New York Magazine: January 4, 2021 Issue

Table of Contents

January 4, 2021

Cover Story

Gain of Function

How much risk of an accidental pandemic is too much? By Nicholson Baker

On the Cover: Illustration by Robert Beatty for New York Magazine.

features

Blurbed to Death

The implosion of a best-selling novel.

By Lila Shapiro
The Memory War

A daughter’s accusations, and the foundation built to discredit them.

By Katie Heaney

Intelligencer

Departments

‘New York’ Crossword

Matt Gaffney’s latest puzzle.
Comments: Week of January 4, 2021

Readers sound off on J.K. Rowling, the Karen next door, and more.
The Approval Matrix: Week of January 4, 2021

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.
On the Cover of New York Magazine: The Lab-Leak Hypothesis

Nicholson Baker explores the disturbing possibility that the coronavirus pandemic was the result of an unintentional lab accident.

Strategist

The Culture Pages

Torrey Peters Goes There

The writer redefining the mainstream.
At Home With Fran Lebowitz

On the eve of another Scorsese doc.
Prom King

What happened to Ryan Murphy?
Leave the World Behind

Hunkering down with two indie musicians in Kansas
The Movie Review

One Night in Miami is an uneven depiction of American giants.
The TV Review

Netflix’s unimaginative recap, Death to 2020.
The Album Review

New music from classic rockers offered a lifeline in our dire times.
To Do: January 6–20

Our biweekly guide to what to see, hear, read, and watch.