The Extremely Weird Politics of Covid is this edition’s feature article of The New Yorker. The author explains his confusion about feeling torn between the beliefs and policies of Republicans and Democrats. One of the main talking points in this article is the debate on masks and vaccinations. With such a polarizing topic, the cover needed to be compelling and highlight this debate in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Monument was the perfect monument as it stands for justice and freedom and its shape could be manipulated into other objects, in this case, a syringe to symbolize the magnitude of vaccine debates among Americans. The American flag, which is already a hot-button topic was also transformed into an object that generates lots of buzz. The top part of the cover represents what Democrats see as necessary for the nation for survival during the pandemic and the bottom half represents what Republicans don’t see as necessary. While the cover focuses on vaccines, the feature spread brings more attention to the controversy over masks.