The Starbucks Treat Gayle King Loves (and 4 More Favs)

O's editor-at-large Gayle King on her favorite Starbucks pastry, Ali Wentworth's show "Nightcap," and other things she's loving during December 2016.

By Gayle King

Photo: Adam Bell

Joke's On Her

On my wish list this year: comfortable stilettos, low-calorie Cronuts, a really good new comedy. So three cheers for Nightcap, a series about the behind-the-scenes insanity at a late-night talk show. Conducting the crazy train is the show’s talent booker, Staci—played by Ali Wentworth, one of the funniest people I know—who has to keep celeb guests happy. Ali told me she was shameless in asking her famous friends to guest-star. So expect to see Kelly Ripa, Andy Cohen, and even Ali’s husband, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos (“I threw him a bone,” she says), on their worst—and funniest—behavior when the series premieres November 16 on Pop.

Photo: Courtesy of Starbucks

Just Desserts

Despite my 3:30 a.m. wake-up time, I’m not a coffee drinker. But when December rolls around, I roll into Starbucks for its Cranberry Bliss Bar, with a moist brownielike crust, an orange zest kick, and sweet cream-cheese icing topped with dried cranberries. It tastes best when you nuke it in the microwave for exactly 8.5 seconds. I know what I’ll be bringing to the O holiday party this year.

Photo: Image roup LA/ABC Via Getty Images

The Beat Goes On

Miranda Lambert’s latest album, The Weight of These Wings (out November 18), may be the first she’s released since her split from Blake Shelton, but that doesn’t mean it’s 24 songs all about heartbreak. Instead, the double album is full of Miranda’s classic brassy sound—one of my favorite tunes, “Pink Sunglasses,” is about cheap specs that make her world look brighter—as well as refreshing honesty about her ex. No matter what Miranda is going through, she’ll always be a badass who can sing.

Photo: Courtesy of the Rolling Stones, SAACHI/Gallery

I’d always been a Beatles girl—until I danced with Mick Jagger at a party and joined his fan club, too. So the Rolling Stones can count me present when Exhibitionism, their appropriately titled interactive exhibition, opens November 12 at New York City event space Industria. (The show closes in March.) Mick guarantees it will be a unique rock ’n’ roll experience—starring Keith Richards’s 1963 diary and a re-creation of the band’s 1966 recording studio in West London. I guess you can get some satisfaction.

Addition photo credits: Dave J. Hogan

And...Action!

Jessica Chastain has played an uptight wife (The Help) and a brilliant CIA agent (Zero Dark Thirty), and now she’s a D.C. lobbyist in her new film, Miss Sloane. Why the résumé review? Because the first two movies earned Jessica Oscar nominations, and I predict this one, in which she plays the calculating Elizabeth Sloane, will earn her another. I confess that the film starts off slow, but once it gets going, the payoff is big—especially for Jessica, who does ruthless better than I’ve ever seen. The movie begins with Sloane telling us that lobbying is about making sure you surprise your opponent. On December 9, you can bet she does.

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From the December 2016 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine