Hi!!! My sincere apologies for the unexpected hiatus. I had a ~roommate situation~ in November, which required me to spend the month re-furnishing my apartment, dealing with landlords, trying to find any possible way to get on the phone with a customer service agent at Con Ed… NYC residents know the drill. Pro: new couch! Con: limited-to-no writing time.
One thing about spending days on end doing physical chores though is that it leaves plenty of time to think. Each run back up and down my three-floor walk up or subway ride to and from the Redhook IKEA allowed me to consider the incoming year a bit more seriously: what I want to leave behind, what I want to allocate time for, and most importantly as it relates to this letter, what I want to write.
When I started Close Friends at the top of 2025, I committed to writing an essay each month, but in the end, I couldn’t keep pace alongside my other commitments. Consequently, I’m wary about over-committing in the new year. I’ve sat with it all and landed on this: I’m keeping The Weekly Wrap (which became the thing friends, acquaintances, and colleagues alike have stopped me to say they like), as well as the Monthly Recaps. I do want to keep writing occasional essays here — things that don’t quite fit anywhere else — I just don’t think forcing myself to write something when I have nothing to say serves the reader. And since I plan to do more freelance magazine writing this year, I’ll be sure to circulate any of that work here. I’m also hoping to incorporate a bit more reporting in the newsletter, so if ever you have hot tips regarding my coverage areas (culture, fashion, media, politics), please HIT ME UP.
Without further ado, find my fall recap below! Cultural updates include Olivia Nuzzi’s latest disaster, that Vanity Fair piece, MNZ officially closing, and Bari Weiss’ recent fumble, among other items. I’m wishing you all a reflective and celebratory last day of the year — I can’t wait for 2026.
What happened
The Olivia Nuzzi-Ryan Lizza Horror Show
Olivia Nuzzi, who famously had a “digital affair” with the vaccine-hating, botox-loving Robert F. Kennedy Jr., following her profile of him for New York Magazine, released her first book, American Canto. The memoir details her relationship with him (who she calls The Politician) and was met with scathing reviews and low sales. After an excerpt of the book was published in Vanity Fair, where she was infamously hired as West Coast Editor, her former fiancé, ex-New Yorker writer and fellow political reporter, Ryan Lizza, published two Substack articles detailing his side of the saga. As many people have said, it was a sort of revenge porn. On her pub day, Nuzzi wrote a hilarious piece in Feed Me, “Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry,” (memorably “Monica Lewinsky reaches out to check on your mental health” was the second entry). Lisa Taddeo — a writer I typically love — responded to the criticism Nuzzi was facing in a piece for AirMail. I found it far too personally biased and laden with metaphor for anything more than an Instagram caption. I also find the ongoing Monica Lewinsky comparisons pretty trite. Lewinsky was a 22-year-old White House intern; Nuzzi is in her early 30s and, at the time of her affair, already one of the biggest voices at New York Mag — a position most young political journalists today would kill for, and likely spend decades working toward, should they ever reach it. I’m certainly not saying the gender comparison is nothing, but it doesn’t adequately consider the differences between Lewinsky and Nuzzi’s power. After Lizza claimed that Nuzzi had a more extensive relationship with RFK than she had admitted, and alleged that she had another relationship with a reporting subject, Vanity Fair ended her contract. “Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi have mutually agreed, in the best interest of the magazine, to let her contract expire at the end of the year,” Condé Nast said in a statement shared with The New York Times.
The New School for Social Research is facing major cuts and pausing PhD admissions
The New School for Social Research, my alma mater, is pausing PhD admissions and undergoing serious changes as The New School as a whole faces a projected $48 million operating deficit for this fiscal year. The proposed cuts to compensate for this deficit “are designed to put the New School, which includes the Parsons School of Design, the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts and the New School for Social Research, back on firm financial footing,” The New York Times reported. But according to New School economist Sanjay Reddy, the university’s financial issues stem from “mismanaged spending on real estate, expanding administrative costs, incompetent marketing and student dissatisfaction with support services such as advising.” The New School is far from the only institution of higher education facing a shortfall due to lost federal funding and lower international student enrollment, leading many to cut programs or funding for PhD students. More bad news for the girlies surveying the dismal job market and texting their group chats “should I just go back to grad school?” I recommend writer and New School faculty Hannah Leffingwell’s coverage in Jacobin.
Katy Perry hard launched her relationship with Justin Trudeau
Well well well, the woman who voted for Rick Caruso in the Los Angeles mayoral election against Karen Bass is now dating former Liberal Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. As two people who weren’t quite cancelled, but certainly fell out of favor, this somehow makes sense. After a marriage to Russell Brand (who was just charged with sexual assault, again) I have to say: happy for her.
Golden Globes Nominations dropped
Before I can hit you with predictions, I’m planning to use the next couple weeks to catch up on all of the films I have yet to see (which is a lot).
Vanity Fair launched under Mark Guiducci
With a *men* in Hollywood issue captioned, “Let’s Hear it for the *Boys*!,” Mark Guiducci — who was at Vogue off and on for over a decade — cemented Vanity Fair’s new era with him at the helm. The cover story, featuring Michael B. Jordan, Jeremy Allen White, Glenn Powell, Callum Turner, and more (there are three covers), was shot by Theo Wenner and written by Otessa Moshfegh. The magazine also dropped two pieces on Trump’s inner circle, featuring photographs of J.D. Vance, Karoline Leavitt, and the like, taken by Christopher Anderson. They caused some serious commotion (and a lot of left-wing praise) online. I’ve enjoyed art director Emily Keegin’s analysis of it all on Instagram stories.
Chanel Pre-Fall 2026 show in Bowery station
Matthiew Blazy’s Chanel Pre-Fall 2026 show — his second with the fashion house — was held in NYC’s decommissioned Bowery station. Amid the cold weather which can easily make you wonder why exactly you live here, leave it to Blazy to remind us. I couldn’t be more thrilled to see denim.
Netflix and Paramount are competing to take over Warner Brothers
When news broke that Netflix had the leading bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (enterprise value of $82.7 billion, equity value of $72.0 billion), Paramount Skydance fired back with a bigger offer — about $108 billion for the entire company. Per BBC, “Warner Brother’s board ‘unanimously’ recommended rejecting the offer and agreed the deal with Netflix was in the firm’s best interests.”
Zohran Mamdani is moving into Gracie Mansion
Huge news for our new mayor and his preternaturally chic wife: they’re going to the Upper East Side, baby! As Mamdani shared on Instagram, “This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for.”
Rama Duwaji was on the cover of The Cut
Winner winner, chicken dinner!!! Cover of the year, cover of the past five years, etc etc etc. Lindsay Peoples’ record at The Cut remains unimpeachable, and Jessica Willis is simply not given enough shoutouts for her styling. The photography by Szilveszter Makó is outstanding, Danya Issawi’s writing is excellent as always. I could go on, but if you haven’t yet, just check it out for yourself.
Jeremy O’Harris was arrested in Japan on alleged drug smuggling charges
The polarizing writer of the Tony-nominated play, Slave Play, was detained in Japan on drug charges. Not quite posting through it, but he has been on Instagram since.
Maryam Nassirzadeh’s namesake fashion brand, Maryam Nassir Zadeh, is shutting down
The Lower East Side store that played a major role in the 2010s New York fashion scene, with all of the coolest downtown girls wearing their suede slides and barely-there tops, is shutting down. Unfortunately, I think anyone with eyes on fashion saw this one coming. The physical location has been covered in graffiti for at least a year and the shoes — arguably MNZ’s strongest category — were hardly ever in-stock. About a year ago, some supporters of the designer weren’t happy with a piece about the brand that ran in The Cut, “How Does Maryam Nassir Zadeh Stay in Business?” On the one hand, I heard them: critiquing one of few women working independently in fashion, and one who had so much influence over the past decade plus, felt off. On the other, “how on earth does she stay in business” was a legitimate question I asked myself every time I thought about the brand. Even people who worked there said that no matter how successful MNZ appeared, it never stopped feeling precarious, per The Cut. And at a certain point, asking people to pay hundreds of dollars for itty bitty crop tops and selling them in a near-deserted boutique gets old. I’m not a businessperson and I won’t pretend to know what goes into making a small brand run, but I do know that being cool is never enough to sustain anything of substance. I do hope Maryam continues to create, though. And long live the Olympia Wedge!
Bari Weiss comes under fire (at last!)
In a huge month for Canadian wins, Bari Weiss finally got called out in a major way after she pulled a 60 Minutes segment on CECOT Prison at CBS News in the U.S., but not before it was syndicated to Canadian streaming. When it aired, Canadians captured and shared the segment on social media. Insiders at CBS then shared investigative journalist Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to staff (which I recommend reading), outlining that she believed Weiss’ decision to be political, not editorial. Weiss — who despite her position as head of a major news network, has no previous broadcast experience — has defended her decision in a statement: “My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”
What’s in my cart
2025 was my year of learning how to thrift, but in-person is tough for me — I can’t stand rummaging through a pile! Poshmark and Depop are more my speed. I made the greatest find of my life back in June: a Tom Ford-era Gucci shoulder bag for… $108. It was a bit worse for wear, but the glorious staff at my favorite Uptown shoe and leather repair, Jim’s, cleaned it up beautifully.
Pottery at the Greenpoint Ceramics Market
Little did I know, there’s a sweet ceramics market in Greenpoint each year. My ceramicist friend, Miko (who you can take classes from at Choplet in Williamsburg) was selling there, so I made my way over. Tip for next year: the place is packed with beautiful little things, from one-of-a-kind crockery to tiny Magic World Girl figurines, previously featured in The Strategist. It would be a great spot to get ahead on holiday gifting. I picked up one of Miko’s mugs and deadstock plates by Off Center Ceramics (if I remember correctly), which they were selling off after making a ton for a restaurant.
Valentino Colorgraph Waterproof Gel Eyeliner Pencil in Brown Fondant
Dua Lipa made me want to start wearing eyeliner again (something I swore off in the years following Lauren Conrad and Taylor Swift’s black liquid wing dominance). I’m obsessed with this one, which has a touch of shimmer and comes in this easy-to-smudge (in a good way) gel pencil. It’s the perfect shade of brown and has a brush on the opposite end for blending, making it extra forgiving. Plus, I feel very grown when I use it, thanks to the gold caps.
What I read
“What Was Beauty in 2025?” Jessica DeFino
Jessica DeFino is one of my most trusted voices in beauty. For her Substack, Flesh World (formerly The Review of Beauty, and before that The Unpublishable), she just published a review of the year in beauty trends, most of which she predicted. Think: the skinny BBL, “feelings [as] luxury in the era of the girlborg,” and rhinoplasty revisions.
Filthy Animals, Brandon Taylor
When Brandon Taylor’s latest novel, Minor Black Figures, dropped, I started a deep dive into all of his work and attended two of his events: one at the Centre for Fiction, another at The Strand. I started with his Story Prize-winning short story collection, Filthy Animals. It’s the first work of fiction I’ve read in a minute (I’m typically a nonfiction girl) and it’s incredible. A few of the stories connect — almost giving it the feel of a novel — and follow a couple of dancers and a former math student, largely set on a college campus. As someone who spent nearly eight years between college and two graduate programs, and 17 years dancing, it speaks to all of my comforts. For those less taken with those elements, know that Taylor writes some of the best sex scenes in contemporary fiction (it makes perfect sense that he’s such a Rooney fan). The title story really got me, though. It’s violent and incredibly depraved, but also full of desire.
What I listened to
“A Masterclass on Status, Power, and the Economy with Tressie McMillan Cottom”
I’ve spoken about Tressie McMillan Cottom in this letter before — I’m on a bit of a McMillan Cottom kick, if you will. She’s just so smart, specifically in the way I’m looking for in these times: open-minded but an expert who’s full of directives. No one is doing it like her! This podcast episode, hosted by Katie Gatti Tassin for Morning Brew’s “The Money with Katie Show,” is wide-reaching, diving into everything from ‘Bama Rush as a canary in the coal mine for the 2024 presidential election, beauty as the only real power women are allowed to wield (but never own), and how hiding your plastic surgery is a liberal woman’s game — not a conservative one. I listened three times.
West End Girl, Lily Allen
As I said in October: this is my Album of the Year. I love a woman baring her sophisticated rage and I love Allen, specifically — unabashed, imperfect, British — reminding us that it’s all too often these American guys who want to present as progressive, literate in feminist theory, and culturally aware who are the most up to no good! Allen wrote the album over 10 days in L.A., but told Mel Ottenberg for Interview, “we did go back and tweak things. It was very important to me that I didn’t sound like a victim, so I’d be like, ‘We have to change that line. It just sounds too, ‘Poor me.’ I wanted it to feel brutal and tragic, but also empowering, that there was joy in being able to express it.” Because of that, the album is in control and comedic, yet remains a devastating portrait of loss and a specific kind of betrayal — a self-betrayal, in many ways. The kind that any woman with a history of heterosexual relationships has surely experienced.
What I watched
Urchin (2025)
I saw Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut, Urchin, at IFC with Chrisaleen, my best film teacher (who also wrote a gift guide I approve for all seasons). Frank Dillane, who plays the protagonist, Mike, was so good. I’ll be looking out for what he does next.
Bugonia (2025)
Note: spoilers ahead!
It must be said: Yorgos Yanthimos has too much time on his hands. Why am I watching Emma Stone be tortured (again) for one minute shy of two dragging hours only for her to end up in some floor-is-lava-esque land with aliens speaking a fake language? Immediately I’m pissed off. Immediately I need to put my corded headphones in and blast “Ruminating” as I take the long way home from Regal Essex. Just as Everything, Everywhere All At Once didn’t need to do all that to say “we’re healing generational wounds,” Bugonia didn’t need to zero in on Stone being brutalized for so long that I had to leave the theatre to say “late stage capitalism is bad :(.” Later, when a male friend said, “Okay she was assaulted, but she wasn’t sexually assaulted” … Annoyed again. Ruminating again! Stone was excellent of course, as was Jesse Plemons. But please, someone stop this man.
Heated Rivalry (2025)
I have never been so proud of my country.
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For more, you can follow me on Instagram. And to submit tips, ask questions, or send assignments my way (calling all editors!), you can always reach me at ericamarrison10@gmail.com.
That bag is a huge win.
Worth the wait 🫶🏻 always love your musings!!