Lifestyle
Internal memo details cosmetic changes and facility repairs to Kennedy Center
A person walks a dog in front of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 10, 2026.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
An internal email obtained by NPR details some of the projected refurbishments planned for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The renovations are more modest in scale and scope than what President Trump has publicly outlined for the revamped arts center, and it is unclear whether or not these plans are the extent of the intended renovations.
The email was sent on Feb. 2 by Brooks Boeke, the director of the Friends of the Kennedy Center volunteer program, to tour leaders and some staffers at the arts complex. In a response to NPR emailed Tuesday, Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, wrote: “The Trump Kennedy Center has been completely transparent about the renovations needed to restore and revitalize the institution, ever since these proposals were unveiled for Congressional approval last summer. The changes that the Center will undergo as part of this intensive beautification and restoration project are critical to saving the building, enhancing the patron experience and transforming America’s cultural center into a world-class destination.”

The center’s closure was announced after many prominent artists canceled their planned appearances, saying that the Trump administration had politicized the arts. The Washington National Opera, which had been a resident organization at the Kennedy Center, left its home there last month, citing a “financially challenging relationship” under the center’s current leadership; The Washington Post, in an analysis of Kennedy Center ticket sales last October, reported that ticket sales had plummeted since Trump became the center’s chairman – even before the complex’s board renamed the venue as the Trump-Kennedy Center in December.
In her memo, Boeke cited Carissa Faroughi, the Kennedy Center’s director of the program management office. Boeke said that upcoming renovations to the complex’s Concert Hall will include replacing seating and installing marble armrests, which President Trump touted on his Truth Social platform in December as “unlike anything ever done or seen before!” Other changes include new carpeting, replacement of the wood flooring on the Concert Hall stage and “strategic painting.”
The planned changes to the Grand Foyer, Hall of States and Hall of Nations include a change of color scheme, from the current red carpeting and seating to “black with a gold pattern.” The carpeting and furnishings in these three areas and its electrical outlets were redone just two years ago, according to the Kennedy Center, and were accomplished without interrupting performances and programming.
Other planned work on the complex include upgrades of the HVAC, safety and electrical systems as well as improving parking. It is unclear whether these plans are the extent of the intended renovations; Daravi declined to answer that specific question.
The scope of the project as outlined in the memo differs sharply from public statements by President Trump, who said earlier this month on social media and in exchanges with the press that he intends a “complete rebuilding” and large-scale changes to the Kennedy Center, and that the arts complex is “dilapidated” and “dangerous” in its current state.

Earlier this month, Trump said that a two-year shutdown of the Kennedy Center is necessary to execute these renovations. This idea was echoed by the center’s president, Richard Grenell. Grenell wrote on X that the Kennedy Center “desperately needs this renovation and temporarily closing the Center just makes sense – it will enable us to better invest our resources, think bigger and make the historic renovations more comprehensive.”
On Feb. 1, Trump announced his plans to close the center entirely for two years “for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding” to create what he said “can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.” He later said that the project would cost around $200 million. The announcement came after many prominent artists had canceled their existing scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center.
Lifestyle
A historically hot Paris Fashion Week photographed with a kid’s camera
I took a kid’s camera to Paris Fashion Week, because was it ever really that serious? Yes and no. This men’s season happened during one of the hottest weeks in France’s recorded history, which inspired that specific brand of collective hysteria brought on by living through yet another unprecedented moment together — taking over our brains and ruining our plans to wear boots — and a grander reflection on what we were doing there and why. The throngs of teenagers doing back flips into the Canal Saint-Martin and playing soccer in the street set the mood for the week. If the world is ending, you might as well swim in dirty water and have fun doing it, no?
As far as the shows went, there was the coastal stoner energy of Tokyo-based Auralee — brightly colored leathers and furry flip-flops — that reminded me of the low-key elegance of hanging out in Southern California. At the Rick Owens show, Rick-heads made minimal weather-restrictive tweaks to their usual uniforms — platforms, leather, ground-grazing garments — making you appreciate the beauty in that level of ascetic dedication. Louis Vuitton built a literal beach as its runway, complete with sand and a giant wave that felt like a mirage: Is this a heat-induced hallucination or yet another buzzed-about set design under men’s creative director Pharrell Williams? At the Dries Van Noten show, there was an ice-cold beer fridge and popsicles, a chic and inspired detail only rivaled by a collection that was a breath of fresh air during a week where I Googled the symptoms of heat stroke more than once. The Willy Chavarria show was air-conditioned, pumped with Xinú perfume and felt expensive. Sven Marquardt, a Berlin photographer and Berghain’s most famous bouncer, was sitting in front of me, which I took as an incredibly good omen. The painted blue feet and Oakley collab sunglasses at the Kiko Kostadinov show felt auspicious as well.
A look from the Auralee show.
There were conversations floating around about how apocalyptic it felt sitting at a fashion show in over 100-degree Fahrenheit weather, our backs soaked, our minds dizzied, when the industry is responsible for something like 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The cognitive dissonance contributed to the thickness in the air that week.
At the Comme des Garçons show, called “If the War Were to End..,” models danced and ran and skipped out onto the runway for the finale, soundtracked by the joyous sound of children singing “You’re So Good to Me” by the Langley Schools Music Project. In that moment, we were happy, we were clapping, we might have even been hopeful. Humans have the capacity to hold a lot — a fan in one hand while attempting not to completely melt in the front row, and a fantasy that there might still be a future where we get to wear those leopard-print Dries shoes we fell in love with on the runway.
The moments before the Comme des Garçons show.
Comme des Garçons show attendees.
Comme des Garçons, head-to-toe.
The Comme des Garçons show.
The Dries Van Noten show.
A chic and inspired detail at the Dries Van Noten show: ice-cold beer.
Scenes from the ERL presentation.
The Kiko Kostadinov show.
Tapping in from Louis Vuitton beach.
Quavo at the Louis Vuitton show.
Scenes from after the Louis Vuitton show.
Scenes from the Louis Vuitton show.
Scenes from the Nahmias x Puma dinner at Gigi Paris.
Scenes from the On X Online Ceramics rave.
At Silencio to see Venezuelan DJ and producer Safety Trance.
The Willy Chavarria show.
Scenes from Willy Chavarria.
The throngs of teenagers doing back flips into the Canal Saint-Martin and playing soccer in the street set the mood for the week.
Lifestyle
After weeks of speculation, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce wed in New York
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, pictured at a basketball game in May, announced their engagement in August 2025.
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NEW YORK — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially married.
After three years of dating, The pop icon and Super Bowl-winning football player, both 36, tied the knot in New York, according to a statement from Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine.
There were neither bridesmaids nor groomsmen. “Instead, her brother Austin Swift served as Taylor’s Man of Honor and Jason Kelce was Travis’ Best Man. The ceremony joined both families together,” Swift’s publicist said in the statement released Friday evening.
The ceremony was officiated by comedian and a friend of the couple, Adam Sandler, the statement added.
The singer’s rep said that the couple was dressed in Christian Dior Haute Couture.
“The bride and groom’s wedding ceremony looks have been created by Christian Dior Haute Couture. They are designed by Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Dior Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the Bride and Groom,” the statement said. “This is the designer’s first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity. Their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry.”
Security around the event was intense, so it remains unclear if the wedding was charming, if a little gauche. But the night before the ceremony the 20,000-person stadium was bathed in a lavender haze.
Details gleaned from a city permit obtained by The Associated Press, showed details of a “special event at MSG” scheduled to begin Friday evening and running overnight Saturday.
As speculation built, fans began gathering in front of the stadium ahead of the expected wedding, despite the couple’s efforts to keep details of the celebration under wraps.
Superfans and sleuths appeared to have their hunches confirmed on Friday, as dozens of black cars dropped off elegantly dressed guests outside of Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Lisa Benham and her daughter, Zara, posed for selfies outside the Garden. They’re visiting from England and both told NPR they’re huge Swifties.
“I just remember always listening to her,” said Zara Benham, age 17. The women said they’ve followed all the ins and outs of Swift’s romance with Travis Kelce, a tight end with the Kansas City chiefs.
“I’m thrilled for her. I love it. I love the whole story,” gushed Lisa Benham, 47, who says she became a fan after her daughter dragged her to a Swift concert. “I’m pleased for them, really pleased for them.”
A woman wearing a white veil stands outside Madison Square Garden in New York City on July 3, 2026. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s official wedding plans are tightly under wraps, but New York is bracing to host the celebrity marriage of the year.
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CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP
Swift has a massive global platform, and a tendency to pull back the curtain on her personal life in song lyrics and the occasional documentary. But the shared little about her wedding plans since she and Kelce announced their engagement last August.
“You would think that I had been the type of person who would have obsessed over the idea of a wedding my whole life, but I actually never thought about what I would ever do or what I would want until I met the person,” Swift told the U.K.’s Heart Radio in October, while promoting her last album The Life of a Showgirl.

In the months since, speculation mounted over where and when the wedding would take place. In recent weeks, the theories all pointed in the same direction: New York City’s Madison Square Garden on July Fourth weekend.
Swift loves a good Easter egg, and her fans have been known to crack at least some of them successfully. That appears to have been the case with her wedding, even as some wondered for days whether it was merely a high-profile ruse.
Swift and Kelce celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory in Feb. 2024.
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John Locher/AP
A recap of their romance
Swift and Kelce began dating in the summer of 2023, during the first year of her record-breaking Eras Tour.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end admitted on a July 2023 episode of New Heights — the podcast he co-hosts with his brother, retired NFL player Jason Kelce — that he had tried to meet Swift after one of her shows in the area.

“I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the [friendship] bracelets I made for her,” Kelce said. “I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.”
Swift later told Time she thought that call-out was “metal as hell.”
Within months, she was attending his games — most famously, the 2024 Super Bowl his team went on to win. He was spotted in the crowd — and even onstage — at many of her shows the next year.
Fans got a peek into their chemistry when Swift appeared on New Heights last August to announce her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (which she said was heavily influenced by their relationship). She said she and Kelce bonded in part over similarities in their careers, in which they both “entertain people for three-plus hours in NFL stadiums.”

Less than two weeks later, Swift announced their engagement on Instagram, with photos of a flower-filled backyard proposal and a massive diamond ring. In an episode of The Graham Norton Show a few months later, Swift deflected questions about her wedding planning but joked about inviting “anyone I’ve ever talked to.”
Sleuths had been eyeing Madison Square Garden
Speculation about a July 3rd wedding at MSG reached new heights this month.
Part of that was through the process of elimination: Swifties descended on Watch Hill, R.I. — where Swift owns a seaside estate — on June 13, but tabloid reports of a ceremony there proved unfounded.
But there also seemed to be a paper trail leading to Manhattan.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani seemed to drop a hint while talking to reporters in June.
“We are used to big events, and we are incredibly excited for this one,” Mamdani said, referring to the World Cup. “We know it coincides with the Knicks Finals run. We know it coincides with July Fourth, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding all happening at the same time.”
Forklifts and trucks were spotted outside Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday, as speculation about a weekend wedding grew.
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Leonardo Munoz/AFP via Getty Images
Then, The New York Times reported that an event company obtained permits for a gathering of up to 1,000 people at Madison Square Garden on July 3rd (and a smaller event the day before). It also cited unnamed sources with details about plans for street closures in the area, later confirmed by City Hall spokesperson Dora Pekec to Reuters.
CBS News shared video this week of trucks unloading “garden party” themed equipment outside the venue earlier this week. And the venue’s online event calendar is suspiciously empty until July 7.
Mamdani appeared to double down Tuesday, while speaking to reporters about the forthcoming heat wave.
“My recommendation to all New Yorkers is to stay inside and stay cool, and if you happen to be getting married at Madison Square Garden you will be staying inside and staying cool, and I think it’s a good example to set for the city at large,” he said with a smile.
This isn’t the first celebrity wedding celebration to take place at MSG. Sly Stone married actress Kathy Silva there in June 1974. As Stone wrote in his memoir, he was talking to his A&R liaison at Epic Records, Stephen Paley, about wanting to marry Silva, and one of them jokingly suggested he do so before an upcoming show.
“I could do a gig, get paid, and get married at the same time. ‘Go, go, go,’ I told him. He went and went fast,” Stone wrote, adding, “Steve wanted everyone to wear gold to keep the shine high.”
According to a New York Times report at the time, the two married in front of nearly 23,000 people, at a ceremony that turned into a full-fledged Sly and the Family Stone concert.
A closer look at Swift’s engagement ring from the 55th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala in New York last month.
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Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images
Why New York, and why now?
Madison Square Garden, which can hold nearly 20,000 people, may seem like a surprising choice for a singer who prizes her privacy.
But Emma Fitzsimmons, one of the New York Times reporters covering the wedding, told NPR last week that it makes sense for privacy and security reasons.
“It’s sort of this locked box where paparazzi can’t get inside,” she said. “There’s not going to be helicopters overhead. She can release photos of the event and her dress, which we’re all very curious to see, on her own terms.”
Swift, who owns a sprawling Tribeca compound, is famously a fan of New York City. She even has a song about it: “Welcome To New York,” on the album 1989, inspired by her relocation to the city.
And she has a well-documented love of Fourth of July. Over the years, many photos have emerged — some on Swift’s own Instagram — of the star celebrating the holiday weekend in Rhode Island with friends and fireworks.
And it’s not lost on Swifties that she met Kelce shortly after the holiday in 2023, which she celebrated with girlfriends and shared photos of on Instagram.
“Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies,” she captioned the photo. “See you tonight Kansas Cityyy.”
Lifestyle
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Ken Marino
Ken Marino loves living in L.A.
Living here has certainly been good for his acting career. Though he broke into the business as a member of NYC-turned-MTV sketch comedy group the State in 1994, he moved to L.A. in the fall of 1997 when he landed a role in the second season of “Men Behaving Badly,” an NBC sitcom. Marino shot just 13 episodes before the show was canceled. Still, he stayed in L.A., landing roles in much-loved shows like “Veronica Mars,” “Party Down,” “The Residence” and “Running Point.” He’s also co-written a few things, including “Role Models” and “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” out July 10, which was filmed in and around Los Angeles.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
“Working around L.A. and running around to jobs is how I got to understand L.A.,” Marino says. “It’s just a very comfortable city to live in. I just think it’s fun to be able to bounce around and do anything you feel like doing.”
Here’s how Marino would spend his perfect, carefree Sunday in Los Angeles.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
6 a.m.: Dog walking, coffee and flowers
We have two dogs. They need to go outside in the morning and eat, and they are very vocal about it. For a while, every morning at 5:58 my one dog, Dot, would start whining and moving around until I’d go “yeah, OK, let’s feed you.”
In our family, I’m the one who feeds the dogs and takes them out, because I’m a morning person. I enjoy it when it’s not fully light out, maybe making myself a coffee or taking a walk to this place called Project Bloom Coffee. It’s a little mom and pop kind of place and they have terrific coffee and breakfast sandwiches. They’re also a florist. Sometimes they even use this cool paper holder with a handle where, on one side you put the coffee and then on the other side you put your beautiful flower display. So then you get to walk home with your coffee and your flowers together and it’s something I’ve never seen anywhere else.
7:30 a.m.: Online chess
After I go get my coffee and walk the dogs, I’ll still be the only person up so I’ll get on my computer and get a couple of games of chess in. I play people from around the world online on Chess.com, and I usually either get frustrated or feel like I’m the best chess player in the world. Anyway, I’m getting my rating up on the app and I’m very excited about it. I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of chess tutorials on TikTok and YouTube that teach me how to play better.
9 a.m.: More coffee and “911”
If I go to Project Bloom, I’ll bring my wife a coffee and some flowers but if not, we have a little espresso and cappuccino maker so I’ll use that to make her a cappuccino, which I’ll bring to her in bed. She’s always very happy about that and then I’ll go try to wake my [16-year-old] daughter up, which usually takes about two or three tries until I take her phone, set the timer for five minutes, and then put it on the other side of her room so she has to get out of her bed to turn it off when it sounds.
She and I have been religiously watching “911” recently. We started with Season 1 and now we’re about six or seven seasons in so I’ll make her breakfast — maybe a Nutella crepe with some little cherry tomatoes on the side, which is weird but she likes it or maybe some oatmeal — and then we’ll watch “911” and talk about our favorite characters, like Buck, Chimney and Bobby.
Noon: Lunch on the Westside
We have a little apartment in Marina Del Rey that’s right by the beach so sometimes I’ll go out there with the dogs, just to sit for a while and enjoy. I usually walk between the Venice pier and Washington Street, but sometimes I’ll go further north and walk along Venice Beach if I want to hang out with some freaky deakies.
When I’m over on that side of town, there’s a couple of places that I might go for food, like this Italian restaurant called Ospi that’s in Venice. They’re incredible. They make their own homemade pasta and it’s delicious. There’s also this chain called Guisados, and I love their tacos so sometimes I’ll do that too. Venice Ramen is good too, and they do these things called jumbo gyoza that are absolutely delicious. They’re like 2.5 times bigger than a normal gyoza, like palm-sized, and I really like them.
2 p.m.: Play practice and a pint
My daughter is in two plays right now at this place called the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica, so it’s my responsibility to take her over there and drop her off for practice. When I do that, if it’s a Sunday, I might want to grab a Guinness somewhere and watch basketball. There’s a bar called Weary Livers down the street that has a lot of board games and it feels like you’re in somebody’s basement, which is good. It’s also right next to the Brixton, which is another nice bar that I’ll go to from time to time if I’m waiting for my daughter to finish rehearsal because it’s a lot of driving otherwise.
4 p.m.: Garage band practice
Typically on Sunday, we’ll also have a rehearsal for the Middle Aged Dad Jam Band. [Editor’s note: Marino co-founded the group with David Wain, whom he’s known since “The State” and who co-wrote “Wet Hot American Summer.”) We’ll play for a couple of hours in David’s garage, trying out new songs and working out what we’re going to do at our next live show.
6 p.m.: Guerilla promotion
Right now, David [Wain] and I are trying to figure out different promotional things we can do for our movie, “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” so maybe we’d do some more of that. It’s a really funny movie and we sold it at Sundance.
Anyway, two Sundays ago we walked around with our friend Frank Barrera, who is also one of the camera operators on “Gail Daughtry.” We went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and we shot promos for the movie where we were talking to different people and pretending that the Gail Daughtry cinematic universe is vast and has been around for decades, like we were asking people what their favorite Gail Daughtry movie is. It confused a lot of them, but every once in a while somebody would say something so we’re using those for promo spots.
I also spent some time just running up and down the street being very overly enthusiastic and screaming “the new Gail Daughtry movie is coming out!” and then we shot people’s reactions, which were typically “confusion” and “not caring.” Like, “Stop yelling at me, weirdo.”
7:30 p.m.: Thai takeout
On weekends, my wife and I like to order from a specific Thai place that’s won many awards. It’s called Luv 2 Eat Thai Bistro and it’s absolutely fantastic. The crab curry is so delicious and they do these street food sausages that we crave. They come with ginger and peanuts and garlic, plus a big slab of raw cabbage and some hot peppers and we’ll eat them like popcorn, just throwing them in our mouths while we catch up on “Survivor.” The flavor is just insane, and we think about how good they are all the time.
9:30 p.m.: Checkmate
After we watch “Survivor,” usually what happens next is that we’ll end up going, “Should we watch a movie?” Then we’ll look around for a movie for a while and then my daughter will be like, “Hey, Mom! Come in here and watch this YouTube show with me” so my wife will get pulled away, and I’ll immediately pick up my computer and start playing chess again. I like to bookend my day with a quiet chess game in the morning and another quiet game at night. It’s a nice way to wind down.
I’ll typically play a minimum of about three games before my eyes start to close because they’re trying to fall asleep. That’s when I’ll quit because I’ll be making stupid moves and it affects my rating, like “Oh, I just lost that game because I fell asleep while my computer was on,” so that’s how I know when I’m done.
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