How Florida’s Recount, Brad Pitt, 9/11, and More Shaped Today

[A special delivery from the V.F. Archive]( [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair's Cocktail Hour logo image]( A daily digest of things to discuss over drinks August 14, 2021 To celebrate the release of [Vanity Fair’s September issue](—a special edition devoted to the turn of the century—take a deep dive into the archive stories that set the stage for the present. [2000, Revisited: The Path to Florida]( [As the Florida recount ate away at George W. Bush’s margin of victory, the machinery of political power sprang to life. In Washington, stunned U.S. Supreme Court clerks watched justice become partisan, while in Florida, tens of thousands of citizens—thousands of them African American—found themselves disenfranchised by misleading, faulty, and uncounted ballots, or inexplicably purged from the rolls. Zeroing in on the frenzied 36 days that followed the 2000 election, David Margolick, Evgenia Peretz, and Michael Shnayerson investigated the “Brooks Brothers riot,” Jeb Bush’s high-tech felon hunt, and the new voting machines that left no paper trail, and asked, Could it happen again?]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [Brad Pitt and the Center of a Star]( [In 2001, Brad Pitt shied away from traditional leading man roles. In Ocean’s 11, he was George Clooney’s sidekick, and in Spy Game, with Robert Redford, he was often unrecognizable. Yet his indie sensibility hadn’t dimmed his stardom (or lowered his salary). In the fortress-like studio where Pitt did architectural design and photography, and where his then wife, Jennifer Aniston, painted and sculpted, the actor talked to Peter Biskind about fighting the celebrity trap and honing the fine art of Hollywood mischief-making.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [Portraits of 9/11: This Was New York]( [The firefighters and police officers who risked everything; the rescue workers who came from hundreds of miles away; the families who grieve; the leaders who rallied a shell-shocked city; the vigil keepers whose candles lit the night: These are among the images that will endure. This is the New York—and the America—worth fighting for, one not of skyscrapers, but of people.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [An Oral History of The Sopranos]( [Since that controversial last episode in June 2007, the cast and crew had never spoken so candidly about the show that changed both their lives and the showbiz landscape. With creator David Chase leading the way, Sam Kashner got a behind-the-scenes history of a national obsession as James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, and other Sopranos insiders talked about their years as a family, the trauma when someone got whacked, and making their peace with the finale.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [Russia’s Dark Master]( [Russian president Vladimir Putin won the admiration of his people for his iron grasp on power. Then came the Kursk submarine crisis. In 2000, Maureen Orth wondered whether the Kremlin’s mystery man would be able to rein in a massively corrupt oligarchy or instead wake the ghost of Stalin.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [More From the 2021 September Issue]( [The turn of the century may feel like ancient history, but the cast of characters is still very much with us. In the latest issue, V.F. traces the influence of then on now, the ways in which those icons and enemies from two decades ago set the stage for the present, and maybe for the future.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now]( [Condé Nast Spotlight | The breaking news and top stories everyone is talking about. All in one place. The most popular stories from Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest and more. STAY INFORMED]( [Vanity Fair Logo](www.vanityfair.com) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.