Содержание выпуска: January 31, 2022 — TIME Magazine

LAST OCTOBER, TIME’S SIMON SHUSTER reached out to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with an interview request. It had been 10 months since Navalny’s voluntary return to Russia and imprisonment, and more than a year since he had been nearly killed by a chemical weapon. Simon has interviewed Navalny a half dozen times since he first emerged as a political force a decade ago, and the response suggested Putin’s public enemy No. 1 was happy to hear from him. In the town of Pokrov, where Navalny’s prison is located, “there is probably just one subscriber to TIME magazine,” he wrote back to Simon. “And that’s me.” His lawyers had just brought him a recent issue that morning, which included an article Simon wrote about a Holocaust memorial in Ukraine. “I…

AMID THE CONTINUING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, TECH SHOWCASE CES HAD to reinvent itself a little this year, running a hybrid calendar of in-person events in Las Vegas alongside virtual presentations from big names like Microsoft and Google. The innovations on display included color-changing cars, transparent TVs, and PCs optimized for our virtual future. Here are some of the most exciting products. —PATRICK LUCAS AUSTIN BMW iX Flow With a trick worthy of a sci-fi movie, BMW’s new electric iX Flow SUV uses e-ink technology to transform its color scheme from black to white and anywhere in between. It can also showcase complex patterns and designs, and can potentially keep cars cool on hot days by reflecting light. Nvidia RTX 3050 From the chipmaker whose cards power everything from gaming consoles to…

Ronnie Spector’s voice made pop songs into symphonies. You could feel the angst and passion in every note. You can sing great, but if you don’t have that passion, that heart and soul, it means nothing. Spector, who died on Jan. 12 at 78, had it all. You felt it. When she sang, you felt every word. She led the girl group the Ronettes, which had 1960s hits such as “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain.” She later released solo albums and collaborated with other high-profile artists like Patti Smith and Keith Richards. I hope people will remember her as the great artist she was, although I hate saying the word was. Spector was strong, too, having survived an abusive marriage to Phil Spector, who had also…

Just before Thanksgiving in Philadelphia, dozens of residents gathered on a basketball court to mourn the loss of Jessica Covington, who at 32 and seven months pregnant had been shot and killed while unloading gifts for her baby shower. Colwin Williams, a street outreach worker, spoke: “We can’t tolerate this.” Later, he said what many feel: “The pain is everywhere.” Last year in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, 562 citizens were murdered—an all-time high and a 12% increase over 2020, a year murders surged by 40%. Almost 90% of the 2021 homicides involved firearms, a sobering figure, but gun violence has been climbing in the city for almost a decade. And Philadelphia is not alone. At least 10 other major cities lost historic numbers of residents to murder last…

THE RAPID SPREAD OF OMICRON, THE LATEST AND MOST transmissible COVID-19 variant to date, underscores the tremendous need for updated COVID-19 policy in the U.S. No longer should we be guided by case counts, because (owing to vaccination, the nature of the variant, or both) relatively few cases produce severe illness. The most important metric now is hospitalizations, and those are rising at a far lower rate than infections. Public-health measures should adjust accordingly. It is time to move beyond the cycle of asserting, removing and reinstating COVID-19 restrictions based on metrics that are no longer clinically relevant, and concentrate instead on protecting those at risk of severe infections. Highly transmissible variants, such as Delta and Omicron, will lead to high numbers of asymptomatic or mild infections among the vaccinated.…

After Chloe Kim returned home from the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, she put her gold medal in what felt at the time like the right place: a trash bin at her parents’ house. “I hated life,” Kim, now 21, recalls over plates of pad thai in the airy four-bedroom home in the west side of Los Angeles she shares with her boyfriend, skateboarder Evan Berle. It’s early December, and a 10-ft. Christmas tree with an ornament featuring the paw print of her beloved mini Australian shepherd, Reese, looms over the living room. Upstairs, a mishmash of snowboarding awards are piled into a box, since Kim and Berle haven’t built enough shelving to display all the hardware. But it wouldn’t be surprising if many of them stay there. Kim has…

IN SUMMER 2008, THE BEIJING OLYMPICS MARKED A BIG moment in China’s progress toward global power. With that spotlight came controversy; activists used the event to highlight the government’s human-rights abuses, but the event’s triumphalist pageantry illustrated the story of China’s rise toward prosperity and prestige for a world audience. Since then, China’s ambitions have taken another leap forward. Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership over the past decade, China has gone from pushing for reform of the international system to helping guide that reform to making plans for leading it. In recent years, Xi has heralded a “new era” that will move China “closer to center stage” in global politics. He has presented China as “a new option for other countries,” an alternative to Western democracy, and he has outlined…

JULIAN FELLOWES CONQUERED AMERICAN TELEVISION with Downton Abbey, transforming PBS’s sleepy Masterpiece slot into appointment TV. So maybe it was inevitable that the Oscar-winning screenwriter and Conservative peer of the House of Lords would cross the Atlantic to meet his constituents. HBO’s The Gilded Age is the product of that sojourn. As its title suggests, this lavishly made, eminently watchable but mostly uninspired period drama takes on Manhattan high society in the late 19th century. Times are changing, just like in Downton (whose bittersweet eulogy for the landed gentry has long been undermined by its extension into an unkillable franchise). And with the self-made robber barons of the machine age invading their neighborhoods, multimillion-dollar fortunes and gaudy aesthetic preferences in tow, New York’s so-called old people, whose families have wielded…

A photograph taken by the NOAA GOES-West satellite on Jan. 15 and obtained via NASA shows a huge eruption from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, just 40 miles from the island nation of Tonga. In a Jan. 18 statement, Tonga’s government called the eruption, which unleashed clouds of ash and tsunami waves reportedly as high as 15 m, an “unprecedented disaster.” —Madeleine Carlisle…

LARGER THAN LIFE IS A PHRASE often used to describe André Leon Talley, the fashion editor, author and media personality who challenged exclusionary norms and uplifted Black beauty during a six-decade-long career, rising to the top of magazine mastheads in a notoriously white and exclusive industry. But although Talley, who died on Jan. 18 at 73, was known for cutting a bold figure—often draping his 6 ft. 6 in. frame in dramatic caftans—it was his exuberant love of fashion, his deep understanding of its history, and his unwavering faith in its power to transform and transport that made him stand out. And it made him outstanding. Talley spent his youth in the Jim Crow South, but found his calling after assisting Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume…

LAST OCTOBER, PRESIDENT BIDEN WENT TO CAPITOL HILL to meet with the Democrats in the House of Representatives. Party members had been feuding over his proposed legislation, and leaders believed only the President could rally them together. Instead Biden stunned the caucus by sending them back to the drawing board. As he was leaving, a member approached him and pleaded, “Mr. President, we need a plan.” Biden didn’t answer, according to a source familiar with the exchange. Three months later, the fate of Biden’s social-spending and climate package is more uncertain than ever. The pandemic he promised to bring to heel rages out of control. Inflation is at a four-decade high, canceling out rising wages. The border is a mess. Violent crime continues to climb. His approval rating has sunk…

Kamila Valieva FIGURE SKATING, RUSSIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE Each time Kamila Valieva steps on the ice, she shatters records. The 15-year-old Russian figure-skating champion combines a balletic style with technical mastery of the most challenging jumps—which she performs with her arms high above her head, making the rotations more difficult to control upon landing, thus earning her extra points in a sport in which every degree of difficulty matters. Valieva holds the record for the highest scores recorded in women’s skating under the current judging system, which she could break yet again in Beijing. There, Valieva’s stiffest competition is likely to come from teammates Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova, both 17; the Russian squad could sweep the medals. All three train with Eteri Tutberidze in Moscow, and Valieva has said…

AS THE CLIMATE CRISIS WORSENS, TOO MANY people are swinging from denial straight to despair. A few years ago, it was common to hear people deny climate change, downplay the enormousness of the threat, or argue that it is far too soon to worry about it. Now many people say it’s too late. The apocalypse is coming, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Despair is as dangerous as denial. And it is equally false. Humanity has enormous resources under its command, and by applying them wisely, we can still prevent ecological cataclysm. But exactly how much would it cost to stop the apocalypse? If humankind wanted to prevent catastrophic climate change, how big a check would we have to write? Naturally enough, no one knows for…

After decades of ignoring the autistic community, pop culture is making strides toward inclusion. But as affirmed by controversies surrounding shows like Atypical and movies like Music, representation isn’t enough. It’s still rare to find a story that resonates with autistic viewers rather than mining their differences for material neurotypical audiences will find funny or moving. For Jason Katims, the father of an autistic son, the drive to do better is personal. He built Parenthood around a family like his own. And his new sitcom As We See It follows a trio of 20-something autistic roommates—played by actors who identify as being on the spectrum—and their devoted caretaker (Sosie Bacon). Jack (Rick Glassman) is a cynical programmer. Violet (Sue Anne Pien) flips burgers and schemes to get laid. For…

DAD MOVIES, AT LEAST AMONG those who aren’t actual dads, tend to be undervalued pleasures; they pluck a certain satisfying, resonant chord, often without being particularly flashy. Munich: The Edge of War, directed by Christian Schwochow and adapted from Robert Harris’ 2017 novel, is the ultimate dad movie: its setting is the 1938 Munich conference in which European leaders met with Hitler in an earnest, if naive, attempt to stave off war. That part really happened. The more intimate story Munich weaves around that event—involving two young men, one German and one English, who attempt a risky plot to stop Hitler—is largely fiction. Yet the made-up narrative melts seamlessly into the historical one. If the movie is handsome in an oak-paneled-office way, there’s life in it too. You feel there’s…

‘KEEP YOUR HAMSTERS AT HOME. DO NOT TAKE THEM OUT.’ LEUNG SIU-FAI, director of Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, confirming on Jan. 18 that authorities will kill some 2,000 of the rodents and other small animals after around a dozen hamsters tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in a pet store where an employee was also infected $3.36 MILLION Sale price for a single page of artwork from a 1984 Spider-Man comic at a Jan. 13 auction 60 MILLION Number of icefish discovered in 2021 in a breeding colony—believed to be the world’s largest—in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, per a scientific paper published on Jan. 13 ‘We have all felt the squeeze and changes of these transformational times.’ JASON MOMOA AND LISA BONET, in a joint statement released on…

The Australian Open began Jan. 17 without Novak Djokovic. But the pre-tournament back-and-forth over whether the world men’s No. 1 would be allowed into Australia amid COVID-19 travel restrictions played out like a marathon match. —Amy Gunia Dec. 16, 2021 Djokovic tests positive for COVID-19—which he later says allows him to enter Australia without vaccination Jan. 4, 2022 Djokovic says he’s received a travel visa with vaccine “exemption permission” Jan. 5 In Melbourne, border agents question the validity of Djokovic’s visa application and detain him Jan. 10 Citing a legal technicality, a judge rules Djokovic should be released and allowed to enter the country Jan. 14 Australia’s Immigration Minister cancels Djokovic’s visa Jan. 16 Djokovic is deported after an appeals court upholds the government’s decision May 2022 His participation in…

A flash mob gathers outside Downing Street in London wearing Boris Johnson masks on Jan. 14 to protest the British leader’s flouting of COVID-19 lockdown guidance. Details have emerged of social gatherings hosted under the Prime Minister’s watch at a time when household mixing was banned for the general public. Johnson characterized the parties—including one in May 2020 where attendees were invited to “bring your own booze”—as essential work events, angering Conservative loyalists and threatening his premiership. ▶ For more of our best photography, visit time.com/lightbox…

On a cold morning in November, the family of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, made the trip out to visit him at Penal Colony No. 2. The drive from Moscow took about two hours, though parts of it felt like traveling back in time. Coming off the highway from Russia’s high-tech capital, the roads became rutted. Apartment blocks gave way to wooden huts, and old ladies appeared near the roadside in heavy coats, selling vegetables from their gardens. At the prison gates, Navalny’s wife and parents carried a few bags of groceries into a waiting room, where an ancient telephone allowed them to announce their visit to the guards. Before long, the inmate was led out to meet them. He looked skinny, his head shorn, a broad smile…

HOSTING THE OLYMPIC GAMES IS A DAUNTING CHALLENGE during any year. Add a global pandemic, and the logistics of welcoming the world’s athletes in while keeping the virus out become complicated fast. But China believes its aggressive stance against COVID-19 is up to the task. While the rest of the world is struggling to keep up with the virus, China’s strategy is to stay ahead of it. With its so-called “dynamic zero-COVID-19” policy, health officials try to contain any new cases by quickly testing, contact tracing, isolating and instituting lockdowns that block the spread of the virus. China’s plan for crushing COVID-19 during the Beijing Olympics is just as draconian. If it works, the country’s approach could become a leading example of one way to learn to live with SARS-CoV-2:…

EVEN BY THE PANDEMIC’S STANDARDS OF ZOOM fatigue, the hours-long virtual meeting one Sunday in March 2021 was draining. Around 2 a.m., the board members of the global food giant Danone finally wound down their fractious arguments, and announced they had fired the company’s CEO and chairman Emmanuel Faber—a stunningly swift end to his 24 years at the company. The ouster of an executive at a Paris-based multinational might have been a passing, internal disruption, but for one fact: Faber had become a champion among environmentalists and climate activists for having turned Danone into a company that focused not only on making money and increasing its share price, but also on trying to remake the agricultural business, an industry with a far-reaching impact on the environment. Faber had in 2020…

TEEN TV IS A HAVEN FOR OUTSIDERS. For every glossy mean-girl soap, there is a cult classic in the Veronica Mars vein. It makes sense: Has anyone survived high school without ever feeling like they didn’t belong? Which might explain why, when it comes to portraying female freaks and geeks, Hollywood always gets away with casting actors who meet its superhuman beauty standards. By virtue of its charming leads, Syfy’s supernatural dramedy Astrid & Lilly Save the World breaks that mold. Samantha Aucoin and Jana Morrison play the eponymous besties—witty teens thrown together by the cruel calculus that so often relegates big girls to the social sidelines. Timid and self-conscious, Aucoin’s Lilly takes refuge in a bedroom plastered with pictures of her pop-culture faves. Astrid (Morrison) is the bold one,…

IN AN AGE IN WHICH PEOPLE HAVE gotten all too used to streaming new releases at home, sometimes the best a movie can hope for is to remind audiences of what a big screen is good for. The extravagant musical Cyrano is that kind of movie. If you’re looking for visual grandeur, it’s here in billowing quantities: you’ll see gowns in macaron-pastel colors and duels that take place in the dusty velvet night. So at least there’s that. But Joe Wright’s well-intentioned adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s stage musical (itself drawn from Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac) can’t survive its own petulant, self-centered love object, Roxanne (Haley Bennett). It’s unclear if, in this particular interpretation of the source material, Roxanne is supposed to be deeply unlikable or just flawed…