profiles ·
Rebecca Mead profiles the British actor and memoirist as he takes on the role of Lady Bracknell in a West End production of Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Rebecca Mead
Rebecca Mead joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 1997. Her books include “ Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return .”
Read more on The New Yorker →23 picks · 1998–2025
Featured Picks
annals of inquiry ·
Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit from Michigan—and a meteorite expert—oversees a team of scientists employed by the Holy See, and is known as the Pope’s Astronomer. Rebecca Mead travels to Italy to discuss science and religion with him.
letter from the u.k. ·
While facing renewed accusations of cultural theft, the institution announced that it had been the victim of actual theft—from someone on the inside. Rebecca Mead reports.
the art world ·
Rebecca Mead writes about a bravura show at the Rijksmuseum that displays more of the Dutch Master’s work at once than he himself ever saw.
books ·
Rebecca Mead on a new memoir by the Duke of Sussex detailing his relationships with Meghan Markle, Princess Diana, King Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.
letter from england ·
On a hillside ages ago, people inscribed a naked man with a twenty-six-foot-long erect penis, Rebecca Mead writes. Why did they do it?
letter from the u.k. ·
Two metal-detector enthusiasts discovered a Viking hoard. It was worth a fortune—but it became a nightmare, Rebecca Mead writes.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead on “The Inheritance,” which opens soon on Broadway and reimagines E. M. Forster’s novel as a lovingly wry portrait of New York’s gay community.
a reporter at large ·
In the tourist-clogged city, some locals see the service as a pestilence, Rebecca Mead writes.
letter from the faroe islands ·
Rebecca Mead writes that people are flocking to a Nordic archipelago to sample cuisine—like fermented lamb tallow—that challenges even the most adventurous palate.
annals of education ·
Inside Eva Moskowitz’s quest to combine rigid discipline with a progressive curriculum.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead on the man curating the auction house’s themed sales, like “Bound to Fail” and “If I Live I’ll See You Tuesday.”
onward and upward with the arts ·
Rebecca Mead on “Hamilton,” a hip-hop, pop, and rap musical about the Founding Fathers, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which premièred at the Public Theatre.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead profiles the Cambridge classicist Mary Beard, whose fight against misogyny has made her a feminist heroine.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead profiles the best-selling novelist Jennifer Weiner, who takes the literary media to task for being biased against female writers and readers.
a reporter at large ·
An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.
profiles ·
Christine Quinn and the last days of Bloomberg.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead’s 2011 profile of fashion muse Daphne Guinness.
profiles ·
Rebecca Mead on the self-help guru Timothy Ferriss, who urges readers to "hack yourself” using a kind of hyperkinetic entrepreneurialism of the body and soul.
the publishing world ·
Alloy, the teen-entertainment factory.
a reporter at large ·
Bobby Egan’s barbecue diplomacy.
letter from mongolia ·
Rebecca Mead on the booming popularity of cashmere clothing in America, and how the Mongolian cashmere industry is actually in trouble.
annals of hollywood ·
ANNALS OF HOLLYWOOD about movie director Sam Raimi. Sam Raimi's cheesy 1979 horror film, "The Evil Dead," which boasts an absurd plot, bad acting, and…