Contributors

1 K. Austin COLLINS

"The Idris Experience," p. 46

"Idris was a fun hang," Vanity Fair's film critic says of this month's cover subject. "I'm extremely fond of his work as Stringer Bell on The Wire, but seeing him imitate a frying egg was pretty fun." Collins also writes crosswords for the New York Times and The New Yorker.

2 Tierney GEARON

"The Coast of Utopia," p. 66

Gearon was touched by the authenticity of the surfer moms she photographed in Byron Bay, Australia. "I instantly connected with the girls," she says. "With social media, you can make something look like one thing when, in reality, it is another. But it was just genuine, beautiful moments that melted one into the next."

3 Bethany McLEAN

"Bitter Pill," p. 74

"I was struck by David Sackler's willingness to speak out despite resistance from his family," says McLean, a V.F. contributing editor. "And by how he believes that if he can tell his family's side of things, he can change the perception of them." McLean's new podcast, Making a Killing, is available on Luminary.

4 Joel STEIN

"Hollywood and Divine," p. 40

For his forthcoming book, In Defense of Elitism, Stein attended church in Texas, in "the county with the highest percentage of Trump voters." But for this month's column on L.A.'s hipster churches, he didn't need to go far. "This was right where I lived," he says, "and everyone was younger and cooler than me."

5 Carina GHOGANO

"The Coast of Utopia," p. 66

"Trying to locate a way of life that exists on Instagram was strange," Chocano says of her time with social-mediasavvy surfer moms in Australia. "But talking to them together was a nice communal moment. The friendships are real." Her book You Play the Girl won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism in 2018.