Atlanta Magazine

It was only a matter of time until the scandalous and very Southern tale of wealthy real estate attorney Gary “Big Daddy” Farris and his dysfunctional family made its way into a true crime podcast. Thankfully for listeners, 48 Hours correspondent and former Atlantan Peter Van Sant is the guy reporting the six-part Blood is Thicker: The Farris Wheel podcast for 48 Hours, launching March 11.

The first time I pass by the desk, I miss it. The four of us are already in the next room when I spot the sign featuring her name: Virginia Woolf. I retrace my steps, followed by my husband, our daughter, and her fiance. Sure enough, there it is: Virginia Woolf’s writing desk, on display in Duke University’s Rubenstein Library.

Writer Tom Junod grew up in the long shadow of Big Lou—a dazzling, ruthless womanizer—and spent a decade excavating the myth of his father’s life. His new memoir is a reckoning with sex, power, and the inheritance every son must confront.

Navin Norling's childhood frugal mindset informs his artistic practice to this day, exemplified in his upcoming solo exhibition at Johnson Lowe Gallery in Buckhead. Dangerous Games continues Norling’s use of salvaged materials, this time with a few exciting twists.

When Beth Hyland first shopped around the script for her play Fires, Ohio, multiple theater companies told her it was unproducible. There wasn’t a problem with the dialogue or the plot; the script, humorous and gripping, had already won both the Kennedy Center’s Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting and the Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. The setting itself was the issue: a two-story house in an Ohio town, surrounded by a raging wildfire.

In March 2025, Rumi’s Kitchen Sandy Springs closed for a planned $3.5 million renovation, estimated to be complete in six months. Nearly a year later, Rumi’s flagship location is reopening after nearly tripling its original budget. New offerings include innovative cocktails and desserts, a selection of water offerings complete with tasting notes, and a glassed-in patio.

Christalyn Hampton’s directorial career couldn’t have got off to a better start. Her debut as a filmmaker, The Devil is Busy, which she co-directed with Geeta Gandbhir, has been nominated for the Best Documentary Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards. Set at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, the film shows a day in the life of Tracii, its head of security. Atlanta magazine spoke with Hampton about the film, why documentaries are so important, and what she hopes the film's impact will be. 

James Beard–recognized chefs have put Raleigh’s dining scene on the national map, and Michelin’s inaugural American South guide arrived last November, cementing Raleigh as a culinary hotbed. Add world-class museums, transformative outdoor developments, and that unbeatable North Carolina hospitality, and you’ve got a city worthy of a weekend escape.

In 2021, beloved bartender Katie Janness was brutally murdered at the Charles Allen Gate entrance to Piedmont Park. With broken security cameras, no eyewitnesses, and few leads, the case remains unsolved nearly five years later.

When Muchacho first opened along the Atlanta Beltline and Memorial Drive, it became known as a place shaped as much by its surroundings as by its menu. That site, housed in a 100‑year‑old train depot, set the tone for how the brand approaches expansion: start with the bones of a building, then let the space tell the story. The newly opened Muchacho West Midtown follows that same philosophy.