Michelle Pfeiffer, the original cat-eyed sphinx of Hollywood, has spent four decades quietly proving that global soft power can be exercised in a Chanel suit and a smirk. While nations pour billions into embassies, summits, and panda-diplomacy, Pfeiffer has been exporting a far more potent product: immaculate cheekbones and the implicit promise that somewhere in…
Björn Borg, the Ice-God Who Taught the World How to Melt Gracefully By Dave’s Locker International Desk Paris, 1981. An entire continent was still arguing over whether disco was dead, the Soviet Union was cheerfully invading Afghanistan for sport, and shoulder pads were considered a legitimate fashion choice. Into this maelstrom of questionable taste strode…
VIENNA, AUSTRIA — In a week when the planet is busy arguing over whose oligarchs are more photogenic, the death of Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda at 70 has reminded a distracted globe that there once existed men who took genuine risks for something as quaint as “going faster than the other guy.” The three-time Formula…
PARIS—Somewhere between the genteel pop of champagne corks on the Champs-Élysées and the less-genteel pop of another dislocated knee on the hard courts of Melbourne, Chris Evert keeps resurfacing like a polite ghost at the banquet of modern sport. The woman once known as the “Ice Maiden” still skates through global conversations—usually right when some…
PARIS—Somewhere between the first croissant and the third existential crisis, Andy Roddick’s name still flits across café screens like a stubborn pop-up ad from 2003. It shouldn’t make sense: here we are, two decades deep into the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic infinity loop, and yet the Nebraskan with the howitzer serve is trending again—this time because a TikTok…
Naomi Osaka Turns 26: A Global Birthday in the Age of Perpetual Crises By Dave’s Locker International Desk TOKYO—Somewhere between North Korea’s latest missile tantrum and the IMF’s revised “we’re-all-screwed” growth forecast, Naomi Osaka blew out 26 candles last week. That’s 26 revolutions around a sun that, according to the IPCC, now feels like a…
