Our new TV obsession is here, it’s queer, get used to it. Also, Robin Byrd is still gyrating, and loneliness influencers aren’t here to make friends. |
|
|
|
Roxana Hadadi visited the Toronto set of The Vampire Lestat to see the blood-drenched vampire rock star in action. For those new to the show, which was called Interview With the Vampire in its first two seasons, here’s a quick recap of what you missed: Vampires Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac used to be a thing, but their relationship was, let’s just say, a little bit toxic. They had a “daughter,” the tragic eternal-child vampire Claudia, but she’s now dead dead. Louis has moved on and is now with the vampire Armand, who has his own complicated relationship with Lestat. To complicate things further, Louis has told the world about Lestat in a best-selling book published by journalist Daniel (Eric Bogosian, having a ball), who’s also now a vampire. There! All caught up. As season three begins, Lestat is embarking on a new career as a rock star. If you’re thinking Hmm, maybe this could be the thing that finally permits me to escape the cottage where I’ve been trapped since late November 2025, you and I are on the same wavelength. Also on that wavelength: the people making this show.
|
|
|
|
|
“If ‘Yes, Shane Hollander, but a shower of blood’ sounds good to you, then watch The Vampire Lestat,” says executive producer and writer Hannah Moscovitch, who is friends with Heated Rivalry creator and fellow Canadian Jacob Tierney. “Theirs is beautiful. Ours is fucking dark-sided.” |
|
|
|
Also to come in season three, per Roxana: “an incest story line that puts George R.R. Martin’s bibliography to shame” and a direction in the script that says “He drops the vertebrae like dice.” Perhaps more to the point, Lestat (Sam Reid) simply does not seem to own a single shirt. We’ve had hot-girl summer and brat summer. Is America ready for gay-vampire summer? Here’s hoping! |
|
|
|
Subscribe now to get unlimited access to everything New York, including subscriber-only newsletters, exclusive perks, the New York app, and more. |
|
|
|
Photo: Wolfgang Tillmans for New York Magazine
|
|
|
|
Mike Albo interviewing Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story’s star is a match made in gay heaven. Now 71, the enterprising former porn actress booked downtown-famous guests and shot her own show, which beamed messages of safe sex and queer positivity onto the airwaves of anyone who had cable access in NYC from 1977 to 1998. Now, she mostly hangs out on Fire Island, enjoying life and caring for her dog and her ailing husband, Shelly. But she’s game to relive her glory days.
|
|
|
|
|
After the merger of Warner Communications and Time Inc. in 1990, the new operator started scrutinizing the program, which was by then making real money from selling ads, including for phone-sex lines and adult theaters. “They would tell me, ‘You can’t put your hand in your pussy. You have to see all five fingers.’ So I’d make sure that we saw five fingers,” Byrd says. “However, if you were a guy and you put your finger in your butthole, that was okay. I was like, ‘Well, well, boys, spread your ass cheeks!’”
|
|
|
|
She still hosts a tea dance in Cherry Grove twice a month, BTW. |
|
|
|
Video: dramafreediaries, lanasololife, itspaulinacee |
|
|
|
“How introverted can a person be while also making public-facing content about their private lives?” asks Rachel Pick. The answer seems to be, well, pretty introverted, actually. |
|
|
|
|
After deciding she no longer wanted her Instagram account to focus on her dog, Devon Noehring, a full-time influencer based in Phoenix, said she was “throwing stuff at the wall” as she figured out how to rebrand. “I did a vlog about a Friday night. I don’t have a lot of friends that live near me. I almost feel ashamed of not having some fun, crazy plans,” she said. “So I spilled my guts. I was being vulnerable, and that video blew up.” Noehring now posts “single introvert” content to 357,000 Instagram followers. Whether the audience is other lonely people seeking assurance or voyeurs simply looking to raise a superior eyebrow, it’s clear that social isolation is now a bankable way to build a brand.
|
|
|
|
Speaking as someone who goes into the office in an attempt to find a moment of peace, I’d posit that another audience might be people who don’t exactly crave being single and being alone but might occasionally wish to microdose it. |
|
|
|
A very happy 11th birthday to iconic Gemini and occasional Dinner Party co-host Raphael Gessen-Gould, who absolutely won’t be reading this. |
|
|
|
|
A weekly dispatch on the cultural discourse. |
|
|
|
https://link.nymag.com/oc/60bf85689b7a136e4b473b24rdob0.m3k/b5104db8
|
|
|
|
|
