WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So 24 years ago, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was brought to the New Yorker as Art Editor to rejuvinate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what had by then become a somewhat stayed institution, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to bring in new artists 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to try to bring the magazine from its ivory tower 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 into engaging with its time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it was just the right thing for me to do 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because I've always been captivated by how an image can -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a simple drawing -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can cut through the torrent of images that we see every single day. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How it can capture a moment, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how it can crystallize a social event or a complex event 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a way that a lot of words wouldn't be able to do, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and reduce it to its essence and turn it into a cartoon. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So I went to the library 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I looked at the first cover drawn by Ray Irvin in 1925 -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a dandy looking at a butterfly with his monocle, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we call it, "Used to ... " 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I realized that as the magazine had become known for its well -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in-depth research and long reports, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 some of the humor had gotten lost along the way, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because now often [...] was seen as hoity dandy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but in fact, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in 1925, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when Ray Irvin first drew this image, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he did it as part of the humor magazine to amuse the use of the era, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which was the flappers of the roaring '20s. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And in the library I found the images that really captured the zeitgeist 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the Great Depression. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it showed us not just how people dressed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or what the cars looked like, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also what made them laugh, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what their prejudices were, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and you really got a sense of what it felt like to be alive in the '30s. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So I called on contemporary artists such as Adriane ..... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I often call on narrative artists, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cartoonists, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 children's book authors, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I give them themes such as, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know, what it's like to be in the subway, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or Valentine's Day, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and they send me sketches. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Once the sketches are approved by the editor David Remnick, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's a go. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I love the way those images are actually not telling you what to think, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but they do make you think, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because the artist is actually -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's almost a puzzle -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the artist is drawing the dots, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and you the reader have to complete the picture. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So to get this image on the left by Anita Kuntz, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or the one on right by Tomar Atica, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you have to play spot the differences, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it is something that -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's really exciting to see how the engagement with the reader 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how those images really capture -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 play with the stereotypes, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but when you get it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it rearranges the stereotypes that are in your head. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The images don't just have to show people, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 sometimes it can be a feeling. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right after September 11th, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was at a point -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like everybody else, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where I really didn't know how to deal with what we were going though, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I felt that no image could capture this moment, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I wanted to just do a black cover, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like no cover. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I talked to my husband, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cartoonist Art Spiegelman, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I mentioned to him that I was going to propose that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and he said, "If you're going to do a black cover, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then why don't you do a silhouette of the Twin Towers, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 black on black?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And I sat down to draw this, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and as soon as I saw it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a shiver ran down my spine 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I realized that in this refusal to make an image, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we had found a way to capture loss 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and mourning 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and absence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's been a profound thing that I learned in the process -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that sometimes some of the images that say the most 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 do it with the most spare means. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And a simple image can speak volumes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So this is the image that we published by Bob Stack 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 right after the election of Barack Obama, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and captured an historic moment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But we can't really plan for this, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because in order to do this, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we have to let the artist experience the emotions that we all feel 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when that is happening. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So back in November 2016, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 during the election last year, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the only image that we could publish was this, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which was on the stand on the week that everybody voted. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because we knew somebody would feel this -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laugther) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when the result of the election was announced. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And when we found out the result, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we really were at a loss, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and this is the image that was sent by Bob Stack again, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that really hit a chord. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And again, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we can't really figure out what's going to come next, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but here it felt like we didn't know how to move forward, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but we did move forward, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and this is the image that we published after Donald Trump's election, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and at the time of the Women's March 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all over the US. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So over those 24 years, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I have seen over 1,000 images come to life week after week, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I'm often asked which on is my favorite, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I can't pick one 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because what I'm most proud of is how different every image is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one from the other. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And that's due to the talent and the diversity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of all of the artists that contribute. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And now, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 well, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 now, we're owned by Russia, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In a rendering by Barry Blitt here, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Eustis has become Eustis Vladmir ... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so the butterfly is nonother than a flabbergasted Donald Trump 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 flapping his wings, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 trying to figure out how to control the butterfly effect, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the famed logo that was drawn by Ray Irving in 1925 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is not in syrillic. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So what makes me really excited about this moment 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is the way that a free press is essential to our democracy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we can see from the sublime to the ridiculous 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that artists can capture what is going on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a way that an artist armed with just india ink and watercolor 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 can capture and enter into the cultural dialogue. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it puts those artsits at the center of that culture, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that's exactly where I think they should be, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because the main thing we need right now is a good cartoon. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause)