VANITY FAIR

OCTOBER 2015 No. 662

FEATURES

230 IT'S ALL IN THE EYES BY MAX CHAFKIN Facebook C.E.O. Mark Zuckerberg has bet $2 billion that Palmer Luckey's virtual-reality headset, the Oculus Rift, is ready for rollout. Google, Microsoft, and others are in hot pursuit. And Silicon Valley may be about to experience its next big thing. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz.

237 PRIMARY COLORATURA Spotlight on soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who is tackling all three of Donizetti's Tudor-queen operas at the Met. By Annalyn Swan. Photograph by Andrew Eccles.

238V.F.PORTRAIT: SONNY MEHTA BY DAVE EGGERS As Knopf turns 100, a literary star pays tribute to the hallowed publishing house's editor in chief, who runs his business by (what else?) the book. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

240 SHADOWS ON THE LAWN BY SARAH ELLISON The publication last fall of Rolling Stone's now discredited report, about a fraternity gang rape at the University of Virginia, was the latest blow for an already traumatized campus. An alumna charts U.Va.'s annus horribilis—murder, racial tensions, and a harsh spotlight—discovering how one woman's lies made national news.

248 HOST-TO-HOST SENSATION BY DAVID KAMP From Conan to the Jimmys, politics to pranks, late-night television is serving up a new menu of a la carte laughs. With 10 hosts in top form, change looks good—and there's more on the way. Photographs by Sam Jones.

252 THE LONGEST SUMMER BY BRYAN BURROUGH Bill de Blasio fought his way into City Hall as a crusader for affordable housing and against income inequality. Instead, New York City's mayor has found himself battling the police, local black leaders, Uber, Wall Street, and the governor. Photographs by Jonas Fredwall Karlsson.

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258 BALLOTS OVER BROADWAY BY MICHAEL RIEDEL In 1982, a Broadway friendship turned into perhaps the greatest rivalry in Tony Award history. In an adaptation from his new book, a veteran theater columnist recalls the showdown between two musicals—Dreamgirls and Nine—and the dramas behind their curtains.

266 THE SORORITY FROM HELL Spotlight on Fox's Scream Queens:Emma Roberts, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lourd, and Ariana Grande. By Andrea Cuttler. Photograph by Emma Summerton.

268 OUR MAN IN THE VATICAN BY PAUL ELIE On his first visit to the U.S., this month, the Pope is packing his fearless humility, forgiving heart, and—to much of the Church's hierarchy—radical ideas. Those close to Francis reveal how he's managed to revolutionize the papacy and why he's so beloved.

273 SOCIAL LANDSCAPES Spotlight on artist Julia Wachtel, whose work tackles the big questions. By A. M. Homes. Photograph by Justin Bishop.

274 IT WAS MAGIC, MIKE BY SAM KASHNER AND CHARLES MASLOW-FREEN When award-winning director Mike Nichols died last November, he left an incalculable legacy in comedy, him, and theater, as well as legions of devoted friends. Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Lome Michaels, Nathan Lane, Julia Roberts, and many more recall Nichols's odyssey from Hitler's Germany to six decades at the pinnacle of American culture.

VANITIES

119 SNOOK BOOK Bruce McCall previews the season's most impressive (or not) gadgets. Adam Leff and Richard Rushheld compare America's top news anchors; Scott Jacobson, Mike Sacks, and Ted Travelstead provide catcalls for N.YC.'s Comic Con.

FANFAIR & FAIRGROUND

127 31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Nicholas Kirkwood salutes gaming. One Kings Lane debuts the Studio. Hot Type. Hot Tracks: Playlists. Private Lives: Hingetown. My Stuff: Into the Gloss's Emily Weiss. Fanfair's inaugural Mood Board: Ralph Lauren. Beauty: Cle de Peau's holiday maquillage; Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb's 10-year reign.

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146 AROUND THE WORLD, ONE PARTY AT A TIME Musicians, fans, and friends of Harlem's Apollo Theater enjoyed a private dinner and concert to show their support for the non-profit, at trustee Ronald Perelman's estate in East Hampton.

COLUMNS

162 THE #ME! GENERATION BY JAMES WOLCOTT Tagged as a bunch of spoiled social-media addicts, do the Millennials need a good spanking—or will they be the generation that turns the ship around? Photo illustration by Darrow.

168 UNICORNS AND RAIN CLOUDS BY NICK BILTON The rising numbers of billion-dollar-plus start-ups, free-spending investors, and high-end parties are giving some in Silicon Valley a sense of deja vu. But if another tech bubble bursts, it may not be 2000 all over again. Photo illustration by Sean McCabe.

178 HER OWN REST MYSTERY BY FRANCIS WHEEN With Josephine Tey's superb mysteries, the question wasn't simply "Whodunit?" but also "Who wrote it?" Artfully breaking the mold for golden-age crime fiction, Tey was equally hard to pin down when it came to her true identity.

183 THE NEW ESTARLISHMENT 2015V.F.'s 21st annual power-player roundup ranks the mavericks and machers in tech, media, and beyond. Plus: the Hall of Fame, Ubers for everything, Silicon Valley's dystopian jitters, and much more.

ET CETERA

92 CONTRIRUTORS

100 EDITOR'S LETTER THE EVERYTHING BUBBLE

106 BEHIND THE SCENES CHALK AND "CHEESE"

110 60 MINUTESPOLL

112 LETTERS THE LAST THING HE WANTED

156 IN THE DETAILS BEN MENDELSOHN

161 OUT TO LUNCH MELINDA GATES

298 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE WHOOPI GOLDBERG