Our most popular summer reads

Stories that take you from a French château to the depths of the Atlantic [View in your browser]( | [Un](newsletter=vfletters)[subscribe from this email](newsletter=vfletters)   [Letters from Vanity Fair Logo]( Radhika Jones here: Our executive digital director, Mike Hogan, has rounded up a few features for your summer-reading pleasure. For more stories that will delight and surprise you, we hope you consider [subscribing](.   [Executive digital director Mike Hogan] Mike Hogan EXECUTIVE DIGITAL DIRECTOR Labor Day may be right around the corner, but there’s still time to catch up on summer reads. This season, Vanity Fair’s intrepid reporters traveled the globe to uncover gripping, revelatory stories you won’t find anywhere else. There’s no better place to start than [“True Crime, True Faith: The Serial Killer and the Texas Mom Who Stopped Him.”]( Julie Miller tells the incredible, stranger-than-fiction story of how a stay-at-home mother, kidnapped for hours by a rampaging murderer, tapped into her Christian faith and transformed both of their lives. Over in the South of France, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie turned Miraval, the vineyard they bought as a family getaway, into a lucrative wine operation—only to go to war over its future after an altercation on a private plane prompted Jolie to file for divorce. [Mark Seal uncorks the saga of how the couple rode the rosé wave](, only to see their family torn to pieces. This June, the world held its breath awaiting news of the submersible that disappeared during an underwater voyage to visit the remains of the Titanic. But for experts and insiders who had long argued that its parent company, OceanGate, was taking reckless risks, there was a simple, heartbreaking explanation: The Titan submersible was simply unfit to descend to such dangerous depths. Best-selling author Susan Casey, a veteran of the field, [reveals why their prescient warnings were ignored](. There has been no shortage of warnings about California, a state whose golden reputation has been torched by a housing crisis, crime, and the acrid smoke of uncontrolled forest fires. Canvassing everyone from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg to TV writers, actors, and a sharpshooting self-defense guru, Joe Hagan dares to ask: [“Can anyone fix California?”]( As the WGA and SAG strikes drag on with no resolution in sight, it’s worth considering what led writers and actors in the entertainment industry to demand better. In an excerpt from her new book, Maureen Ryan documents the [behind-the-scenes dysfunction on the set of the legendary series Lost](. From racial and sexual discrimination to bullying and toxic behavior, Ryan dug up enough damning issues to prompt executive producer Damon Lindelof to admit: “I failed.” We hope you’ll get as much out of reading these features as we got out of crafting them. Thanks, and we’ll be back with a whole new batch of gripping narratives and in-depth investigations this fall! Best, Mike Hogan Executive digital director, Vanity Fair   [Your access to the buzziest stories in politics, culture, tech, and media starts with a subscription: only $8 for a full year with this limited-time offer]([.]( [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   STRANGER THAN FICTION [A yearbook photo of Margy Palm and mug shot of Stephen Morin]( [The Serial Killer and the Texas Mom Who Stopped Him]( [By JULIE MILLER]( [In 1981, Margy Palm was abducted by Stephen Morin outside a Kmart. She’s never told the whole shocking story—until now.](   [The Miraval estate, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie]( [War of the Rosé]( [By MARK SEAL]( [Miraval was more than just Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s family home. It was their family business: a hugely profitable wine label on an enchanting estate in the South of France. When they split following a harrowing flight, an epic battle ensued.](   [OceanGate’s Titan submersible]( [A Disaster Years in the Making]( [By SUSAN CASEY]( [To many in the tight-knit deep-sea exploration community, OceanGate’s submersible dives were reckless and often dangerous.](   [A strip mall in Pismo Beach at sunset]( [Can Anyone Fix California?]( [By JOE HAGAN]( [Climate. Housing. Crime. Depending on who you ask, the Golden State is a bellwether for progress, or a liberal hellscape.](   [The cast of Lost]( [Lost Illusions]( [By MAUREEN RYAN]( [The untold story of the hit show’s poisonous culture.](     [VANITY FAIR logo image]( [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 from this email](newsletter=vfletters) Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.