| Greetings! I'm the new editor-in-chief of WIRED. This time a year ago, like most of you, I was just starting to come to terms with the fact that Covid-19 would drastically change our way of life, not for weeks, but for a year or more. Today, as WIRED begins a new chapter, so does the pandemic. As the vaccine rollout accelerates across the US, the question increasingly on people's minds is: What happens once we've got our shots? Vaccine "passports" are being touted as a way for people to travel safely and businesses to reopen, but as Maryn McKenna writes, they're controversial. Right-wing pundits have seized on them as the next target in the culture wars. And there's concern that they could further widen the chasms already opened by this pandemic—rich countries getting shots before poor ones, people with smartphones moving more freely than those without. Tectonic shifts unrelated to the pandemic are happening too. President Biden recently unveiled sweeping plans for restoring the country's crumbling infrastructure, including a Civilian Climate Corps and a big boost for public transit. And Amazon workers voted on whether or not to unionize. If the field you work in has been upended in the past year, why not write about it for us? We've just launched a new six-month residency, starting in June, that will give you the chance to work on an ambitious storytelling project about your industry in collaboration with our award-winning editors. The application deadline is May 16. You'll be hearing more from me in the coming months about my plans for the next stage in the life of this iconic publication. Meanwhile, below are eight of our recent stories that represent why I was so excited to take this job. Each one combines terrific writing and reporting with a keen sense for the most far-reaching impacts of technology on our daily lives. I can promise you that whatever may change under my editorship, WIRED will continue to bring you stories like these. Gideon Lichfield | 
