Rachel Syme
Rachel Syme, a staff writer, has covered Hollywood, theatre, fashion, television, podcasts, style, and other cultural subjects for The New Yorker since 2012. Her recent work includes profiles of the creators of “PEN15” and the makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic; an homage to the food writer Laurie Colwin; an exploration of “bathfluencers”; an interactive feature on the art of the Hollywood memoir; conversations with Jamie Lee Curtis, Rick Steves, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin, and Barbra Streisand; and profiles of Kirsten Dunst, Cynthia Nixon, and Anna Deavere Smith.
Her cultural criticism and reported features—which focus primarily on the intersections of women’s lives, artistic production, history, and fame—have also appeared in the Times Magazine, Elle, GQ, Grantland, New York, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and The New Republic, among other publications. She is currently writing a nonfiction book called “Magpie” and a coffee-table book about the joys of handwritten correspondence. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and now resides in Brooklyn.
Shooting Your Shot with Hilary Duff
The star of “How I Met Your Father” takes a flower-arranging class with Tasha Muresan, a D.M.-sliding florist turned friend.
Kate Berlant Has Nothing to Confess
The comedian, whose one-woman show is back until mid-February, says, of performing onstage, “I always felt incredibly myself up there when I was never talking about myself.”
How Much Netflix Can the World Absorb?
Bela Bajaria, who oversees the streaming giant’s hyper-aggressive approach to TV-making, says success is about “recognizing that people like having more.”
Meghann Fahy Stans Out Over Eminem
The “White Lotus” star visits Mom’s Spaghetti, a pop-up shop celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the movie “8 Mile,” to discuss her obsession with Slim Shady and her Italian-food snobbery, formed while filming in Sicily.
Jacob Anderson Scares Easily
The “Interview with the Vampire” star ruminates on death and immortality while visiting the crypts under St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.
How Drew Barrymore Became a Bizarro Fixture of Daytime TV
As the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which returned for a third season on Monday, the actress spelunks into her own past with open sentimentality and charming clumsiness.
Rosie O’Donnell Is Still a Fan
The actress and former talk-show personality discusses Madonna, “A League of Their Own,” knowing when to make a public apology, and life after feel-good daytime TV.
The Nora Ephron We Forget
Since her death, Ephron has become a symbol of sappy romance. But her real subject was how words could bring people together—or drive them apart.
Olivia Newton-John’s Tale of Two Sandys
The singer and actress, who died on Monday, at seventy-three, was a good girl at heart, even after her role in “Grease” gave her a taste of the glory in being bad.
Fall Television Preview
Prequels for “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings,” adaptations of “Interview with a Vampire” and “American Gigolo,” Lesley Manville in “Magpie Murders,” and more.
How to Relive the Pleasures of a Landline
With the help of an old rotary phone and a Bluetooth-hookup doodad, you, too, can feel like Rock Hudson gabbing in the bathtub.
Making Peace with a Precious Chess Set
My great-grandfather was one of the most eminent figures in American chess. But his passion didn’t quite run in the family.
How I Learned to Wear a Baseball Hat
The Internet is awash in novelty baseball hats, but I’ve found that the best ones are unearthed late at night, on eBay, guided by whatever keywords spring to mind.
How to Split Custody of a One-Inch-Tall Talking Shell
Dean Fleischer Camp, the director of “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” checks out the Stettheimer Dollhouse, another famous study in miniatures, and chats about his collaboration with Jenny Slate, his ex-wife and co-star.
The Ridiculous Egg Machine That Changed My Breakfast Game
It breaks all my kitchen rules, and yet, here I am, every morning, making myself a fussy little hotel breakfast.
Parker Posey Is Dead Serious
The fifty-three-year-old actress discusses “The Staircase,” ceramics, the state of indie film, and her idea for a show about dogs playing poker.
In “Russian Doll,” Natasha Lyonne Barrels Into the Past
How the actress turned showrunner took on inherited trauma through time travel.
Oscars Fashion 2022: The Young and the Shirtless
The clothes, like the broadcast, were at their most riveting when they were wholly unpredictable, for better or for worse.
How Pamela Adlon Makes Borscht on “Better Things”
On her semi-autobiographical FX comedy, cooking is a stand-in for the bittersweet banalities of single motherhood.
Patti Harrison Means It (Except When She Doesn’t)
The rising star of comedy discusses “I Think You Should Leave,” corporatized wokeness, A.D.H.D., and humor that swerves between sarcasm and sincerity.
Shooting Your Shot with Hilary Duff
The star of “How I Met Your Father” takes a flower-arranging class with Tasha Muresan, a D.M.-sliding florist turned friend.
Kate Berlant Has Nothing to Confess
The comedian, whose one-woman show is back until mid-February, says, of performing onstage, “I always felt incredibly myself up there when I was never talking about myself.”
How Much Netflix Can the World Absorb?
Bela Bajaria, who oversees the streaming giant’s hyper-aggressive approach to TV-making, says success is about “recognizing that people like having more.”
Meghann Fahy Stans Out Over Eminem
The “White Lotus” star visits Mom’s Spaghetti, a pop-up shop celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the movie “8 Mile,” to discuss her obsession with Slim Shady and her Italian-food snobbery, formed while filming in Sicily.
Jacob Anderson Scares Easily
The “Interview with the Vampire” star ruminates on death and immortality while visiting the crypts under St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.
How Drew Barrymore Became a Bizarro Fixture of Daytime TV
As the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which returned for a third season on Monday, the actress spelunks into her own past with open sentimentality and charming clumsiness.
Rosie O’Donnell Is Still a Fan
The actress and former talk-show personality discusses Madonna, “A League of Their Own,” knowing when to make a public apology, and life after feel-good daytime TV.
The Nora Ephron We Forget
Since her death, Ephron has become a symbol of sappy romance. But her real subject was how words could bring people together—or drive them apart.
Olivia Newton-John’s Tale of Two Sandys
The singer and actress, who died on Monday, at seventy-three, was a good girl at heart, even after her role in “Grease” gave her a taste of the glory in being bad.
Fall Television Preview
Prequels for “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings,” adaptations of “Interview with a Vampire” and “American Gigolo,” Lesley Manville in “Magpie Murders,” and more.
How to Relive the Pleasures of a Landline
With the help of an old rotary phone and a Bluetooth-hookup doodad, you, too, can feel like Rock Hudson gabbing in the bathtub.
Making Peace with a Precious Chess Set
My great-grandfather was one of the most eminent figures in American chess. But his passion didn’t quite run in the family.
How I Learned to Wear a Baseball Hat
The Internet is awash in novelty baseball hats, but I’ve found that the best ones are unearthed late at night, on eBay, guided by whatever keywords spring to mind.
How to Split Custody of a One-Inch-Tall Talking Shell
Dean Fleischer Camp, the director of “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” checks out the Stettheimer Dollhouse, another famous study in miniatures, and chats about his collaboration with Jenny Slate, his ex-wife and co-star.
The Ridiculous Egg Machine That Changed My Breakfast Game
It breaks all my kitchen rules, and yet, here I am, every morning, making myself a fussy little hotel breakfast.
Parker Posey Is Dead Serious
The fifty-three-year-old actress discusses “The Staircase,” ceramics, the state of indie film, and her idea for a show about dogs playing poker.
In “Russian Doll,” Natasha Lyonne Barrels Into the Past
How the actress turned showrunner took on inherited trauma through time travel.
Oscars Fashion 2022: The Young and the Shirtless
The clothes, like the broadcast, were at their most riveting when they were wholly unpredictable, for better or for worse.
How Pamela Adlon Makes Borscht on “Better Things”
On her semi-autobiographical FX comedy, cooking is a stand-in for the bittersweet banalities of single motherhood.
Patti Harrison Means It (Except When She Doesn’t)
The rising star of comedy discusses “I Think You Should Leave,” corporatized wokeness, A.D.H.D., and humor that swerves between sarcasm and sincerity.