October 26, 2025. New Yorker staff writers Larissa MacFarquhar, Rebecca Mead, Ian Parker, Kelefa Sanneh and Michael Shulman joined executive editor Daniel Zalewski on stage at the 26th annual New Yorker Festival, a weekend of conversations, screenings, performances and more. The festival, which became the hallmark of the magazine, was held in New York and brought together leading representatives of literature, cinema, comedy, television, politics and medicine.
Larissa McFarquhar was a staff writer at New Yorker since 1998. She wrote about child protection services, battered women movement, dementiaAnd hospice careand her specialized topics included Barack Obama, Noam ChomskyAnd Hilary Mantelamong many others. She is the author of “Strangers Drowning: Impossible Idealism, Radical Choice, and the Will to Help” Before joining the magazine, she worked as a senior editor at French and consulting editor at Paris Review. She has received two Front Page Awards from the Women's Journalists Club of New York and the Johnson & Johnson Award for Excellence in Media. Her writing has appeared in Best American Politics Writing and Best American Food Writing.
Rebecca Mead joined New Yorker as a staff writer in 1997. She covered a variety of topics, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Margaret Atwood, Jessie ArmstrongAnd Mary Beard. She is the author of several books, including “My life in Middlemarch“, New York Time bestseller and “Home/Land: Memories of Departure and Return” She served as the McGraw Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton University and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020. She lives in London and writes about swimming in cold water scandals in the UK British MuseumAnd Sern Abbas the Giant.
Ian Parker contributed his first work to New Yorker in 1992, and in 2000 became a staff writer for the magazine. He introduced a number of cultural figures, including Apple's chief designer. Jonathan Ivefilm director Ken Burnspoet James Fentonphotographer Sebastian Salgadojournalist Christopher Hitchenssinger Elton Johnhistorian Yuval Noah Harariwriter Daniel Malloryarchitect Norman Fosterand mayor of New York Eric Adams. His article “Present“, won a National Magazine Award for writing profiles in 2004. He was previously television critic for London magazine observerwriter and magazine editor Independentand a writer writing for Talk. He lives in New York.
Kelefa Sanneh contributes to New Yorker since 2001 and has been a staff writer since 2008. He is the author of the book “Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genresand is a contributor to “CBS Sunday Morning.” He previously worked as a pop music critic for a New York publication. Time and as deputy editor TransitionJournal of Race and Culture. His writings have appeared in several magazines and books, including “Shake It Up: Great American Writings on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay-Z” and several volumes “Da Capo Best Musical Work” He lives in New York with his family.
Michael Shulmanstaff writer, contributed to New Yorker Since 2006, he has been writing primarily about art and culture. Among his specialized topics was comedian. Bowen Yangdirector Ridley Scotttalk show host Wendy Williamsand actors Patti Lupone, Adam Driver, Elisabeth MossAnd Jeremy Strong. He has written over a hundred Talk of the Town articles and given lengthy interviews on topics such as Linda Ronstadt, Robert De Niro, Fran Lebowitz, Maya RudolphAnd Mel Brooks. He is the author of the bestselling biography “Her again: becoming Meryl Streep” And “Oscar Wars: Hollywood History in Gold, Sweat and Tears“, New York Time Famous book of 2023.
Daniel Zalewski is the magazine's executive editor New Yorker. He edits the work of many of the magazine's staff writers, including Jane Mayer, Patrick Radden Keefe, David Grann, Rebecca Mead, Luke Mogelson, and Lawrence Wright. He was previously editor of the magazine Times Magazine And French. For New Yorkerhe provided profiles of figures such as Ian McEwan, Guillermo del ToroAnd Werner Herzogand also wrote on a variety of topics: from amnesia to art restoration.
