0:00:01.006,0:00:02.840
So 24 years ago,

0:00:02.840,0:00:06.892
I was brought to the New[br]Yorker as art editor

0:00:06.892,0:00:10.380
to rejuvenate

0:00:10.380,0:00:15.240
what had by then become[br]a somewhat staid institution,

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and to bring in new artists

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and to try to bring the magazine[br]from its ivory tower

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into engaging with its time.

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And it was just the right[br]thing for me to do

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because I've always been captivated[br]by how an image can --

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a simple drawing --

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can cut through the torrent of images[br]that we see every single day.

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How it can capture a moment,

0:00:41.246,0:00:46.552
how it can crystallize a social trend[br]or a complex event

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in a way that a lot of words[br]wouldn't be able to do,

0:00:51.672,0:00:55.724
and reduce it to its essence[br]and turn it into a cartoon.

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So I went to the library,

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and I looked at the first cover[br]drawn by Rea Irvin in 1925 --

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a dandy looking at a butterfly[br]through his monocle,

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and we call it, Eustace Tilley.

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And I realized that as the magazine[br]had become known for its, [well] --

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in-depth research and long reports,

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some of the humor had gotten[br]lost along the way,

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because now, often Eustace Tilley[br]was seen as a haughty dandy,

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but in fact,

0:01:30.811,0:01:32.830
in 1925,

0:01:32.830,0:01:36.349
when Ray Irvin first drew this image,

0:01:36.349,0:01:39.126
he did it as part of a humor magazine[br]

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to amuse the youth of the era,

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which was the flappers[br]of the roaring '20s.

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In the library,

0:01:46.767,0:01:51.457
I found the images that really[br]captured the zeitgeist

0:01:51.457,0:01:53.866
of the Great Depression.

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And it showed us not just[br]how people dressed

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or what the cars looked like,

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but also what made them laugh,

0:02:03.269,0:02:05.619
what their prejudices were,

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and you really got a sense of what[br]it felt like to be alive in the '30s.

0:02:12.132,0:02:15.672
So I called on contemporary artists,

0:02:15.672,0:02:17.405
such as Adrian Tomine here.

0:02:17.713,0:02:21.151
I often call on narrative artists --

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cartoonists,

0:02:22.154,0:02:23.738
children's book authors --

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and I give them themes such as,

0:02:27.091,0:02:29.415
you know, what it's like[br]to be in the subway,

0:02:29.415,0:02:31.533
or Valentine's Day,

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and they send me sketches.

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Once the sketches[br]are approved by the editor,

0:02:37.056,0:02:39.336
David Remnick,

0:02:39.336,0:02:41.666
it's a go.

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I love the way those images

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are actually not telling[br]you what to think.

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But they do make you think,

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because the artist is actually --

0:02:56.115,0:02:57.317
it's almost a puzzle;

0:02:57.317,0:02:58.987
the artist is drawing the dots,

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and you, the reader,[br]have to complete the picture.

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So to get this image[br]on the left by Anita Kunz,

0:03:06.167,0:03:09.166
or the one on right by Tomer Hanuka,

0:03:09.166,0:03:12.433
you have to play spot the differences.

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And it is something that ...

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It's really exciting to see

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how the engagement with the reader ...

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how those images really capture --

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play with the stereotypes.

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But when you get it,

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it rearranges the stereotypes[br]that are in your head.

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But the images don't[br]just have to show people,

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sometimes it can be a feeling.

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Right after September 11,

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I was at a point,

0:03:49.131,0:03:50.312
like everybody else,

0:03:50.312,0:03:55.527
where I really didn't know how[br]to deal with what we were going though,

0:03:55.527,0:04:01.039
and I felt that no image could[br]capture this moment,

0:04:01.039,0:04:03.512
and I wanted to just do a black cover,

0:04:03.512,0:04:04.806
like no cover.

0:04:05.200,0:04:06.671
I talked to my husband,

0:04:06.671,0:04:08.955
cartoonist Art Spiegelman,

0:04:08.955,0:04:12.852
and mentioned to him[br]that I was going to propose that,

0:04:12.852,0:04:15.471
and he said, "Oh, if you're[br]going to do a black cover,

0:04:15.471,0:04:19.252
then why don't you do[br]the silhouette of the Twin Towers,

0:04:19.252,0:04:20.711
black on black?"

0:04:20.958,0:04:22.572
I sat down to draw this,

0:04:22.572,0:04:25.123
and as soon as I saw it,

0:04:25.123,0:04:26.706
a shiver ran down my spine

0:04:26.706,0:04:28.995
and I realized[br]

0:04:28.995,0:04:32.575
that in this refusal to make an image,

0:04:32.575,0:04:37.537
we had found a way to capture loss,

0:04:37.537,0:04:39.181
and mourning,

0:04:39.181,0:04:40.862
and absence.

0:04:42.155,0:04:46.570
It's been a profound thing[br]that I learned in the process --

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that sometimes some of the images[br]that say the most

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do it with the most spare means.

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And a simple image can speak volumes.

0:04:59.899,0:05:03.108
So this is the image[br]that we published by Bob Staake

0:05:03.108,0:05:08.339
right after the election of Barack Obama,

0:05:08.339,0:05:11.603
and captured an historic moment.

0:05:11.603,0:05:13.705
But we can't really plan for this,

0:05:13.705,0:05:15.117
because in order to do this,

0:05:15.117,0:05:21.622
we have to let the artist experience[br]the emotions that we all feel

0:05:21.622,0:05:23.233
when that is happening.

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So back in November 2016,

0:05:27.376,0:05:30.194
during the election last year,

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the only image that we[br]could publish was this,

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which was on the stand on the week[br]that everybody voted.

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(Laughter)

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Because we knew somebody[br]would feel this --

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(Laugther)

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when the result of the election[br]was announced.

0:05:46.697,0:05:50.926
And when we found out the result,

0:05:50.926,0:05:52.800
we really were at a loss,

0:05:52.800,0:05:59.128
and this is the image that was sent[br]by Bob Staake again,

0:05:59.128,0:06:01.870
and that really hit a chord.

0:06:02.550,0:06:03.871
Again,

0:06:03.871,0:06:10.138
we can't really figure out[br]what's going to come next,

0:06:10.138,0:06:12.919
but here it felt like we didn't[br]know how to move forward,

0:06:12.919,0:06:14.570
but we did move forward,

0:06:14.570,0:06:20.758
and this is the image that we published[br]after Donald Trump's election,

0:06:20.758,0:06:24.150
and at the time of the Women's March

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all over the US.

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So over those 24 years,

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I have seen over 1,000 images[br]come to life week after week,

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and I'm often asked which[br]one is my favorite,

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but I can't pick one

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because what I'm most proud of[br]is how different every image is,

0:06:43.487,0:06:44.521
one from the other.

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And that's due to the talent[br]and the diversity

0:06:48.241,0:06:50.994
of all of the artists that contribute.

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And now,

0:06:52.807,0:06:53.813
well,

0:06:53.813,0:06:55.576
now, we're owned by Russia,

0:06:55.576,0:06:56.604
so --

0:06:56.604,0:06:57.717
(Laughter)

0:06:57.717,0:07:00.815
In a rendering by Barry Blitt here,

0:07:00.815,0:07:06.159
Eustace has become Eustace Vladimirovich Tilley.

0:07:06.659,0:07:11.036
The butterfly is none other than[br]a flabbergasted Donald Trump

0:07:11.036,0:07:12.381
flapping his wings,

0:07:12.381,0:07:16.388
trying to figure out how[br]to control the butterfly effect,

0:07:16.388,0:07:21.981
and the famed logo that was[br]drawn by Rae Irvin in 1925

0:07:21.981,0:07:23.778
is now in Cyrillic.

0:07:24.308,0:07:28.453
So, what makes me really excited[br]about this moment

0:07:28.453,0:07:32.308
is the way that ...

0:07:32.308,0:07:37.150
a free press is essential[br]to our democracy.

0:07:37.150,0:07:40.683
And we can see from[br]the sublime to the ridiculous

0:07:40.683,0:07:45.222
that artists can capture[br]what is going on --

0:07:45.222,0:07:52.999
in a way that an artist armed[br]with just India ink and watercolor

0:07:52.999,0:07:58.527
can capture and enter into[br]the cultural dialogue.

0:07:59.000,0:08:03.975
It puts those artists[br]at the center of that culture,

0:08:03.975,0:08:06.860
and that's exactly where[br]I think they should be,

0:08:06.860,0:08:10.194
because the main thing we need[br]right now is a good cartoon.

0:08:10.567,0:08:11.781
Thank you.

0:08:11.781,0:08:13.501
(Applause)