The narrowest car in the world and a reality tv host blindsided with unemployment

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting

It’s hard for me to believe there was a time when figurative painting was démodé, but the rise of abstract art in the mid-20th century seemed to push it to the side. As with all things art, however, tastes are cyclical, and figurative art is hot right now. In part, this trend is owed to artists like Jenny Saville, whose work emerged in the mid-90s as part of the Young British Artists.

Her work, based in classicism with a contemporary punch, is being celebrated with her first major retrospective at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Her work pushes the notions of female beauty, using thick oil paint to build up the forms on canvas, and reinvigorating the public’s perspective on figurative art. Goodbye, stodgy portraits of yesteryear; hello, sensual renderings of femininity.

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Portrait Painting, featuring a range of works from charcoal sketches to large-scale oils, is now on view at the National Portrait Gallery in in London until September 7, before moving to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in October.

All the Drama for Your Mama, Mommy, Mom, Mamacita on Love Island USA

We’ve just seen a second person ejected from Love Island USA due to controversy over resurfaced social media posts in which the contestant has used racial slurs. Yulissa Escobar was the first to be quietly led out the back door in episode 2 and now it’s Cierra Ortega, whose family has quickly posted a response about the backlash they have been facing. These exits have only been a blip in the timeline of this wildly popular show though.

It seems like EVERYONE is watching Love Island USA this season. In fact, The New York Times published an article titled Why Is Everyone Watching ‘Love Island USA?’ and there’s even sort of an answer: “Historically, reality TV has spiked in popularity during times of societal and economic hardship.” Yikes. Downer. But also very very true, and we are grateful for the distraction! 🙌

Despite the doom and gloom of reality, we’re out here cheesing over “reality” TV. The best moment of this season, hands down, is the ridiculous (and now iconic) “Mommy, Mom, Mamacita” conversation between Huda and Nic. Megan Thee Stallion clocked it during her legendary appearance. (She’s a real fan!) It is the moment that just keeps giving, spawning memes and merch. Even brands like Wendy’s, Scrub Daddy, and IHOP got in on it.

There’s less than a week left of Love Island USA and it’s unlikely anything will top the Nic and Huda conversation, but which couple will ultimately win? Amaya has been a crowd favorite for weeks, but people have been waiting all season for Nicolandria to happen… We’ll just have to wait and see the outcome at finale night on Sunday, July 13.

• 🖼️ Want to design the new Louvre? Now’s your chance. On June 27, the Paris museum officially launched a competition to design its $316 million expansion, which will hopefully stop the stampedes jostling to get a 5-second glimpse of the Mona Lisa.

• 👨‍🎨 Speaking of crowded spaces, let’s turn to the Vatican Museums. After a decade, the restoration of Raphael’s Hall of Constantine is finally finished. In a break from traditional fresco painting, he apparently used oil paint to place several figures on the wall and invented an interesting method to do so.

• 🚗 Even if you drive a compact car, nothing will prepare you for what Italian mechanic Andrea Marazzini cooked up. His narrow one-person Fiat Panda looks like it went through a trash compactor and will have you rubbing your eyes to see if it’s real.

• 🇺🇸 During an interview on Meet the Press, poet Amanda Gorman confirmed her interest in running for president in 2036, when she will officially be old enough.

• ✏️ The world is focused on sustainability, and one designer is thinking outside the box with an innovative hollowed-out pencil that reduces waste by 85%.

• 🏛️ Egypt spent $1 billion on the new Grand Museum, but with shifting opening dates, when will visitors get to see it?

• 🎌 Get your passport ready. Sou Fujimoto’s dreamy circular villa EARTH on a remote Japanese island for NOT A HOTEL is giving us the itch to book our next flight.

• 🗓️ Check out this recap of the first 6 months of 2025 in under 2 minutes by the genius Mikey Angelo (aka Mr. Grande). What a wild year it’s been already…

• 📺 Australian Survivor (arguably the best in the global Survivor franchise) has fired Jonathan LaPaglia after nearly 10 years as host of the beloved reality competition series. This is perhaps the biggest blindside of them all!

• 👠 Heidi Klum will be returning as the host of Project Runway. (I guess Karlie Kloss was busy having dinner with the Kushners...) She'll be joined by Christian Siriano, Nina García, and Law Roach. And fans of RuPaul's Drag Race may recognize Utica Queen as a contestant. The new season is scheduled to premiere July 31 on Freeform, Hulu, and Disney+.

• 👺 The hit reality competition show The Traitors is often likened to the party game Mafia, but Dima Davidoff (the creator of Mafia) has only just recently watched some episodes of the TV show and gives his take on it in an interview with Vulture. It’s an interesting read on how his game has inspired culture for the last 40 years, and where the line is drawn in terms of copyright and pirating.

• 🐶 Over 63 million votes were cast in this year’s annual Sanrio Character Ranking and the results are in; the winner is… Pompompurin! The yellow golden retriever may have taken the top spot, but our millennial memories are screaming with excitement over Pochacco taking 3rd place. What a throwback!

• 🌙 Speaking of nostalgia stemming from Japan: Sailor Moon is getting its own museum outside of Japan. Well, technically, the Sailor Moon Museum is a traveling exhibition, but still — international fans will be winning love by daylight!

• 🎥 Keeping with the theme of Asian animation, have you seen KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix? As someone whose only knowledge of K-Pop begins and ends with Lalisa on The White Lotus, this animated film was extremely (and surprisingly) entertaining! It’s like Sailor Moon and Jem and the Holograms with a sprinkle of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Basic premise: three female K-pop stars slay demons. (There’s also another all-male K-Pop group called Saja Boys that TikTokers in real life have been emulating.)