Latest news with #GreatGatsby
Atlantic
2 days ago
- Politics
- Atlantic
With the Big, Beautiful Bill, You Can Now Sponsor a Billionaire of Your Choosing
My fellow Americans: When you pay taxes, which would you rather support? Cancer research, or getting one guy a really big boat? Don't answer that. We have answered it for you, with the Big, Beautiful Bill. We took one look at the economy and said, 'All of these people can barely afford rent! Why, they might work a hundred years and never be able to buy a yacht! They will get married at city hall and have their receptions in a park. None of them will rent out the entire city of Venice. Maybe, if they are feeling fancy, they will buy a single egg.' And then we said, 'No! We can't let this happen. We are taking a stand. We've got to redistribute the wealth of Americans properly: to billionaires, who will use it better than the rest of us can.' The Big, Beautiful Bill assigns each American a billionaire who will live the American dream for you. You can check in on your billionaire at intervals and see how he is using your money. Maybe he's building a 19th pool. Maybe he's buying himself some formerly public land! Maybe he's taking a Supreme Court justice on a dream vacation! Maybe he is reupholstering the Statue of Liberty to hide the poem. Maybe he's throwing a Great Gatsby –themed cocktail hour as part of his wedding extravaganza! Maybe he's replacing his blood with transfusions from his 'blood boys.' Maybe he has bought hundreds of eggs and is pelting the house of a mere hundred-millionaire with them. Maybe he has bought some $TRUMP coin and is attending a special bash! There's never a dull moment for the lucky beneficiaries of this wonderful bill! Sure, you are getting coal—and, for some reason, asbestos —in your holiday stocking, but somewhere your billionaire is getting 600 diamonds! One of them fell under his couch, and he didn't even notice! Now he's going to space! No, you can't come. But you get to feel that you were a small part of making it happen. Unrelatedly, NASA is probably getting 41 missions canceled. Remember the Adopt a Highway program? This is like that, except that at the end of it, the highways will all be worse and a man who doesn't know your name will have six extra helicopters. When you're sick of checking in on your billionaire, don't forget to pop in and look at ICE, the other thing your dollars are working hard to support! Not their faces. Those are still hidden. But you can check out the wonderful new facilities they're building! Well, you can't, personally, and they have said your members of Congress can't, either. But you can imagine how wonderful they are! Probably, for $45 billion, they're pretty wonderful! Which would you rather have, support for your grandfather's retirement or the reassuring knowledge that, somewhere, ICE is kidnapping someone else's grandfather and throwing him into a van? Would you rather have food for your child, or the sense that maybe you helped contribute to building a big wall? As you struggle to find an elder-care facility that will accept Medicaid because all of the ones in your state have closed, just know that you're living the American dream of having a costly internment facility built in your name! Did I say internment facility? I meant Alligator Alcatraz! They are selling T-shirts. As your own dreams shrivel, remember that someone, somewhere is being made even more miserable than you! That's the new American dream: that someone is being punished in your name. And, somewhere else, a billionaire is happy. Your personal billionaire! Look, he's smiling and giving a big thumbs-up! Already, your tax dollars are being put to good use.
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Can't Repeat the Past? A Gatsby Boat Tour Can.
The morning rain clouds had parted and blue sky peeked through as some 75 members of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society waited on a Long Island pier. They had gathered on a recent Sunday for The Great Gatsby Boat Tour, a 90-minute cruise around Manhasset Bay to explore East Egg and West Egg, the fictional peninsulas where Fitzgerald set his 1925 novel, 'The Great Gatsby.' While the captain worked to replace a dead battery on the boat, the group of Fitzgerald scholars and fans munched on deli sandwiches and mingled. Kirk Curnutt, a professor of English at Troy University in Alabama, explained that the cruise was the kickoff event for the society's annual conference, which, befitting the centennial of the publication of 'Gatsby,' was being held this year in New York. Attendees had come from around the country and world. Mr. Curnutt pointed to a tall blond woman who was a professor of American literature at the University of London and the author of several works on Fitzgerald, including a recent article for The Financial Times about how 'Gatsby' predicted Trumpism. 'That's Sarah Churchwell,' he said. 'She's one of the stars.' Mr. Curnett, 60, teaches 'Gatsby' to education students who will go on to teach the novel in high schools. 'We teach them how to teach,' he said. 'Like avoiding the phrase 'American dream.' It's such a shopworn cliché.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
West Australian
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Shire of Cuballing biannual Winter Ball sold-out
This month's Shire of Cuballing biannual Winter Ball was themed around the glamour of 1923. The venue — the 1914-built Cuballing Agricultural Hall — is not far off that era and was beautifully decorated to show off its old-world charm with ostrich feather lights and a giant candelabra. Tickets for the ball sold out within a week, according to the shire. The hall was filled to capacity on the night with 120 local attendees all ready for a night of dancing, drinking and catching up with friends new and old. Local bands Ma Baker and Don't Tell Daisy entertained the crowd, who were well-fed by Christine Hill's catering and watered at the Great Gatsby bar. 'We put on these events to give people a reason to stay in Cuballing, and a reason to come back if they have moved away,' shire president Eliza Dowling said. 'We have a great crowd of young people in our area and plenty that are young of heart and we want to give them the opportunity to get together and make some memories.' The Shire of Cuballing thanked everyone involved in organising and running the event on the night. All proceeds from the ball are put back into the local community, being donated to various community groups around town and the region. The ball is held biannually, so it will be back in 2027.
New York Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Stephen Fry Knows He's Become a Middle-Aged Cliché
By email, the actor and prolific writer (three memoirs!) apologized, sort of, for outgrowing D.H. Lawrence. SCOTT HELLER Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Jo, the crossing sweeper in 'Bleak House,' is the character who has the most powerful effect on me whenever I return to that peerless book. (Incidentally, Miriam Margolyes's reading of the audiobook is one of the wonders of the age.) Jo is a minor character really, not a hero, but he literally sweeps across the different worlds of the novel. And Dickens's authorial voice denouncing the society that let him die is a masterpiece of fury and despair. Your favorite antihero or villain? Tom Buchanan in 'The Great Gatsby' stands out. There are so many Tom Buchanans in the world now. Running it. Or — to change a letter — ruining it. In 2021, the Times described you as an 'avuncular public intellectual.' How do you feel about that label? Oh my lordy lord. Avuncular gives me great pleasure. But I disavow 'intellectual,' just as I disavow 'artist' (not that quite so many call me that). I am, I think, an entertainer, impure and simple. But I love the company of real intellectuals. When were you first exposed to Greek mythology? At prep school, which in Britain means aged 7 to 13. I instantly fell in love with the juice, energy and fierce delight of them. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Elle
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Elizabeth Banks on Her ‘Crazy' Skin Care Rituals and the Importance of Sisterhood
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Elizabeth Banks is busy. She's in the middle of a press run for her latest show, The Better Sister, a murder mystery that centers around two estranged sisters (played by Banks and Jessica Biel) reuniting. She's living in Toronto and filming a new series, The Miniature Wife, on Peacock. She even just gave a commencement speech at her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Amid all of it, she's trying to get her beauty sleep. 'Our skin does its best repair work at night,' she says. 'I tell my kids that's when your body fixes itself, and when you grow. That's true of our skin too.' Banks is the first U.S. ambassador for skin care brand No7, and she's been using their new Future Renew line every night. Banks joined me on a Zoom call from Toronto. We caught up about her nighttime routine, her love of puzzles and podcasts (of which she has many recommendations, and even pulled up her podcast library to make sure she gave me all of them), and how important it is for her to stay active in today's political climate. Below, our full conversation. It's weird right now, because I'm living alone. I don't have my kids with me. I have a totally different vibe than I normally do when I am home. Last night was a typical night for me [alone]. I've been doing puzzles. I like to puzzle and listen to books on tape. I'm actually listening to A Court of Thorns and Roses right now, which is making me laugh. Last night's [puzzle was] a bunch of popsicles. I also did a Great Gatsby puzzle. This is my third puzzle in about four months that I've done. I leave it on the table and wind down by listening to something and keeping my mind busy. This is the one thing that I feel like is just for me. I do not bother with anything less than 1,000. Um... I think it's pretty good. I don't want to speak ill. It's a fun world to be in. The news is a bit overwhelming right now. I'm finding [that] I just want to be in a fairy tale world right now in my wind-down [time]. I get my news during the day. But at night, I'm also really trying to stay off Instagram. It's really important for my sleep that I am doing something actually relaxing that does not take my emotional life anywhere. The greatest thing about No7 is that you can line all the products up on the countertop, and go through them one by one. I use the Future Renew Peptide Cleanser. Then I do the Future Renew Night Serum, that's really silky, lovely, and yummy. It feels and works great. I got into serums after a conversation with my dermatologist, who was like, You could do more than just moisturizer. Serums are when you get the good stuff, you know? Then I have the Future Renew Night Cream. All of these are formulated for overnight use. They really make the most of your beauty sleep. The other thing I'm most interested in is sleep. I really am trying my best to hydrate at night and get as much sleep as possible. Your skin always looks improved when it's hydrated [and] after you've had a good night's sleep. I love long walks. I'm really trying to get those steps in. Even after a long day, I'll try and do a walk. I also have a walking pad in my trailer at work. On my breaks, I just walk. That's when I'm usually listening to my podcast. And planning the revolution, obviously. I listen to a lot of NPR, which I still support. I listen to Up First most days. I listen to The Daily. I like Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. I like Mel Robbins. I like storytelling, so I do like a lot of the murder podcasts. I listened to one a while ago that I really still think about called Bear Brook. I [also] listen to The Opportunist. I have a friend, Quinn Emmett, who does The Most Important Question. It's all about environmentalism and the ways that different things cross into climate. You wouldn't think this, but [there's an episode about] women's rights crossing into climate—protecting women, elevating them. Then all the Serials and Nice White Parents. I got into facials more. I do crazy things now. I put my face in ice most mornings to take down inflammation. No7 is great for elasticity, fine lines, hydration, and wrinkles. But physically, I carry a lot of water weight. I like to gua sha and move things around [like lymphatic drainage]. As you get older, things start to fall apart faster, and you really do have to pay closer attention. It's made me more mindful. I loved the themes of it. It felt almost Shakespearean in nature. There's two sisters with a shared husband, and the son [is] living in the shadow of the father [in] this rarefied world. These two daughters who took different paths and now [have] come back together. There's vengeance and revenge. To be honest, I'm a big sister, and I felt a real kinship with this character. A sisterhood at the center of a story is something I'm always drawn to. If you watch Pitch Perfect, it's about sisterhood. It's about a sorority of women who band together and solve something. I made Charlie's Angels, which is about a sorority of women who band together to solve something. It's a theme in a lot of my work. It's a relationship that we don't always see elevated. I love that this was a classic whodunit that also had sisterhood at the center of it. Sisterhood is a shortcut to saying all the women in my life who are getting shit done, who are inspiring me to get shit done, who teach me, and on whose shoulders I stand. It's one of the most important things in my life. Other than my marriage, it's all about sisterhood. I'm the oldest of four. I have two sisters and a brother. I have two sisters-in-law, who I love dearly, too. My mom has five sisters. My dad has four sisters. There's a lot of sisters in my life, but I also have all my friends and my girlfriends. [I have] mom friends. Then I have the sisters that I'm activists with. I have the sisterhood of my fellow actresses in Hollywood, who amaze me and inspire me all the time. Can't do without them. I've really been coming to back to the idea more and more that we are living in a world that was not handed to us. It was fought for—my right to vote, to a 40-hour work week, child care, ability to have a credit card and own property. None of this was God-given to me. It had to be fought for by women who came before me. It's always good to remind women that they live in a world that was fought for by other women. In the women around me and in my kids. I want more freedom for them. I want their lives to be open and enriched. I want people to be educated. We are living in an incredibly interesting time in human history. We're on this exponential curve, with everything going straight up. We've got AI, and all of these incredible technological advancements, especially when it comes to living longer. We're really the first generation of humans to live this long. What are we going to do with all that time? How are we going to spend it, and how are we going to be more inclusive of more people? We have a lot of hard things going on when it comes to climate change and income inequality. We need to be inviting more people to the solutions party, and not less. I do feel hopeful. When it comes to the protests that are going on in Los Angeles, for instance, it's about a sense of safety for everyone in our lives—our neighbors, our friends, our family, our co-workers. I feel like the current administration is making things very unsafe, and people don't like to feel unsafe. The banding together gives me hope that everyone is actually going to fight for one another's safety, and that we actually do live in community. We don't live in a divided place. I live in a community, and I'm going to help keep the people [there] safe. I'm going to continue to try and do that. If I am, I know other people are too. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
