeck’s epic is widely considered his best novel, and at around 650 pages, it’s a modest tome without being a nightmare to tote to the Rockaways. It tells the story of two families, the Hamiltons and the Trasks, and it is based on and inspired by both Steinbeck’s maternal grandfather and the Bible. East of Eden also features Cathy — 2026’s second evil-ish Cathy — who is played by Florence Pugh in the miniseries and has some of the novel’s best scenes and lines. 2026: The year every woman wanted to be Cathy, and no, not that one. For what it’s worth, BookTok is already going nuts for East of Eden. Should its taste be trusted? Not always, but it’s right about The Secret History, and it’s right about Steinbeck too.
The Grapes of Wrath will also soon get a miniseries adaptation as part of an AMC anthology series that’s giving “erudite Ryan Murphy” vibes. That’s all the evidence we need to confidently predict a hot Steinbeck summer. The East of Eden adaptation, it should be noted, also stars Mike Faist, whose mere onscreen presence is enough to make me [TRAIN GOES BY] [CAR HORN BLARES]. Anyway, here’s the trailer.
MUSIC
Dara Won Eurovision With ‘Bangaranga’
Bulgaria takes home an unfortunately meaningless prize this year.
The geopolitical controversy swirling around this year’s Eurovision song contest is probably more interesting than the contest results, but this newsletter is not wading into a debate about whether the whole enterprise is invalidated by many heavyweight contenders like Ireland and Spain refusing to participate because Israel was included. (FWIW, I think it is invalidated, but also, I like songs, so here we are.) Our fave Greece did not win or even come close. “Bangaranga” by Dara sounds exactly like a Girls5eva parody of a The Fame Monster–era Lady Gaga track. That is a compliment.
Click Your Way Out
Alison Willmore called it right: A24 will distribute Jordan Firstman’s Cannes hit Club Kid.
How costume designer Shirley Kurata made I Love Boosters the best fashion movie of the year.
Odo East Village is a playful à la carte version of its uber-fancy uptown sibling.
Hey, my millennials: Want to feel old and jaded? Shein is buying Everlane; more details to come.
Neil Gaiman is suing one of his accusers for violating the terms of an NDA, which, per her lawyer, indicates that “he may have come to the conclusion he has nothing left to lose.”
This week’s NYC weather forecast means it’s time to stick your window AC units in. Here are the best new ones.
Final approval of the Anthropic settlement may come next week. I’ll believe it when the check is in my hot little hands.
“Apple already employs a T9-esque suggested words feature in iMessage, even converting abbreviations into full sentences. The AI was a hat on a hat.”
The Gilded Age shot a big outdoor scene right outside our office, but tragically, it was the weekend so we didn’t get to gawk.