Newsweek January 21, 2022

1981 “His Administration will confront an economy that teeters on the brink of a new recession, suffers from high interest rates and a massive budget deficit and grows increasingly unstable and inefficient,” Newsweek wrote the week before Ronald Reagan took office. Similarly, the Biden administration began with a COVID-19 related economic crisis and high federal debt and unemployment numbers. A year into his term, Biden’s approval rating is low as Americans continue to confront not only an ongoing global pandemic, but also inflation as well as intense political polarization. 1969 “For hundreds of thousands of Americans, the Hong Kong flu this winter has been a reminder of the constant battle between man and the virus enemy,” Newsweek wrote. Americans today are facing an even more more serious and enduring challenge from the the…

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT is seeking to build upon a series of peace deals with Arab countries by fortifying ties with the United Arab Emirates, even as he wages war on a particularly contagious strain of COVID-19 at home. Bennett’s historic December trip to Abu Dhabi marked the first by an Israeli leader to one of the five nations that signed the Abraham Accords, through which four countries—the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco—defied a decades-long Arab boycott to normalize relations with Israel. The four are the first to do so since Egypt and Jordan did decades ago. Bennett’s reception by an honor guard at Abu Dhabi International Airport emphasized the level of relations being built by the two countries. “It was a meeting that would have been unimaginable a few years…

Cirque du Soleil, the global entertainment company with annual pre-pandemic revenues of $1 billion, is known for trafficking in multi-million dollar extravaganzas with acrobatic feats that stretch the boundaries of the imagination. For 20 years, Daniel Lamarre was the chief executive officer responsible for bringing these fantastical productions to life. In his new book, BALANCING ACTS, Lamarre, now executive vice-chairman of the board, shares his insights into the nature of creativity as an essential part of management in all industries. In this excerpt from his book, Lamarre describes the genesis of the unique collaboration between Cirque and the Beatles, which resulted in the only live show in which Beatles recorded music and images have ever been used since the breakup of the legendary band more than 50 years ago—and one…

What’s the most important thing for success in business? DANIEL LAMARRE: Creativity. If you are not prioritizing creativity—the dictionary definition of “making or bringing into existence something new”—you are wasting your time. No company deserves to exist unless it is constantly discovering new ways to make its customers’ lives better. Without creativity, there is no business. How can creativity be incorporated in an organization? What about in non-artistic fields or more traditional ones? First, forget about the traditional pyramid corporate structure—that tends to stifle experimentation. Employees need smaller, more intimate “innovation cells” to express themselves and innovate in a supportive environment. At least one cell should be devoted exclusively to research and development to discover new ideas in areas appropriate for your business. During COVID-19, you jumped on the digital bandwagon and launched Cirque…

“I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1 pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol.”—VIRGINIA SENATOR TIM KAINE, AMONG THOSE STRANDED ON I-95 BY A SNOWSTORM“I WORK AT FOX. I WANNA SEE DISARRAY ON THE LEFT. IT’S GOOD FOR AMERICA. IT’S GOOD FOR OUR RATINGS.”—CO-HOST JESSE WATTERS, THE FIVE“What other people think is none of your business and even sometimes what you think of yourself is none of your business.”—TRACEE ELLIS ROSS“We’re used to being unseen. We’re used to the micro aggressions, we’re used to the constant battles of trying to just be who you are.”—MICKEY GUYTON ON RACISM AND SEXISM IN COUNTRY MUSIC“WHEN A MAYOR HAS SWAGGER, THE CITY HAS SWAGGER.”—New York City Mayor Eric Adams“The planet is warming, our oceans are…

LESS THAN A YEAR BEFORE PRESIDENT JOHN F. Kennedy delivered his Commencement Address at the American University in 1963, the Cuban Missile Crisis had brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Though the prospect of a lasting peace remained a distant hope, in his remarks JFK rejected the inevitability of war as “a dangerous and defeatist belief,” and argued against the view that “mankind is doomed” or “gripped by forces we cannot control.” Rather, he offered a global challenge, powerfully declaring that: “Our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable—and we believe they can do it again.” That inspiring…