Gossip galore in Palm Beach as the turbulent year of 2025 stumbled to its close. Top of the heap is the tale of the popular maître d’ of Bice, a swanky restaurant (the original opened years ago opposite Teatro alla Scalla in Milan), who has been arrested by ICE, allegedly for driving a car with
Liberalism has always considered itself a noble creed, as liberals have conceived themselves its knights in shining armor. Perhaps – once upon a time – it was so. But that was in the 18th and 19th centuries, and we are now living in an era when liberals have many fears: climate change, fascism, malefactors of
I once knew a man so cheap he would call my dad to report that he’d found a nickel on the pavement of the local racetrack’s parking lot. I don’t know if Jim would have stooped to conquer a penny as well – I wouldn’t put it past him – but I like to think
My apartment in Havana is on a rooftop overlooking the sea, which sounds grand and penthousey, but it’s not – it’s the former caretaker’s hut. It also sits above my parents-in-law’s place, which offers challenges, but does mean that most days I wander down for lunch. When I first moved in, I didn’t speak Spanish
Whether President Trump really has solved six, seven or even eight wars, one conflict he can’t do anything about, for now at least, is the one in his hometown, Palm Beach, where he is partly responsible for tempers that are beginning to fray. This is all down not so much to Trump himself but to
It is likely that the ordinary man, not being an ideologue, would agree as he grows older with Arthur Balfour’s famous epigram: “In politics nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all.” This is only partly to do with sub specie aeterni, etc. For the rest, there is the simple recognition that politicians
When you own a horse farm, the same question canters repeatedly through your mind: should I buy another horse? Rationally, you know the answer is no, but you inevitably wind up doing it anyway. Because in the grand scheme of things, it’s just one more head in the herd. The day-to-day of farm management doesn’t
In some ways, it feels like I stepped off the plane at JFK from London mere days ago – wide-eyed, naive and still convinced that “winter” would be charming and cozy rather than a six-month endurance test in avoiding frostbite. Yet here I am, somehow entering my sixth year of participating in the annual pageant
The app has done more for the city’s social life than a decade of think-tank happy hours
You become a real New Yorker when you’ve mastered the delicate, near-mystical art
Here in Havana, when hurricanes approach, an eerie calm takes over
You can take over your parents’ farm – or local law firm – and make it your own
My social life is meeting a different character every week
The supermarket is a kind of secular religion with frozen orange chicken as communion
The Morgan Affair in 1826 led to the first third party in American political history
Human intelligence: you either use it or lose it
Each city serves Power while sacrificing meaning
Welcome to the People’s Republic of Santa Monica
There’s a good chance you’ll have heard someone say that tactless phrase: ‘See it before it changes’
I suppose I should hate this city, the Typhoid Mary of cultural imperialism
