Editor's Note

Dear reader, If you had the resources and the know-how to design your own vaccine for COVID-19, would you? In this week’s scrutiny, SSI meets the scientists of the Rapid Deployment Vaccine Collective, a group that created and administered its own coronavirus vaccine. Then, in what RaDVaC calls “a necessary act of compassion,” it published its procedure online. Others call it “an ego trip” and worry that it will only further erode the public’s trust in vaccinations. With diligence and care, SSI explores the thorny ethical questions born from RaDVaC’s bypassing of the traditonal scientific process. This week FM welcomes a host of all-star new writers: JCDQ and AJT take us behind the scenes at the Brattle Theatre and get the inside scoop on the historic cinema’s reopening plans. FJB and SWT meet the man behind the “every lot” trend taking over Twitter. GRO teams up with staff writer SSL to profile the 11 co-owners of Somerville’s new pole dancing studio. MX and GJP speak with the Harvard senior running for South San Francisco City Council. SF and VX detail the students selling laptop stickers to support small businesses in New York’s Chinatown. And in their moving FM debut, CHG and JL report on the efforts of the 81-year-old conductor of the Boston Philharmonic to keep classical music alive amid the pandemic. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome this talented team of writers to the magazine! But that’s not all: MVE reports on the Boston Local Music Festival — from more than 100 miles away. ACE profiles Chloe Chapman, a graduate student studying men’s formalwear and its role in codifying gender performance. NBF visits the Greenpoint Terminal Market and explores efforts to support local commerce in Brooklyn. And RC closes out the issue with a beautifully-rendered reflection on biking in Boston. The semester is speeding by — but don’t fret; FM isn’t going anywhere. Yours, AWDA + NHP