Drama was the watchword of 2024, if Vanity Fair’s most read stories of the year are any indication. There’s family drama, frenemy drama, forbidden-love drama, true-crime drama, political drama, and even some tech drama. Donald Trump is mostly absent from these headlines—sick of hearing about him, are we?—but his allies Rudy Giuliani and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the list, in both cases with the help of family members appalled by their MAGA conversions. Tim Cook gave Nick Bilton an exclusive preview of Apple’s massive, unorthodox bet on the Vision Pro. Ryan Murphy’s Capote vs. the Swans propelled Chris Murphy’s (no relation) deft explainer onto the charts, along with a choice cut from Sally Bedell Smith’s 1990 biography of William S. Paley, whose wife, Babe, was portrayed in the series by Naomi Watts. You also devoured one epic crime story (Julie Miller’s astonishingly all-access profile of murder defendant Karen Read), a handful of fraught romance sagas (et tu, Cormac McCarthy?!), and, in a surprise showing at number one, a departing Queer Eye cast member’s unflinchingly candid account of—what else?—all the D-R-A-M-A on set. The holiday season is the perfect time to catch up on any of these instant classics that you may have missed.

10. Rudy Giuliani’s Daughter: Trump Took My Dad From Me. Please Don’t Let Him Take Our Country Too

By Caroline Giuliani

“Nothing I have experienced prepared me for the very public and relentless implosion of my father’s life,” writes Caroline Giuliani, announcing her support for Kamala Harris.

9. Why Tim Cook Is Going All In on the Apple Vision Pro

By Nick Bilton

Inside Apple Park, the tech giant’s CEO talks about the genesis of a “mind-blowing” new device that could change the way we live and work. A-list directors are already on board—“My experience was religious,” says James Cameron—but will your average iPhone user drop $3,500 on a headset?

8. From the Archive: Babe (1990)

By Sally Bedell Smith

When Babe Cushing, the most captivating of “the fabulous Cushing sisters,” married CBS chairman Bill Paley, her glamour and his power made them the golden couple—in New York society there was nothing beyond the Paleys. But Babe became her husband’s most precious possession, slavishly fulfilling his whims while her family disintegrated around her. And her aura of perfection—for three decades she was the ideal and envy of all her peers—belied a deepening pain and resentment. Sally Bedell Smith, in this excerpt from her biography of William S. Paley, In All His Glory, records the high price of being Babe.

7. Karen Read Tells Her Story (Part 1): A Murder Trial in Massachusetts

By Julie Miller

After John O’Keefe was found, near death, in the snowy front yard of a fellow Boston cop, his girlfriend was arrested. As Karen Read’s second murder trial looms, she’s ready to talk about what she says really happened. Read “Part 2” of this story, including new details that have emerged in the Karen Read murder case, here.

6. The Twisted True Love Story of Lady Betty Grafstein and José Castelo Branco

By Alice Hines

A 95-year-old diamond heiress and a much younger genderfluid reality star got famous on TikTok for their epic feel-good romance. Was it all a long con?

5. Who Were the Swans? A Deep Dive Into Truman Capote’s Best Frenemies

By Chris Murphy

Much ink has been spilled over the rise and fall of Truman Capote, and he returned to the zeitgeist as the bleeding and bloated heart at the center of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series Feud: Capote vs. the Swans. To prepare, VF took a deep dive into the lives and times of the author’s beloved swans: Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Babe Paley, and more.

4. Cary Grant and Randolph Scott’s Hollywood Story: “Our Souls Did Touch”

By David Canfield

Hedda Hopper once asked of Grant, “Whom does he think he is fooling?” The star’s bond with Scott has been the subject of nearly a century of speculation, but the truth about their impact on each other’s lives has been hiding in plain sight.

3. RFK Jr.’s Family Doesn’t Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets.

By Joe Hagan

A shocking photograph. Blowback from a Trump meeting. Alleged sexual assault. The Kennedys have voiced support for Joe Biden, but certain aspects of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s character are only just now coming to light.

2. Cormac McCarthy’s Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century: “I Loved Him. He Was My Safety.”

By Vincenzo Barney

When he was 42, Cormac McCarthy fell in love with a 16-year-old girl he met by a motel pool. Augusta Britt would go on to become one of the most significant—and secret—inspirations in literary history, giving life to many of McCarthy’s most iconic characters across his celebrated novels and Hollywood films. For 47 years, Britt closely guarded her identity and her story. Until now.

1. Bobby Berk Explains Why He’s Really Leaving Queer Eye

By Paul Chi

The beloved interior design expert is finally ready to address everything, including an alleged dispute with one of his Fab Five costars: “Tan and I had a moment.”