| The only way out of the pandemic, political violence, systemic racism and the decline of our democracy is to try to understand what's fueling them — and why. That's the approach our Visual Enterprise team takes, which is why this year, illustrator and graphics columnist Sergio Peçanha followed his curiosity into the mind of someone who won't take a fully approved vaccine and painted what he saw: a man with the whole world in his belly button. Video reporter Joy Sharon Yi and I filmed as Trump-allied Americans morphed into a mob and attempted a coup at the Capitol. And data analyst David Byler and front-end developer Yan Wu created a quiz that will disabuse you of the notion that conspiracy theorists are outliers. Along with design director Chris Rukan, graphics designer Danielle Kunitz and editor-at-large Michael Duffy, our team tried to show rather than simply tell this year. Gazing at the stars above the Navajo Nation and the vast red earth below, we sensed why many do not want to leave their crowded homes amid a pandemic, and need support even in the absence of one. We asked government officials what they will do to save an American hostage held overseas. Recognizing that communities rely too much on the police, we worked with the Editorial Board and outside voices to Reimagine Safety. We wondered how a conspiracy theory takes hold and why it endures. Statistics about the staying power of toxic Sept. 11 conspiracy theories offer some insights, as does understanding the psychology that believing a lie can be less stressful than accepting the truth. That's a good foundation to understand why more than a year on, some Americans still deny Joe Biden's 2020 victory. We all make tiny bargains with the truth every day. Most don't end in an insurrection. We might have thought our pre-pandemic commute wasn't so bad — until we calculated how much time we'd lose by returning to the office. And we'd like to believe the people we love will be here forever. But when a giant passes, reality proves us wrong. Thank you for watching and listening. Let us know if we helped you make sense of the state we are in. | 
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