ArchiveMay 2020

The footage is remarkably clear. We see a room with a plush chair and a floral-patterned sofa, paneled walls, and orchids on the windowsill. A young man in loose sweatpants and a burgundy Harvard sweater looks briefly around the room. He fiddles quickly with something in the corner of the room before surreptitiously stuffing a white box into his back pocket. Finally, he adjusts the hidden camera...

In June 2017, Time, themagazine known for its person of the year, released a list of the 25 most influential people on the planet. The newly-crowned Donald Trump was there, as were Matt Drudge, J.K. Rowling, and K-Pop band BTS. Also on the list, though, was Ser Amantio di Nicolao—not the minor character in the Puccini opera Gianni Schicchi but the pseudonym of Virginian Steven Pruitt, a records...