A year ago, Jonathan Grahm, a chocolatier, visited Paris and noticed the ubiquity of lavender in French soaps and lotions. He wanted to add a floral-leaning chocolate to his lineup at Compartés, a confectionery shop in Los Angeles established in 1950, and figured that lavender was his way in. Mr. Grahm harnessed his inspiration into…
Even leading experts in vaccine science have run up against disbelief and ambivalence. Dr. Gregory Poland, 68, editor in chief of the journal Vaccine, said that a loud whooshing sound in his ears had accompanied every moment since his first shot, but that his entreaties to colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
As a girl, Sofia Coppola liked to melt down her lipsticks, mixing colors and consistencies to make a tint that conformed to her aesthetic ideal. She was after the look of Tess, the titular character in Roman Polanski’s 1979 film adaptation of the novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles,” portrayed by Nastassja Kinski. In one scene,…
On Tuesday, Google’s employees gathered for an all-hands meeting named T.G.I.F. These companywide meetings are rarely held on Fridays these days, but the name has stuck. Executives shared highlights from a recent earnings report and cloud-computing conference, and warned workers against taking disruptive actions in the wake of internal protests against a cloud-computing contract with…
The first high school reunion I attended was held in a basement reached by a rickety elevator. After I got there, I hung out nearby to see the other arrivals. This turned out to be a mistake. The elevator became a direct portal to my past: Who would step out next? I grew so anxious…
Soon after their arrival in late December 2020, the Covid-19 vaccines turned the pandemic around and opened a path back to normalcy. They prevented about 14.4 million deaths worldwide, according to one estimate. In a small percentage of people, they also produced side effects. Over the course of more than a year, The New York…
“The designers must fight to the death to dress you,” Kelly Ripa told Zendaya, the 27-year-old actress, as they discussed her preparation for this year’s Met Gala on a recent episode of “Live With Kelly and Mark.” Zendaya gave a knowing smile. Since she last attended the fashion extravaganza in 2019, she has become not…
The U.S. government’s landmark antitrust trial against Google’s search business is nearing its conclusion. But the parade of major federal cases challenging Big Tech’s power is just getting going. Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission started investigating Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp,…
Picture this: Your relationship is over. Now what? You probably let your close friends and family know, as well as your therapist, who will shepherd your healing journey. You might even turn to Spotify, Shakespeare or the StairMaster to cope. Eventually, you’ll delete or hide away (“archive,” to use Instagram’s preferred term) every trace of…
The twangy guitar picking begins and the crowd cheers. It’s time for “Love Story,” the ninth song on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour set list. Onstage, Ms. Swift strums her guitar and sings a modified Romeo and Juliet story, one with a happy ending that closes with Romeo on bended knee and Juliet picking out a…
