The Confessions of a Mob Chef, a Con Man’s Web of Lies, and the Reality of ‘Love Island’

Plus: The Making of a Seminal Teen Comedy

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Ahead of the holiday, curl up with some of VF’s biggest—and wildest—stories of 2022. From Adam Ciralsky’s yearslong investigation into a notorious con man to Monica Lewinsky’s searing take on that celebrity trial, we’ve curated some essential reading for the lazy days ahead.

The Life and Confessions of Mob Chef David Ruggerio

David Ruggerio was once a rising star of French cooking in New York—and a proto–celebrity chef with cookbooks and TV shows to his name. But all that success in the kitchen belied the double life he was leading as a rank-and-file member of the Mob. Decades after his fall from grace, Ruggerio is coming clean.

Inside Wealth-Conference Con Man Anthony Ritossa’s Wild Web of Lies

A VF investigation reveals that a self-styled knight and purported Nobel Prize nominee is actually a Wall Street washout, a deadbeat dad, and a con artist, repeatedly jailed by European authorities.

How Love Island Became a TV Reality of Sex, Fame, and Sometimes Tragedy

Starring swimsuit-clad cast members plucked from obscurity, Love Island promised to be the dating show for our self-made, self-aware era. After a series of high-profile suicides, including that of former host Caroline Flack, a darker reality set in.

“It’s Either Going to Be Really Funny, or They’re Going to Be Horrified”: An Oral History of Superbad

Fifteen years later, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, and more remember making their seminal teen comedy.

Monica Lewinsky’s Verdict on the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard Trial: We Are All Guilty

Courtroom porn and social media have turned innocent bystanders into a mass of mudslingers.

Jason Brassard Spent His Lifetime Collecting the Rarest Video Games. Until the Heist

The porn trilogy for Nintendos. Atari games from the 1980s. Pristine nostalgia, potentially worth millions, gone in a night.