Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.
What do you know about Vietnamese puppetry? How about the films of Nigeria? What's the appropriate way to eat nigiri?
This year, T magazine's annual Culture issue touches on these topics and hundreds of others in an encyclopedic compendium of interviews, images, lists and charts with one goal: teaching readers how to be more cultured.
"The criteria are subjective and very idiosyncratic," said Patrick Li, creative director of the magazine. "I think that's going to be a provocation out there in the world, because it's sort of arbitrary."
The conceit, he said, is tongue-in-cheek, but the commitment to providing a jaw-dropping amount of information from experts on every page is serious. The issue is divided into "chapters," exploring food, film, music and more.
Mr. Li and Kurt Soller, T's deputy editor, said they hoped readers would engage with that provocation and share their opinions with one another and in the comments section. They also hope the print issue might have a long life on coffee tables or bookshelves, ready whenever curiosity strikes.
"I want people to come to this issue and feel like they're getting a broader view of the world," Mr. Soller said. "The worst thing is thinking that you know everything."
In separate interviews, Mr. Li and Mr. Soller discussed their goals for the issue and the challenges of compiling opinions about chocolate from 43 culinary professionals. These are edited excerpts from the conversations.
How did the idea for this issue come about?
KURT SOLLER We do these culture issues every year, and they end up being giant staff projects. It started with all of us brainstorming the kinds of things we wanted to know. We're a magazine that really indulges in learning about things and sharing all of that with readers.
When T's editor in chief, Hanya Yanagihara, came up with the theme, I think it was intended as an antidote to the world's mounting incuriosity, and how frustrating that can feel.
What was the visual language you discussed? Were there certain sources of inspiration you looked to?
PATRICK LI Hanya had very specific ideas about the look and feel of the issue, including making the overall issue feel like a dense reference book. A Merriam-Webster illustrated dictionary, for me, had a profound effect. It dissected complicated organisms, like an eye, for example. I also looked to Japanese magazines in addition to Cook's Illustrated. Incorporating a focused illustration language really helped to bring cohesion to the wide variety of subject matters in the issue.
The amount of information on each page is incredible. Were there any elements that were especially challenging to put together?
SOLLER The food chapter has this deceptively complicated chocolate chart, which involved asking dozens of bakers to submit their favorite bars. We wanted these surprising visual elements to break up the heavy amount of text.
LI The chart shows the number of people who picked a certain kind of chocolate as well as the price tag, because we also wanted to be sure that we offered a wide range of price points. There were 43 different professionals who weighed in on different kinds of chocolate, so imagine the process of identifying those people, getting them to answer questions in a timely manner and then trying to assess all the information.
Did any of the opinions or perspectives in the issue surprise you?
SOLLER The thing that surprised me, actually, was how often Shakespeare came up. Most of the experts in this issue are real luminaries in their fields, and you worry a bit that they’re going to be really erudite, but there are certain things that stand the test of time.
There’s Warhol art, for instance, or Shakespearean sonnets or a play by Lynn Nottage or a famous pizzeria in Italy. These are classics for a reason, and I’m glad that we’re not overlooking some of those greatest hits just to be esoteric for the sake of being esoteric.
How do you hope readers interact with the issue?
LI I really wish that we had more pages in the magazine, and I think the digital experience of this issue is slightly more expansive. It’s less linear in a way, because you can choose what to click on and how to link in or out of the different stories. It’s a fascinating companion to the print issue.
SOLLER We also have these great videos with the actors Greta Lee, Barry Keoghan and Jeffrey Wright—the “hosts” of the issue, as we’re calling them—and these funny Q and A.s they did. Keoghan admitted in one that he has never read a novel, a very honest answer that made us all laugh.
Why did this idea for the issue feel like the right one in this moment?
SOLLER It’s an argument against insularity. We’ve seen the risks of close-mindedness, and learning more about the world is a real opportunity to understand where other people are coming from, but also to understand yourself.
We at T are arguing for the importance of art and culture and beauty. So while this issue is something to learn from, it’s also meant to inspire.