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On October 24, 2025, comic performers Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak graced the stage for a conversation with New Yorker staff writer Rachel Syme, as a segment of the 26th yearly New Yorker Festival, a weekend featuring dialogues, viewings, acts, and much more. The Festival, which stands as the magazine’s landmark occasion, occurred in New York City, uniting prominent individuals in writing, cinema, humor, broadcasting, politics, and healthcare.
Kate Berlant is a humorist, a performer, and an author. Her one-person show, “Kate,” helmed by Bo Burnham, garnered praise throughout four sold-out engagements. She has launched two comedic programs, “Cinnamon in the Wind” and, alongside John Early, “Would It Kill You to Laugh?,” which gained a nomination for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Berlant’s acting portfolio encompasses the movies “Dream Scenario,” “Don’t Worry Darling,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and “Sorry to Bother You.” In television, she features in “A League of Their Own,” “Search Party,” “The Other Two,” and “The Characters,” among various others.
Jacqueline Novak is a performer, a comedian, and a podcaster, situated in Los Angeles. Her acclaimed solo presentation, “Get On Your Knees,” premiered in 2018 and secured a Drama Desk nomination for Exceptional Solo Performance in 2020. The show’s Off-Broadway presentation was lauded as a Critic’s Pick by the New York Times. Novak’s Netflix presentation for “Get On Your Knees,” directed by Natasha Lyonne, was nominated for an Emmy Award. Novak performed on the podcast “2 Dope Queens,” and will soon make an appearance in Kogonada’s feature film “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.” She co-presents a humorous wellness podcast, “POOG,” together with Kate Berlant. Her memoir, “How to Weep in Public,” was issued in 2016.
Rachel Syme, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has reported on Hollywood, fashion, television, literature, theatre, music, urban existence, and diverse cultural subjects since 2012. Her cultural reviews and reported articles, which concentrate primarily on women’s lives, creative output, history, and celebrity, have similarly been featured in the New York Times Magazine, GQ, New York, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair, amongst other outlets. She is the writer of “Syme’s Letter Writer,” which was published in January of this year, and is currently developing a nonfiction compilation for Knopf.
Sourse: newyorker.com
