Ash Carter

New York

Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL

Articles

The 1960s Hoax Peddled by E.L. Doctorow That Fueled Trump's Conspiracy-Laced Career

3 weeks ago | airmail.news | Ash Carter

On January 23, three days into his second term, Donald Trump mandated the release of all remaining classified files relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Unlike the other 36 executive orders he signed that week, this one was perfectly harmonious with U.S. law, in this case a 1992 bill called the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act—even if it also struck a chord with him personally.
Studs Terkel's "Division Street," Revisited with a Podcast and New Edition

2 months ago | airmail.news | Ash Carter

In the summer of 1962, the Swedish writer Jan Myrdal spent a month in Liuling, China, talking to peasant farmers. Their testimonies were published in English by Pantheon, under the title Report from a Chinese Village. Pantheon’s managing director, André Schiffrin, saw the book as a natural complement to the works of E. P. Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm, and other “bottom-up” historians on his backlist.
Larry Fink's Photos Are Collected in "Hands On," a New Book by Powerhouse

Jan 24, 2025 | airmail.news | Ash Carter

Certain things are expected of a working photographer. If the assignment is a social event? Pictures of smiling partygoers. A political campaign? Shots of the candidate kissing babies and pressing the flesh. All this went out the window when you hired Larry Fink. For more than 50 years, Larry, who died in 2023, remained steadfastly indifferent to journalistic convention. And that’s why his photographs are considered not just part of the documentary record but art.
The Scrappy New York City Studio That Altered the Country's Visual Consciousness

Dec 6, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter

On July 29, 1966, Bob Dylan crashed his motorcycle in or around Woodstock, New York. Nobody called the police, so there was no official report of the accident, or even a press release—just a two-sentence item a few days later on page 30 of The New York Times. In the four years leading up to the crash, Dylan had released seven albums and played more than 150 shows. Now he was laid up with a spinal injury in the Victorian home of a country doctor, his future uncertain.
"Dr. Strangelove" Goes To London: The "Morning Meeting" Podcast

Nov 8, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter |Michael Hainey

This week, John Lahr discusses a theatrical adaptation of Dr. Strangelove This week, in lighter matters, John Lahr joins us from London to give us his take on the new stage version of Dr. Strangelove. Then Emilie Hawtin joins us from New York City to tell us about the fashion item that has been a favorite of the doyennes and uptown gents for the past 70 years but suddenly is being snapped up by Gen Z–ers and Hollywood actors. Listen by clicking Play below.
"Scavengers Reign" Is Not Explained; It Is Experienced

Oct 11, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter

WATCH Scavengers Reign The creators of the Emmy-nominated animated series Scavengers Reign wisely dispense with the endless exposition that can make even the most visually dazzling science fiction sound like Martian C-SPAN.
A "Mad" Magazine Exhibition Opens at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts

Jun 14, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter

The cover price inevitably went up over the years, but to the Usual Gang of Idiots who produced the magazine, Mad was forever “CHEAP.” As far as I was concerned, it was a steal. On a value-per-laugh basis, Mad couldn’t be beat. Each issue was a satirical horn of plenty, every spread as dense with lunatic detail as the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Life isn't Everything

May 3, 2024 | psbooks.co.uk | Ash Carter |Sam Kashner

Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of his Closest Friends Over a 50-year career, Mike Nichols (1931–2014) directed Hollywood classics including The Graduate, wrote hits plays such as The Odd Couple and enjoyed success as a comedian. To capture his personality and tell his life story, Ash Carter and Sam Kashner bring together the words of the actors, writers, directors and producers who knew and worked with him.
Sex and Gen Z: The "Morning Meeting" Podcast

Apr 5, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter |Michael Hainey

This week, Kat Rosenfield explains how we are in the throes of a new sexual revolution. Yet where baby-boomers were obsessed with the practice of sex, Zoomers are more interested in the principle of it. Then the subject turns to Civil War, one of the most anticipated movies of the spring, from writer-director Alex Garland. It imagines what a second American civil war might look like. Michael Sragow has seen it and tells us about it. And finally, speaking of movies, Woody Allen has a new film out.
Edward Jay Epstein Made a Career of Questioning Accepted Narratives

Jan 26, 2024 | airmail.news | Ash Carter

I first met Edward Jay Epstein at a birthday dinner for a mutual friend in 2013, 10 days before the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. On my way to work that morning, I had listened to a radio interview with the author of a new book about the Warren Commission. My only previous exposure to the subject was the Oliver Stone movie JFK, so I knew less than nothing. At some point during the meal, the subject of national security came up.