Dear Readers,
Good evening, and we’re with you on a Wednesday, which as long-time readers know is a rare treat indeed. We’ve got a slightly shorter version today – we really did go all out with last week’s effort. From next Monday onwards, we’re going to be publishing three to four articles a week, and sometimes doing two newsletters in the week, too. Issue 18 is just around the corner. There’s a lot on!
With that in mind, please do make sure that shipping details are correct on the website if you’re an existing subscriber. If you need any help with anything, please email subscriptions@the-fence.com.
There’s a twinkling archive of fresh back issues waiting for you here, as well – do move quickly if you’re a completist type.
Let’s get going with it.
How Many Cold Lagers Could Karl Lagerfeld Fell?
We took a look at Vogue’s puny ‘73 Questions’ and decided that it needed to get doubled in breadth but shortened in length – 146 questions in 146 seconds. Our first outing was with the Beast himself, Adebayo Akinfenfena, and the piece includes all the questions that the world’s strongest footballer didn’t have the time to answer. For the next outing, we wanted to change the pace up – we’ve got novelist, showrunner and all-round legend Dolly Alderton in the hot seat.
Brass Tails And A Farthing
There are some mega names in the contributor list for the next issue, and we will be revealing the full line-up of legends in next week’s mail-out, but we’re delighted and honoured to have Michael Gillard back on board. Michael is Britain’s leading investigative journalist (and probably the best pint in Fleet Street) and has the full story on the rise and fall of Ryan Bishti, the erstwhile ‘King of Clubs’, and one of the owners of our neighbours next door, the Windmill Theatre.
Last year, Michael published a marmalade-dropper of a story with us, of an aristocratic mandarin who led an unbelievably dangerous double life – very much worth making time for, if you haven’t done so already.
Lunch For The Fence
Some of you will remember Ed Cumming’s trip to Quo Vadis, in which he lifted the veil on the freebies that are thrown the way of journalists by desperate restaurateurs. For some reason, it was one of the most popular articles we’ve ever published. Now, almost two years later, Ed has filed his copy after a second lunch at Pavyllon – the bill was once again, non-existent, and there was a semi-celebrity guest, too. This will be landing soon…
Marc Jacobs by Marc Jacobs
Commiserations to the editor, Charlie Baker, who did not triumph as ‘editor’s editor of the year’ last night at the British Society of Magazine Editor’s awards last night – Nicola Jeal of the Times deservedly did. With tickets starting at £300, it was a very glamorous evening in the ballroom of the Rosewood Hotel, with Vick Hope and Laura Whitmore oozing glamour as they presented awards; Naomi Campbell presented the Mark Boxer award to Edward Enninful, which was exciting. We extend warm congratulations to all the winners, but especially to Matt Vella and Lisa Markwell.
Whips And Chains
Do you remember the whole palaver about Fifty Shades? The not-very-good bit of erotica that came out of Hertfordshire and became a quite-genuine-global-phenomenon overnight? Back in 2012, Jamie Fewery worked at the heart of it all as a marketing executive at Random House – the whole tale is available for you to read here.
You Need Sorting Out, You Do
It amused us – and didn’t really surprise us – that Stephen Flynn’s victory in poll to find out who is Britain’s Hardest MP made waves north of the border, with coverage in many of the national(ist) papers. There was even a very funny comment from the Member for Aberdeen South himself.
In Case You Missed It
Joshua Leifer examines how Netanyahu fashioned Israel in his own image
A striking bit of crime reporting from Kyle Hopkins, on the search for answers regarding two indigenous women killed on an Alaskan mayor’s property.
Thirty years after each of their movies were released, Tim Grierson speaks to the directors of Threads, Testament and The Day After, ‘three filmmakers who saved the world.’
Rachel Corbett examines the fallout at Artforum, over its open letter in support of Palestine.
And Cathrin Bradbury pens an ode to never, ever stopping working.
And Finally
Today marks 60 years since the assassination of JFK, one of the most written about, spoken of, and argued over moments in modern history. Here is that imperishable Walter Cronkite clip.
Anyone seeking to illuminate themselves on the event via the world wide web, faces a dilemma. The JFK web is a teeming rat’s nest of all the world’s weirdest cranks and, worse, some of their theories may well be right.
We will not, here, add our voice to the throngs litigating this or that hypothesis of what precisely went on [except to say that the CIA did it, via a cabal made up of Cuban emigres and the mob] but we have taken the opportunity to peruse the web for the more interesting nuggets pertaining to the event itself.
Some strangely fascinating insights can be heard from Dr Ronald C. Jones and Dr Robert N. McClelland, two of the doctors who attended to the President’s wounds shortly after he was shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZCxT88cMo
Their grimly riveting account is made all the more compelling by the fact they’re speaking within the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which is to say, the very Book Depository from which shots were said to have rung out.
Anyone hoping to get a more in-depth look at the day as it went on can avail of an only-slightly-strange interactive section of the website of JFK.org, which allows you to follow the motorcade along its final path, identifying each movement of the vehicle, and each witness present.
https://www.jfk.org/the-site/motorcade/
And what of, arguably, the most famous witness to an assassination in history - Abraham Zapruder. Here’s him talking about his experience, and showing his film to the American public two hours after both his footage, and the President, was shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqOGEBcjnI
Perhaps you’d like to hear Fidel Castro’s strangely touching remarks, which begin by denying involvement but go on to share his grief at the ‘painful and tragic’ event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUrtK0uO2gE
Or perhaps, finally, remind yourself that amongst all the great and good who just so happened to be in Dallas that day – future presidents Richard Nixon and George HW Bush among them – the maddest might just be John Peel, then a cub reporter for Dallas radio station KLIF.
We’re not aware that any of our readers were also present, but there are about 11,500 of you, so answers on a postcard.
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That’s that for this week. If you’d like to speak to someone about a missing order, please email subscriptions@the-fence.com and we’ll get back to you promptly. And we’ll join you again next Tuesday.
All the best,
TF