The New York Times Magazine - USA (2020-11-08)

6 11.8.

The magazine publishes the
results of a study conducted
online in March 2020 by The
New York Times’s research-and-
analytics department, refl ecting
the opinions of 2,250 subscribers
who chose to participate.

Dear Reader:

Is Aromatherapy

Real?

Contributors

Kenji Aoki is a Japanese photographer based

in New York and specializing in still life from

a geometric and analytical perspective. He is

a regular contributor to the magazine.

Ben Ehrenreich is the author most recently of

‘‘Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of

Time.’’ His 2013 article in the magazine about the

West Bank became the basis of his book ‘‘The

Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine.’’

Kristine Potter is an artist based in Nashville

whose work often explores masculine archetypes

as well as the American landscape. She was

a 2018 Guggenheim fellow and the winner of

the Grand Prix Images Vevey, 2019/2020.

Matthew Shaer is a writer at large for the

magazine and a recent Emerson fellow at New

America. He previously wrote a feature about

how cities make money by fining the poor.

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, an essayist and

a cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His

forthcoming book is ‘‘A Little Devil in America,’’

to be published next March. For this issue,

he writes about the musicians Gillian Welch and

David Rawlings. ‘‘I was very interested in

thinking through closeness and collaboration

in a time when many people are distant

from each other,’’ Abdurraqib says. ‘‘I found it

particularly fascinating that these seasoned

artists would return to old songs — their own

and the songs of others — in an attempt

to regain their footing after a tornado partly

destroyed the safe haven of their recording

studio right as the pandemic descended on

their lives.’’

‘‘Why Societies Fall Apart,’’

Page 38

‘‘Why Societies Fall Apart,’’

Page 38

‘‘Hard Times,’’

Page 24

‘‘When the Virus Came

for the American Dream,’’

Page 30

‘‘Hard Times,’’

Page 24

Kenji Aoki

Ben Ehrenreich

Kristine Potter

Matthew Shaer

Hanif Abdurraqib Editor in Chief JAKE SILVERSTEIN
Deputy Editors JESSICA LUSTIG,
BILL WASIK
Managing Editor ERIKA SOMMER
Creative Director GAIL BICHLER
Director of Photography KATHY RYAN
Art Director BEN GRANDGENETT
Features Editor ILENA SILVERMAN
Politics Editor CHARLES HOMANS
Culture Editor SASHA WEISS
Digital Director BLAKE WILSON
Story Editors NITSUH ABEBE,
SHEILA GLASER,
CLAIRE GUTIERREZ,
LUKE MITCHELL,
DEAN ROBINSON,
WILLY STALEY
Assistant Managing Editor JEANNIE CHOI
Associate Editors IVA DIXIT,
KYLE LIGMAN
Poetry Editor NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
Staff Writers SAM ANDERSON,
EMILY BAZELON,
RONEN BERGMAN,
TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER,
C. J. CHIVERS,
PAMELA COLLOFF,
NICHOLAS CONFESSORE,
SUSAN DOMINUS,
MAUREEN DOWD,
NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES,
JAZMINE HUGHES,
JENEEN INTERLANDI,
MARK LEIBOVICH,
JONATHAN MAHLER,
DAVID MARCHESE,
WESLEY MORRIS,
JENNA WORTHAM
Digital Art Director KATE LARUE
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,
DANIEL FROMSON,
MARGARET PREBULA,
ANDREW WILLETT
Head of Research NANDI RODRIGO
Research Editors RILEY BLANTON,
ALEX CARP,
CYNTHIA COTTS,
JAMIE FISHER,
LU FONG,
TIM HODLER,
ROBERT LIGUORI,
LIA MILLER,
STEVEN STERN,
MARK VAN DE WALLE,
BILL VOURVOULIAS
Production Chief ANICK PLEVEN
Production Editors PATTY RUSH,
HILARY SHANAHAN
Managing Director, MARILYN McCAULEY
Specialty Printing
Manager, Magazine Layout THOMAS GILLESPIE
Editorial Assistant ALEXANDER SAMAHA

NYT FOR KIDS

Editorial Director CAITLIN ROPER

Art Director DEB BISHOP

Editor AMBER WILLIAMS

Staff Editor MOLLY BENNET

Associate Editor LOVIA GYARKYE

Designer NAJEEBAH AL-GHADBAN

Social Editor ALEXA DÍAZ

Did not

answer

45%

No, plain air

for me

2% 53%

Yes, crank up

the lavender