Gracie Abrams is going to Hollywood and Ariana Grande is going to the West End.
Plus: Vogue's new gossipy book club, and the Industry guys need a martini break.
Good morning everyone. I lost my Union Square Cafe virginity last night — I had two meetings there in a row. One for coffee, one for a martini: a 31-year-old woman’s Red Bull-vodka. I had a third meeting at Café Brume for several glasses of wine, a cigarette intermission on Montague Street, followed by caper-covered schnitzel. This is my way of telling you that I’m playing catch-up from being OOO during the first week of 2026, and that Dry January doesn’t align with my lifestyle at the moment.
Today’s letter includes: The only sex column I care about on Substack, Industry co-creator Mickey Down is just like you (he’s had enough martinis in New York City), book gossip at Vogue, and The New York Times Cooking team hired a creative director from Amazon.
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Former Vogue columnist Karley Sciortino joined Substack. I still remember scrolling her columns at my desk at New York Magazine, reading about dating older men and why jealousy can be good for your relationship. She was ahead of her time with her selfie cover images. She also co-wrote the film I Want Your Sex starring Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, and Chase Sui Wonders, which premieres at Sundance later this month. Karley Sciortino told me about her decision to join Substack earlier this week:
“Hotline is my attempt to create a conversational, brutally honest space around sex and relationships—thoughtful but messy, where we can have a sense of humor about our own worst instincts. I think a lot of us are craving sex content that’s nuanced but also fun. Hotline is less about telling people what to do and more about exploring the contradictions (and chaos) of modern intimacy—whether that’s the dating-app hellscape, casual sex, or striving for hotter monogamy.”
Forbes is launching “Forbes Wine” later in 2026, and they’re looking for an executive editor to lead it.