Morning Meeting Air Mail

Ashley Baker has thoughts on summer travel. Then, for more than a century, being selected as a Rhodes scholar, and given the opportunity to study at Oxford University, was seen as a great validation of one’s strength as a student and a future leader. But, as James Kirchick reports this week, it seems that is no longer the case. Then it’s summertime, which means cocktails on the beach and rosé all day. But Linda Wells tells us what happened when she tried a THC cocktail. And finally, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of D-day, Tim Bouverie reports from London on what he considers the greatest film about the Normandy invasion, The Longest Day.

We have a frightening article this week courtesy of Clara Molot, a Senior Editor here at Air Mail. Many people are not aware that across the U.S. and around the world rates of cancer in young people are rising with no clear explanation. And Clara looks at a mysterious cancer surge among a group of twentysomething alumni from a college in Virginia. It’s a heartbreaking story. And speaking of heartbreak: it’s been 25 years since John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, died when the plane he was piloting crashed into dark, fog-shrouded waters off of Martha’s Vineyard. We all knew J.F.K. Jr., but for many Bessette-Kennedy remains a mystery. A new book, Once upon a Time, looks at her life, and the author Elizabeth Beller will join us. Finally, you have surely heard that driverless cars are coming for us. Devin Friedman joins us from Los Angeles to tell what he discovered when he took one for a spin. (Or did the car take him for a spin? We’ll find out.)

The Cannes Film Festival is in full swing in the South of France, and one of the big stories everyone is following concerns Francis Ford Coppola. Forty-five years after he won the Palme d’Or for Apocalypse Now, he is back with his latest film, Megalopolis. He has spent more than $100 million of his own money on the film and is at the festival looking for a distributor. Our own Sam Wasson will tell us how one of the titans of moviemaking found himself hat in hand. Then Stuart Heritage will join us from the U.K., where he will tell us about what is known to be the worst hotel in Great Britain. And James Eli Shiffer has the incredible story of an American woman from Minnesota who discovered that she is the secret daughter of an Italian banker and senator who cavorted with Jackie Kennedy and Princess Margaret and was the face of the 1970s jet set.

Is your partner cheating on you with an A.I. companion? As Flora Gill tells us this week, many people, in search of physical and emotional intimacy, are increasingly turning to what are known as “A.I.-companion sites.” Then Alyssa Choiniere takes us inside the protests at Columbia University and tells us where this all might be headed. And finally, John Arlidge joins us from London with a new look at an extraordinary scandal. Ten years ago, high-profile members of the British Establishment—including a former prime minister—were falsely accused of sexually abusing children. In the effort to discover the truth, however, the country tore itself apart.

For decades, the Eurovision Song Contest has been a source of fun for millions. This year, people are bracing for other possibilities. Jonathan Margolis tells us why. Then Michael Gross has a revealing look at the scandal that sent New York’s bluebloods buzzing: when the son of Brooke Astor, the long-reigning queen of New York society, was convicted of stealing millions from her. (Or did he?) And finally, on strange stories of a different sort, Paulina Prosnitz tells us about Sarah J. Maas. You may not know her, but she is the Taylor Swift of book publishing and has conquered the best-seller list with a new genre called “romantasy,” which comes complete with kinky elves. (Yes, kinky elves.)

This week, Howard Blum, who has been following the story of the man accused of killing four students at the University of Idaho, has new revelations that could sink the case against Bryan Kohberger. Then Carrie Monahan reports on how the desire by one of New York City’s most notorious private clubs to open an outpost in East Hampton has local residents up in arms. And finally, many of you know the film Mommie Dearest, which stars Faye Dunaway as Hollywood legend Joan Crawford. Now there’s a new book looking at how a project with such big ambitions found itself an unintentional camp classic. The book’s author, A. Ashley Hoff, joins us to dish the dirt.