• by Fern Siegel , September 8, 2020

The New Yorker Festival is back Oct 5-11 — but its 21st year has a twist: It’s virtual.

Given stay-at-home preferences and social distancing, all talks, panels and performances with influential figures will be online.

Events will stream live and be available for on-demand replay.

This year’s event will have added resonance in the political sector, given ongoing protests about racial justice, as well as the upcoming election.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as former Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., president and director-counsel of the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, and civil-rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson will be interviewed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the U.S., and the need for clinical insights and realistic assessments is acute. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will be in attendance.

The range of celebrities is drawn from various segments of society, including arts and entertainment. Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph represent TV and movies. Classical musicians — cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax — will also perform.

Unlike past years, there will be a drive-in movie screening in Queens of “One Night in Miami” directed by Regina King. The movie takes place on Feb. 25, 1964, the night Cassius Clay, at 22, won the world heavyweight championship and is about to announce his conversion to Islam. He is joined by Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown.

Those in the New York City area can also order a curated dinner, created specially for the festival by the Harlem-based chefs Pierre Thiam, of Teranga, and JJ Johnson, of FIELDTRIP.

For more information: festival.newyorker.com.