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Zarna Garg Was a Stay-at-Home Mom. Now She's a Comedy Superstar
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by Glamour editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. Jim McCambridge/Hulu Zarna Garg spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom before trying her first open mic night. Now the successful comedian has her three kids and her husband help sell merch at sold-out shows, weigh in on stand-up jokes and laugh lines, and take on household tasks so mom can tour the country. 'We are a family operation,' she tells me over Zoom. 'I feel strongly that every mother in America needs to be able to say to her kids, 'You have to help me.' There's nothing wrong with that.' It's not all work, either: At the end of Practical People Win, Zarna's latest comedy special now streaming on Hulu, the whole family joins her onstage for a dance. And it was actually Garg's kids who first encouraged the comedian to try stand-up. They've got good instincts, because within six years the comedian became a headline act at New York's iconic comedy club Caroline's on Broadway, opened for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on their Restless Leg tour, won Kevin Hart's competition series Lyft Comics, and gained over a million Instagram followers. Her memoir This American Woman, which came out earlier this year, is a New York Times bestseller. Next up? A sitcom in development for CBS with Mindy Kaling and Hart. Watch Practical People Win, and it's clear why Garg's career took off. The comedian is impressively adept at taking things highly specific to her life—everything from her oldest son, 'so handsome,' getting a broken nose to why she wears a bindi—and making them feel somehow relatable and universal. Plus, who doesn't appreciate a good mother-in-law joke? For Garg, it's about making the audience feel like they're part of this family operation. 'I wrote it with a lot of love,' Garg says of her special. 'When I do live shows, I tell people, 'This is a friends and family event.'' Below, we caught up with the comedian about Practical People Win, what it's like parenting as a comedian with a nontraditional schedule, and her best traveling tips. Read on. : Can you walk through your creative process? Where do you find inspiration? Zarna Garg: A lot comes from what's going on in my life at the moment. Like my two older kids—I have a 22-year-old and a 19-year-old—there's a lot of dating drama happening in their lives. The boyfriend said this, and the girlfriend said that. Something will stick in my head, and then it becomes, Oh, this is a funny idea. I'll run with it and try to write something around it. In this hour, I wanted to speak to what it means to be an immigrant, what it means to be Indian in America. The word immigrant has become so loaded and heated in these last few years, and I wanted to bring some levity to it. Everybody's angry on all sides. You're Republican, you're Democrat, you're not even political, and you have very strong feelings. I wanted to bring some humor to the idea of being an immigrant and what we experience on the other side, watching the Americans. I also shared a little bit about what it means to be Indian, like how we cope when everybody around us is angry. So that was the north star, and then the real-life stories kind of kept presenting themselves. Of course, my mother-in-law is a forever presence in my life. She's always doing or saying something that will trigger me. Then it sits in my memory. Now, instead of worrying about it and crying about it, I'm like, That's a joke. Do you keep notes or anything to remember these moments? I don't take notes, because I'm on a stage almost every night. I'm doing an open mic or a show or a spot on somebody else's show every night. So when something happens, I'll try something that same day. I live very in the moment. If it happened, say, this afternoon, then tonight I'll stop by a club and do 10 minutes and just talk about it in the funniest way. I'll work it out, and I'll see. It probably won't get the biggest laughs the first time I try it, but I can usually tell whether the premise is resonating with the audience or not. If it did, then I'll dig deeper and write it down and build it into something. Some premises don't catch. I'm all about entertaining my audience. It's not about what I am entertained by. I'll give you an example: I've been trying to write a father-in-law joke for years. It just doesn't land. Nobody cares. It's like you said in the special—you come at comedy as a business, so if people aren't laughing, you move on to what they want. Yeah, I don't want to change people's minds. I'm not a political comic. I'm not here to prove to somebody that I'm an artist at this level or that level. That's not my idea of what I do. I'm here to serve my audience. They're giving me a very important asset, which is their time, and I take every second, every minute seriously, almost to the point of insanity. My kids will be like, 'Mom, it's okay if it's not a laugh line.' And I'll say, 'No, no, no. That line's got to go.' I'm very, very deliberate about it. I'm a mom myself. I have three kids. I know what it takes to sit in front of a TV for an hour. It's not easy for us. There are so many things going on. If I try to watch my own special, I promise you, 50 people will interrupt me. Some kid will need food, somebody's phone will ring. You've got to be very mindful of people giving up their time. This is the world's most valuable asset: human attention. When you were talking about how much traveling you do in your special, I thought, How does she do it? What is it like parenting with a career that's not a traditional nine to five? I was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years. I couldn't figure it out. I could not. I was like, How is everybody around me doing it? I could not figure it out. All those years are a blur. It was just me being home and chasing them. When my youngest was old enough to go to full-time school, like kindergarten, actual school…because in the early years, it's 10 minutes of school, then you're picking them up. There's no time. So when he was old enough to go to school full time, that's when it became, I have to do something now. Because I was also dying inside. I really wanted to get back to work. Now my kids are older. Two of my kids are adults, and I recruit them. If I need to travel extensively, I make sure my husband's around. He now doesn't have the high-profile job he had for many, many years, so I'll tell him, 'Listen, I need to work, and you have to be home.' He couldn't have done that five years ago. My older son goes to college in upstate New York. I'll call him and be like, 'You need to come back.' They all know they have to help Mom. That's a given. That's not a question mark; it's understood. We have a family chat where all our logistics are managed. I'll be like, 'I need one of you guys to be here and be with the little one.' They understand that's part of their responsibility in this family. It's lovely that you gave so much of your time and now are able to redistribute the load. I feel like American moms feel shy in asking for payback. It's not the American way. I'm not shy about it at all. I don't know that there is any other way. I don't feel like anybody is going to come out to help me. I don't think any of these politicians are going to make a single thing happen for us. In fact, we only lost the things we had. Now I'm very clear with my kids that you have to help me. You owe it to your mom. I'm also a little dramatic about it, I'm not going to lie, but that's how they step up. They're part of this family. This is not a hotel where they're just here to take and leave. They understand that. I talk about it in the special too. I've learned how to have my voice in America. American women taught me that, but I learned the value of community from where I come from. You saw the special. My whole family comes out at the end because they're a part of it, and I want them to have their moment to shine. I want every mom in America to know that it's okay to go to work with your kids. It's okay to bring them. We cannot all be pretending like these children don't exist, or that they're a constant inconvenience. That's one of the biggest struggles of being a working parent in America, that you almost have to pretend like you don't have kids. It's not sustainable. It's already falling apart before our eyes. Everybody is overworked and overstretched. In my own humorous way, I'm trying to address that. My kids are everywhere. Every show, they're selling merch, they're folding merch, they're bringing me food. We are a family operation, and I feel strongly that every mother in America needs to be able to say to her kids, 'You have to help me.' There's nothing wrong with that. It sounds like it's a wonderful bonding experience as a family too. Listen, they have their feelings about it, and they will be in therapy, and that's fine. Do they tell you, 'Mom, that joke's not funny?' Do they have opinions? Of course they have opinions. They're American kids. They have opinions, but they'll never tell me, 'Mom, take it down.' They'll give me their perspective. They'll be like, 'You know what? Maybe if you came from this angle, you could consider our perspective.' I try a lot of jokes with them and their friends. I don't need to go to an open mic. I have an open mic in my living room every day. Every day, their whole posse is in my house. The soccer team is in my house, the football people are in my house. Whenever there's three, four people, it's an open mic for me. They'll offer me their opinion, and they'll be like, 'Oh, my mom said this, and I felt this way when she said it.' That helps me shape the joke and make it a full 360-degree piece. You talked about immigration being a really important theme in this special. Looking ahead, are there some other themes you see emerging in your comedy? Yes, I feel like I touched on this in the latest one—and now, I'm kind of working more in it—is how moms compete with each other. Competitive mothering. We all have so much latent energy, and we have so many latent desires that we have to suppress when you're being a mother. You can't do this because you've got the kid. You can't do that. I feel like it all bubbles out and surfaces in the mom competitions. All this energy that we would've probably put in our work environments or in other situations starts cropping up in the bake sale and the library books and whatever. I'm digging around that space right now. For women who are looking at returning to work or a career change after their kids are more grown, it might feel a little scary. Do you have any advice for them? Yes, be scared. You should be scared, but you're scared for the wrong reason. Don't be scared of what other people are going to think of you. Nobody cares. They don't matter. Be scared of not owning your future. The thing that motivates me the most is that I'm absolutely terrified of getting old in America and not having the means to take care of myself, not having the social structure to take care of myself. You should be scared of that, and you should say to yourself, I'm scared of it, and I'm going to fix it myself. I don't need anybody else to step in. I don't need a husband, I don't need a father, I don't need any of that. There are tools. Today, in the world of social media, women have more access to business opportunities than ever before. Use it all. I have friends who started a closet-organizing business and are making seven figures because they're constantly posting on social media about closet organizing, which I didn't even know was a thing five years ago. So be scared, but use that fear and anxiety to a productive purpose. Rather than shrinking or limiting you, use it to empower yourself and push you and propel you. All that fire that you have, use it to lift off the rocket ship that could be your career. When people watch this special, what's one thing you hope they take away from it? I hope that they all feel like they're part of my world. I wrote it with a lot of love. When I do live shows, I tell people, 'This is a friends and family event.' I'm the most regular, flawed, everyday mom human being, and I want them to feel like they're part of my family, and that they have family with each other. We made a family comedy because we want people to experience it with each other. The amount of people who are planning watch parties over this special, you could break the internet. People want to watch it with their husbands and wives and in-laws. Do you know how many mother-in-laws, daughter-in-laws come to my show? They bond. You would think that they hate each other, but actually they bond over the jokes. So if people can take one thing away from my special, it's the feeling of togetherness and belonging with each other and with me. Last question: Because you do so much traveling, any tips? Oh my God, yes. Know that things will go wrong. Everybody I know gets angry because they're all trying to speed through things. Me, personally, I go in prepared that everything is going to run on delay. My bag is going to get lost, and I'm ready for it. I always have a little carry-on with my emergency backup outfit. Do not book things so close that if you don't make this flight, and if this doesn't show.… Stop it. Travel is going to have problems. There are human beings running these airplanes and airports, and you have to give them that little allowance that things can go wrong. My bags are late, I don't care. I'm listening to my Bollywood music. Actually, today, I landed at 1:25 a.m. The bags were running late, and I was just dancing with the bag guy. I'm like, Let's make a Bollywood moment out of it. My tip is to slow down. It's not to get angry with everybody. We need to, as a nation, just stop being so angry about everything. It's not helping. Who are we helping? You're not even helping yourself. You are about to have a heart attack because your blood pressure is so high. It's true. I feel like most people know this, but then don't do it—that when things are hard, you've got to laugh through it. It's the only way to survive. It's the only way to survive, and it's okay. People are people. They're trying to help. I fly every day. Yelling at the steward on the airplane is not going to get it done. What can that guy do? They didn't load the meal. Sometimes, I'm in row two, and they've run out of meals. You've got to laugh at it because I'm like, Oh my God, what are you going to do with row 30? Are you going to make them cook? Can you imagine going through 50 rows of telling people, 'We ran out of food'? I think everybody needs to take a moment, take a step back, and relax. The thing that saves me is my wired headphones and my music. Anything upsets me, I start playing my music. I zone out. Let it take the time it's taking. Assume it's going to go badly. That way, when it goes right, you're elated. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Originally Appeared on Glamour Solve the daily Crossword
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5 days ago
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Jennifer Lawrence's New It Sneaker Is Barely a Sneaker at All
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by Glamour editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. SINY, ULRA, REES Once again, Jennifer Lawrence is leagues ahead of the rest of us when it comes to her footwear. If you've been paying attention to sneaker trends, you may have seen it: how sneakers are becoming slimmer and slimmer, something more akin to a soccer cleat or a ballet flat than the chunky platform styles of yesteryear. It feels as though eventually they'll be nothing more than a thin rubber coating strapped under a bare foot. Lawrence's 'sneakers' are almost there. The actor stepped out in New York City on July 16 in her trusty pair of Wales Bonner Mary Jane sneakers, sort of a ballet flat-sneaker hybrid with a thick elastic strap and a Velcro closure. Viewed in side profile, a gum sole hugs the arch of the foot, giving the whole thing the look of a rock-climbing or cycling shoe. Wales Bonner Mary Jane Flat Sneakers $625.00, Ssense Salomon RX Marie-Jeanne Sneakers $150.00, Net-a-Porter The actor styled her Mary Jane sneakers with red trousers (the hems of which drag on the floor, in true JLaw fashion), a Picasso print T-shirt layered under a cobalt blue cardigan, which she'd tied around her shoulders, and a floppy black bucket hat pulled low over her face. She swapped out her favorite satchels from The Row and Fendi for a cream-colored mesh tote bag. This is a look for a woman on the move. In terms of shoe trends, the 34-year-old is always one step ahead of the curve. She was an early adopter of Alaïa's mesh flats, as well as The Row's sheer slippers—both of which became the must-have shoes of the past few seasons. And while we might balk at the price tag of her flip-flops (yes, those are $700 thong sandals), there's no denying that if Jennifer Lawrence wears a certain style, it's soon to become A Thing. She's like the weatherman of shoe trends. Stick with her and you'll be alright. Originally Appeared on Glamour Solve the daily Crossword
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6 days ago
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Lorde Releases New Album Virgin : Listen and Read the Full Credits
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by Pitchfork editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. Lorde, photo by Talia Chetrit Just about two months after official announcing it, Lorde has released the new album Virgin. The New Zealand pop musician previewed her follow-up to 2021's Solar Power with the singles 'What Was That,' 'Man of the Year,' and 'Hammer.' She co-produced the album with Jim-E Stack, enlisting additional contributions from Fabiana Palladino, Daniel Nigro, Rob Moose, Buddy Ross, Inc. No World's Andrew Aged, Blood Orange's Devonté Hyves, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, and others. Virgin also has a sample of Dexta Daps' 'Morning Love' on 'Current Affairs,' and the album's 'If She Could See Me Now' contains elements of Baby Bash and Frankie J's smash hit 'Suga Suga.' Listen to Virgin and see the full list of album credits below. 01 Hammer Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Additional Production: Buddy Ross Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Ian Gold, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Jack Manning, Koby Berman Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Keyboards: Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack Piano: Buddy Ross Synthesizer: Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 02 What Was That Producer: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Daniel Nigro, Jack Manning, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack Drums: Jim-E Stack Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged, Daniel Nigro Keyboards: Jim-E Stack OP-1: Jim-E Stack Piano: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 03 Shapeshifter Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Andrew Aged, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Andrew Aged, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Jack Manning, Jim-E Stack, Rob Moose Assistant Recording Engineer: Ian Gold, Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Jim-E Stack Cello: Gabriel Cabezas Drums: Craig Weinrib Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged Glockenspiel: Jim-E Stack Keyboards: Jim-E Stack OP-1: Jim-E Stack Piano: Jim-E Stack String Arrangement: Rob Moose Synthesizer: Jim-E Stack Viola: Rob Moose Violin: Rob Moose Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 04 Man of the Year Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Tom Elmhirst Recording Engineer, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Bailey Kislak, Jack Manning, Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Devonté Hynes, Jim-E Stack Cello: Devonté Hynes Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Keyboards: Eli Teplin, Jim-E Stack Piano: Eli Teplin Synthesizer: Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 05 Favourite Daughter Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Ian Gold, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Koby Berman Drum Machine: Jim-E Stack Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged, Devonté Hynes Keyboards: Jim-E Stack Piano: Eli Teplin Programming: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Devonté Hynes, Eli Teplin, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 06 Current Affairs Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Craig Harrisingh, David Harrisingh, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, Fabiana Palladino, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Craig Harrisingh, David Harrisingh, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, Fabiana Palladino, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Tom Elmhirst Recording Engineer: Fabiana Palladino, Jack Manning, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Jim-E Stack Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged, Jim-E Stack OP-1: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 07 Clearblue Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Austin Christy, Koby Berman Keyboards: Jim-E Stack Programming: Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 08 GRWM Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack, Josiah Sherman Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack, Josiah Sherman Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Buddy Ross, Ian Gold, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Jack Manning, Koby Berman Drum Programming: Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack Keyboards: Jim-E Stack Piano: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 09 Broken Glass Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Additional Production: Daniel Nigro Composer: Daniel Nigro, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Daniel Nigro, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Austin Christy, Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Daniel Nigro Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged, Daniel Nigro Keyboards: Jim-E Stack Piano: Jim-E Stack Space Echo: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Daniel Nigro, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 10 If She Could See Me Now Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Additional Production: Sachi DiSerafino Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, Fabiana Palladino, Francisco J. Bautista Jr., James Harmon Stack, Nathan Perez, Ronald Ray Bryant, William DiSerafino Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, Fabiana Palladino, Francisco J. Bautista Jr., James Harmon Stack, Nathan Perez, Ronald Ray Bryant, William DiSerafino Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Devin Hoffman, Fabiana Palladino, Ian Gold, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Kyle Parker Smith, Koby Berman Acoustic Guitar: Devin Hoffman Bass Guitar: Devin Hoffman Drums: Kyle Crane Drum Programming: Jim-E Stack Electric Guitar: Andrew Aged, Devin Hoffman Keyboards: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Buddy Ross, Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor 11 David Producer: Jim-E Stack, Lorde Composer: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Lyricist: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, James Harmon Stack Mastering Engineer: Chris Gehringer Assistant Mastering Engineer: Will Quinnell Mixing Engineer: Mark 'Spike' Stent Assistant Mixing Engineer: Kieran Beardmore, Matt Wolach Recording Engineer: Jack Manning, Jim-E Stack Assistant Recording Engineer: Koby Berman Bass Guitar: Justin Vernon Electric Guitar: Justin Vernon Keyboards: Jim-E Stack OP-1: Jim-E Stack Programming: Jim-E Stack Synthesizer: Jim-E Stack Vocals: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor Wind Chime: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor Lorde: Virgin $37.00, Rough Trade Originally Appeared on Pitchfork Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
6 days ago
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- Washington Post
Magazine editors used to be gatekeepers. Do we need them anymore?
It's 2025 and veteran Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor Tina Brown is on Substack, opining on private jets and Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories. Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter recently published a memoir about his magazine world heyday, and did a jolly round of interviews with all the new media talkers: fashion podcasts, food podcasts and sound bytes for Interview. And multiple generations of fashion fanatics are pouring one out — and by 'one,' I mean a splash of nonfat oat milk matcha — for Anna Wintour's (pseudo-)retirement from the day-to-day operations of American Vogue. Soon the 21st-century decline of the fashion media landscape will move from tidbits in media newsletters to the silver screen: 'The Devil Wears Prada 2,' a follow-up to the 2006 hit that helped make Wintour a household name, has just begun filming. It follows Wintour's stand-in, Miranda Priestly, navigating the digital revolution. And on the podcast front, a look at what made the company so extraordinary in its prime is the subject of 'The Nasty,' featuring remembrances from Condé Nast's power players on the elevator gossip and the famed Frank Gehry-designed cafeteria at 4 Times Square. Meanwhile, Mr. Big and Carrie — also known as former Condé publisher Ron Galotti and writer Candace Bushnell — are still trading barbs in the press, in recent pieces in New York Magazine and the Times. Welcome back to the '90s! The latest cultural artifact to capture this longing for an earlier, more sparkly zeitgeist is 'Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America,' by New York Times media reporter Michael M. Grynbaum. Tracing the Newhouse family business that owns Vogue, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker throughout the 20th century and into this one, the book's buzziest reporting focuses on the careers of Brown, Carter and Wintour. Their 1980s go-getter tenures saw them begin as outsiders who, through their unusual points of view and the largesse of Si Newhouse, created a powerhouse of influence and style — 'one company in Manhattan told the world what to buy, what to value, what to wear, what to eat, even what to think,' Grynbaum writes — that is the subject of continued fascination on social media and in pop culture writ large. 'When you look at Condé Nast, it's almost the history of social aspiration. And this goes back all the way to the founding: Vogue comes out of the 400 and the Gilded Age,' said Grynbaum in a recent interview, referring to the list of society insiders established by Caroline Astor in the late 19th century. 'If you look at the Condé Nast of the mid-century, you see the WASPy, eastern establishment of the sack suits and threadbare sweaters, and it has this kind of understated aesthetic. By the time you get to the '80s, you have the rise of Wall Street and Gordon Gekko, and this newfound willingness to flaunt.' As Grynbaum noted, Brown's first issue of Vanity Fair appeared the same week that 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' appeared on TV. 'It represented a new establishment,' Grynbaum said, 'and idea of what it meant to be successful in America at that time.' You can see why younger generations are fixated. Grynbaum's book has all the goods to induce mania in anyone with aspirations to work in media, mostly a rare combination of shocking budgets and provocative taste: anecdotes about expense accounts, interest-free mortgages on West Village townhouses and photoshoots with eye-popping budgets for items like $30,000 to rent a live elephant. Carter would dispatch his assistant to travel destinations a day in advance to set up an exact reproduction of his New York desk, complete with pencils (and no paper clips — he had a distaste for them that was noted in the staff manual). One editor was told that her chosen hotel wasn't splashy enough — upgrade! 'It was considered unprofessional to go into the office in flat shoes. Maybe a pair of Chanel ballet flats, but a pair of brogues, absolutely not,' Vogue writer Plum Sykes tells Grynbaum. Writers and editors FedExed their luggage so they didn't have to deal with it on the plane. (In business class, or the Concorde, of course.) The accounts of this time of pure luxury are rollicking even as you become desensitized to them. Picture this: Carter had just landed in Venice in 2006 for a Condé retreat with the business's top editors and executives, when he realized he'd misplaced his top-secret mock-up issue of Portfolio, the company's not-yet-launched business magazine that had been given to him confidentially. He called his assistant Jon Kelly (now a founder of digital media start-up of Puck), who had just landed on a red-eye from New York, and told him that he'd probably left it on a gondola. Kelly, armed with his usual 10,000 euros in petty cash for such trips, spent the next several hours bribing gondoliers until he turned up the issue. It's an equally impressive tale of unimaginable resources and assumptions of powerful editors, plus the bygone maniacal pluck of their lowly assistants. It recalls a scene from 'The Devil Wears Prada' in which Anne Hathaway, as Miranda's struggling assistant, Andy, manages to find a copy of the not-yet-released Harry Potter book for the editor's daughters. And it would make a much more glamorous (and likely entertaining) film than the 'Prada' sequel. Who wants to watch Miranda Priestly square off with traffic reports? But the most provocative, eyebrow-raising reveal from the book is this: We still live in the world Condé Nast and its intimidating editors created. We just don't know how to make sense of it, because we lack the requisite curatorial eyes. TikTok is filled with home tours that recall the real estate porn of Architectural Digest; even though they're probably out of reach, we're still obsessed with decoding the behaviors and wardrobes of the ultra-elite. 'Our contemporary Instagram culture — airbrushed, brand-name-laden, and full of FOMO, where pretty people do pretty things in pretty places without you — is a DIY replication of the universe that the celebrity editors of Condé Nast carefully created month after month, year after year,' Grynbaum writes. He argues that, although it may be Brown's tenure at Vanity Fair that is most often celebrated, her time at the New Yorker was more audacious and revolutionary: 'It is striking to realize the degree to which her tenure, so controversial in its day, laid the template for our modern notion of upper-middlebrow journalism,' he writes. 'Tina's approach was giving elite Americans permission to think seriously about subjects that the old version of the magazine had rarely deemed worth of deep consideration: tabloid scandals, hit sitcoms, right-wing demagogues, porn stars.' Today, Grynbaum said, 'I think we get bombarded by different sources of information all day long on our phones. And as much as it's been great to see the rise of new voices in the culture that may have not had a forum in the past, now we live in a state of chaos. I think we're yearning for curators, social curators.' What magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue and GQ did in their prime was help readers make sense of the world — which, now, with social media and the reliance on video content, is even messier. It's not for nothing that the role of the editor in chief, not the designer or photographer or critic, is the one that most young women aspire to have in fashion. For decades — maybe even centuries, if you want to look at the fashion magazines that emerged in the 18th century to track the whims and shopping sprees of Marie Antoinette — the power of choice, of pointing to one skirt, or restaurant, or reporter, play or artist over another, has been a potent domain. Condé's elitist reputation is one it has long struggled to shake — those stories make for some of the funnier and more disturbing reporting in the book, such as a writer's recollection of losing out on a job for eating asparagus the wrong way — and was first the source of its power, then a contributor to its fall. Wintour in particular has tried to broaden the outlook and perspective of Vogue, with uneven results. Yet the new media that has emerged largely replicates the Condé way. Grynbaum pointed out that many of the most popular Substacks — such as the various shopping newsletters and Emily Sundberg's Feed Me, a highly influential roundup of gossip and stories from across tech, media, style and business — are about an unusual person's singular perspective. There is still a desire for figures who can point us, and our attention spans, to what is worth watching, buying, talking about or pondering. Ultimately, what do we long for when we long for the golden age of Condé Nast? It is the dream of having money — and taste.
Miami Herald
16-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Did your favorite beach in South Florida make this list? Take a look
A national luxury travel magazine once again says South Beach has one of the best beaches in the state. Condé Nast Traveler, in its 2025 '21 Best Beaches in Florida' list, praised South Beach as the place for 'beautiful people, flashy cars, skimpy bathing suits, Art Deco architecture' along a 'two-mile white sand stretch that makes up Florida's most famous beach.' 'It's all here,' the magazine gushed. The magazine gushed similarly about South Beach on Florida's best beaches' the 2023 list. The Miami Beach stretch also made it onto Condé Nast's 2021 Best Beaches national list: 'The siren song of Miami's South Beach is undeniable.' No 'siren song' reference in the 2025 listing — that sound may be the honking of cars trying to navigate into one of the parking spots along Ocean Drive. But the gay beach on 12th Street with its 'sea of Speedo-clad, sculpted bods' gets a shout-out. The 'quieter patches below Fifth Street' for locals looking to swim and sun away from tourists was also singled out. The magazine recommends staying staying at either 'the soothing, nature-inspired' 1 Hotel South Beach or the 'art-forward, all-suite' W South Beach near each other on Collins Avenue. Four other beaches in South Florida made Condé Nast Traveler's Top 21 in the state in 2025, which also featured picturesque spots Main Beach on Amelia Island, Key Largo's John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and Marco Island Beach. Here's a look: Other local beach favorites These four South Florida beaches join South Beach among Florida's fab beaches, according to Condé Nast Traveler: ▪ Haulover Naturist Beach, North Miami-Dade between Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles Beach 'Attention: Beyond this point you may encounter nude bathers,' the sign reads at South Florida's only officially recognized public nude beach. 'As welcoming as it is well-loved,' Condé Nast notes for its mix of body types that frolic here. Two Fort Lauderdale beaches made the magazine's best of '25 list in Florida. ▪ Sebastian Street Beach Beach. You'll find this gay-friendly beach on Sebastian Street and A1A across the street from the Casablanca Cafe in Fort Lauderdale. Condé Nast calls Sebastian 'a sun-soaked celebration of queer joy, where every color of the rainbow is not just welcomed but wonderfully visible.' The vibe is casual with locals, visitors and couples making up the clientele. Come as you are but wear a bathing suit. 'Towel-to-towel diversity.' ▪ Fort Lauderdale Beach, the tried-and-true A1A landmark where Florida Panthers hockey fans celebrated back-to-back Stanley Cup wins and even took the Stanley Cup trophy for a dip last year. This year, revelers gave a replica cup a dunk when officials said 'no' to ruining the original with salt water. MORE: Singer Connie Francis is having a moment at 87. What she says about her 'Baby' Fort Lauderdale Beach is also where spring break originated thanks to the hit 1960 movie filmed here and starring Connie Francis and its famous featured song, 'Where the Boys Are.' You kids know Francis from her current TikTok-trending hit, 'Pretty Little Baby.' City officials have since refocused the vibe away from spring break but the 'uncluttered stretches of sand, sparkling blue waters' still thrive along A1A, the magazine writes. And finally, Key Biscayne in Miami-Dade snags a spot on Florida's 21 Best Beach's list for 2025. ▪ Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park is just a mile-long beach on the southern tip of Key Biscayne but it has that historic lighthouse, leaf-lined walking trails for walking and biking and nearby restaurants. This one may no longer merit world-best status, the travel magazine says, but it's 'indeed nice.'
