28 March 2021
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March 28, 2021 7 Screenland Reality Check By Adlan Jackson / 11 Talk Dr. Diane E. Meier By David Marchese / 14 The Ethicist Different Universes By Kwame Anthony Appiah / 16 Studies Show Coffee? By Kim Tingley / 18 Letter of Recommendation Biking at Night By Daniel Peña / 20 Eat Chicken-Meatball Hot Pot By Tejal Rao 22 In Search of a Lost Pastime 28 Face Time 36 Tracking the Covid Code By Rowan Ricardo Phillips / Major League Baseball By Vanessa Grigoriadis / How social media stars By Jon Gertner / Ultracheap DNA sequencing now wants to welcome Negro-leagues stats like Addison Rae (and her 78.4 million followers) could help end the pandemic — and reshape into its record books — but the numbers are just gave the cosmetics industry a makeover. the future of health care. a small part of what needs to be remembered. Josh Gibson, regarded in his day as ‘‘the Black Babe Ruth,’’ scoring during the Negro-leagues East-West All-Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1944. Page 22. Photograph from Bettmann Archive, via Getty Images via Getty Archive, Bettmann from Photograph 4 Contributors / 5 The Thread / 10 Poem / 14 Judge John Hodgman / 19 Tip / 44, 45, 46 Puzzles / 45 Puzzle Answers Behind the Cover Gail Bichler, creative director: ‘‘Th is week’s cover story is about how the beauty industry has been transformed by social media stars like Addison Rae, whose over 78 million followers make her TikTok account the platform’s second-most popular. Rae is her own brand, so we designed a cover that refl ects her: splashy and irreverent.’’ Photograph by Paola Kudacki for Th e New York Times. Copyright © 2021 The New York Times 3 Contributors Vanessa Grigoriadis ‘‘Face Time,’’ Vanessa Grigoriadis is a contributing writer for Editor in Chief JAKE SILVERSTEIN Page 28 the magazine. Her last article examined the Deputy Editors JESSICA LUSTIG, BILL WASIK influence of Madonna over the past 40 years. Managing Editor ERIKA SOMMER Her profile of Karl Lagerfeld won a National Creative Director GAIL BICHLER Director of Photography KATHY RYAN Magazine Award and she’s also the author Art Director BEN GRANDGENETT of a book about sexual assault, ‘‘Blurred Lines: Features Editor ILENA SILVERMAN Rethinking Sex, Power and Consent on Campus.’’ Politics Editor CHARLES HOMANS Culture Editor SASHA WEISS For this issue, she writes about the impact the Digital Director BLAKE WILSON beauty industry has had on the psychology of Story Editors NITSUH ABEBE, SHEILA GLASER, American girls now that TikTok, Instagram and CLAIRE GUTIERREZ, YouTube have replaced magazines for many LUKE MITCHELL, ISMAIL MUHAMMAD, young people. ‘‘The idea of celebrities and social RAHA NADDAF, media stars selling their own cosmetic products, DEAN ROBINSON, instead of simply sponsoring products, fascinated WILLY STALEY Assistant Managing Editor JEANNIE CHOI me,’’ Grigoriadis says. ‘‘I wanted to know how Associate Editors IVA DIXIT, that sell was changing the self-conceptualization KYLE LIGMAN Poetry Editor REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS of their fans.’’ Staff Writers SAM ANDERSON, EMILY BAZELON, RONEN BERGMAN, TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER, C. J. CHIVERS, Jon Gertner Jon Gertner is a contributing writer for the PAMELA COLLOFF, ‘‘Tracking the NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, Covid Code,’’ magazine and the author of ‘‘The Ice at the End SUSAN DOMINUS, Page 36 of the World.’’ He writes frequently about science MAUREEN DOWD, NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES, and technology, including features on Tesla JAZMINE HUGHES, and about Climeworks, a Swiss company that is JENEEN INTERLANDI, MARK LEIBOVICH, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. JONATHAN MAHLER, DAVID MARCHESE, WESLEY MORRIS, MARCELA VALDES, Adlan Jackson Screenland, Adlan Jackson is a writer from Kingston, JENNA WORTHAM Page 7 Jamaica, who writes about music in New York. Digital Art Director KATE LARUE Deputy Art Director ANNIE JEN This is his first article for the magazine. Designers CLAUDIA RUBÍN, RACHEL WILLEY Deputy Director of Photography JESSICA DIMSON Senior Photo Editor AMY KELLNER Photo Editor KRISTEN GEISLER Contributing Photo Editor DAVID CARTHAS Copy Chief ROB HOERBURGER Copy Editors HARVEY DICKSON, David Marchese Talk, David Marchese is a staff writer for the DANIEL FROMSON, Page 11 MARGARET PREBULA, magazine and the columnist for Talk. Recently ANDREW WILLETT he interviewed Phoebe Bridgers about success Head of Research NANDI RODRIGO Research Editors RILEY BLANTON, and happiness; Kevin Garnett about how ALEX CARP, basketball has changed; and Ninja about the CYNTHIA COTTS, gender dynamics of gaming. JAMIE FISHER, LU FONG, TIM HODLER, ROBERT LIGUORI, LIA MILLER, Rowan Ricardo ‘‘In Search of Rowan Ricardo Phillips is the author of three STEVEN STERN, Phillips a Lost Pastime,’’ books of poetry — most recently, ‘‘Living Weapon’’ MARK VAN DE WALLE, Page 22 BILL VOURVOULIAS — two books of nonfiction and a book-length Production Chief ANICK PLEVEN translation of fiction. He is the recipient of, Production Editors PATTY RUSH, among other honors, a Guggenheim Fellowship, HILARY SHANAHAN Managing Director, MARILYN McCAULEY a Whiting Award and the PEN/ESPN Award for Specialty Printing Literary Sports Writing. Manager, Magazine Layout THOMAS GILLESPIE Operations Manager TARA NULTY Editorial Assistant ALEXANDER SAMAHA Paola Kudacki ‘‘Face Time,’’ Paola Kudacki is a photographer and director Page 28 known for her portraiture. Her work has appeared NYT FOR KIDS on the covers of Time magazine, GQ and Rolling Editorial Director AMBER WILLIAMS Stone, and she recently directed two music videos Design Director DEB BISHOP Managing Editor MOLLY BENNET for the Foo Fighters. She last photographed Associate Editor LOVIA GYARKYE two new Democratic congresswomen for the Social Editor ALEXA DÍAZ cover of the magazine. Editorial Adviser CAITLIN ROPER 4 3.28.21 The Thread Readers respond to the 3.14.2021 issue. photographers and others for creating a Despite being a member of ‘‘the youth unique and thoroughly enjoyable presen- revolt’’ 50 years ago, I fi nd myself whining RE: 19 SONGS THAT MATTER RIGHT tation online. As an older guy, I know that these days about these annoying young NOW much of this music is not in my wheel- people and their cellphones. Then I watch The annual Music Issue chronicled the house, but the experience was analogous J. D. Beck and DOMi nail Coltrane’s songs and artists that have helped us through to visiting a museum with a new exhibit ‘‘Giant Steps,’’ and I remember what a the pandemic. that opens a door to a style or a genre not wise sage of my generation once wrote: normally pursued. The kids are all right. THE ISSUE, TC, Westport, Conn. ON TWITTER Michael Simmons Sweet interactive I think maybe you did a disservice to all design & music site the wonderful classical and jazz musi- from NYT. cians who have kept many of us going @ELeighton60 through this pandemic. Maybe I have missed the point of your issue, which is really well done, by the way. And maybe classical and jazz are in a diff erent class or category. But if your focus is music that is getting us through the pandemic, then I’m sure many of your readers have no idea who these musicians are. That’s not to say they aren’t excellent. It’s just my fi rst reaction to this. As a locked- down baby boomer who has Lyn Banghart, Easton, Md. listened ad infi nitum these past months to old CDs featuring artists ranging from Your inclusion of the great Bill Frisell and As a 2020 college graduate, I think it’s Sinatra to the Beatles to Simon and Gar- his HARMONY collective took me back easy to feel that the world has forgotten funkel, I wondered, ‘‘What’s the big deal?’’ to the last Hardly Strictly Bluegrass free us since last May. Here, I feel a sense of as this year’s Grammys bore down on us festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate community I have been longing for. I’m with what seemed to me like an amor- Park in October 2019, months before not familiar with all the artists, but this phous mass of musicians I too often strug- the pandemic. It was a typically balmy has given me the language to describe gle to delineate and understand. Then, on fall afternoon, and thousands of people why I have not been able to stop listening the very day of the awards show, along were there to see and hear the likes of to ‘‘WAP’’ since it was released. came this wonderful issue off ering fas- Frisell as Pacifi c breezes mingled with With so little in my control and no cinating back stories of artists and their their beautiful melodies and harmonies social outlet, the song is an escape. It feels music to give me perspective. Thanks to in that idyllic setting. At the time, no one daring, powerful. I watched the video you, I was gently nudged out of dwelling in could have anticipated what was lurking only once but was moved by the celebra- the past to fully appreciate the present — a just around the corner, nor that this would tion of Black women, the reclamation of lesson transcending music at a challeng- be the last such gathering for some time our sexuality. ing time in our lives, when the tendency to come. The recollection of that glorious My graduation ceremony has been is to be down and fi xated on ‘‘the good old afternoon and music, however, reassures pushed to 2022, I haven’t been able to days.’’ Your incisive, impassioned writing me that because of such spirits and mem- hold my diploma, job searching has been has lifted and inspired, causing me to look ories, we shall, indeed, overcome. a nightmare. In its own unconventional forward with hope and anticipation. Steve Griffi th, Oakland, Calif. way, ‘‘WAP’’ has kept me going: There is Greg Joseph, Sun City, Ariz.