Lifestyle
Why Everyone Was So Mad About the Met Gala
There are, as I’m writing this, just shy of 500 reader comments on our recap of our 15 favorite looks from the Met Gala on Monday. The top comments are almost all negative.
“I’m sorry. I find this display of ‘fashion’ disgusting and I wish the NYT wouldn’t celebrate it,” reads the most recommended comment. “I’m struck by how out of touch and unrelatable this feels for the average American,” is the one just below that. A few down we get the first of many comparisons to the elitist incongruity captured in “The Hunger Games.”
The uneasy state of the American economy watered the soil for this sentiment to grow. Gas prices have soared since the onset of the war in Iran. The cost of groceries remains stubbornly high. The word “inequality” came up five times in the comments section of our story. It seems that the gala, to some, landed as a financially frivolous, Marie Antoinette-like affair.
For a few years, the Met Gala has ignited these “Hunger Games” comparisons, as the event has mutated into a competition of which attendee can wear the most baroque, procession-halting dress. I lost count of the celebrities who proudly shared how many hours it took to make their ensembles.
This, more than anything, seemed like the point where they were misjudging the simmering animus toward them.
If the intention was to laud the work and elevate the craftsmanship involved in making garments like these, it was ringing hollow in this forum, where tickets cost upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a table. The opulence of the clothes became another example of billionaire class entitlement for a cause most people don’t benefit from.
It’s not an entirely new conversation, even if the critiques were louder this year. Five years ago, when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress splayed with “Tax the Rich,” she sprayed lighter fluid onto a hot conversation about the class politics of this particular charity event. (At this year’s gala, Sarah Paulson arrived with a dollar bill stretched over her eyes, an intended critique on the influence of money that many viewers saw as a hollow gesture.)
The discourse roared with a particular fervor in the lead-up to Monday for the marquee presence of Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, one of the world’s wealthiest couples.
Placing the Bezoses at the apex of the gala ratcheted up the sense that something already well outside the reaches of the average person had been taken to a new tier of exclusivity. There were protests centered around Bezos, and at the event Christian Smalls, a former Amazon union leader, attempted to storm the carpet. He was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors.
“It shouldn’t be that way when you have all of this money and wealth,” Smalls said of Bezos in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “He should pay his workers a fair share.”
In responding to cries of elitism, the Met Gala’s organizers have long pointed to the money that the event raises. They did so again this year. At a news conference on Monday introducing the Met’s new fashion exhibition, Anna Wintour, the event’s longtime chair (and the global editorial director of Vogue magazine), shared that this was the most successful Met Gala ever, having raised $42 million.
“That money could feed and clothe many hundreds of less fortunate people,” read the top comment on our Met Gala story.
We’ve come to expect anti-celebrity comments when we cover cultural events. “Who cares!” is a common, if slightly disingenuous, refrain given how many readers clamor to see and vote on their favorite looks from awards shows.
But there’s a meaningful difference between the Met Gala and many other red carpet events. At the Oscars or the Emmys, the arrivals lead to a star-studded performance the public can watch, shows with a purpose — celebrating talent (subjective though that is) — that is self-evident. For the viewing public, the Met Gala ends at the doorstep of the museum. If you’re watching at home, the gala can be seen as nothing more than a bunch of grandiose clothes that lead nowhere.
In reading up on the life of Ted Turner, who died Wednesday at 87, I perked up at this five-word sentence in Malcolm Gladwell’s 2010 profile of the media mogul: “He dressed like a cowboy.” It led me to scroll through photos of the Cincinnati-born businessman — especially in the 1970s, when he was sailing in a piqué polo and an incongruous striped conductor’s cap or taking in his Atlanta Braves with his button-up shirt undone to mid-chest.
Turner, a college dropout, who was a prolific drinker (and philanderer), looked rugged — swashbuckling even. He was, it should be said, handsome. In some images, Turner, with his modest mustache, looks like Robert Redford’s body double. But it’s remarkable to visit these images now, when all corporate titans — of media, tech and otherwise — dress so alike. They’re Sun Valley clones in their fleece vests, stretch chinos and dad caps that they theatrically pull low in front of cameras.
But Turner was indeed a telecom cowboy, upending how networks ran in his rugby shirts, knit ties and denim. He looked suave. How few media C.E.O.’s can we say that about now?
Everywhere I go I see young men in ribbed tank tops, sometimes with unbuttoned shirts on top, but often not. The tank tops can be black, white or gray, but they’re worn with everything — not just as undershirts, as I was taught was correct. What is going on? — Richard, Philadelphia
The tank top may seem basic — just a sleeveless cotton top with a scooped neck — but as a garment it contains multitudes. It has roots in the working class and the professional class, the military and the farm, men’s wear and women’s wear, sports and Hollywood, gay culture, rap culture, gym culture and indie sleaze. Read more …
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Lifestyle
Great movies you may have missed : Pop Culture Happy Hour
Xie Miao and Yang Enyou in The Furious.
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There have been some fantastic movies released this year, and we know you can’t see them all. So we’re recommending four recent movies we missed that you should add to your watchlist: The Furious, Tuner, She’s The He, and Heresy.
If you need a few more fun film recommendations, check out these episodes:
Fun movies you may have missed
Our favorite movies on Tubi
We debate the best movies to watch on an airplane
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Lifestyle
A judge says the Kennedy Center must update him on its plans — and address that tarp
A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on June 13. A federal judge has asked the arts complex’s leadership to explain the purpose of the tarp and the surrounding scaffolding.
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On Wednesday, the federal judge overseeing the Kennedy Center lawsuit ordered the center to give him a status report on the center’s operation and programming within the next few weeks. Judge Christopher R. Cooper also said that the Kennedy Center must explain the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding that have been placed over the front of the arts complex, where until recently both President Trump and President John F. Kennedy’s names were both displayed.
In a directive issued last Tuesday, Judge Cooper had given Kennedy Center administrators three days to update him on the arts complex’s immediate plans regarding construction, programming and public access. Trump, who now serves as the center’s chairman, had announced July 5 as the date the venue would close for major renovations.

Last Friday, on Cooper’s due date, lawyers for the Kennedy Center filed a request asking for an extension. In that filing, Matt Floca, who was promoted as the center’s president and CEO in March, said that the Kennedy Center’s current management intends to present its board with “an array of options” for trustees to vote on at their next meeting on an unspecified date in mid-July.
According to Floca, the options are a complete closure for extensive renovations; a partial closure “enabling some continued public access and limited programming” while some renovations are undertaken; and “a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”
In his newest order, Cooper denied Floca’s request for an extension. And he mandated that the center file a status report within seven days of the center’s July board meeting or by July 31, whichever date is earliest. He also ruled that the report must “indicate the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding,” which were erected by workers over the center’s front signage in the early morning hours of June 13.
When asked for comment Wednesday, the Kennedy Center pointed back to the documents its legal team submitted to the court.
The tarp and scaffolding on the center’s front portico went up after the Kennedy Center’s administration slow-walked the court-mandated removal of President Trump’s name from the front of the center and from all digital materials, which was supposed to happen no later than June 12. Workers removed the lettering overnight into the following morning, hours after the federal court’s original deadline, and covered the center’s sign with a tarpaulin.
As of Monday, the sign remains hidden from the public.

Trump’s name was scrubbed from all of the Kennedy Center’s digital content on June 4, the same day an email order to do so was issued by the complex’s legal team; NPR obtained this memo the day it was sent out to Kennedy Center staff.
These court orders are part of the ongoing lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, against President Trump and the board of the Kennedy Center. Earlier this year, Cooper ruled that Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, must be allowed to participate in board meetings. NPR has asked Beatty if she plans to vote at the July board meeting, but did not receive an immediate response.
It would be very difficult for the Kennedy Center to revive a thriving programming lineup for the months ahead. Over the past year, many prominent artists canceled their planned appearances, citing the politicization of the venue. Most of the center’s programming staff have departed, either via layoffs or resignations. Unlike top administrators at other major performing arts venues around the country, Matt Floca has no experience in artistic direction, fundraising or arts administration; formerly, he was the center’s head of facilities, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in construction management.
Established artists who typically perform at the Kennedy Center generally have their touring schedules set at least a year in advance, if not multiple years ahead. In years past, the center has publicly announced its upcoming season in mid-spring for performances beginning in September and running through the following summer.

Currently, only a handful of outdoor free movie screenings of nostalgic favorites like The Princess Diaries and Clue appear on the center’s calendar of events, along with some participatory workshops for kids. In the past, the Kennedy Center presented over 2,000 arts and education events each year.
The center also recently became ensnarled in litigation with one of its longtime tenants and artistic partners. On June 12, the Washington National Opera, a company formerly in residence at the Kennedy Center, sued the complex for $17 million. It claims that the Kennedy Center had withheld “years’ worth of donor gifts, bequests and endowment funds” that had been intended specifically for the WNO.
Lifestyle
4 ways to design a dreamy summer, according to a happiness expert
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I tend to romanticize summer. The movies and TV shows I grew up with made me think that the season was about adventure and big-time transformation.
I imagined myself building a tight-knit friend group and getting out of a pickle together, like in The Sandlot or Camp Nowhere. Or traveling across the world, say, to Greece, like Lena Kaligaris, a character in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, having a whirlwind summer romance and returning an entirely different person.
I’ve never actually had a summer like that.
Even when your expectations are more modest than mine, “so often, the summer just flies by, and we haven’t taken the picnics or gone for the day trip or whatever it was that we thought we were gonna do,” says happiness expert Gretchen Rubin.
Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and host of the podcast Happier With Gretchen Rubin, has been sharing ideas on social media about how to make the season more memorable and satisfying.
She walks through four exercises to help you get what you want — and more — out of the season. Print out our worksheet here, fill it out and stick it on your fridge to keep you accountable. Or take a screenshot and post it to Instagram (don’t forget to tag @NPRLifeKit!).
🍑 Give your summer a theme
Pick a single word or phrase that you want to embrace this season — something that captures the feeling you want to have over the next few months.
“My theme for the summer is ‘ketchup,’” Rubin says. “It has a kind of a summer feeling, because you think of putting ketchup on your burger.”
“It’s a metaphor,” she says. It means to look for “whatever I could add [this season] to make something elevated and more fun.”
Meanwhile, my theme word this summer is “juice.” I no longer think that I need to travel far or completely transform to have a delicious summer. I just need to take advantage of the abundance that the season offers: ripe peaches and tomatoes, juicy softball pitches and the opportunity to feel juicy in my body when I wear a bathing suit.
Print out our worksheet here, fill it out and stick it on your fridge to keep you accountable. Or take a screenshot and post it to Instagram (don’t forget to tag @NPRLifeKit!).
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🪣 Create a summer bucket list
What do you want to do this summer? On my bucket list: ride the Ferris wheel at a summer fair, have more barbecues at my parents’ house and see the sunrise at least once.
There might even be something you don’t necessarily want to do but have been trying to accomplish for a long time — like cleaning out the garage or learning how to swim.
“Some people love a long list with a lot of easy things to cross off,” Rubin says. “I’m a fan of that approach myself.”
But some people like a list with fewer goals that are more ambitious. If you take this path, just make those items realistic, she says. “It’s easy to get discouraged if you set the bar too high.”
🏁 Set a fun challenge
It could be fun to gamify a few of the items on your bucket list — or to come up with an entirely different kind of dare for yourself.
You might try 10 new taco joints this summer or read five romance novels. Or you might come up with a theme, like “Freaky Flavor Friday,” Rubin says. Every Friday, you go to a different ice cream shop and try a new and ambitious flavor.
A good challenge can make your summer feel more memorable, she says. “If you did ‘Freaky Flavor Friday’ all summer long, that would stand out in your mind. Years later, you’d be like, ‘That’s the summer I discovered creamed corn ice cream.’”
Two challenges I’m considering: taking a swim class and rewatching all the best Pixar movies.
🖼️ Take a “five-senses portrait”
Experience the summer through your five senses — then reflect on each one. What does summer look like, smell like, taste like, sound like and feel like?
“It’s one thing to look at photographs, but that’s very flat,” Rubin says. “A ‘five-senses portrait’ puts you back into that experience. It’s a creative, fun way to look back on summer and capture the memories that you’ve created.”
Do this exercise either for your whole summer or for a specific summer adventure, she says. Do it with yourself or with a group. You can journal about it, make a collage, draw a picture or simply have a conversation.
When I think of summer, here’s what comes to mind: the smell of smoke from a crackling outdoor fire and the taste of toasted marshmallows on a stick.
More summer-worthy goals from Life Kit
Learn how to swim. Knowing how to swim can help you have fun at the pool or beach this summer. But it could also save your life. Here are some tips to start swimming at any age.
Focus on rest and relaxation. In Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s book Sacred Rest, she outlines different kinds of rest you may be craving. From the mental to the physical, Dalton-Smith shares how to identify what kind of respite you need and how to embrace rest.
Get into running. Ready to kick-start a new running habit? Coach Martinus Evans breaks down a common misconception to get you into the mindset and offers quick tips on pace, form and more.
Declutter your home. Got piles of stuff you just can’t seem to get rid of? Professional organizer Star Hansen explains how to let go of unnecessary items and keep your home neat and tidy.
This episode was produced by Clare Marie Schneider. The story was edited by Meghan Keane. The visual editor is CJ Riculan. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.
Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekit.
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