Features

Unanchored

When Anderson Cooper, reporting from the Gulf Coast, dressed down a U.S. senator and then dissolved into tears on live TV, the footage was riveting—and possibly a preview of television news’ future.

Sweet and Vicious

Since Sex and the City put the Magnolia Bakery on the map, the cupcake business has become cutthroat. How a simple sugary treat inspired visions of grandeur and turned friends into bitter rivals.

Yummy or Sickly?

They've ruined friendships and sparked legal brawls. But how do all these cupcakes taste?

Intelligencer

Intelligencer Gossip

Lindsay Lohan to direct, class warfare, Hamptons-style, Chuck E. Cheese's shocks Park Slope moms, and more.

It Happened Last Week

Meanwhile, keeping an empathetic eye on the Gulf Coast (and a skeptical eye on the White House), New Yorkers reacquainted themselves with the dubious pleasures of actually putting in a productive day at the office.

When the UPS Guy Became a Fashionista

Young designers are being inundated with sponsorship cash from buzz-hungry corporations tenuously connected to style. Was your show sponsored by Tampax?

Getting Ferrer There

Freddy Ferrer’s campaign manager on trying to make a democratic town vote democratic again.

As the Bodies are Counted

A New York medical examiner on the necessary, horrifying process of identifying the dead in New Orleans.

Strategist

Best Bets

Vintage reptile-skin bags, the new Taylor electric guitar, and more.

Shop News

Store openings this week.

Ask a Shop Clerk

Nelson Pitts and Colyn Hunt of Oren's Daily Roast.

Sales & Bargains
This week's hottest sales & bargains.

The Look Book

A Gap designer on how to accessorize like a pro.

Map

Navigating the LES-like environs of South Williamsburg.

Restaurant Review

The dishes at Jean-Georges’s newest restaurant are superb but may not be worth the hassle of getting in the door.

In Season

Long beans.

Ask Gael

Am I Awake? I See David Bouley Cooking.

Restaurant Openings & Buzz

Week of Sept. 12, 2005: Zucco: Le French Diner, Cercle Rouge, D'or Ahn. Plus, caper leaves, and a diet-be-damned amuse.

Au Naturel

In order to be bio, chances are you're plowing fields using animals, and using their dung as compost. You're intimate with your grapes.

Holding (Food) Court

Two highlights of Circle of Taste, the weeklong Time Warner Center foodie bash. (For details, visit circleoftaste.com.)

Eat Here Now

With the humidity behind us and autumn’s chill ahead, September’s the ideal time to eat outdoors. A garden grazing guide.

Travel

What to do in Shanghai.

Mating

How a coach can help you on a first date.

Real Estate

Will a new law make the co-op application process less painful?

The Culture Pages

7 2/3 Innings With Salman

Salman Rushdie is to literature as the Yankees are to baseball.

Movie Review

The newest wry-chronicle-of-adolescence flick makes chronic thumbsucking a laughing matter.

TV Review

Fox’s fall lineup has its moments.

Foyle's War Series III Reviewed

It is amazing what intelligence and talent can do on television without ever mugging or shouting.

Gilmore Girls Reviewed

Be warned that these 60 minutes are angry and sad.

Follow the Leaders

A primer on TV presidents.

Mommy Dearest: Jessica Walter

Anyone can play a bitch. The trick is to play a bitch we can root for.

Art Review

Joan Snyder painted her feelings, but she was far from sentimental.

Love Machine: Robert Indiana

"Most of my work, except the 'LOVE' paintings, is bound up in autobiography, bits and pieces of my life, my geography, my history, my friends."

Pop Music

Suggested CMJ festival itineraries for rap fans, Elliott Smith mourners, and more.

The Approval Matrix

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.

Columns

The Imperial City

If 9/11 failed to wake up America, will Katrina be any different?

The Power Grid

The Clinton Global Initiative could not be better timed to showcase Hillary’s new mad-as-hell populism.