Delta to Omicron: The Year-End Matrix

Photo: New York Magazine

Our guide to what was highbrow, lowbrow, brilliant, and despicable in 2021. Tap or click each image below to enlarge.

Photo: BlinkOfanAye/Flickr (Jan6); Meta; U.S Supreme Court; Chris Rank (Andrew Cuomo); Public Domain (Chris Cuomo); Michael Vadon (Bannon); Ivan Radic (Anti-Vax); Public Domain (Manchin); Cameron Smith/White House (Biden); 432 Park Avenue; Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff

Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Neel); Joan Marcus (Caroline); Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Rooney); Ruven Afanador (Octave Apart); Jernej Furman/Flickr (Vaccine); Balenciaga; Marc Jacobs; U.S Olympics (Biles); Rocketace/Flickr (Quitting); Mark Jones/Wikimedia (Markle); Public Domain (Eric Adams)

Photo: Bob Jagendorf/Flickr (Ports); Netflix (White Lotus); SpecialMemeFresh (Stonks); Netflix (Mulaney); Mando Gomez (Mets); Warner Brothers (Dune); Sparks Tribune (Drought); Zach Catanzareti/Flickr (Portnoy); Amazon (Delta Omicron); Marvel

Photo: UMG/TaylorSwift (All Too Well); Columbia (Adele); 20th Century Studios ( Netflix (Squid Games); Jazmine Sullivan; Hulu (Reservation Dogs); Eric Liebowitz/FX (Pose); Drew de Fawkes (Britney); Netflix (Inside); Luigi de Pompeis/Alamy (Bennifer); Olivia Rodrigo