Newsweek January 07-14, 2022

2014 “Have we really spent twice as much time and money as it took to fight World War II just to make Afghanistan safe for poppy farmers who are busy turning suburban kids into junkies?” Newsweek wrote, reporting on Afghanistan’s opium output crisis and its impact on the rate of heroin addiction in the U.S. Despite the American government’s $9 billion effort to halt it, Afghanistan still operates as the world’s leading opium manufacturer. With the American pullout, Taliban takeover in August and poverty throughout the country, the incentive to produce and sell the drug is even greater. 1935 Newsweek’s cover story featured Ruth St. Denis, an innovative founder of modern American dance, and her performance as Mary in Riverside Church, known then as Dr. Fosdick’s church, in New York City. Her legacy…

Learning is a lifelong endeavor. But it is not the same endeavor all your life long. Your brain changes over the course of time, and so does your social and physical environment. In each phase of life, however, six physical and environmental factors are crucial to learning—sleep; exercise; diet; support for physical and mental health; opportunities for mastery; and safety to fail. Physical Needs SLEEP. The effects of sleep on learning are direct and immediate. Sleep is so crucial to the processes of learning, memory, judgment and insight, that it should be factored into any educational or creative project plan. EXERCISE. Exercise improves mood, decision-making and other psychological functions, which facilitates learning and the ability to use what is learned. Strength, aerobic and balance/control exercises like yoga and tai chi are all…

THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT, which is still hanging in the balance, includes $400 billion for universal pre-kindergarten along with considerable subsidies for child care. That’s enough money to dramatically change the lives and prospects of millions of American children and families—but for one unanswered question: Given today’s crippling labor shortages, where will we find the workforce to provide care and education for the country’s youngest students? One of the most compelling and overlooked solutions resides at the other end of the age spectrum, in the vast and growing older population. We need an intergenerational early childhood Caring Corps as ambitious as the Climate Corps that the administration is proposing. The Caring Corps could start at 100,000 elders helping young children read, learn and develop, then climb to 1 million over six…

WE’D ALL LIKE TO INJECT MORE creativity into our work—the chance to stretch, learn new things and expand our skill sets. But too often, we hold ourselves back: What if it doesn’t work? What if no one listens? Or cares? But Seth Godin, author of The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, says, “The best way forward is to forget about winning in the short run.” Instead, he believes we should concentrate on learning from what our audience tells us. That’s how we can innovate and create something useful and meaningful. In a recent interview as part of my weekly Newsweek show BETTER (Thursdays 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT), I asked Godin to talk about how professionals can tap into creativity to enhance their work—and the difference they make for others. Here are four…

A SELF-EFFACING FORMER MORTGAGE BROKER, MIKE Detmer has never thought of himself as a particularly polarizing figure. But that changed the moment Donald Trump endorsed him for the Michigan state senate in a race few outside of the district were paying attention to until the former president weighed in. Detmer, who previously mounted an unsuccessful run in the 2020 Republican primary for the U.S. congressional seat representing southern Michigan’s 8th District, is now challenging Lana Theis, an incumbent Republican state senator representing District 22 in the Detroit exurbs. Theis easily won her race in 2018 and had been considered a relatively safe bet for reelection in the solidly red district until Trump’s backing of her competitor provided a jolt of fundraising to his campaign. Now, some state GOP officials worry, Trump’s…

MIKE “WOMPUS” NIEZNANY is a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who walks with a cane from the combat wounds he received during his service. That disability doesn’t keep Nieznany from making a living selling custom motorcycle luggage racks from his home in Gainesville, Georgia. Neither will it slow him down when it’s time to visit Washington, D.C.—heavily armed and ready to do his part in overthrowing the U.S. government. Millions of fellow would-be insurrectionists will be there, too, Nieznany says, “a ticking time-bomb” targeting the Capitol. “There are lots of fully armed people wondering what’s happening to this country,” he says. “Are we going to let Biden keep destroying it? Or do we need to get rid of him? We’re only going to take so much before we fight back.” The 2024 election,…