The Remarkable Lives of Prodigies

From The New Yorker’s archive: profiles of the uniquely gifted. View in browser | Update your preferences Prodigies The prodigy is an eternal source of fascination, and the course of a prodigy’s talent and life has been the stuff of extraordinary profiles in The New Yorker over the years. In “Yuja Wang and the Art of Performance,” Janet Malcolm reports on the world-renowned pianist and delves into her early mastery of the instrument. In “How to Raise a Prodigy,” Adam Gopnik explores the source of exceptional precocity, asking whether extraordinary talent is, well, nature or nurture. In “Nerd Camp,” Burkhard Bilger visits the Center for Talented Youth and delves into the lives of gifted children. In “The Wall Dancer,” Nick Paumgarten portrays a young female rock climber, one of the best of all time in her terrifying sport. Finally, in “Hou Yifan and the Wait for Chess’s First Woman World Champion,” Louisa Thomas writes about the dazzling skills of a young girl who became a Grandmaster at fourteen and now navigates the male-dominated world of her game. Of Hou’s early lessons, Thomas writes, her teacher “sat Hou at a board and had her face his top pupils, all boys. They had studied chess theory; they knew how to checkmate with only, say, a bishop and a knight. Hou did not know endgames, but she beat most of them anyway. She was seven years old.” —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Profiles Yuja Wang and the Art of Performance The piano prodigy is known for the brilliance of her playing and for her dramatic outfits. By Janet Malcolm | August 29, 2016 Books How to Raise a Prodigy Can achievement be engineered? By Adam Gopnik | January 22, 2018 The Sporting Scene Hou Yifan and the Wait for Chess’s First Woman World Champion For years, Hou was the only woman who stood a chance against the very best. But she had her own ambitions. By Louisa Thomas | July 26, 2021 Newsletters Sign Up for the New Yorker Recommends Newsletter Discover what our staff is reading, watching, and listening to each week. The Sporting Scene The Wall Dancer Ashima Shiraishi’s route to the top. By Nick Paumgarten | January 3, 2016 Annals of Childhood Nerd Camp How do you find America’s brightest kids, and what do you do with them for the summer? By Burkhard Bilger | July 18, 2004 You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.