These fellowships, announced Tuesday, are presented by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and have been dubbed “genius grants.” They consist of $625,000 (bumped up from $500,000 in 2013 and paid out in annual installments of $125,000 over five years) to do with whatever the awardees want. People cannot apply for this, and no one knows if they are being considered. As the foundation’s website informs, “nominees are suggested by a constantly changing pool of invited external nominators chosen from as broad a range of fields and areas of interest as possible.”