The Cut - Can You Teach a Girl to Flirt?

Sometime in the past few years, I noticed I’d stopped making eye contact with strangers. I’d moved out of my parents’ house, where I lived during the early months of the pandemic, back to the city. But I rarely left my neighborhood or even my studio, never fully uncoiling into in-person life. There were no more charming barista encounters, no banter inside sweaty basement gyms, no conversations struck up in dimly lit wine bars or housewarming parties. “You’re so pretty,” the hostess at a hotel reception desk in the Bowery recently told me after I pressed her for the lobby Wi-Fi. Flustered, I volleyed the compliment back: Thankyousoareyou! Out of my mouth, the copycat words sounded unctuous and insincere, and she grimaced — there was no free Wi-Fi.

Happy Monday, folks. Bad news first: Mercury retrograde is upon us again. At least we have a low-stakes conspiracy theory to distract us. “Taylor Swift ain’t stopping me from having fun.” Bumble has a new face: Lucia’s boy. Everyone’s a critic or something. Who is doing Ghislaine’s prison bob? If you’re traveling by air any time soon, best of luck to your anxiety. And once again: Stop throwing stuff at celebs! Even Drake.

For our inaugural Beach Reads Book Club, New York writers Brock Colyar, Allison P. Davis, Emily Gould, Matthew Schneier, and Alison Willmore will discuss the season’s buzziest book, Emma Cline’s The Guest. Sign up here to join the discourse and get the newsletter.