Lauren Collins
Lauren Collins began contributing to The New Yorker in 2003 and became a staff writer in 2008. Her subjects have included Michelle Obama, Donatella Versace, the graffiti artist Banksy, Emmanuel Macron, the refugee crisis, and equal pay. Since 2015, she has been based in Paris, covering stories mainly from France. She is the author of “When in French: Love in a Second Language,” which the Times named as one of its 100 Notable Books of 2016. She is working on a second book, about a coup d’état perpetrated by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, and its effects over the past hundred and twenty years.
Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness
The Finnish artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her lose their shit.
Owen Wilson, Art Monster
On a museum-hopping day in Paris, the star of “Paint” makes it clear that he knows his Picassos.
Walking Paris’s Garbage-Strewn Streets
With France’s public trash collectors joining a general strike, the city has been divided in two: the Trashes and the Trash-Nots.
The Button-Pushing Impresario of Balenciaga
How Demna engineered the rise—and near-fall—of the luxury fashion house.
The Other Blockbuster Royals Memoir
Before there was “Spare,” there was “The Heart Has Its Reasons” (1956), by Wallis Simpson.
The Right Not to Be Fun at Work
In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities.
How Kevins Got a Bad Rap in France
Like to-go coffee or athleisure, the name strikes certain French people as a gauche Anglo-Saxon import—and some Kevins want to change that.
The Complicated Life of the Abortion Pill
A French doctor’s invention and post-Roe America.
Life After “Call My Agent!”
Fanny Herrero, a rare French showrunneuse, talks “Standing Up,” her Netflix follow-up show about striving standup comedians in Paris. “Emily in Paris” it’s not.
Seeking a Cure in France’s Waters
Can three weeks of hydrotherapy and enforced leisure fix what ails us?
The Unravelling of an Expert on Serial Killers
Stéphane Bourgoin became famous through his jailhouse interviews with murderers. Then an anonymous collective of true-crime fans began investigating his own story.
Valérie Lemercier’s Céline Dion Kinda-Bio-Pic
The writer, director, and star of “Aline,” about a familiar-seeming Quebecois power balladeer, discusses criticism from some of Dion’s relatives (“We come off as a bunch of bums”) and playing Aline at every point in her life, starting as a five-year-old.
Translating the French Election for the Freedom-Fry Audience
Gilles Paris references “Emily in Paris” and considers Maureen Dowd an inspiration for his daily dispatches in Le Monde’s first-ever English-language column, aimed at American readers.
The Hidden Mothers of Family Photos
The female image is ubiquitous on social media, yet when it comes to pictures of parents with their children many moms feel disappeared.
A Son Sends Josephine Baker to the Panthéon
Brian Bouillon-Baker—one of the twelve children of the St. Louis-born entertainer, French Resistance fighter, and destroyer of stereotypes—visits France’s hall of “great men” for the induction of his Maman, the first woman of color to be so honored.
Searching for the Descendants of Racial Terrorism
In 1898, white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, staged a coup and murdered dozens of Black residents. More than a century later, a team of volunteers tries to track down every living relative of the victims.
Camille Cottin Always Feels Like a Beginner
The French actress, known for “Call My Agent!,” “Killing Eve,” and “Connasse,” co-habits with “fucking Matt Damon” in the Trump-inflected Cannes hit “Stillwater.”
The Formidable Charm of Omar Sy
How the star of “Lupin” pulled off his greatest confidence trick.
The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos
How an upstart fast food became essential dining in the home of haute cuisine.
Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness
The Finnish artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her lose their shit.
Owen Wilson, Art Monster
On a museum-hopping day in Paris, the star of “Paint” makes it clear that he knows his Picassos.
Walking Paris’s Garbage-Strewn Streets
With France’s public trash collectors joining a general strike, the city has been divided in two: the Trashes and the Trash-Nots.
The Button-Pushing Impresario of Balenciaga
How Demna engineered the rise—and near-fall—of the luxury fashion house.
The Other Blockbuster Royals Memoir
Before there was “Spare,” there was “The Heart Has Its Reasons” (1956), by Wallis Simpson.
The Right Not to Be Fun at Work
In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities.
How Kevins Got a Bad Rap in France
Like to-go coffee or athleisure, the name strikes certain French people as a gauche Anglo-Saxon import—and some Kevins want to change that.
The Complicated Life of the Abortion Pill
A French doctor’s invention and post-Roe America.
Life After “Call My Agent!”
Fanny Herrero, a rare French showrunneuse, talks “Standing Up,” her Netflix follow-up show about striving standup comedians in Paris. “Emily in Paris” it’s not.
Seeking a Cure in France’s Waters
Can three weeks of hydrotherapy and enforced leisure fix what ails us?
The Unravelling of an Expert on Serial Killers
Stéphane Bourgoin became famous through his jailhouse interviews with murderers. Then an anonymous collective of true-crime fans began investigating his own story.
Valérie Lemercier’s Céline Dion Kinda-Bio-Pic
The writer, director, and star of “Aline,” about a familiar-seeming Quebecois power balladeer, discusses criticism from some of Dion’s relatives (“We come off as a bunch of bums”) and playing Aline at every point in her life, starting as a five-year-old.
Translating the French Election for the Freedom-Fry Audience
Gilles Paris references “Emily in Paris” and considers Maureen Dowd an inspiration for his daily dispatches in Le Monde’s first-ever English-language column, aimed at American readers.
The Hidden Mothers of Family Photos
The female image is ubiquitous on social media, yet when it comes to pictures of parents with their children many moms feel disappeared.
A Son Sends Josephine Baker to the Panthéon
Brian Bouillon-Baker—one of the twelve children of the St. Louis-born entertainer, French Resistance fighter, and destroyer of stereotypes—visits France’s hall of “great men” for the induction of his Maman, the first woman of color to be so honored.
Searching for the Descendants of Racial Terrorism
In 1898, white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, staged a coup and murdered dozens of Black residents. More than a century later, a team of volunteers tries to track down every living relative of the victims.
Camille Cottin Always Feels Like a Beginner
The French actress, known for “Call My Agent!,” “Killing Eve,” and “Connasse,” co-habits with “fucking Matt Damon” in the Trump-inflected Cannes hit “Stillwater.”
The Formidable Charm of Omar Sy
How the star of “Lupin” pulled off his greatest confidence trick.
The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos
How an upstart fast food became essential dining in the home of haute cuisine.