Elegance is an attitude

Kohei Uchimura

Record collection

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VOL. 192, NO. 22–23 | 2018

4 | Conversation TheView Features TimeOf △ 6 | For the Record U.S. soldiers train Ideas, opinion, What to watch, read, innovations ALettertoAmerica see and do in lifesaving TheBrief Whatitmeanstoloveacountry techniques on News from the U.S. 19 | A former The Year’s Best ... that’snotsureaboutyou Nov. 13 at Sunglow and around the world GOP political City, the new ByVietThanhNguyen26 78 | Movies 7 | Understanding strategist on voter Army outpost in suppression Tucson, Ariz. the France-America 82 | TV shows divide The Asylum Dilemma 22 | Ian Bremmer: Photograph by HowtheU.S.decideswhomtoletin 84 | Comedy 9 | Crisis in Yemen what oil production Meridith Kohut says about Saudi ByMayaRhodan32 specials for TIME | royal anxieties 10 Why midterm 86 | Albums votes are still being 22 | Practical steps BootsontheGround counted 88 | Songs on gun violence Troopsdeployedattheborderfacea 11 | Remembering | balingmission 90 | Podcasts Marvel’s Stan Lee 24 The future of AIDS treatment ByW.J.Hennigan38 92 | Books 12 | TIME with ... may be injections NBA analyst Doris  Best Inventions 2018 96 | Theater Burke TIME’sannualroundup,from productions 14 | California’s a bicycle helmet with built-in 99 | Video games worsening wildires headlights to a better baby bottle to | ON THE COVER: lifesaving drones 100 10 Questions Photo- By TIME Staf46 for Big Little Lies illustration by author Liane Andrew Myers Moriarty for TIME

2 TIME November 26–December 3, 2018

Conversation

THE MOST TRAGIC TOLL your publication, this RE “WHEN WAR COMES photo spread was the most Home” [Nov. 5]: It hurts me touching I have ever viewed. to read the story of these As the grandparents of ive seven Afghan children who children, my wife Sandy and were maimed by a rocket- I feel deeply for these Afghan propelled grenade. From the children and hope that comfort of my living room, international organizations without knowing what I can help them eventually can do to help, I wonder if lead normal lives. they know that outside their David Mirisch, borders is a world without WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. war. Just as the photographer Andrew Quilty has brought MAKINGSENSEOFGUNS me closer to these children, YOUR REPORT “GUNS IN I ask that he show them a America” [Nov. 5] provided diferent reality through his a startling portrayal of how following the Sandy Hook THIS ISSUE IS A MASTER- pictures so that they do not well-meaning, thinking Elementary School shooting, piece. David French’s essay in lose hope for a better future. Americans have led their Congress hasn’t acted. What the “Can We Hear Each Other Maria Uriarte, country into a dangerous ever happened to “We the Again?” collection opened MADRID irearms vortex from which people”? my mind to the polarization there is now no return. In Fredric Gee, in U.S. politics. For us Euro- LOOKING AT THE COVER, I stark contrast, Australian ELIMBAH, AUSTRALIA peans, America’s polarization was shocked at the ages politicians, for over 20 years, seems to lie by construction of these children, as war have listened to the public AS A 30-YEAR NRA MEMBER, in its bipartisan political sys- appears to have physically and held the line on gun I would like to compliment tem. But you have showed aged them. That Marwa is control and the results are TIME on sharing the most there is much more to it. only 4 years old—I hope this plain to see: signiicantly balanced public discussion of Sandro Wimberger, hits home to those who make lower rates of gun crime and gun culture and gun violence NOVARA, ITALY and sell the arms that are virtually no mass shootings. I have ever seen in print. I used on the innocent. The There is a price to pay for expected another issue of GOOD INVESTMENT children’s faces show the a rampant gun culture. left-wing liberal polemics. RE “LIFTING NIGERIA UP” horrors they have witnessed Australians realize that. We I was delighted to ind how [Nov. 5]: This was a brilliant and the uncertainty they are not prepared to go any wrong my expectations were. interview with billionaire must feel about their lives. further down that path, and This approach to journalism, Aliko Dangote, who is indeed I hope TIME can track their with good reason. presenting many viewpoints revolutionizing Nigeria and progress so we can see a Warwick Sarre, from multiple commentators other parts of Africa with brighter future for them. BEULAH PARK, AUSTRALIA with appropriate credibility, his investments and aggres- Tracey Simpson-Laing, should serve as a model sive entrepreneurship. He is LEEDS, ENGLAND YOU SAY THAT 97% OF for discussing the other providing a new and much Americans support universal controversies currently needed self-conidence to Af- I AM 83 YEARS OLD AND background checks on ire- swirling around our socially ricans. The continent needs have been a TIME subscriber arms sales. Yet six years after beleaguered nation. more industrialists like him. for many years. But in all a measure was introduced to Ray Erikson, Raju Aneja, of my years of enjoying expand background checks NORTH REDINGTON, FLA. MUMBAI

TALK TO US ▽ Send a letter: Letters to the Editor must include writer’s full name, address and home telephone, SEND AN EMAIL: may be edited for purposes of clarity or space, and should be addressed to the nearest oice: [email protected] Please do not send attachments HONG KONG - TIME Magazine Letters, 37/F, Oxford House, Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong; ▽ JAPAN - TIME Magazine Letters, 2-5-1-27F Atago, Tokyo 105-6227, Japan; Please recycle FOLLOW US: EUROPE - TIME Magazine Letters, PO Box 63444, London, SE1P 5FJ, UK; this magazine and facebook.com/time AUSTRALIA - TIME Magazine Letters, GPO Box 3873, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia; remove inserts and samples @time (Twitter and Instagram) NEW ZEALAND - TIME Magazine Letters, PO Box 198, Shortland St., Auckland, 1140, New Zealand before recycling ADVERTISEMENT KOREA’S FREE ECONOMIC ZONES INCHEON FREE ECONOMIC ZONE (IFEZ) TheBestBusinessCityinNortheastAsia –– INDUSTRY Medical/Bio, Tourism & Culture, IT, BT, Education, Aviation, Logistics, Finance, Business, Leisure, High-tech Industry AIRPORT/PORT Incheon International Airport, Incheon Port URL www.ifez.go.kr/eng

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C:RPHQ 1,204 DUHQ WEHLQJ Number of backlogged SDLGZKDW Freedom of Information Act ‘WE SIT IN lawsuits against federal WKHLUWUXH government agencies in fiscal year 2018—a record YDOXHLV high, according to a Nov. 12 Syracuse University report OUR OWN PAIN, JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime Minister, discussing how to tackle his nation’s gender wage gap in ‘She was a Nov. 12 CNN interview up and THINKING THAT working ... and SOMEHOW cracking jokes. I can’t promise WE’RE BROKEN.’ MICHELLE OBAMA, they were former U.S. First Lady, describing her feelings after a miscarriage, in a Nov. 9 Good Morning America segment about her memoir good jokes, Becoming; she urged women to “share the truth” about their bodies but they were jokes.’ 1 min., DANIEL STIEPLEMAN, nephew of Supreme ‘If he invited 36.39 sec. Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, giving an update New world-record time for on his aunt’s recovery from me to a public solving three Rubik’s Cubes three rib fractures she simultaneously with both suffered after a Nov. 7 fall hands and feet, set by hanging, I’d be 13-year-old Que Jianyu of China on Nov. 8, Guinness on the front row.’ World Records Day

CINDY HYDE-SMITH, 14 U.S. Senator from Mississippi, joking about appreciating a rancher who invited her to a campaign event, in a video that Number of write-in votes Beetles sparked outrage when revealed on Nov. 11; the Republican As the insect’s received by Gritty, the will face Democrat Mike Espy, who is African American, in Philadelphia Flyers mascot, numbers fall, a study a Nov. 27 runoff for her seat representing the state that suggests heat waves for various local offices in holds the ignominious record for the most lynchings Camden County, New Jersey, sterilize males during the midterm elections ILLUSTRATIONS BY BROWN BIRD DESIGN FOR TIME FOR DESIGN BIRD BROWN BY ILLUSTRATIONS

‘We can be good people who BAD WEEK care deeply about each other GOOD WEEK even when we disagree.’ The Beatles KYRSTEN SINEMA, Their classic Arizona Senator-elect, in her Nov. 12 victory speech; White Album was the Democrat will be the state’s irst woman and the irst rereleased to mark openly bisexual person to serve in the U.S. Senate its 50th anniversary

6 TIME November 26–December 3, 2018 SOURCES: ASSOCIATED PRESS; BILLBOARD; GUARDIAN; NEW YORK TIMES PARIS MISMATCH Donald Trump clashed with Emmanuel Macron during an Armistice Day visit to Paris

INSIDE

AFTER YEARS OF COMBAT, MIDTERM VOTE COUNTING STAN LEE’S MARVEL HEROES PRESSURE BUILDS ON SAUDIS TO SEEMS AWFULLY SLOW. CHANGED COMIC BOOKS— END THE WAR IN YEMEN IS IT REALLY? AND THE WORLD

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUDOVIC MARIN TheBrief Opener

DIPLOMACY side” help. And “outside” most certainly means the U.S. Europe has already unveiled common defense policies; Divided leaders recall under a 2017 agreement signed by 25 E.U. nations, projects a world at war to develop shared operational systems, logistics, cyber- security and even light armored vehicles are in the works. By Vivienne Walt/Paris But the idea of a “Euro army” to rival or replace NATO has little chance of becoming reality, according to analysts. VER A RAINY NOVEMBER WEEKEND IN PARIS, “The E.U. is not a country. It is not a state,” says François dozens of world leaders gathered in the French Heisbourg, special adviser to the Foundation for Strategic capital to remember the horrors of World Research in Paris. Europe will also continue to rely on OWar I, which ended 100 years ago and claimed U.S. help for strategic support, no matter who is in the 16 million lives. But overshadowing the ceremonies was a White House. NATO was created in 1949 to bring postwar war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Europe under America’s security wing, and that has his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. shaped the development of armed forces on the Continent Problems began when Macron outlined plans for a for decades. “They could not manage without the U.S. “true European army” in a radio interview on Nov. 6. in a big crisis,” says Michael Shurkin, a senior political Speaking about growing threats such as cyberattacks and scientist for the Rand Corp. “All of them have militaries election meddling, he cited the need designed to work as a coalition run by for protection against “China, Russia the U.S.” and even the United States of Amer- Macron surely knows his army is ica.” Trump, touching down in Paris likely a pipe dream. But in pushing for three days later, tweeted that the idea it, he is signaling that after 70 years, was “very insulting!” When the two Europe can no longer assume the leaders met on Nov. 10 at the Élysée unlinching support of the U.S. Palace to discuss European defense Increasingly, E.U. leaders are seeking spending, frozen smiles replaced other alliances. Just as Japan, Australia, the efusive hugs they shared when Mexico and others have ratiied a new Trump visited Paris in July 2017. trans-Paciic trade deal to replace In theory, the occasion should have the one that Trump ditched, so E.U. recalled centuries of Franco-American nations have created a parallel trading ties. Instead, Trump cut a disengaged C’EST COMPLIQUÉ mechanism with Iran to try to keep igure in Paris. As the leaders of Canada, France Americans were the nuclear deal alive and galvanized governments and Germany paid their respects to their fallen among those who and businesses to try to meet the promises of the dead on Nov. 10, the U.S. President skipped a celebrated the World climate agreement. War I armistice in visit to the Aisne-Marne war cemetery, burial site Paris on Nov. 11, On Nov. 30, Macron, Merkel and Canada’s Jus- of more than 2,200 Americans killed in WW I. 1918 (above). Franco- tin Trudeau will have another chance to argue their

Bad weather had grounded his helicopter, and so American feelings at case, when leaders meet at the G-20 summit in PICTURES LIFE TIME PARIS: PAGES: THESE POOL/REUTERS; PAGE: PREVIOUS Trump stayed in Paris. its centennial were Buenos Aires. But Trump has already made clear The next day, Macron unleashed his sharpest decidedly less jubilant. he doesn’t intend to change. On Nov. 13, he of- rebuke yet against Trump and his “America irst” fered a belated riposte to Macron’s speech. “By the values in a speech under the Arc de Triomphe. “National- way, there is no country more nationalist than France,” he ism is a betrayal of patriotism,” he said, as Trump, German tweeted. “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN.” At the Argen- Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladi- tine summit, Trump’s key priorities will be bilateral meet- mir Putin looked on. “By saying we put our own inter- ings with fellow nationalists Putin and Chinese President ests irst, with no regard to others, we erase what a nation Xi Jinping, not multilateral dealmaking with Western al- holds dearest ... its moral values.” lies. Once again, the ideological rift at the highest level of world afairs will be laid bare. BY NOW, Macron knows Trump will pay his words no A century ago, divisions between the world’s great heed. His pleas have failed to stop Trump from ditching powers led to one of the bloodiest conlicts in human the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris Agreement on history. Macron seized upon the parallels with today when climate change; moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jeru- he inaugurated the irst Paris Peace Forum, a three-day salem; or imposing import tarifs on the U.S.’s oldest allies, summit about the state of the world on Armistice Day, including the E.U. and Canada. Nov. 11. “Will [this] be a snapshot of the inal moment of AFP/GETTY YEMEN: /GETTY; That’s why he and Merkel have escalated their calls unity, before the world descends into disorder?” he said for Europeans to forge their own paths. Macron has re- onstage, as he gazed out at Merkel, Putin, U.N. Secretary- peatedly loated the idea of the E.U.’s developing armed General António Guterres and dozens of other leaders. forces to feasibly mobilize in battle. Without that, Macron “The answer is down to us,” he said. Trump was not there says, Europeans will forever remain dependent on “out- to listen. By then, he was on his way back to Washington. 

8 TIME November 26–December 3, 2018 NEWS TICKER U.K. and E.U. agree on draft Brexit deal

After months of negotiations, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s ofice said on Nov. 13 that oficials had agreed on a draft text of the terms of the U.K.’s leaving the E.U. May is hoping British lawmakers and E.U. member states will approve the deal by Britain’s scheduled departure date of March 29, 2019.

El Chapo trial starts with Parts of Yemen’s capital Sana’a, seen above last December, have been reduced to rubble by airstrikes tight security

THE BULLETIN The trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, No respite for Yemen yet—but pressure the accused Mexican drug lord who faces to end the Saudi-led war ramps up 17 counts, began in Brooklyn on Nov. 13. ON NOV. 10, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAKE-UP CALL The tipping point may Extra security announced that the U.S. would stop refuel- have come when Saudi journalist Jamal measures put in place ing Saudi warplanes engaged in the bomb- Khashoggi was murdered in his country’s because of Guzmán’s record of twice ing of Yemen—a move hailed by some as a consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The kill- escaping from prison sign that U.S. support for the Saudi proj- ing led to heightened scrutiny of Saudi included keeping jurors ect, in its fourth year, is waning. Three days Arabia, including the Yemen conlict and and some witnesses later, the Saudis provisionally agreed to the U.S.’s and U.K.’s role in it. On Nov. 11, anonymous. allow evacuation of some wounded from 30 former Obama Administration oicials, among the rebels they’re ighting, a condi- under whom the war was launched, wrote tion the U.K. said had been a key hurdle at to Trump. “We did not intend U.S. support Missile bases peace talks that collapsed in September. As to the coalition to become a blank check,” discovered in global concern rises over Yemen’s fate, is they said. “It is past time for America’s role North Korea progress inally being made toward peace? in this disastrous war in Yemen to end.” Satellite images FORGOTTEN WAR The war, launched in 2015 WAY FORWARD For now, Washington is released on Nov. 12 by a Washington-based by a Saudi-led coalition against Houthi reb- still providing the Saudis with training and think tank revealed els backed by Iran, has left tens of thousands intelligence sharing. House Republicans more than a dozen dead and millions displaced. On Oct. 15, the blocked a Nov. 13 vote on U.S. military sup- missile bases in U.N. warned of a humanitarian catastrophe, port for the war, making change unlikely be- North Korea that took with 13 million people at risk of starvation. fore Democrats gain control of the chamber analysts by surprise. The bases raised Until recently, rising casualties and a cholera in January. Hopes for a cease-ire hinge on questions about epidemic infecting 1.2 million people had U.N.-led peace talks, proposed for Sweden President Trump’s claim failed to dent U.S. and U.K. military support at the end of 2018—but on the ground at the that North Korea is no for the Saudis. But with the public mood port city of Hodeidah, a crucial channel for longer a nuclear threat, shifting, top oicials from both countries are 80% of Yemen’s food imports, a battle still but he said he was already aware of them. urging a cease-ire. rages. —BILLY PERRIGO 9 TheBrief News

GOOD QUESTION sides to “ramp down the rhetoric.” Why did U.S. midterm Election experts say it’s true that Broward NEWS and Palm Beach counties have had some TICKER vote counting seem to problems in the past with handling the take so long this year? elections and slow ballot counting. But Hate crimes that’s completely diferent than the fraud increased 17% AFTER ALL THE BUILDUP TO AN ELECTION Republicans were alleging. in 2017 in U.S. Day that saw the highest midterm turnout in In fact, states all over the country count U.S. law-enforcement a century, to wait days or weeks to ind out ballots beyond Election Day, and reforms en- agencies reported who won a race is painful. It’s also routine. acted after Florida’s agonizing recount in the 7,175 hate crimes in In the wake of the Nov. 6 elections, Arizo- 2000 presidential election actually made this 2017, up from 6,121 na’s Senate race, Georgia’s gubernatorial race situation more common. Edward Foley, direc- in 2016, according and Florida’s Senate and gubernatorial races tor of the election-law program at the Ohio to newly released FBI data. Over half of hate went into overtime as local boards of election State University’s Moritz College of Law, says crimes targeted race dived into the painstaking process of tabulat- those post-2000 changes allowed more vot- or ethnicity; those ing votes. But it was in Florida where things ers to cast provisional ballots and encouraged against Jews increased got the most heated, and the state illustrates the wider use of absentee and mail-in ballots. more sharply, with 37% how a process that’s working normally can at- Counting those ballots just takes a bit longer. more incidents than in the previous year. tract attention that makes it seem strange. “That’s now built into the system,” Foley Frustration over a lack of transparency in tells TIME. “It’s an accidental by-product of vote counting in two big counties sparked the positive reforms.” ire of Florida Governor Rick Scott, who was Throwing around allegations of voter fraud Pilots: Boeing leading in his race for the Senate. He argued, is not new territory for Trump. He previously withheld without evidence, that “unethical liberals” claimed, without evidence, that Texas Senator safety were trying to “steal this election.” President Ted Cruz “illegally stole” the Iowa caucus, information Donald Trump picked up the claims, tweeting warned that the 2016 general election would Airplane manufacturer out conspiracy theories and baseless accusa- be “rigged,” then trumpeted the unfounded Boeing failed to tell tions that ballots counted late were “mas- claim that millions of people voted illegally pilots details of a sively infected.” Republican Senator Marco when he lost the popular-vote count. new anti-stall system Rubio and the National Republican Senatorial David Becker, executive director and that may have caused Committee also weighed in, raising questions founder of the Center for Election Innovation the Oct. 29 Lion Air crash in Indonesia, about the election process in the state. and Research, says such claims can have according to pilots Florida’s own election monitors found efects that last much longer than any vote and safety experts in no evidence of fraud, while the Florida tally. “It’s really damaging,” he says. “This a Nov. 13 Wall Street department of law enforcement said it had idea that elections are just a political game Journal report. The received no reports of illegal activity. A to be played by adversaries is not healthy for company says it has conidence in its planes circuit-court judge then told lawyers for both democracy.” —ABIGAIL ABRAMS and is cooperating with investigations into the incident. TECHNOLOGY CNN sues Blasts from the past Trump Admin The U.K.’s TV licensing body revealed Nov. 8 that there are around 7,000 households in Britain on press pass still watching television in black and white. Here, other odd anachronisms. —George Steer

CNN sued the Trump FAXING FEVER TOP TAPES FAIL-SAFE FOWL Administration on In Japan, the fax According to the In 2011, the People’s Nov. 13 in an effort to machine remains data-analytics irm Liberation Army reinstate the revoked popular. In 2011, Nielsen, sales of in China revealed press pass of its according to the cassette tapes in the it still retains an chief White House government’s U.S. have more than army of 600 courier correspondent, Jim Cabinet Ofice, quadrupled over the pigeons. In case of a Acosta. The suit comes nearly 100% of the past seven years. breakdown in digital after the White House nation’s ofices Roughly 174,000 communication, IMAGES GETTY falsely claimed Acosta and 45% of private were sold in 2017, the bird reserves put his hands on an homes had a fax making up 0.1% of would deliver vital intern who reached for machine. total album sales. messages. his mic during a verbal clash with Trump.

10 TIME November 26–December 3, 2018 TheBrief Milestones

DELAYED ANNOUNCED A vote on a plan to address the sexual- Amazon goes abuse crisis in the east Big-money Catholic Church, by the Vatican on moves Nov. 12. American THE WORD AMAZON HAS BE- bishops convened expecting to make come as synonymous with changes but were Seattle as it is with South told to wait until after America, but on Nov. 13, the a meeting next year. e-commerce giant conirmed reports that it would establish DECLARED That the latest two new headquarters in the Ebola outbreak in the metro areas of New York City Democratic Republic and Washington, D.C. of Congo is the worst It’s a big deal for the com- in the country’s pany, and for the cities in- history, by Congo’s Health Ministry on volved in the yearlong lob- Nov. 11. More than bying bonanza that led up 200 people have to it. The growth promised died since August. by Amazon, including some SKIPPED 50,000 high-paying jobs and A series of annual $5 billion in investment, led Asian summits, some locales to ofer upward by President of $7 billion in economic in- Donald Trump. Vice centives with the hopes of President Mike Pence went instead, winning “HQ2.” That pros- but the move left pect worried municipal experts concerned watchdogs who say such deals about U.S. policy can hurt cities in the long Lee at his oice in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2018, with Spider-Man, toward Asia. run. Amazon’s announce- one of the heroes who made him a comics legend ELECTED ment that Long Island City, Representative DIED N.Y., and Arlington, Va., had Kevin McCarthy, the Stan Lee been picked also noted that current No. 2 House A marvelous mind the locations collectively of- Republican, as the fered incentives worth about new House minority leader on Nov. 14. He STAN LEE, THE MARVEL COMICS WRITER AND EDITOR WHO $2 billion, below other bids. defeated hard-line died Nov. 12 at 95, revolutionized the comic book in the 20th It was proof that access to Ohio conservative century and set the stage for a superhero takeover of the silver skilled workers can be more Representative Jim screen in the 21st. compelling than tax breaks, Jordan. Lee, who was born Stanley Martin Lieber in New York City to although it still sets a prece- PURCHASED Romanian Jewish immigrants, once said he took up a pen name dent that incentives matter.

GES A record-breaking not over worries about anti-Semitism but so he could write a In Virginia and New York, $30.8 billion in “real book” under his birth name. He wouldn’t need to. Instead leaders touted their victory. merchandise on he established comics as a legitimate art form. Among the also-rans, there Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant, The turning point came in the early 1960s, after Marvel tasked was soul-searching. “I like on the Singles Day Lee with creating superheroes to compete with those at rival to win,” said Dallas Mayor holiday on Nov. 11. DC Comics. Although uncomplicated, square-jawed do-gooders Mike Rawlings, “so my heart’s The sales underscore like Superman had come to dominate the format after a 1950s broken today.” the growing clout of Senate subcommittee condemned comics as immoral, Lee took —KATY STEINMETZ China’s middle class. a diferent tack. He and co-creator Jack Kirby imbued characters SUSPENDED with laws: Spider-Man with teenage angst, Iron Man with ego- The in-person sale of tism, the misunderstood X-Men with vengefulness. His heroes most flavors of Juul were modern and relatable, and appealed to adults as well as kids. e-cigarette pods, Lee’s stories eventually became the engine that drove the Marvel on Nov. 13, by the company, which also Cinematic Universe, which has grossed more than $17.5 billion over quit social media as the past decade. Even as he aged, Lee gleefully took on cameos in it faces censure over every one of those ilms. It seemed he had superpowers too.

LEE: MICHAEL LEWIS; AMAZON: THOMAS TRUTSCHEL—PHOTOTHEK/GETTY IMA teen vaping. —ELIANA DOCKTERMAN 11 TheBrief TIME with ...

ESPN hoops analyst and an Indianapolis hotel the night before the Pacers- Sixers game. “Not in a million years.” Hall of Fame honoree When she irst started analyzing men’s college Doris Burke blazes a trail games in the 1990s—and later NBA contests— she heard objections from critics who thought a in sportscasting woman shouldn’t call men’s sports. One viewer By Sean Gregory even mailed a misogynistic screed to her home, including a disturbing statement she can’t seem to forget: “When a woman says ‘no,’ she means ‘yes.’” Scared, Burke called ESPN security. THE INDIANA PACERS ARE HOSTING THE Over the years, such ugliness has largely faded. Philadelphia 76ers on an early November evening A prominent college basketball reporter once called at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. About a half hour her aside before a game to let her know that after before tip-of, a couple of fans jostle for position listening to her, he was totally wrong for objecting courtside, trying to steal a moment with a star BURKE to her presence on the air. She’s heard similar mea attraction. These men aren’t seeking an autograph QUICK culpas from others. “I understood when I started that from Pacers guard Victor Oladipo, an emerging FACTS people would question that—‘Why is she there?’” NBA talent. Nor do they clamor for attention from says Burke. “Gender dynamics are in play. Sports is Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, the 7-footer who can do Helping nothing more than a relection of society, so women it all on the court. No, they want to mingle with the hand have always occupied certain positions, have been woman wearing a headset at the broadcast table, The former viewed in certain lights. It’s not until they venture buried in pregame preparation. “I can’t believe,” Doris Sable into other spaces that things change.” says a starstruck Jack Hahn, a 44-year-old auto- played point Burke’s seat in the booth is set. She signed a parts salesman, “that’s Doris Burke.” guard for ive-year contract extension with ESPN in June Providence An ESPN basketball announcer for more than College from and is on board to break down the NBA’s most 25 years, Burke, 53, is one of the most popular 1983 to 1987, intriguing developments—the Golden State sportscasters in America. When she was named graduating as Warriors’ dynasty, LeBron James in L.A. She preps a full-time NBA color commentator before the the school’s in an analog fashion, stuing a few oversize manila start of last season, she became the irst woman all-time envelopes, onto which she’s scratched detailed assists leader, ever to take on such a regular national NBA game- with 602. notes on the players, into a black Tumi backpack. analyst role. This main-stage appointment came (She’s since After Philadelphia’s win, her papers are strewn out after years of a grueling schedule broadcasting been bumped on a table. “Look at that carnage,” Burke says. “It’s a mix of women’s and men’s college basketball, to No. 2.) a disaster.” A few more fans ask for selies. Burke the WNBA and the NBA. Burke is the rare takes one with three young boys, one of whom Pathfinder 2K broadcaster who’s earned respect and admiration In 2000, compliments her work on the popular NBA from players, coaches and fans alike. She stands Burke illed basketball video-game series, to which she lends out for dropping insightful factoids and sharing in for Walt her voice. Her play-by-play partner, Mark Jones, her passion sans shtick. After Embiid dribbled Frazier to hangs back. He smiles, acknowledging his role as around a defender for a slam, Burke translated his become the second iddle. “I’m just part of the vapor,” he says. irst female message: “You can have no part of this. I am too game analyst good for you!” for the New THE YOUNGEST OF EIGHT KIDS, Burke grew up Her style has earned Burke a cult following. A York Knicks. playing hoops in Manasquan, a New Jersey shore colleague, former NBA coach Jef Van Gundy, once town. After watching college games on NBC on Basketball called her the “LeBron James of sportscasters,” brain weekends, she’d sometimes run out of her house and Kevin Durant called her “the greatest.” In To stay sharp, with a ball and high-ive the hedges, as if she were 2016, the rapper Drake donned a T-shirt with Burke tries entering an arena for layup lines. Burke and a her likeness while sitting courtside at a Toronto to watch two friend talked the boys’ high school coach into let- Raptors game. WOMAN CRUSH EVERYDAY, read NBA games a ting them play at a basketball camp, where they the words—a play on the popular Instagram trend night during were the only girls. At one point, the coach called the season. Woman Crush Wednesday. on the campers to split up into shirts and skins. But Burke needs no celebrity endorsements “She and I just looked at each other,” says Burke, for validation. In September she became the irst laughing at the memory. “What now?” female broadcaster to receive the hoops Hall of Burke earned a basketball scholarship to Provi- Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award, given annually dence College and went on to become an assistant to media members who’ve made “outstanding coach there, a gig she loved. But after two seasons, contributions to basketball.” “My imagination she concluded that the long hours weren’t compat- could not have dreamed this up,” she told TIME ible with starting a family. Burke, however, jumped over crab cakes, brussels sprouts and red wine at at the chance to announce Providence women’s basketball games on the radio. When a broadcaster But the producer insisted that she let her hair down failed to show up for a Providence men’s TV game, and dress with more style. TV, after all, is a visual she subbed in on short notice and delivered. Burke medium. “I’m like, Yep, you’re right,” she says. “I’m kept getting assignments: she estimates she called a realist, you know?” Now she tries to have fun with 110 women’s and men’s games during one season in ‘Sports is her style choices. At a postgame nightcap with her the early 2000s. Meanwhile, she tried to tune out nothing ESPN colleagues, Burke delighted in sharing a text the vitriol. “Your bosses will tell you how you’re more that her son Matthew, 24, sent her about that night’s doing,” says Burke. “All the other stuf is bullsh-t.” than a black and white ensemble. “Doris Burke out here Not long after Burke started calling NBA games prepping for the 76ers game like,” he wrote, under a on ESPN in 2007, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg relection picture of two pilgrims. Popovich, who’s won ive NBA championships and of society.’ Burke doesn’t envision calling games much is notoriously grouchy with media, was explain- DORIS BURKE, beyond another ive years. For one thing, she wants ing some strategy in a production meeting. “Doris, NBA TV analyst to be a full-time grandmother eventually. (Burke you’re a basketball person,” he told Burke. “You also has a daughter in her early 20s.) When she does get this.” Such acknowledgment boosted her coni- step away, she’ll have left her mark. Burke was one dence. “My whole soul was smiling,” Burke says. of the irst women to call men’s sports. Now Jessica Still, she’s subjected to standards that men don’t Mendoza is one of ESPN’s lead baseball analysts. face. About a decade ago, Burke felt ESPN wasn’t Candace Parker does color commentary for NBA giving her the high-proile analyst assignments TV games. Sarah Kustok’s the lead analyst for she deserved and voiced her frustration, leading to Brooklyn Nets broadcasts. “This next generation an honest conversation with a male producer. For seems to me more conident, more enlightened, less years, she “wore out the school blazer,”she says, in accepting that things should just be,” says Burke.

MARK MAKELA—THEMARK TIMES/REDUX NEW YORK order to project an air of seriousness like the guys. “And that just gives me joy.” □ LightBox

California burning THE SO-CALLED CAMP FIRE RAVAGING THE SIERRA NEVADA foothills in Northern California started on Nov. 8 as so many others do: a small spark in a remote area becomes a ire, un- noticed until it’s a bigger ire, at which point authorities race to extinguish it—or at least to try. But despite its origins, the Camp Fire is no ordinary in- ferno. Even by wildire standards it moved quickly, accel- erated by a combination of strong wind gusts and abun- dant fuel in the form of dry, dead plant material. It burned through 15 acres before the irst ire engine arrived, said Butte County ire chief Darren Reed. Within 90 minutes it had spread 6.5 miles; in 17 hours it stretched across 19. The ire transformed towns like Paradise and Magalia from bucolic foothill communities to lifeless hellscapes. Its speed and strength made it hard to predict and control, and evacuation plans, hammered out over years of experi- ence, proved inadequate. Many residents found themselves trapped in traic with embers falling on their vehicles and spot ires sparking on the roadsides. They were the lucky ones. At least 42 were reported dead as of Nov. 12, and hun- dreds more were missing. “Some just couldn’t outrun it,” said Butte County supervisor Bill Connelly. From outside, it looked like the whole state was alame. As of Nov. 13, the Nurse Fire still burned in nearby Solano

A ireighter on watch as the Camp Fire burns in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 8

PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER DASILVA—EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

LightBox County, and the Hill and Woolsey ires raged in Southern California. (Like storms, wildires are given names so that authorities can easily refer to them; unlike storms, those names are generally geographic rather than human.) All told, these four ires burned more than 200,000 acres and destroyed more than 7,000 structures in less than a week. With that, the Camp Fire became the most destructive ire in the state’s his- tory, edging the 5,600 structures the Tubbs Fire destroyed in Sonoma and Napa Counties last year. In California, oicials have learned to write records in pencil. Nine of the state’s 20 most destructive ires have occurred since 2015, and oicials warn that the latest destruction is just the beginning. The Golden State is still reeling from a drought that killed of trees and plants earlier this decade, leaving acres of tinder behind, and long-term global warming promises POLARIS to exacerbate the problem. “Things like this will be part of our future,” California Governor Jerry Brown said at a Nov. 11 press conference. “Things like this, and worse.” Proximity to nature, a hallmark of California living, has always carried risks. What planners call the state’s massive “urban-wildland interface” means houses are at immediate risk from ires in a forest right of the back deck. But the rate of loss has never been what it’s become—thousands of homes, from trailer parks to the Malibu mansions of movie stars

K; JAE C. HONG—AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; WALLY SKALIJ—LOS ANGELES TIMES/ reduced to ash in November alone. And a “ire season” historically conined to only the driest months of the year now stretches all the way around the calendar. “This is not the new normal,” Brown said. “This is the new abnormal.”—JUSTIN WORLAND Clockwise from top left: a woman evacuates in Oak Park; a burning hospital in Paradise; ire retardant is dropped in Malibu; llamas ind refuge on Malibu’s Zuma Beach

▶ For more of our best photography,

JAY CALDERON—THEJAY DESERT SUN/SIPA USA; NOAH BERGER—AP/SHUTTERSTOC visit time.com/lightbox

POLITICS WHO REALLY COUNTS By Elise Jordan A Republican operative of otherwise dubious election-year morality once told me his red line: strategies that attempt voter suppression must be rejected, always. Your candidate should not win by embracing tactics that represent the antithesis of democracy. Not in 2018. Not in America. And especially not in the Deep South. ▶

INSIDE

WHAT HIGHER OIL PRICES THE LAWS THAT HOW SCIENCE MIGHT WOULD REALLY MEAN COULD HELP STOP FIGHT HIV FOR SAUDI ARABIA MASS SHOOTERS IN THE FUTURE TheView Opener

The region’s blighted history of oppression Martha McSally has been the lone outlier in a against African Americans reveals what such sea of Republicans crying fraud. SHORT a strategy truly is and why we must reject it. READS During my time in Republican politics, I THAT AN ESTIMATED 113 million people—an ▶ Highlights overlooked plenty of unseemly partisan war- increase of 30 million voters from the 2014 from stories on fare. But the voter suppression of our citizens midterms—still turned out, despite this mess, time.com/ideas that we’ve seen this year is something that no demonstrated that Americans want to do American can ignore. their part. In Florida, citizens even expanded An accurate A representative for Republican candidate the number of people who can participate by Thanksgiving for governor Brian Kemp called his opponent reinstating the right to vote to 1.4 million for- Stacey Abrams’ mer felons. This Sean Sherman, author unwillingness to devotion deserves of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen concede before all a fair process. cookbook, encourages votes were counted The needed people to put an end “a disgrace to de- reform isn’t that to the false narrative mocracy.” But lead- complex. People about the role of ers like Kemp are like Kemp—and Native Americans in the holiday, and the real disgrace. his counterparts in instead celebrate with Abrams engaged Kansas and Ohio indigenous cuisines: new voters; in turn, who did the same, “Exploring native Kemp openly said plus Florida Gov- foods brings a deeper he’d like to sup- ernor Rick Scott— understanding of the press their partici- have no business land we stand on.” pation. Kemp was Voters cast their ballots during early voting in Atlanta refereeing an also running while on Oct. 18 election in which serving as secre- they’re competing. Fighting for tary of state, the oice that oversees elections, Resign-to-run, or even recuse-to-run, laws normalcy and resigned two days after balloting, only should be universal. Additionally, former As a valet at a hospital, when challenged by a lawsuit. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson Matthew Casteel Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t easy to vote in has rightly suggested election infrastructure photographed the Georgia, because of broken voting machines, be categorized as critical, like the electric insides of veterans’ or functional machines with missing power grid. And though I lean libertarian, I would cars to show the stuff cords, or too few machines—and, at the very also like to see a new national commission on behind their daily struggles. “While least, hours-long lines. (A U.S. District judge voting; too many local and state authorities the reality of war is characterized of Kemp’s leadership in a rul- have a proven track record of incompetency. something that may ing on Georgia’s readiness: “The Defendants This is not about abstract ideals. It is about be hard for someone and State election oicials had buried their how people live. These communities have paid to wrap their mind heads in the sand.”) If all this had occurred in with their lives and livelihoods throughout around,” writes TIME’s Clara Mokri of the Iraq or Afghanistan or Zimbabwe, American history to gain the right to vote. We cannot images, “the interior of election monitors would protest the result. repay them with broken systems. In her semi- a car is not.” But it happened here, in districts across nal work, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexan- the United States. Consider the rule that any der writes that racism “functions naturally, al- Mississippians wishing to vote absentee in most invisibly (and sometimes with genuinely Justices for the Nov. 27 runof would need to notarize benign intent), when it is embedded in the the people their ballot during the week of the Thanks- structure of a social system.” To tolerate this giving holiday. Complicated voting proce- disenfranchisement is to be complicit in the Former Senator John dures like these—designed to stunt turnout— worst of this nation’s past. C. Danforth suggests are the modern-day equivalent of a poll tax. I keep thinking about what Barbara Wil- Americans change how they approach the Worse still, the responses of Republican liams, a 58-year-old African-American re- politics and procedure oicials, including the President, have made tiree in Georgia, told the Associated Press. “It of selecting judges it clear that they missed the civics lesson ex- was important for me to vote ... I’m a human for the Supreme IMAGES MCGOWAN—GETTY JESSICA plaining that elections need to be perceived being, and I have a life, and I try for it to be Court. For one, he as free and fair to establish the legitimacy of better.” Those words are clarifying: anything suggests a simple rule: “When [the people] elected leadership. So far, the rare member of short of counting every vote is an abnegation elect a Republican the party involved in a close contest who has of America’s founding promise as a nation President, they are acted in a manner worthy of that mandate built on the consent of the governed. choosing conservative is one who will not be serving: with her gra- Justices.” cious concession, Arizona Senate candidate Jordan is a co-host of the Words Matter podcast More than 25 years of helping children reach for their dreams. THERISKREPORT The Saudis can ix oil prices. Can they NATION repair the crown prince’s image? The next steps By Ian Bremmer in gun control After a shooting killed THE GLOBAL SUPPLY reform and diversiication plan that is 12 people in California, of oil might be about crucial for Saudi modernization. Less in- on Nov. 7, the terror of to shrink, and prices vestment heightens the need for more oil mass shootings was rise. Saudi Arabia’s revenue. compounded by a sense Energy Minister an- The Saudis can inluence global oil of hopelessness. But nounced on Nov. 11 prices by slowing production. If only it much can be done, the kingdom would were so easy for the crown prince to re- especially if the public cut its oil production by 500,000 bar- pair the damage to his image. Yet there better understands what to demand of its governments. rels per day in December. In the same are steps he can take to present himself On the prevention front, month, the 15 nations that make up OPEC to the international community as a more most people know to call for will likely conirm a coordinated move responsible actor. He can make clear that improved background-check to push prices higher. Add the imposi- he remains committed to the moderniza- systems and red-lag laws— tion of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil exports tion of Saudi society, particularly by cre- both of which are essential. that came into force on Nov. 5, lower ating new opportunities for Saudi women But they should also seek production in crisis-plagued within the kingdom’s econ- required permit renewals, Venezuela and the risk that The Saudi omy. He can pursue a cease- which are common across unrest may lower production ire in the war in Yemen, or the rest of the developed in places like Libya and Nige- cuts to oil otherwise move to end the world and would address ria, and oil could be set for a production humanitarian crisis there. the problem that people do rebound. are less about He can ease the political and sometimes descend into a Or maybe not. Before we the future economic blockade of Qatar, potentially violent tailspin prepare for a signiicant price of global which he instigated 17 months after they acquire weapons. surge, let’s remember the rea- markets ago to punish the emirate for There are also ways to sons why oil prices have been than about its close ties with Iran and the make shootings less lethal. sliding in recent weeks. Pro- negative media coverage from People are aware of the current need to ban the sale of the jections for oil demand are anxieties the Qatar-supported media being revised downward for network al-Jazeera. He can most dangerous irearms— especially AR-15–style 2019, as the still escalating among the repair and improve relations Saudi royals riles. But as important U.S.-China trade war raises with Turkey, whose President is the need to restrict fears of a sharp slowdown in Recep Tayyip Erdogan has high-capacity magazines, economic growth across the Asia-Paciic piled pressure on the crown prince over which allow shooters to rain region. And the Trump Administration Khashoggi’s death. He can quiet his ag- destruction on potential has made it clear that high oil prices that gressive criticism of Iran. victims without interruption. push up gas prices for ordinary Americans Until now, the Saudis may have be- Forcing a shooter to reload are unwelcome. That’s why the White lieved that building solid ties with Presi- more frequently can House has exempted several countries dent Donald Trump after years of frosty provide both opportunities from sanctions to allow them to continue relations with his predecessor would for counterattack and, to buy Iranian oil for at least another 180 allow the young Saudi crown prince to crucially, for escape. —John days, easing the pressure on supply. pursue an aggressive foreign policy in Donohue, the C.Wendell and But the Saudi cuts are less about the harmony with his aggressive bid to be- Edith M. Carlsmith Professor future of global oil markets than about come king. The Khashoggi murder and of Law at Stanford University current anxieties among the Saudi roy- the disastrously inept attempt to cover it als. In particular, the cuts reveal the up have changed all that. This latest move kingdom’s fears that the Saudi murder to cut oil production announces Saudi of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Is- recognition of Saudi vulnerability. It’s a APU GOMES—AFP/GETTY IMAGES GOMES—AFP/GETTY APU tanbul consulate will continue to poison welcome development for the stability attitudes of foreign investors toward the of the Middle East, a region shaped by kingdom and its leadership. As more in- rivalry between Saudi Arabia, Iran and formation emerges about what Crown Turkey. Anything that makes the next Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew Saudi king a bit less aggressive and a lot A memorial for the victims of about the killing, so too does the risk to more circumspect should be considered the Thousand Oaks shooting funding for the Vision 2030 economic good news. □ Jacob Sanchez Diagnosed with autism

Lack of speech is a sign of autism. Learn the others at autismspeaks.org/signs. TheView

FRONTIERS OF MEDICINE HIV who have a natural ability to ight the infection without drugs, mainly The future of HIV thanks to antibodies that their bodies make against the virus. Scientists treatment might are able to extract the neutralizing not involve pills antibodies from the blood, multiply them in the lab and infuse an antibody By Alice Park solution into people with HIV. If the antibodies provide a strong and HIV TREATMENTS HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN sustained enough immune response, the the more than 30 years since the virus was irst PROMISING hope is that people may eventually be identiied. Powerful antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) NEW WAYS TO able to ditch their drugs completely. can now keep the virus controlled at levels that ATTACK HIV current tests cannot detect in the blood. Perhaps ALREADY, THERE IS encouraging rea- just as important, people who take these drugs son to believe the method might work, diligently soon after they’re infected are unlikely especially if the antibodies are com- to pass the virus to others. But the treatment isn’t bined with anti-HIV drugs started soon perfect. Those with HIV need to take a pill every after a person is infected. In a small, day for the rest of their lives, and even if they do, early study published in 2018, 11 people the virus can easily morph to become resistant to who started taking traditional anti-HIV the drugs. That’s why patients on ARV treatment LONG-ACTING drugs sometime after their infection should faithfully monitor their virus and cycle be- MEDICATIONS began were given neutralizing antibod- tween diferent combinations of drugs. Extended-release anti- ies and taken of their drugs. Research- Finding new, easier ways to more efectively HIV injections would be ers found that nine were able to keep treat HIV and stop its spread is therefore an urgent administered less often the virus at undetectable levels for 21 priority, and researchers are now looking beyond than daily pills, which weeks, even after they stopped taking daily drugs to therapies that might provide people would improve adherence. their anti-HIV pills. Two of them do not with more lasting protection. show any detectable HIV in the blood One path they’re exploring is a long-acting, in- even a year later. This suggests that the jectable version of anti-HIV drugs, which people immune system is efectively keeping would receive about every eight weeks. Like the the virus at bay by recognizing and dis- daily pills, these drugs prevent HIV from making patching the proper immune weapons more copies of itself—but they are delivered in dif- to destroy HIV whenever it reappears in ferent formulations, including nanoparticles that the body, which is precisely how a vac- allow small amounts to be released slowly over cine works. “The idea is not to train the longer periods of time. Early studies have found ANTIBODY INFUSIONS immune system to do something it can- that a combination of two long-acting drugs— Harnessing antibodies not do, but to make it do something bet- cabotegravir and rilpivirine—can keep HIV sup- from people who ter that it does already,” says Dr. Michel pressed to undetectable levels just as efectively as naturally ight HIV Nussenzweig, a professor at Rockefeller daily pill treatments. “It’s a new way to think about could give people University who oversaw the study. treating people,” says Dr. Joseph Eron, a professor longer-lasting immune These approaches are aimed at con- of medicine at the University of North Carolina at protection. trolling HIV, not eliminating it entirely. Chapel Hill and an investigator in the studies. If But that too might be possible with a the inal results prove as successful, the company genetic tool called CRISPR. Like an ex- expects to ile for Food and Drug Administration tremely precise pair of molecular scis- (FDA) approval in the coming year. Advocates for sors, CRISPR can recognize and snip out people with HIV are already proposing that the in- HIV’s viral genes from a cell that has been jections should be made available at pharmacies, infected. So far, scientists have success- retail clinics or mobile units to make it even easier SNIPPING IT OUT fully cut out the HIV genes from mice for people to get long-term treatment. It hasn’t yet been tried in and rats infected with the virus, as well as A recent development in cancer care—in which people, but gene-editing from infected human cells grown in a lab. the immune system is trained to target and destroy techniques can splice More studies are needed before this cancer cells—has inspired another approach for out HIV genes from technique can be tested in people with HIV. So far, a traditional vaccine has not worked animals and human HIV—or before any of these techniques against the virus, but this type of immunotherapy cells in the lab. are used to routinely treat infections. may generate the same immune response that a But they all provide more proof that vaccine might. taking a daily drug isn’t the only way to The potential treatment relies on people with treat HIV and reduce its spread. □ Cozi is the Stop juggling #1 family organizing it all yourself! app

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© 2018 Cozi Inc. Cozi is a registered trademark of Cozi Inc. Rating in the App Store TheT Nguyen ffamily, in the early 1980s in San Jose, CCalif., where his pparents owned the New Saigon MMini Market; at bbottom, Nguyen aand his brother in HHarrisburg, Pa. Essay AMERICAN LIKE ME What it means to love my country, no matter how it feels about me By Viet Thanh Nguyen

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. HAVE YOU HEARD SOMEONE SAY this? Or have you said it? Anyone who has heard these ive words knows what it means, because it almost al- ways refers to America. Anyone who has heard this sen- tence knows it is a loaded gun, pointed at them. As for those who say this sentence, do you mean it with gentleness, with empathy, with sarcasm, with sat- ire, with any kind of humor that is not ill humored? Or is the sentence always said with very clear menace? I ask out of genuine curiosity, because I have never said this sentence myself, in reference to any country or place. I have never said “love it or leave it” to my son, and I hope I never will, because that is not the kind of love I want to feel, for him or for my country, whichever country that might be. The country in which I am writing these words is France, which is not my country but which colonized Vietnam, where I was born, for two-thirds of a century. Essay

The Nguyens came to the U.S. in 1975. Above, at their irst house in Pennsylvania. Right, Nguyen with his mother in Vietnam, before they left for the U.S.

French rule ended only 17 years before my birth. My with these French of Vietnamese ancestry and says, parents and their parents never knew anything but “You are white here.” But I am not white in America, French colonialism. Perhaps because of this his- or not yet. I was made in America but born in Viet- tory, part of me loves France, a love that is due, in nam, and my origins are inseparable from three wars: some measure, to having been mentally colonized the one the Vietnamese fought against the French; by France. the one the Vietnamese fought against each other; Aware of my colonization, I do not love France and the one the U.S. fought in Vietnam. the way many Americans love France, the ones who Many Americans consider the war to be a noble, dream of the Eifel Tower, of sipping cofee at Les if possibly lawed, example of American good inten- Deux Magots, of eating a ine meal in Provence. This tions. And while there is some truth to that, it was is a romantic love, set to accordion music or Édith also simply a continuation of French colonization, a Piaf, which I feel only leetingly. I cannot help but war that was racist and imperialist at its roots and in see colonialism’s legacies, visible throughout Paris its practices. As such, this war was just one manifes- if one wishes to see them: the people of African and tation of a centuries-long expansion of the American Arab origins who are here because France was there empire that began from its own colonial birth and NGUYEN THANH VIET COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS in their countries of birth. Romanticizing their ex- ran through the frontier, the American West, Mexico, istence, oftentimes at the margins of French society, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Japan, would be diicult, which is why Americans rarely Korea, Vietnam and now the Middle East. talk about them as part of the fantasy of Paris. One war might be a mistake. A long series of wars The fantasy is tempting, especially because of my is a pattern. Indians were the original terrorists in Vietnamese history. Most of the French of Vietnam- the American imagination. The genocide committed ese origins I know are content, even if they are aware against them by white settlers is Thanksgiving’s ugly of their colonized history. Why wouldn’t they be? A side, not quite remembered but not really forgotten, Moroccan friend in Paris points to the skin I share even in France, where images of a half-naked Native From left: Nguyen with his father in front of San Jose city hall after his hometown’s city council honored him in 2016; Nguyen as a child in Ban Me Thuot, circa 1974; Nguyen as a teen in 1987

American in a feathered headdress can also be found. I was weary and did not write back to him. I Centuries later, the latent memory of genocide—or should have. I would have pointed out that he must the celebration of conquest—would surface when not have inished my novel, since the last quarter in- American GIs called hostile Vietnamese territory dicts communism’s failures in Vietnam. Perhaps he “Indian country.” Now Muslims are the new gooks never made it past being ofended by the irst quar- while terrorists are the new communists, since com- ter of the novel, which condemns America’s war in munists are no longer very threatening and every so- Vietnam. Perhaps he never made it to the middle of ciety needs an Other to deine its boundaries and the novel, by which point I was also satirizing the funnel its fears. failures of the government under which I was born, the Republic of Vietnam, the south. MANY AMERICANS DO NOT LIKE to hear these I made such criticisms not because I hated all the things. An American veteran of the war, an enlisted countries that I have known but because I love them. man, wrote me in rage after reading an essay of mine My love for my countries is diicult because their on the scars that Vietnamese refugees carried. Ameri- histories, like those of all countries, are complicated. cans had sacriiced themselves for my country, my Every country believes in its own best self and from family, me, he said. I should be grateful. When I these visions has built beautiful cultures, France in- wrote him back and said he was the only one hurt cluded. And yet every country is also soiled in the by his rage, he wrote back with an even angrier let- blood of conquest and violence, Vietnam included. ter. Another American veteran, a former oicer, now If we love our countries, we owe it to them not just a dentist and doctor, read my novel The Sympathizer to latter them but to tell the truth about them in all and sent me a letter more measured in tone but with their beauty and their brutality, America included. a message just as blunt. You seem to love the com- If I had written that letter, I would have asked this munists so much, he said. Why don’t you go back to dentist and doctor why he had to threaten my son, Vietnam? And take your son with you. who was born in America. His citizenship is natural, Essay

The author and his son Ellison, then 3, in 2016

which is as good as the citizenship of the dentist, the white, literary and philosophical, African American doctor and the veteran. And yet even my son is told and American. This genealogy gestures at the great- to love it or leave it. Is such a telling American? Yes. ness of America and the horror of it as well, the de- And no. “Love it or leave it” is completely American mocracy as well as the slavery. Some Americans like and yet un-American at the same time, just like me. to believe that the greatness has succeeded the hor- Unlike my son, I had to become naturalized. ror, but to me, the greatness and the horror exist Did I love America at the time of my naturaliza- simultaneously, as they have from the very begin- tion? It is hard to say, because I had never said ning of our American history and perhaps to its “I love you” to anyone, my parents included, I COULD NEVER end. A name like Ellison compresses the beauty much less a country. But I still wanted to swear GO BACK TO and the brutality of America into seven letters, a my oath of citizenship to America as an ado- summation of despair and hope. lescent. At the same time, I wanted to keep my VIETNAM FOR Vietnamese name. I had tried various American THIS IS A HEAVY BURDEN to lay on one’s son, names on for size. All felt unnatural. Only the GOOD, BECAUSE although it is no heavier than the burden placed name my parents gave me felt natural, possibly I COULD NEVER on me by my parents. My irst name is that of the because my father never ceased telling me, “You Vietnamese people, whose patriotic mythology are 100% Vietnamese.” BE A WRITER says we have sufered for centuries to be inde- By keeping my name, I could be made into THERE AND SAY pendent and free. And yet today Vietnam, while an American but not forget that I was born in being independent, is hardly free. I could never go Vietnam. Paradoxically, I also believed that by THE THINGS I SAY back to Vietnam for good, because I could never keeping my name, I was making a commitment to WITHOUT BEING be a writer there and say the things I say without America. Not the America of those who say “love being sent to prison. it or leave it,” but to my America, to an America SENT TO PRISON So I choose the freedom of America, even at that I would force to say my name, rather than a time when “love it or leave it” is no longer just to an America that would force a name on me. rhetorical. The current Administration is threat- Naming my own son was then a challenge. I ening even naturalized citizens with denaturaliza- wanted an American name for him that expressed tion and deportation. Perhaps it is not so far-fetched

the complexities of our America. I chose Ellison, to imagine that one day someone like me, born in MORAN ELESE after the great writer Ralph Waldo Ellison, himself Vietnam, might be sent back to Vietnam, despite named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great phi- having made more out of myself than many native- losopher. My son’s genealogy would be black and born Americans. If so, I would not take my son with

30 TIME November 26–December 3, 2018 me. Vietnam is not his country. America is his coun- ese and is enriched by the love of others. So it is that try, and perhaps he will know for it a love that will every day I ask my son if he has eaten yet and every be less complicated and more intuitive than mine. day I tell my son I love him. This is how love of coun- He will also—I hope—know a father’s love that try and love of family do not difer. I want to create is less complicated than mine. I never said “I love a family where I will never say “love it or leave it” to you” when I was growing up because my parents my son, just as I want a country that will never say never said “I love you” to me. That does not mean the same to anyone. they did not love me. They loved me so much that Most Americans will not feel what I feel when they worked themselves to exhaustion in their new they hear the Vietnamese language, but they feel America. I hardly ever got to see them. When I did, the love of country in their own ways. Perhaps they they were too tired to be joyful. Still, no matter how feel that deep, emotional love when they see the lag weary they were, they always made dinner, even if or hear the national anthem. I admit that those sym- dinner was often just boiled organ meat. I grew up bols mean little to me, because they divide as much on intestine, tongue, tripe, liver, gizzard and heart. as unify. Too many people, from the highest oice But I was never hungry. in the land down, have used those symbols to essen- The memory of that visceral love, expressed in tially tell all Americans to love it or leave it. sacriice, is in the marrow of my bones. A word or a Being immune to the lag and the anthem does not tone can make me feel the deepness of that love, as make me less American than those who love those happened to me when I overheard a conversation symbols. Is it not more important that I love the one day in my neighborhood drugstore in Los An- substance behind those symbols rather than the geles. The man next to me was Asian, not hand- symbols themselves? The principles. Democracy, some, plainly dressed. He spoke southern Viet- I WANT TO CREATE equality, justice, hope, peace and especially free- namese on his cell phone. “Con oi, Ba day. Con A FAMILY WHERE dom, the freedom to write and to think whatever an com chua?” He looked a little rough, perhaps I want, even if my freedoms and the beauty of working class. But when he spoke to his child in I WILL NEVER those principles have all been nurtured by the Vietnamese, his voice was very tender. What he blood of genocide, slavery, conquest, coloni- said cannot be translated. It can only be felt. SAY ‘LOVE IT OR zation, imperial war, forever war. All of that is Literally, he said, “Hello, child. This is your fa- LEAVE IT’TO MY America, our beautiful and brutal America. ther. Have you eaten rice yet?” That means noth- ing in English, but in Vietnamese it means every- SON, JUST AS I I DID NOT UNDERSTAND the contradiction that thing. “Con oi, Ba day. Con an com chua?” This is WANT A COUNTRY was our America during my youth in San Jose, how hosts greet guests who come to the home, Calif., in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then I only by asking them if they have eaten. This was how THAT WILL NEVER wanted to be American in the simplest way pos- parents, who would never say “I love you,” told SAY THE SAME sible, partly in resistance against my father’s de- their children they loved them. I grew up with mand that I be 100% Vietnamese. My father felt these customs, these emotions, these intimacies, TO ANYONE that deep love for his country because he had lost and when I heard this man say this to his child, it when we led Vietnam as refugees in 1975. If my I almost cried. This is how I know that I am still parents held on to their Vietnamese identity and Vietnamese, because my history is in my blood culture iercely, it was only because they wanted and my culture is my umbilical cord. Even if my Viet- their country back, a sentiment that many Americans namese is imperfect, which it is, I am still connected would surely understand. to Vietnam and to Vietnamese refugees worldwide. Then the U.S. re-established relations with Viet- And yet, when I was growing up, some Vietnam- nam in 1994, and my parents took the irst oppor- ese Americans would tell me I was not really Viet- tunity to go home. They went twice, without me, to namese because I did not speak perfect Vietnamese. visit a country that was just emerging from postwar Such a statement is a cousin of “love it or leave it.” poverty and desperation. Whatever they saw in their But there should be many ways of being Vietnamese, homeland, it afected my father deeply. After the sec- just as there are many ways of being French, many ond trip, my parents never again returned to Viet- ways of being American. For me, as long as I feel Viet- nam. Instead, over the next Thanksgiving dinner, my namese, as long as Vietnamese things move me, I am father said, “We’re Americans now.” still Vietnamese. That is how I feel the love of coun- At last, my father had claimed America. I should try for Vietnam, which is one of my countries, and have been elated, and part of me was as we sat be- that is how I feel my Vietnamese self. fore our exotic meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and In claiming that deiant Vietnamese self, one that cranberry sauce, which my brother had bought from disregards anyone else’s deinition, I claim my Amer- a supermarket because no one in my family knew ican self too. Against all those who say “love it or how to cook these specialties that we ate only once leave it,” who ofer only one way to be American, I a year. But if I also felt uneasy, it was because I could insist on the America that allows me to be Vietnam- not help but wonder: Which America was it? □

Nation GIVE ME SHELTER

Tens of thousands of people cross the border every year in search of asylum in America. Who among them should get to stay? By Maya Rhodan

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrest a group of 43 Central American migrants, including children, on a roadside in McAllen, Texas, during a predawn patrol in late September

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN FRANCIS PETERS FOR TIME Nation

devastation, gang activity and political volatility in It is still dark much of Central America. They say that the U.S., a nation founded by religious refugees, is built on a out when Border proud tradition of sheltering those facing persecu- tion and that we should make room for as many as we can, whatever the source of their fear. Patrol agent President Donald Trump and many of his sup- porters see things diferently. They argue that our Herman Rivera’s asylum laws are being exploited, that the migrants who ile for refugee status are only pretending to lee radio crackles to life. His fellow agents, posted nearby oppression as a way to sneak into the country through on levee roads above the Rio Grande, report move- a legal back door. “[Asylum] is an escape hatch from ment along the border with Mexico in the dim pre- the laws that Congress has passed regulating immi- dawn. As the irst rays of sunlight creep across the gration,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of horizon, the team bursts into action, charging down the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that into the scrub, dodging bushes and ducking under advocates for lower immigration. low-hanging branches in pursuit of migrants. Heli- The Trump Administration is waging a policy copter blades whomp overhead. “I’ve got one over war against asylum seekers. Its irst big move was here,”an agent yells from a ield where stalks of sugar- the family-separation policy that was designed to cane tower over his head. “I’ve got two over here,” deter asylum-seeking families. In June, former At- screams another. They emerge a beat later with a line torney General Jef Sessions narrowed the U.S. asy- of men in handcufs. Elsewhere, agents discover four lum criteria to disqualify victims of gang or domes- more migrants, three from China and one from Gua- tic violence. In October, the Trump Administration temala, hiding in thick underbrush. ordered thousands of active-duty troops to Texas, But not all of those who come across the bor- California and Arizona to confront a so-called caravan der with Mexico run or hide. Hours later, as the sun of Central Americans, including many likely asylum reaches its midday peak, Rivera stands overlooking seekers, who are making their way by foot to the bor- the river, watching as two men climb into an inlat- der. In November, Trump issued a new rule that will able raft and paddle toward the U.S. shore. He doesn’t bar all migrants for 90 days from seeking asylum if call for backup—there will be no need to chase these they do not come through designated ports of entry. two. They approach Rivera’s truck, smiling broadly. The political drama has fueled a deeper, more un- They are a father and son, both named Fredy, they settling debate that gets to the heart of what kind explain. They’ve been traveling for 13 days from Nica- of a country America wants to be. On the right, im- ragua and say they can’t go back. In the simple words migration hard-liners promise to vanquish migrant of those leeing their homes in search of security—a “invaders,” while on the left, activists threaten, in a language as old as human history itself—they ask for snowballing hashtag campaign, to #AbolishICE in asylum in America. its entirety, a reference to U.S. Immigration and Cus- For Rivera and the U.S. immigration system he toms Enforcement. Almost imperceptible beneath serves, the Fredys pose a more complicated chal- the shouting are two questions that—if the country lenge than many of the others detained that morning. were able to igure out how to answer them—could Those caught crossing the border in search of work, settle the ight: To whom should America give asy- looking to reunite with family members or smug- lum, and how can we humanely and responsibly grant gling contraband face a legal process that is relatively it to them, while denying it to others? swift and noncontroversial. In most cases, they’re For now, those questions will be temporarily ad- arrested, listed for expedited deportation and sent dressed in court and on the border. Immigrant-rights back to their home country without fanfare. But as activists say Trump’s latest policy moves are not just asylum seekers, families like Fredy and Fredy qualify cruel but illegal. A day after the White House an- for a fair hearing under a decades-old refugee law. nounced the latest rule change, a coalition led by the The number of asylum seekers has skyrocketed. American Civil Liberties Union iled suit to block it— In 2008, according to federal data, fewer than 5,000 the latest of many suits levied against the Administra- people apprehended by border agents expressed fear tion on behalf of asylum seekers this year. And every of returning home, thereby triggering the asylum pro- morning, from Texas to California, border agents will cess. Ten years later, that number has soared to more scramble to keep up. “It doesn’t matter if we deploy than 97,000—a nearly 2,000% increase. The igure a wall or a fence or bring in more helicopters—this has doubled in the past two years alone, driven by group of people is turning themselves in to us,” says the arrivals of families and unaccompanied minors. Manuel Padilla Jr., chief of the Rio Grande Valley Sec- Some immigration-rights advocates explain this tor and a 34-year veteran of the Border Patrol. “This uptick by pointing at world events—environmental situation is not sustainable.” A SHORT DRIVE from Rivera’s post at the border, Miriam Castillo status was for decades granted unequally through a stream of migrants, wearing GPS-tracking ankle Castillo, next to loopholes and exceptions to politically sympathetic bracelets, ile into the Rio Grande Valley Humani- her young niece, groups, like those leeing communist regimes in tarian Respite Center, which is run by the nonproit speaks with a Hungary or Cuba, or escaping the crisis created by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas. This group of border oicer after the Vietnam War. It wasn’t until the Refugee Act of exhausted migrants is made up of family units, like crossing the river 1980 that Congress created a comprehensive sys- the two Fredys, and all have sought asylum. Slumped to McAllen on tem for granting asylum in the U.S. If the criteria Sept. 25; members into rows of blue plastic chairs and clutching bags of their group outlined in the U.N. refugee protocol were met, any emblazoned with the words DEPARTMENT OF HOME- said they were applicant could be welcomed in the U.S. LAND SECURITY, they are at the beginning of a long leeing politically In practice, that system often kicks in when process—one that’s become vastly more complicated motivated people like the Fredys come face to face with over the past 80 years. violence at home immigration authorities and express a fear of Until the 1940s, the U.S. did not have a policy returning to their home country. A trained U.S. governing the admission of would-be refugees: oicial then interviews them to judge whether their federal laws didn’t distinguish between immigrants fears are believable. In iscal year 2018, roughly 89% and asylum seekers. But after World War II left of asylum seekers passed this initial “credible fear” 7 million people uprooted in Europe, U.S. lawmakers screening, according to federal data. But the odds were forced to act. In 1948, Congress passed narrow from there. Asylum seekers are assigned the Displaced Persons Act, opening America’s a date to plead their case in immigration court, immigration door to some 350,000 refugees from which imposes a high burden of proof. This year, Europe over the next four years. In 1967, the U.S. judges granted asylum in only 17% of cases decided signed the U.N. refugee protocols, voluntarily in immigration court where migrants had passed committing to protections for refugees. credible-fear interviews. Those protocols deine refugees as people who What happens to asylum seekers who are not are outside their country and afraid to return be- granted refugee status? That’s where the political cause of a well-founded fear of persecution based ight really heats up. The Trump Administration on religion, race, nationality or membership in a says the problem is that after asylum seekers pass particular social or political group. But refugee their credible-fear interviews, they are released from Nation

custody to await their date in immigration court— a system Trump calls “catch and release.” With a backlog of 791,821 cases, new court dates are often months or years in the future. In iscal year 2018, im- migration judges completed just over 34,000 cases originating with a credible-fear referral, according to federal data. In nearly a third of those cases— 10,534—migrants failed to show up at their sched- uled court hearing. Krikorian, the immigration hard-liner, sees evi- dence of bad faith at every stage of the asylum pro- cess. “Half of the people who say they have a fear and want to apply for asylum never bother after they are let go into the country,” he says. From 2008 to 2018, 53% of migrants who submitted to a credible-fear in- terview actually iled for asylum, according to fed- eral data. He also claims that some who do apply for asylum expect to be denied but can beneit in the meanwhile: if more than 180 days elapse without a decision on a migrant’s immigration case, the migrant becomes eligible for a work permit. “They know they are going to be turned down,”he says, “but they get a year or two in the U.S. while they’re working.” Padilla, the longtime Border Patrol chief, argues asylum seekers should be held in detention until their court date. The population of asylum seekers “keeps growing exponentially because they’re actually being released into the community,” he says. Sessions has made a similar case, suggesting that releasing immi- grants as they pursue asylum claims creates “incen- tives for illegal aliens to come here and claim a fear of return.” In October, Trump told Fox News that he would build “tent cities” to house migrants until they could face a judge. “We’re going to put tents up all over the place,” he said.

THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY SECTOR, which stretches over 34 counties and 34,000 sq. mi. of southeast Texas, is patrolled by a small army of roughly 3,000 Border Patrol agents. Over the years, many have grown accustomed to the low of unauthorized im- migration by studying the variegated landscape, hon- A U.S. Border argued in lawsuits that the prolonged detention of ing their tracking skills and swapping advice. After Patrol agent asylum seekers violates both a 2009 ICE directive patrolling a section of the river, Rivera says, agents searches for a and the U.N. Refugee Convention. Second, detaining will sometimes pull piles of tires behind their trucks group of migrants more asylum seekers is expensive. On average, it costs to refresh the ground so it’s easier to spot the dusty who had crossed $319 per person per day to detain migrant families, footprints. He tells a story of identifying a group of the Rio Grande according to DHS. With long wait times for court ostensible joggers as undocumented migrants by a from Mexico dates, that will add up. Releasing migrants with ankle telltale necklace that one of them wore. near McAllen, in monitors and enrolling them in case-management September Still, the job of a Border Patrol agent remains Sis- programs have proved to be cheaper and more ef- yphean. In October, agents arrested 50,975 migrants fective than detention. The Trump Administration along the southwestern border—23,121 were family ended one such initiative in 2017. units, marking the highest one-month total on rec- Perhaps the most important issue, advocates say, ord. But as much as hard-liners may want to arrest all is that the prolonged detention of asylum seekers is of them, immigration lawyers and advocates argue immoral. Many travel as families with young chil- that prolonged detention of asylum seekers simply dren and babies. Do Americans really want to be- won’t work. They admit detention can deter some come a nation that jails hundreds of thousands of migrants, but only at great cost. First, the ACLU has impoverished families in makeshift camps along its of the Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute. One straightforward way to stem the current in- lux of asylum seekers, Meissner says, would be to streamline the immigration bureaucracy. The U.S. should publicize a clear deinition of who qualiies for asylum, what criteria will be considered in hear- ings and an explanation of what it takes to prove your case for refugee status. The Justice Depart- ment, Meissner says, should bolster immigration courts so they can judge asylum claims more quickly and fairly and eliminate the case backlog. A broken immigration-justice system leaves migrants vulner- able and “invites misuse” of the system, she says. Paying for more judges and other immigration oicials will be expensive, advocates admit, but less so than other politically motivated solutions, like sending thousands of active-duty U.S. troops to the southern border. To counter the migrant cara- van, which is expected to arrive at the border this month, Trump has already deployed 5,600 troops, according to Defense Department oicials, and he has promised up to 15,000 total. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an indepen- dent analysis group, estimated that such an efort will likely cost $42 million to $110 million. Eleanor Acer, senior director of refugee protec- tion at Human Rights First, says any lasting solu- tion to the migrant crisis should also address the root of the problem: poverty, violence and instabil- ity in the countries from which many of these peo- ple are leeing. “Until the human-rights abuses and violence and deprivations and underlying issues are addressed, people will continue to lee their coun- tries,” she says. “We actually have to deal with the problems that are causing people to leave their homes.” She recommends investing in jobs, eco- nomic development and other long-term foreign- aid programs. Back in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, Padilla, the longtime border agent who calls for detaining asy- southern border because a portion, if released into lum seekers until their court hearings, agrees that the country, might not go through the court system any viable solution should deal with all the sources to test their asylum claims? of the problem. It’s not enough to scare people into As it turns out, both political parties bear some not coming to the U.S., he says. “There have been ef- blame for the current mess. The crisis arguably forts, Band-Aid eforts, to deal with this population began in 2014, under President Barack Obama, during both Administrations,” he says, referring to when an inlux of unaccompanied minors and the Obama and Trump presidencies. “But immigra- families crossed the southern border. The low has tion reform has not happened to really deal with it.” increased under Trump. But instead of boosting Until that solution comes, agent Rivera says, he funding to hire the many more immigration and his colleagues will continue doing the work judges and administrators necessary to eiciently they do, monitoring the thickets at dawn, walking process asylum seekers, Trump and Obama focused the riverbank and arresting and processing the mi- disproportionately on immigration enforcement. grants they ind. At the end of a long, warm after- That may have earned both Presidents political noon, Rivera’s radio comes alive again. An agent’s chits among rule-of-law voters, but it didn’t do voice crackles over the line. A family of ive have much to expedite the asylum process or address the been caught crossing the border, he says. They have root of the problem, says Doris Meissner, director asked for asylum. Rivera speeds to the scene. □ Nation THE LONG WAIT At the border, U.S. troops have no enemy to confront and plenty of time to kill By W.J. Hennigan/Nogales

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MERIDITH KOHUT FOR TIME Soldiers of the 104th Engineer Construction Company weld brackets along the border wall in Nogales, Ariz. Nation

It was quiet in Nogales, Ariz., before the soldiers appeared. A line of armored vehicles rumbled through the morning stillness of the dusty border town, past its fading Old West–style storefronts and groups of curious locals who stepped into the autumn air to watch the convoy roll to a stop. American troops leaped to the pavement, clad in helmets, combat boots and camou- lage fatigues. Wiping sleep from their eyes, the sol- diers sized up their task: welding coils of razor wire atop the city’s 20-ft.-tall border fence with Mexico. Everything felt out of place. The Army’s 104th En- gineer Construction Company, based at Fort Hood, typically builds roads for hulking military vehicles in remote combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. But since Election Day, Nov. 6, they’ve been working on the border fence in Nogales, down the street from Kory’s bridal store. It isn’t a mission the troops are trained or equipped to do: the seven bulldozers, two excavators and other heavy equipment they hauled from central Texas have proved useless. Instead, they ARIZ. have been iguring it out on the ly, executing orders handed down by the Commander in Chief, President ALIF. Phoenix Donald Trump. On one level, those orders seemed straight- Nogales N.M. forward: protect the U.S. against what Trump calls “an invasion” by a caravan of impoverished Central C American migrants traveling north through Mexico. But the soldiers don’t plan to meet the caravan with force. In fact, they say, doing so would be illegal. Since the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the U.S. military has been forbidden to take part in domestic in 2018? Three days of observing, talking and shiv- law enforcement. Instead, the 104th Engineer ering with military units in Arizona shows a country Construction Company is doing its best to provide not deined by its border but deeply divided by it: planning assistance, engineering support, equipment we remain uncertain about the place of immigrants and resources to the Department of Homeland in our communities, what’s needed to protect our- Security. selves and how to apply our values to our politics. Similar scenes have played out across the South- The confusion comes at a price. The estimated west since Trump issued his orders on Oct. 26. Some cost of the border deployment is expected to total 7,000 active-duty troops began to lood border com- more than $220 million, U.S. oicials say (outside es- munities from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, a timates are somewhat lower). Critics deride the mis- deployment that equals the troops ighting ISIS in sion as a political stunt that served no purpose other Iraq and Syria. Not since the days when General John than to rally Trump’s base ahead of the elections. “It’s “Black Jack” Pershing pursued the Mexican revolu- a waste of time,” says Chuck Hagel, a former U.S. De- tionary Pancho Villa in 1916 has a comparable num- fense Secretary, Republican Senator from Nebraska ber of active-duty soldiers converged along the south- and Vietnam War veteran. “It’s clear to me that he’s ern frontier for a mission. using the military as political pawns, which is com- Trump is fond of saying you can’t be a coun- pletely irresponsible.” try without a border. But what has the President’s But the midterms are over now, Trump has deployment shown us about who we are as a nation stopped tweeting about the caravan, and the troops are still here, still out of place. On short notice, they was tough on the border and to goad Democrats into Soldiers eat lew from their bases to the border and built tent a debate on immigration policy. dinner in the cities from nothing in the middle of nowhere. They The images presented an opening. Trump de- chow tent, where established running water, electricity, working toi- manded U.S. military oicials come up with a plan a Thanksgiving lets. And they’re prepared to stay for weeks, patiently to prevent something similar from happening at U.S. meal would be served, in waiting, as the caravan inches closer and their own ports of entry, and midlevel oicials at Homeland Sunglow City, families celebrate Thanksgiving, and possibly Christ- Security and the Pentagon began drafting a plan. On an outpost mas, back home without them. Oct. 25, Trump ired of a 6 a.m. tweet: “I am bringing constructed in out the military for this National Emergency. They Tucson, Ariz. RESPONDING TO THE CARAVAN took on renewed ur- will be stopped!” gency for Trump on Oct. 19, when he saw television The topic became a ixture at the President’s footage of thousands of migrants storming Mexico’s campaign rallies, where “Build the wall” made for a border gate with Guatemala. By then, the President crowd-rousing slogan and references to “birthright had grown increasingly agitated at the limits of his citizenship” reliably drew boos. National exit polls power to stop illegal crossings. His vision of forcing found the share of voters worried about immigration Mexico to fund a massive border-wall construction was about 23%, and Trump’s closing midterm argu- project was stymied irst by geopolitical realities, ment targeted them, even as Republican strategists and then by Congress. As the midterm elections ap- suggested he focus on the healthy economy instead. proached, he was itching for a way to show voters he “At this very moment, large well-organized caravans Nation

of migrants are marching toward our southern bor- BORDER der. Some people call it an invasion,” Trump said BUILDUP Nov. 1, less than a week before Election Day. “These President Trump are tough people in many cases: a lot of young men, is sending more strong men and a lot of men that maybe we don’t than 7,000 active- want in our country.” duty troops to the southern border While members of the caravan rested their blis- to protect against tered feet in Mexico City in the irst week of Novem- what he calls an ber, Trump ordered the U.S. military to fan out across “invasion” by a the Southwest. Army Captain Charles Matthews, 40, migrant caravan had less than a week to prepare his troops for the de- traveling north through Mexico. ployment. Usually such orders come with four or ive U.S. active-duty months’ lead time, but Matthews didn’t have that forces haven’t luxury. He tasked First Sergeant Brian Rethage, 40, deployed to the with going through the company’s rolls and igur- border since the ing out who was available to go. After weeding out late 1990s. The last two those with medical or other issues, Rethage came up Presidents sent with about 130 deployable troops. Matthews broke reserves from the the news to those soldiers: they were going to Ari- National Guard: zona and might not be back in time for the holidays. The next problem: deciphering what the mis- BUSH sion was exactly. Unclear on the details, Matthews brought what he thought he might need: bulldozers, OPERATION excavators, scrapers, rollers and graders, all loaded JUMP START JUNE 2006– onto semitrucks and sent of on the 888-mile trek JULY 2008 from Fort Hood to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base 6,000 in Tucson, Ariz. “We made an assumption that we National Guard would be doing horizontal earthwork: improving members roads, you know, something in our wheelhouse,” he Assisted in says. “We came out here and found we were wrong.” apprehending It turned out the mission was to tighten security 186,814 at two border locations in Nogales, the DeConcini undocumented Crossing and the Mariposa Crossing. The border immigrants fence splits the city in two: one side of town is in and seizing the U.S., the other is in Mexico. It’s made up of 20-ft. ing back and forth across the border for shopping, 316,364 lb. steel slats that snake up hills and down into valleys, doctors appointments, family visits or daily work. of marijuana running parallel to city streets. Instead of land mov- The locals have a saying: “Ambos Nogales.” In Eng- ers and construction equipment, Matthews needed lish it means “Nogales Together.” But the presence of OBAMA miles of razor wire, brackets to hang the wire from, the troops underscored the permanence of the fence welding machines to secure the brackets and con- and what it has come to represent. OPERATION PHALANX struction lifts to get his soldiers up and down. JULY 2010– Getting the material and equipment was just the EACH DAY, THE MIGRANT CARAVAN trudges nearer. JUNE 2011 start. Only eight of 130 troops knew how to weld. It began in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on 1,200 (“By design,” he says. “My company is not trained Oct. 12 and reached the Mexican capital nearly four National Guard to weld.”) Thebaskets on the cherry pickers used to weeks later, populated by migrants traveling through members lift the soldiers to the top of the fence weren’t suit- rain and heat. The caravan’s 5,000 people—many of Assisted in able for the work, so the troops had to construct new them parents, children and unaccompanied minors— apprehending ones from discarded wooden pallets. Then the team say they are leeing violence and poverty in Central 17,887 realized the sparks from the welder were falling on America. They travel together because there’s safety undocumented taxis parked behind the fence, on the Mexican side of in numbers: migrants have been kidnapped, raped or immigrants the border. So Matthews’ troops draped a 12-ft.-long even killed. Two other, smaller caravans have since and seizing wet rag from the basket to swallow the sparks. “This formed to follow the irst. Many members will split 56,342 lb. is a nonstandard engineering mission,” Matthews from the group in Mexico. Others will travel the re- of marijuana says. “But we’re engineers. We solve problems.” maining miles to reach the U.S. border and apply for NOTE: OPERATION PHALANX WAS EXTENDED AFTER From sunrise to sundown, the company welded asylum. JUNE 2011, PROVIDING AERIAL the brackets and aixed the razor wire, under the To some in Nogales, they would be welcome. It is SURVEILLANCE SUPPORT; SOURCES: GAO; DOD watch of bemused residents. In the past, the fence ironic, oicials there say, their city needs more, not never stopped the people of Nogales from mov- less, traic from Mexico right now. Trump’s crack- Razor wire is used to help protect a shipping container holding guns and sensitive materiel down has slowed the number of people crossing they don’t anticipate facing any enemy other than the the border into Nogales to a trickle. In the past 10 weather, the fragility of their equipment or the lure years, annual pedestrian crossings into Nogales have of fast-food restaurants. “We’re not here to stop the dropped to 2.7 million from 7.7 million. That lack migrant caravan,” says Colonel Larry Dewey, com- of foot traic has resulted in the closure of some 15 mander of the 16th Military Police Brigade from stores in and around Morley Avenue, the city’s main Fort Bragg, N.C. “We’re here to make sure they come commercial drag, the oicials say. through in an orderly manner.” Santa Cruz County supervisor Bruce Bracker The Nogales detachment is part of a 1,500-troop closed his family’s retail shop in 2018; it had been deployment in Arizona. Most of them are stationed open for 94 years. He argued that the years-long 75 miles from Nogales at Davis-Monthan Air Force Border Patrol staing shortages at Southwest ports Base, where they’ve constructed a 77-sq.-acre out- of entry posed the largest security threat to border post called Sunglow City. That base, if you squint towns, such as Nogales. “The connotation of razor hard enough, is indistinguishable from ones like it in wire in our city is depressing. It looks like a prison,” Iraq or Afghanistan, a logistical feat sprawled across Bracker says. “I get that illegal immigration is a prob- the desert. The Army spread 1,700 tons of gravel over lem. It needs to be addressed. But America is sup- an area that features 140 tents, 150 portable toilets, posed to set an example for the world on these sorts a 20-bed hospital, a gym, laundry service and eight of issues. Shutting down asylum claims and deploy- trailers packed with 15 hot showers each. Soldiers ing the military to the border isn’t the solution. It’s can watch TV while they wait their turn. the beginning of another problem.” The members of the 104th Engineer Construc- IF IT FEELS like a base on the other side of the world, tion Company avoid such debates. They aren’t the it’s not. Every day, the troops are reminded they’re only troops on hand. Military police stand ready to deployed deep in their own homeland. Restaurants defend the engineers should something go awry. But and bars just outside the base gates are of-limits Nation

because the soldiers are considered to be on a deploy- ment. Some younger soldiers have been overheard complaining that they are prohibited from going of base to eat at a nearby Chili’s. The Army plans to serve the troops a Thanksgiving dinner—with turkey and trimmings provided by contract caterers—on the base at Davis-Monthan. Soldiers will phone home or Skype with their loved ones. Some are single parents; their children will mark the holiday back home with temporary guardians. Those who have served in combat operations over- seas know any comparison to the ongoing wars is laughable. “This isn’t a deployment,” says Staf Ser- geant Tamara Bonner, 38, of Fayetteville, N.C., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We’re carrying out a mission, but this isn’t a deployment.” Nearby, more than two dozen heavily armored ve- hicles, including Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, sit parked, collecting dust under the des- ert sun. There’s little chance they will be used here. Troops in Sunglow City often ind themselves with little to do. They ill the time throwing a football around, texting their girlfriends, exercising or wait- ing for the outdoor mess hall to open. But experi- enced Pentagon hands on base recognize one group that has proited from the vehicles’ dispatch to Sun- glow City: the private contractors who were paid to haul them there from Texas. Back in Nogales, the soldiers are making steady progress on the wall. Three days after U.S. soldiers started putting up the razor wire in Nogales, their work was put to the test. On Nov. 9, a Mexican man tried jumping the fence through a gap in the wire. U.S. Border Patrol agents immediately responded. The man tried to scramble back over the wall but got entangled in the newly emplaced coils, U.S. Customs and Border Protection conirmed to TIME. As the Border Patrol agents closed in, the man freed him- self and made it back into Mexico. When the mission was announced Oct. 29, it was called Operation Faithful Patriot. Nine days later, the Pentagon quietly scotched that name, wary of its po- litical overtones. It’s now oicially known as Oper- ation Secure Line, but privately, some soldiers are jokingly calling it “Operation Border Security”—or Operation B.S. The U.S. military still doesn’t know which port of entry the caravan is headed for. And even if it comes to Nogales, it’s not clear the work of the 104th En- gineer Construction Company will have been for any purpose. On Nov. 14, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Helicopters ly Nielsen visited soldiers working the border mission over rapidly in Donna, Texas. A soldier there asked Mattis whether assembled they would later have to tear down the razor wire that tents used for they put up just days earlier. Mattis replied, “We’ll army sleeping quarters let you know.”—With reporting by BRIAN BENNETT and PHILIP ELLIOTT/WASHINGTON □

THE 50 INVENTIONS 2018 of hn bu htspossible. what’s about think and play work, live, we way the changing are that inventions groundbreaking 50 result: The efectiveness. and ambition inluence, creativity, originality, including factors, key on based contender each evaluated TIME Then process. application online an through as well as world, the around correspondents and editors our from categories of variety a across nominations solicited we list, 2018 our assemble To fun. more bit a even and smarter better, world the making are that Inventions Best the highlights TIME year, Every BESTIllustrations by Todd Detwiler for TIME for TIME Myers Andrew by Photographs A revolutionary robotic arm PANDA

GEAR + GADGETS We’re living in the middle of a robotics revolution, but the most capable machines are generally available only to wealthy corporations. The German-based robotics firm Franka Emika is changing that with the Panda, an $11,000 (roughly) easy-to-program robotic arm designed for small businesses. Able to move in seven axes and designed with a smart sense of “touch,” the Panda can help conduct science experiments, build circuit boards or pretest equipment. Two Panda arms can even work together to build a third. And while the Panda isn’t designed for personal use, something similar could eventually offer a helping hand at home, chopping food in the kitchen or assisting the elderly with difficult tasks. “We believe that robots will have a similar success story as personal computers,” says Franka Emika’s CEO and co-founder, Simon Haddadin. —Alejandro de la Garza BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

A compass GEAR + GADGETS that points to family and friends LYNQ Who hasn’t worried about getting separated from friends at a crowded event or losing track of a loved one on a family vacation? LynQ ($209 for two), a new location tracker, offers a ix. Using a combination of GPS technology and long-range radio frequencies, LynQs can ind other LynQs up to three miles away; an onscreen dot then points each user in the right direction, like a compass. As a bonus, parents or pet owners can also set up “safe zones” to be alerted when a wandering child or animal leaves a given area. Unlike smartphones, LynQ doesn’t require a cell signal or monthly subscription, and it’s easier for kids to use than full GPS handsets. “We always say LynQ solves the three W’s,” says co-founder Drew Lauter, whose startup has raised more than $1.5 million to mass- TRANSPORTATION + TRAVEL produce the device. “No more worrying, wandering or waiting A HELMET WITH BUILT-IN around.” —A.G. HEADLIGHTS LUMOS KICKSTART HELMET Biking in the dark can be to indicate if she is making a dangerous. Eu-wen Ding, as a left or right turn. Riders can business-school student living trigger the signal by clicking a in Boston, nearly found out the wireless remote mounted to their hard way: he’d forget his lights, handlebars or by syncing the and cars would almost clip him. helmet with their Apple Watch So he started thinking of a better and making a traditional hand way to ride. “All I wanted to do,” turn signal. The Lumos launched

says Ding, “was get from A to B in 2017 after more than $800,000 TIME FOR BUBELLO KIM LYNQ: without dying.” Eventually, that was raised on Kickstarter; more goal led Ding to create the Lumos recently it became the irst Kickstart Helmet ($180), whose light-up helmet to be sold in the LED lights not only increase a Apple Store. cyclist’s visibility but also blink —Sean Gregory A lid that its most pots MADE IN UNIVERSAL LID For years, inventors have tried to made of silicon-coated stainless

FOOD + DRINK perfect the universal lid—that one-pot steel, has three different-size bottom covering that could prevent all kinds lips, allowing it to fit a variety of pots of frantic cabinet searching. But most and pans without the issues that have options are imperfect, dipping into plagued its predecessors. Although pans and reducing their capacity or the product “looks very simple,” says allowing heat loss (longer cooking Made In co-founder Chip Malt, “a lot times) and water runoff (messy of thought and consideration went dripping on stove tops). A new design into getting it right.” Consumers from cookware brand Made In could appear to agree: the first batch sold be the answer. Its Universal Lid ($49), out in less than two days. —A.G. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

A razor built ACCESSIBILITY for assisted shaving GILLETTE TREO Most razors are meant to help people shave themselves. So for elderly or disabled individuals who rely on a caregiver, it can be dificult, if not downright painful, when someone else takes over, since the handles and blades aren’t designed for that. Gillette Treo is the irst razor built TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT for assisted shaving, especially ideal for men’s faces. Its A TV THAT BLENDS features include a lexible blade (designed to prevent clogging) INTO THE WALL and a short, paintbrush-like handle illed with clear shave SAMSUNG 2018 QLED TV gel (a substitute for shaving cream, which can get messy). Today’s top-of-the-line televisions deliver “The act of shaving is more than stunning visual quality when watching just removing hair from your face,” says Sushant Trivedi, a shows and movies or playing games. But manager at Gillette. “It’s about when they’re turned of, they’re just lifeless dignity.” The device recently entered its inal phase of black boxes. Not so with Samsung’s newest testing; it’s expected to become lineup of 4K QLED models (starting at commercially available in the near future. —Samantha Cooney $1,099), which feature an “Ambient Mode” that displays works of art, weather reports or personal photos. You can even set them up to mimic the wall on which the TV is hanging, allowing it to seamlessly blend in to your room when not in use. Other design tweaks, such as moving all necessary connectors to a separate box, means owners need not worry about a cluster of wires uglifying an otherwise elegant piece of technology. —Patrick Lucas Austin

SPORTS + FITNESS movements in real time. When vigorous motion strains the A smarter bra’s knit fabric, a gel-like thickening luid activates and sports bra causes the garment to constrict REEBOK PUREMOVE and offer extra support. During periods of light activity or rest, Sports bras are hard to get the fabric stretches back out right, often trading substance for a comfortable, breathable for style or skimping on support. it. Now Reebok says the bra, So Reebok designer Danielle which launched in August and Witek, who had experienced quickly began resonating with this struggle herself, decided to consumers, is the brand’s most create a better one. The result: successful online apparel launch Reebok’s PureMove ($60), of all time. As for Witek? “I’ve which uses motion-sensing gotten rid of all those old bras,” technology to adapt to a woman’s she says. —Jamie Ducharme A better baby bottle NANOBÉBÉ BREAST-MILK BOTTLE A new way For decades, baby bottles have been cylindrical—a to protect design that, while functional, can be confusing for breastfed infants and problematic for parents who workers need to heat milk quickly and evenly. So longtime

HEALTH + WELLNESS FUSE RISK MANAGEMENT friends Ayal Lanternari and Asaf Kehat set out to make a better one: Nanobébé ($11, excluding SPORTS + FITNESS PLATFORM accessories like warmer and drying rack). With A few months ago, a worker at more surface area than a traditional bottle, it a grocery distribution facility in allows milk to heat and cool twice as fast, which upstate New York strapped a preserves critical nutrients. Its domelike shape sensor under his chest. As he resembles an actual breast, which can comfort lugged heavy packs around the bottle-resistant tykes. And it’s topple-proof, thanks warehouse, the device tracked to a thin silicone edge and low center of gravity. how he moved. Eventually, it Lanternari hopes Nanobébé will help parents dubbed him at risk of serious everywhere, including dads like him. “You want to injury—in large part because give the best to your baby,” he says. —Eliza Berman of how much stress he was putting on his spine. So the worker met with his manager, and together they came up with a solution: the worker was given a hook to help with his lugging so he wouldn’t have to bend over as much. This is the promise of StrongArm Tech’s Fuse Risk Management Platform, which helps employers protect vulner- able workers—and, by exten- sion, their own bottom lines. (The most serious on-the-job injuries and accidents cost U.S. companies some $59.9 billion per year.) Since debuting in April, Fuse has been used by more than 10,000 workers, including those from 10 Fortune 100 companies. “Just like Nike and Under Armour break out the latest and great- est to improve the performance of their athletes,” says Jack McCormack, manager of clients for StrongArm Tech, “we’re doing the same for the folks who are the backbone of our economy.” —S.G. SPORTS BRA: COURTESY REEBOK; TV: COURTESY SAMSUNG COURTESY TV: REEBOK; COURTESY BRA: SPORTS Bracelets that help kick bad habits HABITAWARE KEEN Aneela Idnani hid her stress-induced hair pulling for 20 years. “I thought I was weird. I thought I HEALTH + WELLNESS was alone,” Idnani says. “I didn’t want people to think lesser of me.” That feeling was exacerbated once she and her husband started looking for ways to control her habit and couldn’t find any user-friendly options. So she founded a company, HabitAware, to create one. Its flagship product: Keen, a sleek, smart $149 bracelet that users program to pick up on repetitive motions, such as hair pulling, skin picking or nail biting. Keen vibrates when it catches users in the act. That kind of awareness-building, experts say, is key to kicking compulsions for good. Keen is now on track to pass $1 million in sales this year, and in June, HabitAware secured a $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to further its research into breaking bad habits. —J.D. SOFA: COURTESY BURROW t3M.— at Orman, manager andmarketing strategy the yearafterthat400,000,” says Josh trees. “We hope nextyearit’s 200,000 and an amountofsmogequivalent to100,000 Malarkey’s productshave alreadyreduced inallofitsshingles.3Msays particles the thisyearitwould incorporate earlier manufacturer ofrooingshingles), said 3M customer, Malarkey Rooing(atopU.S. rainfall, thereby reducingpollution. One sothey canbewashed awayparticles by rays, breaksdownsmog to thesun’s UV for rooingshinglesthat, whenexposed manufacturer 3Mhascreatedamaterial disease.Minnesota-based respiratory fromillnesseslikedeaths worldwide facilities, leadsto thousandsofpremature automotive emissionsandindustrial The pollutant, whichcomeslargelyfrom Smog isasilentkilleracrosstheglobe. 3M™ SMOG-REDUCINGGRANULES smog pollution Rooing thatights GOOD SOCIAL + SUSTAINABILITY Justin Worland vnulyte one a founded they Eventually otyfe n egh waits. lengthy and fees costly without delivered be couldn’t oesta eewl aebut made well were that models luxe found They assembly. IPE SOFA SIMPLER A DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE iemn business-school many Like SOFA BURROW is n eurdtedious required and limsy were but away right ship could that models cheap found They couch. a buying case, omnagihi their anguish—in common a over bonded Chopra Kabeer and Kuhl Stephen students, yetr ie”h says. he in life,” had entire I’ve my year the freeing was emotionally “It company. most the before join year to entire agreeing to an for service the airports used navigate blind), is himself (who management product of Stilson, director Greg Aira’s location. a through guide users or answer objects then describe questions, can 24/7, available are agents, who The glasses. or proprietary smartphone Aira’s a either on-demand using an agent, to video surroundings live their stream of to its users enables of that thousands plan) standard month its per for $99 at (starting subscription new service a Aira, the That’s behind see? thinking eyes could the who “borrow” someone could of they challenge. if a what present But doing laundry or of mail load the a through tasks sorting everyday as blind, such are who people For AIRA blind the for eyes On-demand s”Kh as o they’ve sold Now says. Kuhl us,” laughed at of kind “everyone aal fsipn withinthe shipping of capable dat auatrr n2016, in manufacturers to idea oeta 000sfsand are sofas 10,000 than more Kt Steinmetz —Katy week. one as little as in U.S. hp tagtt consumers in to straight ships $1,195 and at design—starts of rounds dozen two than more result of couch—the three-seat idegon.Ismodular Its ground. middle create a to company, Burrow, n hpais ice the pitched irst Chopra and When Kuhl coniguration. and incolor both customizable, also pieces; it’seasy-to-assemble

—S.C. ACCESSIBILITY

Clothes for every body ZOZOSUIT In the future, clothes will adapt to

FASHION + BEAUTY FASHION people—not the other way around. At least, that’s the promise of ZOZOSUIT, the flagship product from ZOZO, a Japanese retailer. The stretchy black bodysuits are covered in white dots, which enables consumers to make a “3-D scan” of their bodies in the comfort of their own home, via a companion mobile app. Users can then order custom-fit clothes—such as $58 jeans and $22 T-shirts—based on a set of super-specific measurements. “This is a new era,” says ZOZO founder and CEO Yusaku Maezawa, whose larger goal is to do away with fashion’s long-held idea of standardized sizing, which often excludes many body types. Since its launch in Japan in April, ZOZO has shipped over 1 million ZOZOSUITs; now the brand is looking to expand its customization technology into footwear. —Cady Lang —J.D. P.L.A. users to grab and manipulate actually digital objects as if they existed in real life. Thanks to lexible sensors embedded in their the Forte can gloves fabric design, hands track more of a wearer’s than other virtual-reality gloves (most of which are designed for simpler uses in video games). That translates into far better accuracy when replicating a Architects, movements. wearer’s are already using for instance, the Forte to assemble VR gloves models of their buildings that it easier to see how they make will look when constructed in real life. — A MIRROR GUIDES THAT FITNESS REGIME YOUR MIRROR been have companies itness years, For gym at-home ultimate the promising from everything rise to giving experience, bikes. Peloton super-sleek to treadmills low-tech a full-length display ($1,495), Mirror there’s Now and an interactive mirror is both a literal that live stream to users allowing coach, itness and get and barre, as boot camp such workouts, (Competitor trainers. from feedback real-time with bulkier but product a similar ofers Tonal with gym marries a mirror that equipment a former Brynn Putnam, CEO machines.) weight City York the New also founded who ballerina says Method, Reine chain itness boutique gym a full-on will become she hopes Mirror $38 aided by replacement, million in investor of business, out [Reine] put could “If I backing. she laughs. happy,” be really I’d SPORTS + FITNESS SPORTS

ACCESSIBILITY 2018 | —S.C.

The ability to have digital The ability to have “hands” in virtual reality could be a game changer for creative allowing them professionals, to bring their designs to life in a three-dimensional VR space. California-based BeBop Sensors is making that possible with its which allow Forte wireless gloves, BEBOP SENSORS FORTE WIRELESS GLOVE a virtual hand Giving workers GEAR + GADGETS For people with limited handFor and it can be tough arm mobility, which are video games, to play generally controlled using small And buttons and joysticks. while some gamers and small engineered companies have major gaming companies hacks, on the largely remained have Inspired sidelines—until now. an internal hackathon and by workinformed by groups with like Foundation, the Cerebral Palsy the Xbox Microsoft developed an Adaptive Controller ($100), versionoversize of its classic rig as many designed to empower gamers as possible. Its main are roughly for example, buttons, 4 in. in enough diameter—large to be pressed with an elbow It also if necessary. or chin, features ports to accommodate a foot pedal. like additional aids, Xbox designer Chris Kujawski urges others to follow suit: “We hope [our controller] becomes a catalyst for inclusiveness in the gaming industry.” BEST INVENTIONS BEST XBOX ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER inclusive gaming more gaming Making ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN GRYPMAT super-sticky toolbox A n chemicalsheencounteredon and could withstandthekindofheat tweaking thematerialuntilit and from slidingoffcardashboards nonslip matthatkeeps phones withthekindofbendable, starting it.Soheprototypedhisown, ing surfacewithoutscratch- curved a existingtoolboxcouldstickto no aircraft—aresultofthefact the off Burden oftenfoundhistoolssliding mechanic intheAirF asanF-16weaponsWhile working orce, Tom the realityshow when investors agreedtobackiton ($40), gotamajorboostin2017, the job.Hiscreation, theGrypmat he says. “It’s aclever one.” the punch.“It’s notageniusidea,” nobodybeathimto also surprised he’s gratefulforhissuccess, he’s by year’sGrypmats end.Andwhile now ontracktohave sold200,000 makers; he’ssurgeons tojewelry across allkindsofprofessions, from then, Burdenhasfoundcustomers Shark Tank.Shark —K.S. Since

XBOX, ALLBIRDS: KIM BUBELLO FOR TIME; MIRROR: COURTESY MIRROR FASHION + BEAUTY oyZwillinger. Joey question,” says co-founder anyone whowants it, without SweetFoam “available to technical know-howbehind company hasmadethe the SanFrancisco–based tofollowsuit, competitors toencourageits in aneffort since their2016debut.And millionpairs more than1 sneakers, whichhave sold including itspopularwool entire productlinesoon— using thematerialacrossits lip-lops; itplanstostart thisyearinalineof earlier Allbirds launchedSweetFoam carbon dioxideintotheair). change–causing climate discarded (thereby releasing that wouldotherwisebe ofsugarcane from parts a new materialmade SweetFoam,alternative: testing aneco-friendly Allbirdsis Retail startup are madefrompetroleum. logos andshoelacetips— including plasticsoles, that many shoeparts— tothefact thanks inpart a bigcarbonfootprint, has The shoeindustry ALLBIRDS SWEETFOAM save theworld could help Shoes that —J.W. Earbuds that help WELLNESS + HEALTH improve your slumber BOSE SLEEPBUDS From street traffic to snoring partners, height) to fit inside the ear without ambient sounds can make it tough to jutting out and light enough (1.4 g) fall asleep. And while earplugs and to feel weightless—both essential white-noise machines do help, the for comfort while sleeping. Their soft audio experts at Bose have developed silicone tips ensure that they stay in a higher-end solution: Sleepbuds place, even if wearers toss and turn. ($250), a pair of earbuds designed And they cannot stream podcasts or specifically to enhance your slumber. music. Instead, users choose from a Unlike more traditional wireless preset menu of 10 soothing sounds, headphones, they are small enough such as ocean waves, warm static or (roughly 1 cm in both width and rustling leaves. —P.L.A. TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT A haven for rule breakers MONOPOLY: CHEATERS EDITION Monopoly is hard enough when everybody plays by the rules, but cheating is infuriatingly common—players steal from the bank, skip ahead and worse. So Hasbro decided to embrace the rule breakers with Monopoly: Cheaters Edition ($20), in which “cheat cards” encourage players to dupe others for cash or property. But those caught in the act face consequences, like being handcuffed to the board. The goal, says Hasbro’s Jennifer Boswinkel, was to “capture the mischievous spirit of Monopoly players while keeping the core game play intact.” Of course, inventive swindlers will likely ind a way to cheat at this too. —Megan McCluskey

SUSTAINABILITY + SOCIAL GOOD A MORE EFFICIENT WATER HEATER MODEL 3 SMART WATER HEATER Most water heaters consume $799, the MODEL 3 is more massive amounts of power, expensive than many other ratcheting up families’ water heaters, but the energy FOOD + DRINK energy bills in the process. savings may well add up fast: The other other The designers at Heatworks Heatworks estimates that the are looking to ix that with device will save the average white meat the MODEL 3 Smart Water family of four $240 a year. BEYOND SAUSAGE Heater. Unlike other heaters, —J.W. In recent years, alternative beef—a.k.a. whichheatwaterinatank real-seeming burger patties made from using metal components, the plant oils and proteins—has started popping up on menus at restaurants from MODEL 3 sends electrical Bareburger to White Castle. Now Beyond current through the water, Meat, the company behind the Beyond Burger, is experimenting with a different heating it up quickly and only alternative-meat product: sausage. Its new when residents actually need Beyond Sausage ($9 for a pack of four) looks and tastes surprisingly close to the it. Using a companion app, real thing. It’s also leaner, with 43% less owners can also track their total fat and 38% less saturated fat, and water usage, set a maximum much more sustainable than actual meat. (By one estimate, the global livestock temperature and even industry is responsible for nearly 20% of limit shower times, further human-caused greenhouse gases.) Earlier this year, the company opened a second helping to curtail costs. At

SAUSAGE: COURTESY BEYOND SAUSAGE; MODEL 3: COURTESY HEATWORKS plant to meet demand. —A.G. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018 OS AE ENTERTAINMENT + GAMES TOYS, Helping gamers create their own fun NINTENDO LABO Usually with video games, all the fun happens on the players’ screens. Not so with Nintendo Labo ($60 and up), a set of kits allowing DIY-inclined gamers to construct their own cardboard controllers for the company’s grab-and-go Switch console. Called Toy-Cons, the Labo controllers range from a 13-key piano to a robot suit to a steering wheel. Once built and joined with a standard Switch controller, Toy-Cons can be used for a variety of minigames, like ishing or racing. Nintendo producer Kouichi Kawamoto says the aim was to “combine physical and digital game play.” While build-and-play toys that connect to electronics aren’t new, Labo is unique in the video-gaming world, where controllers are typically store- bought and rarely fun in their own right. The conceit has clearly struck a chord with consumers: Nintendo has SPORTS + FITNESS sold more than 1.39 million Labo kits since its April 2018 A JACKET THAT GLOWS launch. —M.M. IN THE DARK VOLLEBAK SOLAR CHARGED JACKET Nighttime adrenaline junkies novelty: because it can absorb can now glow in the dark, light from almost any source, thanks to the Solar Charged wearers can, for example, trace Jacket ($350) from Vollebak, a patterns on its surface using an U.K.-based sports-gear startup. iPhone lashlight. But it’s also

The jacket’s phosphorescent helpful from a safety standpoint, TIME FOR BUBELLO KIM NINTENDO: membrane absorbs light allowing runners and hikers to during the day and releases be visible after dark. And should what Vollebak founder Steve something bad happen in a Tidball calls “kryptonite green remote area, Tidball adds, “it’s energy” after sunset. Part of nice to know that rescuers can the jacket’s appeal, of course, is spot you.” —S.G. Keeping produce fresh

FOOD + DRINK longer RUBBERMAID FRESHWORKS American households waste nearly 200 lb. of fruits and vegetables a year because of spoilage, costing upwards of $100 a year in grocery bills. Housewares company Rubbermaid has a potential solution in its FreshWorks countertop series ($25 for a 2 gal. container). As produce ripens, it consumes oxygen and gives off water and carbon dioxide. Rubbermaid’s containers regulate the flow of all three into and out of the container. Meanwhile, its elevated design reduces moisture buildup underneath food. The result? Tomatoes, avocados, grapes and more that can stay fresh for days longer than they would left on a countertop. —A.G. A suitcase you don’t need to unpack THE CARRY-ON CLOSET Unpacking and repacking is TRANSPORTATION + TRAVEL a hassle, especially if you’re traveling for business. But what if you could bring a closet with you? That’s the idea behind the Carry-on Closet from Solgaard Design ($199). Outside, it looks like a normal roll-aboard. But inside is a flexible set of shelves that keep clothes organized—and compressed—during travel and, once travelers reach their destination, can be taken out to hang. (The system can also be removed entirely.) “When you’re really pressed for time, any way to keep your stuff tidy when you’re on the go is super helpful,” says Adrian Solgaard, founder and CEO of Solgaard Design, who adds that he’s selling the Carry-on Closet as fast as he can order new units. —Alex Fitzpatrick Contact lenses HEALTH + WELLNESS that adjust to light ACUVUE OASYS WITH TRANSITIONS Imagine never having to shield your eyes from blinding sunlight, or feel the strain of eight-plus hours under luores- cent bulbs. That’s the allure of Acuvue’s forthcoming line of light-sensitive, vision-correcting contact lenses (devel- oped in partnership with Transitions Op- tical). Each contains a ilter that senses the amount of light entering your eye and automatically darkens or light- ens to maximize comfort. “We had to overcome a huge technology hurdle to make this happen,” says David Turner, head of contact-lens research and de- velopment at Acuvue’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson Vision. The con- tacts, which have been in the works for over a decade, received FDA clearance in April. Turner expects them to go on sale early next year. —J.D.

SUSTAINABILITY + SOCIAL GOOD LIFESAVING DELIVERY DRONES

HEALTH + WELLNESS SECOND-GENERATION ZIPLINE A treatment for In 2016, Zipline made history by will continue to serve rural launching the irst commercial communities in Africa, which migraines drone delivery service in the now have even quicker, easier AIMOVIG East African nation of Rwanda, access to lifesaving supplies, Millions of Americans suffer debilitating expediting the delivery of blood the startup has other ambitions migraines, affecting their performance at and vital medical supplies as well. Zipline recently started work or school and contributing to anxiety and other mental-health issues. But few to some of the world’s most testing emergency medical- treatment options exist. Pharmaceutical remote communities. This year, supply delivery in the U.S. and irm Amgen is seeking to change that with Aimovig, which in May became the irst the California-based startup will start regular service in Food and Drug Administration–approved unveiled a new iteration of North Carolina early next year. drug designed to prevent migraines. Administered by monthly injection, the its ixed-wing craft that can —Aryn Baker drug works by blocking a protein receptor carry up to 3.85 lb. at 80 m.p.h. in the brain, preventing a peptide that may trigger migraines from attaching to its for up to 100 miles per round- target. During trials, it halved the number trip, making it the fastest—and of recipients’ migraine days. Cen Xu, most eicient—commercial Amgen’s scientiic director for neurosci- ence, says she has been overwhelmed delivery drone in the world. by positive feedback from the more than Zipline also streamlined its 52,000 people using Aimovig so far. “Seeing the handwritten letters, I get very launch and recovery process, emotional,” she says. Aimovig costs $575 enabling the second-generation per dose before insurance, but Amgen helps some patients, whose private health Zips to make 500 deliveries per plans don’t cover the drug, get it at no cost day from their launching center,

DRONE: COURTESY ZIPLINE for up to a year. —J.D. up from 50. And while Zipline An electric skateboard that’s easier to carry around BOOSTED MINI Skateboards are best known for recreation, but electric options are changing the narrative: instead of kickflips and ollies, these battery-and-motor boards enable users to cover short distances in short order. And Boosted’s latest model is making them more accessible than ever. At 15 lb. TRANSPORTATION + TRAVEL and 29.5 in., the Mini ($750) is shorter and lighter than its competitors, making it easier to carry inside when riders arrive at their destination. And it can still maintain speeds of up to 20 m.p.h. To be sure, electric-skateboard travel is not for everyone: traffic can pose a danger, and high-capacity batteries like the kind Boosted uses have had overheating issues in the past. Still, Boosted CEO Jeff Russakow maintains that the Mini is an important step toward a less car-dependent future: it’s “a Tesla you can throw in your backpack.” —A.F. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

A wizard’s wand that teaches kids to code HARRY POTTER KANO CODING KIT The Harry Potter universe is already being used to get

TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT GAMES TOYS, children excited about reading. Now Kano, makers of the kid- friendly Kano Computer Kit, is betting it can do the same for computer programming. Its Harry Potter Coding Kit ($100) challenges users to complete quests in a virtual wizarding world by programming “spells.” Once users enter a series of commands, they can make it so waving a physical wand up, for example, changes the color of a virtual potion, or moving it sideways causes an object to levitate—the same “if this, then that” logic that underpins traditional computer programming. Kano worked with J.K. Rowling’s literary agency and Warner Bros. to ensure that its platform captured the magic of the wizarding world. The idea, says Kano CEO Alex Klein, is to give users “creative challenges” that empower them to solve problems, both on computers and in life. —M.M. A vacuum that empties itself IROBOT ROOMBA I7+

GEAR + GADGETS Since their emergence in the early 2000s, robotic vacuums have been helping people keep house. But even the most high- end models require users to manually clean them out after each session—a process that can be both messy and time- consuming. Not so with iRobot’s new Roomba i7+ ($950), which empties itself. While the device is powering up, a separate vacuum inside its base charger sucks the dirt and dust from the Roomba’s innards into a disposable bag— each of which can hold about a month’s worth of gunk. The process, says iRobot CEO Colin Angle, is designed to “free customers from every aspect of vacuuming, from start to finish, for weeks at a time.” And it may well help iRobot continue to beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations, especially as the holiday shopping season looms. —A.F. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

The electric TRANSPORTATION + TRAVEL semitruck THOR ET-ONE The 3 million semitrucks on U.S. roads are essential to the national economy. But they’re also bad for the environment, emitting millions of tons of carbon pollution. One solution: the ET-One, a formerly fuel- burning truck that California-based startup Thor has converted into a sleek electric rig. The $150,000-plus vehicle, which is still in its prototype phase, can haul up to 80,000 lb. for up to 300 miles on a single charge. (That’s about as much weight as a regular semi, albeit at a fraction of the range—for now.) Thor is not alone in this space; it’s going up against some industry heavyweights, including Elon Musk’s Tesla. But CEO Dakota Semler says he is conident that converting old trucks into futuristic rigs, instead of building new vehicles from scratch, can help it beat the competition to market. “We want to get our electric trucks out in the world to make a difference now, not 10 years down the road,” he says. —A.F.

TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT TOYS THAT EVOLVE WITH YOUR BABY LOVEVERY PLAY KITS To a baby, a toy is more than help clue the parent into what TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT just a toy—it’s a tool that can the baby is hungry to do,” says A speaker that be instrumental to early brain Jessica Rolph, who co-founded development, so long as it’s Lovevery with her friend and could replace your deployed correctly. That’s the fellow parent Roderick Morris, TV remote thinking behind Lovevery Play in consultation with a cadre SONOS BEAM Kits, which are designed to of experts. Eventually, they The struggle of home-theater geeks engage babies at every stage envision a line of products everywhere has long been the seemingly of development. The 0-to-8- targeting kids through age 6. endless proliferation of remotes, as almost every new gadget comes with its week kit, for example, includes Next up: toddlers. —E.B. own controller. The Sonos Beam soundbar cards with high-contrast black ($399) aims to replace them all with a and white images for visual simpler solution: your voice. Instead of pushing a button to raise the volume or stimulation; the 7-to-8-month shut off a TV, users can simply ask their kit includes a simple puzzle Beam—which works with a multitude of TVs, as well as smart-home platforms to develop motor skills and like Alexa and Siri—to make it happen. problem-solving. (Parents can And like most Sonos products, the Beam also delivers superior sound quality, with buy an individual two-month full-range woofers, tweeters and a “speech play kit for $80 or subscribe enhancement” mode that helps clarify dialogue. “We wanted to bring premium for $36 per month to get sound to the room where families spend recurring shipments.) “There is the majority of their time: the living something magical about a toy room,” says Sonos product manager

ET-ONE: COURTESY THOR; PLAY KITS: COURTESY LOVEVERY Scott Fink. —A.F. if it’s done right, because it can BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

A wi-i router GEAR + GADGETS that knows no bounds NETGEAR ORBI VOICE Anyone with a wi-i router knows the struggle of signal strength, which can vary wildly from room to room. Not so with Netgear’s Orbi, a wi-i system that uses “mesh” technology to ensure quality coverage throughout a home. Its main router beams an Internet signal to one or several satellite devices, which users place around their home; their gadgets then latch on to whichever sig- nal is strongest in any given spot, en- suring blazing-fast speeds. Orbi’s lat- est satellite device, Orbi Voice ($430, including the wi-i router), also doubles as an Alexa-enabled smart speaker, en- abling users to play music and control other compatible smart-home devices by voice command. —A.F.

TOYS, GAMES + ENTERTAINMENT THE ULTIMATE AT-HOME MOVIE PROJECTOR LG CINEBEAM LASER 4K PROJECTOR As movie prices skyrocket, with video-game consoles. At some cinephiles are turning to only about 15 lb. and equipped elaborate setups to replicate with a handle, it’s easy to carry the theater experience at home. around too. But it doesn’t make SUSTAINABILITY + There are few better ways to the popcorn. —A.F. SOCIAL GOOD do so than the LG CineBeam A more private Laser 4K Projector, a $2,999 pregnancy test projector that uses lasers LIA to beam a dazzling 150-in. 4K image up onto a wall or Plastic pregnancy tests create 2 million lb. of waste each year—a screen. “We sought to achieve igure that irst motivated Bethany two at-times divergent goals Edwards to develop Lia, a paper-based, biodegradable alternative. But as she when designing the projector: started working, she realized she could delivering superior image address another issue too. “Who hasn’t quality in a portable, functional

hidden a [plastic] pregnancy test in PREGNANCY TEST: COURTESY LIA the trash before?” she says. “There is design,” says Yong Kim, head a privacy need that’s not being met.” of projector development at Because Lia is paper-based, it’s also lushable, which makes it more discreet. LG Electronics. The CineBeam The test is set to go on sale by early can stream content from most 2019 and will cost about as much as a traditional version. Already, it has a major streaming services from 28,000-person waiting list. —J.D. Netlix to Hulu, and also works

68 A sleep coach for babies NANIT PLUS BABY MONITOR Even the most watchful GEAR + GADGETS parent can’t watch their baby all the time. But it’s hard to help babies get the sleep that’s so critical to their development—and parents’ sanity—without knowing how they sleep. Enter Nanit Plus ($279, plus $100 for a stand and one year of personalized tips), which is one part baby monitor, enabling parents to watch a live feed of their child via an app, and one part sleep coach: it tracks key factors about a baby’s slumber— including her surrounding conditions, such as humidity levels—to offer parents data-backed tips on how to improve it. If a baby stays awake too long in her crib, for example, Nanit might suggest adjusting the temperature or darkening the room. And while that level of surveillance may seem creepy to some, co-founder Assaf Glazer likens his device to a trusted babysitter: “I sometimes imagine my mother sitting above the crib, 24/7—she FASHION + BEAUTY gives me advice so I can make better decisions tomorrow.” DIAMONDS FORGED IN PLASMA Eventually, he hopes to use Nanit for early detection of DIAMOND FOUNDRY SUSTAINABLE DIAMONDS conditions like autism and sleep apnea. —E.B. For decades, we have been prom- of diamond every year, enough ised lab-grown diamonds that for nearly 500,000 average-size are brilliant, afordable and free engagement rings. That speed, from the environmental pitfalls of the company says, makes it pos- diamond mining. But their makers sible for lab-grown diamonds to have struggled to deliver quality be cost-efectively produced at stones at scale. The Diamond mining scale for the irst time. Foundry has an edge: its new Diamond Foundry stones (which hydro-powered plasma reactor range from a few hundred dollars in Wenatchee, Wash., constructs to more than $30,000) are gem- diamonds using a fraction of the quality, and the company recently energy of other methods, includ- partnered with Apple’s Jony Ive to ing mining. As a result, the facility create an all-diamond ring to raise can churn up to 1 million carats money for charity. —J.W. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018

A simpler BEAUTY + FASHION way to apply makeup YUBI BUFF AND BLEND SET There is no perfect way to apply face makeup. Using brushes allows for precision and consistency, but it’s a hassle to carry so many around; using ingers is simple but can be messy and unhygienic. That’s why Adiya Dixon Wiggins created the Yubi Buff and Blend set ($39), featuring a new ergonomic makeup tool that slides onto users’ ingertips and offers them the ability to switch between two “heads”: a buff brush and a soft blending sponge. The goal, says Wiggins, a former international lawyer and mom of two, is to make it simpler to apply makeup, especially when you’re on the go. “I wanted something that was easier” than traditional brushes, she explains. Turns out she wasn’t the only one: on the heels of a strong launch earlier this year, the device will debut on the Home Shopping Network in January 2019. —C.L.

ACCESSIBILITY A WHEELCHAIR THAT EMPOWERS ITS USERS WHILL MODEL CI Over 3 million Americans rely or outdoors, climb obstacles up on wheelchairs to get around. to two inches in height and easily And yet, there has been little navigate cramped quarters; innovation in that ield—most it can also be disassembled wheelchairs are bulky vessels in minutes, enabling easy

that struggle to traverse many transport. Parent company Whill TIME FOR BUBELLO KIM YUBI: terrains. Enter the Model Ci says the Model Ci, which also ($3,999), a new electric comes in gold and millennial model. Thanks to its specially pink (among other colors), has engineered front “omni-wheels,” sold almost 10,000 units since its it can ride up to 10 miles indoors January debut. —S.C. A companion for kids with cancer MY SPECIAL AFLAC DUCK Many kids diagnosed with cancer say the hardest part is feeling as if they’ve lost control over their lives. This animatronic duck, which insurance giant Aflac distributes free to pediatric patients, aims to restore it. Among its many features: a companion IV set that SUSTAINABILITY + SOCIAL GOOD allows kids to “treat” the duck with chemotherapy, so they can see how the process works, and “emoji cards” that, when tapped against the duck’s chest, prompt it to act out feelings the child is too scared or confused to express to doctors. This experience is “not just about getting better medically,” says Aaron Horowitz, a designer at health care tech firm Sproutel, which Aflac tapped to spearhead the project after Sproutel launched a similar toy (Jerry the Bear) for kids with diabetes. “It’s about being happy.” —J.D. BEST INVENTIONS | 2018 HEALTH + WELLNESS Smarter training for surgeons FUNDAMENTAL SURGERY Everyone wants their surgeon to be perfectly prepared, but there are few affordable ways for medical residents to practice without putting patients at risk. Virtual-reality simulators help, but they have at least one major limitation. “You can’t touch the ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN environment in a meaningful way,” says Richard Vincent, CEO 3-D PRINTING AN END of FundamentalVR, whose VR surgical simulator ixes that by TO HOMELESSNESS incorporating haptic feedback (similar to a smartphone’s ICON VULCAN 3-D PRINTER vibration) so doctors can “feel” their actions as if they were really Earlierthisyear,TexasstartupICONturned performing surgery. Crucially, the headsafterbuildinga350-sq.-ft.dwellingin system uses hardware-agnostic technology and costs as little as 48hoursfromstarttoinish.Itsnot-so-secret $8,000—far less than traditional weapon:theVulcan3-Dprinter,aground- training systems—which makes it more accessible to surgeons breakingmachinethaterectsthebasicstruc- around the world. Some 50 tureofahome,layerbylayer,fromconcrete— hospitals are already using it, including big names like the atafractionofthematerialandlaborcosts Mayo Clinic. —J.D. oftraditionalmethods.ICON,whichspent ninemonthsdevelopingVulcan,hasraised $9milliontoimproveitsfunctionality,aiming toprinta2,000-sq.-ft.houseinjust24hours. ICONisalsoworkingwithNewStory,ahousing nonproitfocusedonLatinAmericaandthe Caribbean,tobringVulcantoregionsinneed ofcheap,durablehousingsolutions.Buteven- tuallyCEOJasonBallardenvisionsafuturein whichanyonecanbuildacustomabode.“This isn’tscienceiction,”hesays.—EliMeixler

HEALTH + WELLNESS sleek video extolling its blanket; within months it had raised Blankets that almost $5 million on Kickstarter. Co-founder Mike Grillo credits ease anxiety the success to good design (the Gravity Blanket looks and GRAVITY BLANKET feels more luxe than its prede- If you’re wondering why every- cessors) and good timing. “The body on Instagram seems to be 2016 election was still fresh in draped in weighted blankets, you people’s minds,” he says, and can thank Gravity. Although the many were looking for ways to year-old startup didn’t invent the relieve anxiety. Although some accessories—which apply gentle ind the blankets claustrophobic, pressure that studies say calms others swear by them: Gravity the nervous system—it perfected has sold $18 million worth of the art of marketing them to blankets ($249 each), which the masses. The buzz began in weigh 15, 20 or 25 lb. and come 2017, when Gravity uploaded a in several neutral colors. —J.D. ACCESSIBILITY end theyearwith20,000activeusers. havecustomers beenreceptive:Eargoexpectsto online withhelpfromaspecialist.Sofar, insidetheearandcanbebought comfortably with audiologists.EargoMax, by contrast, fits typically requireseveral fittingsandappointments Traditional hearingaidswraparoundtheearand for peoplewithmildtomoderatehearingloss. is arechargeablehearingaidmadespecifically almost entirelyoutofsight.EargoMax($2,450) buildingadevice thatworks spent eightyears Christian Gormsen, whosecompany, Eargo, is alotofstigmaaroundhearingloss,” says to wear themforaestheticreasons.“There benefit fromahearingaid, somearereluctant ofhearingloss—andwhilemany could sort Almost 48millionAmericanssufferfromsome EARGO MAX for themasses A hearingaidmeant —S.C.

PRINTER: COURTESY ICON; BLANKET: COURTESY GRAVITY FASHION + BEAUTY up to50. Genius’ aremeanttolast one ortwowears, Sheerly pantyhose may ripafter to splurge.Wherenormal many womenarewilling traditional options.But more expensivethan they’re alsoconsiderably Homuth. At$99perpair, unbreakable,” says They’re “basically and climbingequipment. used inbulletproofvests type ofibertypically pantyhose madeofa a lineofsoft, comfortable change that.Theresult: about 18monthsagoto Genius,Sheerly setout Homuth, whosecompany, problem,” says Katherine solved thissuper-basic being builtbutwe haven’t other crazytechnologiesare ridiculous thatallthese put themon.“Itseems wearing gloves justto fashionistas recommend thatsome to ripandruin drawers, yetthey’re soeasy staple inwomen’s dresser Pantyhose have longbeena PANTYHOSE SHEERLY GENIUS pantyhose ‘Unbreakable’ —K.S. COURTESY WONDERHATCH The real-life Iron Man suit GRAVITY JET SUIT If birds could gloat, they would—what with the flying and all. But we may catch up soon, thanks to London-based Gravity Industries, a startup that has developed the coolest flying suit this side of Iron Man. The 1,050-horsepower system relies TRANSPORTATION + TRAVEL on five mini–jet engines—two each built into units attached to the hands and one built into a backpack. It can achieve speeds of 50 m.p.h. And for people with the right physical gifts, it’s easy to fly. “A gymnast we worked with was able to master it in three tries,” says inventor and company founder Richard Browning—though for others, he notes, the learning curve is steeper. For now, the suits are extremely expensive—a recent model went for $440,000—and extremely loud. But Browning hopes to raise money from ticket sales via suit races and other public events and roll the revenue into developing a quieter, cheaper electric version. There will, surely, be a market waiting. “It’s not an Iron Man suit,” Browning concedes. But it’s not exactly not one either. —Jeffrey Kluger KiKi Layne and Stephan James make If Beale Street Could Talk one of the year’s most affecting films

PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHAN BAJAR FOR TIME THE BESTOF CULTURE off 2018

MOVIES + TELEVISION + MUSIC + PODCASTS + BOOKS + THEATER + VIDEO GAMES BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

like a gemstone whose color The 10 best movies changes depending on the light. Olivia Colman stars as the bored, BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK unhappy Queen who lives for the 5 great affection of her closest friend and documentaries companion (Rachel Weisz)—until a scheming minx (Emma Stone) may be planning a suicide mission. arrives at court. Allegiances are 1 Politics, religion, the global- forged, broken and reforged in this warming crisis—all the things we’re dry-witted but ultimately moving ROMA either constantly talking about at ilm, which hits the sweet spot Alfonso Cuarón has built a career our dinner tables or are afraid to between acidity and tenderness. making beautiful ilms, but Roma, talk about—come into play under Schrader’s watchful eye. This is his tribute to one of the women 6 who raised him—played, with one of the most thoughtful, intense MCQUEEN simmering warmth, by newcomer and ultimately fortifying ilms of With affection and CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Yalitza Aparicio—is his most the year. subtle directness, Ian gorgeous and moving. This is a Bonhôte and Peter Sometime in the 1980s, biogra- pher Lee Israel’s livelihood dried deeply personal ilm for Cuarón, 4 Ettedgui pay tribute to but its embrace is universal: in the late, great designer. up. Out of desperation, she turned telling his own story, he gets us EIGHTH GRADE to forging and selling letters by thinking about the latticework of famous literary igures, making a people who made each of us what I watched Bo mint until she got caught. From THREE IDENTICAL this true story, director Marielle we are. Roma is an ode to the Burnham’s debut ilm, STRANGERS power of memory, as intimate as Heller has made a terriic movie a whisper and as vital as the roar Eighth Grade—in Tim Wardle tells about romantic loneliness, prickly of the sea. which newcomer Elsie the story of triplets friendships and career stagnation: separated at birth—with it’s more entertaining than you’d Fisher gives a splendid a shocking twist. think, but it also cuts close to the 2 bone for anyone who’s ever had performance as a girl to make an emergency U-turn WON’T YOU BE making the leap from professionally. Melissa McCarthy MY NEIGHBOR? middle school to high plays Israel, a woman who has been slapped with that euphe- Sometimes it feels like everything school—with my heart mistic label difficult and who also is awful and nothing will ever get in my throat. What happens to be gay. Her partner in better. Yet Morgan Neville’s lyrical crime is a dashing rake played by documentary about the quietest terrible thing was going Richard E. Grant. Together they television superstar ever, Fred to happen? What great MINDING THE GAP pull off a grand, if highly illegal, Rogers, of the long-running (and scheme—and they hold each beloved) Mister Rogers’ Neighbor- trauma would befall her Bing Liu chronicles the other up even as everyone else hood, suggests that kindness at this vulnerable age? lives of three young leaves them to fall. is the single most powerful way men growing up in a forward—and it’s a resource But there’s no disaster Rust Belt city. available to all of us. Using of that sort in Eighth 7 vintage footage and interviews with people whose lives Rogers Grade; this lovely young A STAR IS BORN touched, Neville gets close to THE KING woman to be just has Eugene Jarecki traces Who knew that the last thing we the mystery of what made this thought we needed—a remake of genuinely lovely man tick. It’s sad to get through one of the rise and fall of Elvis Presley—and America. a ilm that’s already been remade that we no longer have Rogers, the most ego-delating plenty of times—was exactly the who died in 2003—but how lucky stagesoflife,and thing we wanted? Director Bradley we were to have him at all. Cooper set out to reimagine this that’s hard enough. potentially threadbare story for 3 Burnham’s ilm— the modern age, casting himself perceptive, afectionate, as close-to-washed-up country HULU GAP: THE MINDING IMAGES; GETTY RBG: MCQUEEN, FIRST REFORMED singer Jackson and putting Lady unsentimental—hits Gaga in the role of Ally, an unas- Sometimes a ilm wears its suming but unassailably gifted anguish like ingerprints on a every note just right. singer-songwriter who becomes a mirror. In Paul Schrader’s First RBG superstar. The result is a cathartic Reformed, Ethan Hawke gives one Julie Cohen and Betsy melodrama that feels both fresh of the year’s inest performances 5 West illuminate the life and comfortingly classic. “Maybe as a rural pastor who has lost his of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it’s time to let the old ways die,” way,further hastening his own end THE FAVOURITE the Supreme Court Jus- Cooper sings in one of the songs with drink. A young woman from his This lush, sly reimagining of tice with the mostest. from the movie’s soundtrack. congregation—played by a soulful events in the life of Britain’s Queen Anne, directed by Yorgos But he also knows what’s worth Amanda Seyfried—reaches out preserving. when she fears that her husband, Lanthimos, is sometimes a a radical environmental activist, comedy and sometimes a drama, Writer-director Bo Burnham’s debut, Eighth Grade, maps the trials and travails of a teen girl PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL DORSA FOR TIME BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

8 IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Honorable In Barry Jenkins’ gorgeously mentions crafted adaptation of James Bald- win’s piercing novel, KiKi Layne and Stephan James play young lovers—and expectant parents— torn apart by a false accusation. The picture works on multiple levels: it’s a beautiful movie about young people and a sharp indict- ment of a criminal-justice system AT ETERNITY’S GATE that’s anything but just. Regina King gives a superb supporting Willem Dafoe makes performance as a mother who a glorious, complex can’t bear to see her child, and the Vincent van Gogh man she loves, suffer; through sun in Julian Schnabel’s and shadow she bears witness to film about the the couple’s devotion. artist’s final years.

9 BLINDSPOTTING BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Carlos López Estrada’s terrific Oakland, Calif., It took forever for the thing to get gentrification comedy, made. Its director was ired during with Daveed Diggs and ilming. (He had previously also Rafael Casal, cuts deep. been accused of sexual assault, which he denied.) Then the bad reviews poured in, focusing on the movie’s wooden dialogue and CHRISTOPHER ROBIN paint-by-numbers storytelling. Ewan McGregor stars But Bohemian Rhapsody, starring as Winnie-the-Pooh’s Rami Malek as Queen lead singer sidekick, now grown up, △ Freddie Mercury, has a luxuriant, in this sweet, surprisingly Kiersey Clemons potent energy that movies of affecting film. The 10 best movie “higher quality” rarely pull off. It sings out, and may be a bit of a mess, but it’s performances breaks out, in a glorious one, a polychrome Hearts Beat Loud anthem about what it means to SHOPLIFTERS BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK live for love and sex, rock ’n’ roll A tender, gorgeously and beauty—the very opposite of filmed story about a fam- sticking to an agenda. ily of thieves from Japa- nese master filmmaker 1 2 Hirokazu Kore-eda. 10 YALITZA APARICIO ETHAN HAWKE PADDINGTON 2 Roma First Reformed In Paddington 2, a talking bear in You can study acting your whole If you’re going to make a movie a blue dufle coat, voiced by Ben life and never feel you’re getting about guilt and spiritual self- Whishaw, tries to buy a present for it right. Or you can be a total lagellation, as Paul Schrader did his 100-year-old aunt and wrong- nonprofessional—someone with First Reformed, you need a fully ends up in prison. While who never dreamed of pursuing great face. Ethan Hawke plays the there, he delights the inmates an acting career—and deliver a pastor of a small rural congrega- with his innovative marmalade THE HATE U GIVE performance so inely textured tion who’s torn between worrying sandwich–making technique: that no one would guess you’d about the world and punishing George Ti Tillmanllman Jr Jr. even scary-tough institutional never before stepped in front of a himself for what he views as past adapts Angie Thomas’s cook Knuckles McGinty, played camera. Aparicio, who plays Cleo, failures; both threaten to destroy 2017 YA best seller by Brendan Gleeson, approves. the domestic worker in Alfonso him. With words and gestures but into a marvelous, Sweet without being squishy, this Cuarón’s semiautobiographical especially with that perpetually provocative drama. sequel is even more delightful Roma, was teaching school watchful, perceptive face, Hawke than its wholly captivating prede- in Oaxaca when the director conveys both the selishness and cessor, both directed by Paul King. found her. Lucky for him. Her the deep suffering of people who Its generosity is invigorating—and performance is the kind of jewel a just can’t let go of their own pain. we can all use a little more of that ilmmaker could seek forever and It’s as if the tree of life is etched to spread around. never ind. on his forehead. CLEMONS:DARIAKOBAYASHIRITCH;ATETERNITY’SGATE:CBS;THEHATEUGIVE:20THCENTURYFOX;LIFEITSELF:AMAZON;THEKISSINGBOOTH:NETFLIX eyes. It’s assubtleand gorgeous takesyearning shapebefore our were life’s breathitself, hisquiet inhales itsmutedperfume asifit him by thewomanheloves—and pulls outthatshawl—given to shawl inhispack. ButwhenReilly anoldpaisleyhis brothercarries get it.Healsodoesn’t getwhy (JoaquinPhoenix)doesn’t partner to gostraight.Hissiblingand gun forhirewho’s desperate western, Reilly plays acrooked In thisvigorousandinventive SistersThe Brothers JOHN C. REILLY self. of this character’s sense weak about it,orabout Yet there’s nothing airy asamuslin curtain. singing voice, clear and also hasalovely around her. Clemons conscientious glow there’s akind of as herfrustration— kindness isasevident parent: hercharacter’s talk senseinto the kid who’s forced to is marvelous asthe on her own. Clemons she yearns to break out band withhim,even as toformwants her a dad (Nick Oferman) sometime-musician a daughter whose Kiersey Clemonsplays In conlicts to explore. whole new world of kids’ besties opensa who want to betheir This era ofhipparents Hearts BeatLoud KIERSEY CLEMONS 3 4 Hearts Beat Loud, nothing short ofregal. nothing short a joy is towatch. Her mystery that’s whatmakes Colmansuch seductresses inherorbit. But manipulative asthetwocelestial ways theQueenisaswilyand as isn’t easytopindown: insome laid bare.Colman’s performance vulnerabilitiesare her innermost (Rachel Weisz andEmmaStone), ofhercourt of twomembers the cerebralandsexualcharms of state.Whenshefallsprey to rabbits thanbotherwithaffairs pet who’d rathercuddleher17 Anne asanervous, insecureruler Colman plays thereal-lifeQueen picture, BritishactorOlivia In thiswickedly audaciouslittle FavouriteThe OLIVIA COLMAN the-rainbow swagger. well ashismagniicent, beyond- Mercury’s emotionalfragilityas performance, onethatcaptures complex This isamarvelously beyond any deinedboundaries. illsthescreen luid energy stood pansexuality?—butMalek’s gay icon, orasymbolofmisunder- hea ofMercury—Is ownership So many groupsarevyingfor a biopicthanrapturousembrace. Rami Malekinamovie that’s less Even so, through hisspiritcourses therecannever beanother.cury; There was onlyoneFreddie Mer- Bohemian Rhapsody RAMI MALEK her. Hersignatureisgenuine. know it, for youfeeleverything putting Israelornot.Beforeyou care ifyoulike thetaciturn, off- less inthebestway: shedoesn’t McCarthy’s isfear- performance forgerLeeIsrael. real-life literary funny as sometimes bitterly turn Melissa McCarthy’s boldand of failure.Butthenyou’d miss ious writerperchedattheabyss see amovie aboutaneurotic, anx- You mightnot thinkyouwant to Can You Ever Forgive Me? MELISSA MCCARTHY Reilly’s brandofmagic. particular as aplumeofsmoke—and that’s 5 7 6 orfeig otg in hostage feelings your enfrGre’ thriller Garner’s Jennifer N hsmorbidmelodrama this bu uubnmom suburban a about o vna -itcast even anA-list Not anul omli and painfully formulaic iatrpcromantic misanthropic ol aeti vulgar save this could n fesv comedy offensive and coherent storytelling. narvnesreis spree revenge a on H KISSIN THE ersieadsexist and regressive enmvetae in trades movie teen et a oemnholds Fogelman Dan etmnaiyover sentimentality en evsand Keanu Reeves oeyht only comedy hits starring raunchy,starring fl H HAPPYTIME THE Winona Ryder’s randy puppets. that prioritizes The worstThe xshu ix’s DESTINATION lazily written. PEPPERMINT stereotypes. IEITSELF LIFE sour notes. MURDERS movies WEDDING g ely popul B G OO TH H a ar new angle every timeyoulook. new angleevery some Cubist paintingthatoffers fans hadnoticedbefore—like a that perhapsnoteven herbiggest revealing shadowsandcontours isadelight, performance is wonderingnow. Gaga’s amovie? Almostnobody carry the bigquestionwas: Canshe but nearly allofus coulduseone. but nearly Callahan reallyneededa Donny— the midstofaforestwildire. presence, acool streamin hair, Hill’s Donny isacalming and lowyblondCaucasian-Jesus unrecognizable withhisbeard shouldn’t beoverlooked. Nearly Donny, toCallahan, guru asort-of But JonahHill’s as performance Phoenix didn’t getenoughlove. Callahan, played by Joaquin John quadriplegic) cartoonist recovering alcoholic(and Gus Van Sant’s of portrait Get Far onFoot Don’t Worry, He Won’t JONAH HILL oft-remade was castastheleadin Remember whenLadyGaga A Star Is Born LADY GAGA as farwe’d like tothink. we haven’tone pointclear: come glance hereandthere, Alimakes with littlemorethanasidelong too warm andfunny forthat.But inthisportrait—it’sno bitterness hecalledhome.There’scountry more reasonsthanone—inthe Shirley tofendoffhostility—for anddiscretionittook fortitude gance by Ali.Alishowshowmuch played herewithsagacity andele- andShirley, Mortensen) (Viggo friendship between thatdriver uneasy chronicles theat-irst ilm open-hearted bodyguard intow. Peter Farrelly’s South, withawhitedriverand can descent, touredtheAmerican cally trainedpoppianistofJamai- In 1962, DonShirley, theclassi- Green Book MAHERSHALA ALI 10 9 8 StarIsBorn, A re Book Green and OH: TRUNK ARCHIVE; NANCE: GETTY IMAGES; AKHAVAN: HULU Real Opening New (Netflix) is an extremely (NBC) set in the snowy idyll of a bonkers crime thriller a bonkers formula, gathering mostly formula, 7 5 6 CLAWS Claws, about a Florida nail salon that was operates as a drug front, Niecy going to be fun. Yet always everyNash makes show blessed with her presence approximately Her performance 17 times better. Desna— proprietor, as the shop’s who is both an organized-crime queenpin with an all-female posse and an overcommitted businesswoman looking for THE GOOD PLACE Schur’s Mike In its irst season, sharp four deeply sitcom placed dead people (including lawed star Kristen Bell) in a cheery, nonsectarian “neighborhood” to reveal of heaven—only that their swiftly deteriorating actually community was new has the show hell. Since then, rebooted its plot often enough to surprising without viewers keep losing sight of what it really is: a series of very lessons funny and and ethics, in philosophy an inquiry into whether people can change their own lives for the better. TERRACE HOUSE: OPENING NEW DOORS Japanese reality franchise House Terrace low-drama upgrade of the World good-hearted young singles in a luxurious home and hoping hook up. Though all of its they for satisfying seasons make comfort viewing, Doors, also served up a Karuizawa, life-afirming romance between player self-effacing female hockey Tsubasa Sato and laid-back male model Shion Okamoto. In a year illed with so much heartbreaking story their a rare felt like news, beacon of hope. monologue. Cumberbatch walked monologue. Cumberbatch honoring an emotional tightrope, darkness without the character’s snufing out the embers of hope that fueled his trudge forward. (Showtime) (Starz) Hoop did for (HBO) filmmaker (Lifetime) YOU director Steve (Hulu) Atlanta OF FLYNESS mentions THE BISEXUAL RANDOM ACTS Honorable AMERICA TO ME tropes. the sitcom, using experience. dream logic to tell In 2018, TV’s most for sketch comedy James’ document of a year in the life of a what The Miseducation of friend and starts ex- Terence Nance does in America was to TV in a dry British boyfriend drama that Lifetime kills its own nuanced take on race doubles as a satire of Dreams with her longtime girl- clichés in this stalker- comedy that casts her ploring her bisexuality. nists and pop culture’s as a woman who splits stories about the black land high school. racially divided Chicago- Desiree Akhavan comes social media, male femi- Cameron Post most disturbing romance s (HBO) Atlanta’ director (FX) UnREAL Tiny Toon movie, sending each Big Little Lies 4 3 2 status as the least predictable show on television. Jean-Marc Vallée, co-creator Marti Noxon and stars Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson—to adapt Gillian Flynn’s novel about a self-destructive journalist who returns toMissouri her hometown to investigate the murders of two girls.patient enough Viewers to endure the miniseries’ languid pace were rewarded with a timely Southern Gothic meditation on misogyny, the shameful legacy of slaveryand how oppressors convince themselves they’re victims. PATRICK MELROSE PATRICK Thank the TV gods for granting long- Benedict Cumberbatch’s Patrick standing wish to play the aristocratic antihero Melrose, of ive semiautobiographical British author Edward by novels The books should have St. Aubyn. been unilmable: spanning 40 chronicled addiction, they years, abuse and deep-seated familial all iltered through dysfunction, drolly bleak internal Melrose’s character on an independent quest. The setup yielded one of the greatest episodes inhistory: TV a fun-house mirror of black excellence starring Glover as Teddy Perkins, an unhinged musician Frankensteined from elements of Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. But as astatement, complete the season found thematic unity in a fragmented story and maintained ATLANTA Season 2 of Donald Glover’s surreal dramedy borrowed its structure from—of all things—a long-forgotten Adventures SHARP OBJECTS HBO assembled a dream team— 2018 | celebrated

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BY JUDY BERMAN BY JUDY The 10 best television shows the female gaze. the female cat- form—a Though its and-mouse thriller— central its was familiar, characters felt new: a underestimated bored, British intelligence Oh) (Sandra operative and the glamorous, maybe girlish, assassin sociopathic she goes Comer) (Jodie apprehend. to rogue by As interpreted and producer writer Waller-Bridge, Phoebe were the characters multidimensional their incomplete, but obsession mutual the sense by fueled had woman each that something crucial the other lacked. Both performances, Emmy- Oh’s especially in study nominated transformation, midlife breathtaking. were largely fervent, its For the base, fan female was a gift show the goddesses. from (BBC America) Amid a year of Amid a year if belated, righteous, with women’s reckoning experiences disturbing in Hollywood, Killing Eve KILLING EVE BEST OF CULTURE BEST Sandra Oh’s role on Killing Eve earned her the first Lead Actress Emmy nomination for a woman of Asian descent

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN COIT BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

love while caring for her autistic brother—ground the soapy story lines. The second season bested the irst by using Nash’s talents to explore Desna’s vulnerability. (TNT) 2018’s TV MVPs 8 MY BRILLIANT FRIEND The 10 best Global literary sensation Elena Ferrante conquered television with comedy an Italian co-production that could bring foreign-language shows into specials the American mainstream. The irst BY ASHLEY HOFFMAN of four planned HBO miniseries PAPATRICIATRICIA CLARKSONCLARKSON based on her Neapolitan novels In 2018, the actor gave was everything the adaptation two showstopping per- 1 of a great book should be: a formances: as a crafty faithful translation of the author’s political operative on HANNAH GADSBY introspective prose into a visual House of Cards and, Nanette medium, endowing the two in Sharp Objects, an icy young, working-class heroines of Southern matriarch Ferrante’s coming-of-age tale with with a mansion full Gadsby, who grew not only physical forms but also of secrets. up gay in Tasmania, authentic internal lives. (HBO) Australia—where homosexuality 9 GREG BERLANTI God Friended Me. The was only legalized HOMECOMING Chilling Adventures of in 1997—was Homecoming felt like a conluence Sabrina. Black Light- sick of being self- of small miracles: Julia Roberts ning. This is only a par- came to TV. Mr. Robot creator tial list of solid to stellar deprecating for a Sam Esmail reined in his most new shows the prolific laugh. So she created inscrutable instincts. Bobby producer had a hand in Cannavale got a role worthy of his launching this year. a tour de force jovial yet menacing machismo. performance that A iction podcast evolved into a visually stunning Hitchcockian deconstructs all the serial. A political thriller found familiar tropes of something new to say about the military-industrial complex. stand-up comedy. It all added up to a viewing In the ashes, the experience that was uniquely—and comic bridges her bewitchingly—unsettling. (Amazon) SELENIS LEYVA history of trauma 10 The Orange Is the New to contemporary Black actor injected culture’s failure to POSE compassion into charac- address systemic TV mogul Ryan Murphy used ters like Dietland’s femi- his powers for good in 2018, nist terrorist leader and, abuse. Nanette collaborating with irst-time creator in Maniac, a corrupt ad- kickstarted a global Steven Canals on this emotional ministrator at a pharma- △ drama set in the same 1980s ceutical company. conversation, Harlem ball scene spotlighted In her acclaimed ensuring that her Netflix special in the classic documentary Paris underrepresented Is Burning. Anchored by queer MARTI NOXON Nanette, Gadsby and trans actors of color, Pose’s perspective was says the set will The longtime creator boundary-breaking cast inhabited be her retirement continued to elevate inally seen and a world shaped by poverty, racism from stand-up and the AIDS crisis as much as women’s voices, launch- heard—and when revelry, competition and homespun ing Sharp Objects and Gadsby wrenches glamour. The show’s aesthetic the less successful but captured that duality, juxtaposing more radical Dietland. out her pain on characters’ unvarnished daily stage, she reveals her struggles with stylized fairy-tale lourishes. (FX) strength, rage, and yes, winning humor. GADSBY: MOLLY MATALON—THE NEW YORK TIMES/ REDUX; CLARKSON, LEYVA: GETTY IMAGES voices. and approachable irreverent across asoneofcomedy’s most these clever visuals, shecomes dating-app dynamics.Backed by about Yelp reviewers, emojisand presentation toexecutejokes talking about, usingaPowerPoint lifefeelworth about modern makesNancherla pettygripes StandupsThe APARNA NANCHERLA 2 step aside. motherhood.Dadjokes,of early leave andthedisappointments takes onthe limits ofmaternity Her new setisilledwithsearing pregnant asshewas lasttime. she leftoff—andshe’s justas Baby Cobra, her fabulouslyraw 2016special Wong, acclaimfor whoearned Hard Knock Wife ALI WONG 3 picksuprightwhere niespecial. entire expectations—just like the It’s aclever play onaudience inal pranktobrillianteffect. when shestretchesouther That’s never moreevident than ambitions andgetsmischievous. fans, butheresheincreasesher herlegionsof already earned in 2012.Herdeadpanstylehas setback regarded asalandmark diagnosis duringwhatisnow she sharedherbreast-cancer Notaro rosetofamewhen Happy to BeHere TIG NOTARO specials. hilarious deliver oneoftheyear’s most gets intheway ofherabilityto are thestorytellers—never ensure victimsofsexualassault mission—to back. Herworthy through hellandclawed herway come fromsomeonewho’s been thatcanonly righteous fury Esposito channelsthekindof Rape Jokes CAMERON ESPOSITO most human insecurities.Using winning studyonourdarkest and Yesterday andToday,” and it’s a translates to“GreatFailures of title ofherbreakout special She shouldn’t be.TheSpanish under theradarformany viewers. This Chileancomedianmightbe de Ayer yHoy Grandes Fracasos JANI DUEÑAS special in. Butadecadeafterhislast would have continuedtotune same thingforever andpeople Chris Rockcouldhave donethe Tamborine CHRIS ROCK back toafunny zone. before hebringstheactsafely newfound vulnerability—all to derailthelaughsshowsa after divorce.Hiswillingness over confessional aboutstarting comedy titanevolves by getting 5 4 7 6 Kill theMessenger, the satisfying. he takes you, thepayoff is to acomputer—andwherever silliness ofproving you’re human long onwell-paced yarns, like the Hegoes to hisfancyfootwork. choreographed,expertly down isn’t only extremelyfunny—it’s Music Hall, todate his bestwork atRadioCity his feet.Filmed than timing, looknofurther Mulaney willgotomaster comic Saturday NightLive For proofofjusthowfarformer Radio City Kid Gorgeous at JOHN MULANEY kept itallsublimelyplayful. have gonepolemical, Kondabolu Yet wherealesservoicemight oninjustice. commentary sharp Apu, documentary Asiancommunitiesinhis South about howthecultureportrays vivid. Afterelevating adialogue Donald Trump, butfew arethis wrestled withlivingintheeraof Plenty ofcomedysetshave Warn Your Relatives HARI KONDABOLU really makes thishourresonate. about searchingforhopethat but it’s themoving way hetalks the comicabsurdityindarkness, always beenskilledatinding The TVhostandpodcasterhas tumultuous politicalclimate. about raisingchildrenina astandoutmonologue delivers series Award–winning CNN Emmy comedy, thehost of In ayearilledwithtopical Private SchoolNegro W. KAMAUBELL fearless. a setthat’s asperceptiveitis don’t knowwhich.” Theresultis aunt.Istill mother orbeadrunk two options,” shejokes. “Bea and beautystandards:“Ihave point,turning shemusesonsex asthe birthday her recent40th 10 9 8 Kondabolu goesall-inwitha United ShadesofAmerica The Problemwith writer MONAE:AUGUST;SSION,SMITH:GETTYIMAGES he Golden Cabello nails Bloom, Camila, the third album from the 7 8 9 10 cal funk and jazzy punk-pop. The band’s third album is a postmod- ern grab bag of genre innovations, cultural and political references, and even a sweet love song. downierce her own brand of independence. CAMILA Camila Cabello but the the big hit, was “Havana” rest ofsolo album debut Cabello’s is modestly subtler than that, produced yet razor-sharp in its Creatively unlocked speciicity. after her split from girl Fifth group on Harmony, BLOOM Troye Sivan Aussie singer-songwriter Sivan started out as a tweenstar YouTube and was propelled toby fame his confessional videos. On his second album, GOLDEN HOUR Kacey Musgraves “You can have your space, cow- boy,” Musgraves sings tenderly on her single “Space Cowboy.” It’s the kind of savagely cleverthat’s made line her one of country’s most acclaimed artists. Hour, Texas-raised singer, is a study in contrasts: aching love letters sit alongside up-tempo numbers like the disco-infused “High Horse.” But her songwriting is always laser-focused. A BRIEF INQUIRY INTO ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS The 1975 English pop-rock experimentalists the 1975 don’t limit themselves to one style; they prefer to testones, new like Auto-Tuned soul, tropi- emerges as a true popsensitive star, and conident. Drawing from a lush and sparklingpalette, sonic he explores coming of age and coming out, craftingjoyful a and unapologetically queer body of work. ION SS O, THE KIDS mentions JORJA SMITH ARE ALRIGHT, Honorable the sister act— CHLOE X HALLE LOST & FOUND, moody and campy. The soulful British ington explores the use on songs about vocalist, belovedvocalist, by Drake and Kendrick supple voice to good On their debut album, and on punk an eclec- Critcheloe mashes up use their skills as pre- HEAVEN ANDHEAVEN EARTH, everything from racial ’80s, funk, ’90s, dance cocious beatmakers to KAMASI WASHINGTON profiling to young love. tic album that’s equally itation dense with bold mentalist SSION’s Cody mentored by Beyoncé— make inventive alt-R&B. metaphysical on his lat- riffs and pulsing energy. Underground pop experi- ist and composer Wash- Virtuosic jazz saxophon- Lamar, puts her rich and est, a double-sided med- his sinuous Spanish Vibras, 6 5 4 HONEY Robyn Eight years becoming after a cult for dance-loor anthems favorite “Dancing on My Own,”like the pop icon deliveredSwedish a mature and experimental album that centered her hard-earned wisdom while embracing new sonic textures—and once again, listeners to dance she invites along with her. VIBRAS J Balvin biggest superstar, As Colombia’s J Balvin has carved out a space in mainstream music on his own no concessions terms; he makes instead for English speakers, serving up a colorful tour of Latin hottest musicalAmerica’s trends. On SHAWN MENDES Shawn Mendes singer-songwriter At just 20, Mendes had already risen from social-media star to platinum with his self-titled But performer. he arrived as an artistalbum, From with something to say. the urgent pop-rock hit “In My R&B strains Blood” to the sweet he balances of “Lost in Japan,” his expressive tenor against touching stripped-down beats, violence and the on anxiety, inchallenges of young love a blend of sensitive balladry and stadium-ready guitar rock. Mitski is always striving to striving Mitski is always ix and she expresses something, in bright those desires keenly “Nobody”rock songs like and the Slow Dancers.”haunting “Two No Mitski,one else sounds like but everyone can relate. raps take center stage, as stage, center raps take on the irresistible megahit “Mi Gente.” she Invasion of 2018 | delivered—not just on the

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BY RAISA BRUNER The best albums 10 Mitski imperfection: insecurity, Isolation, indie rocker on her ifth album, BE THE COWBOY Monáe dazzled with her high-concept irst two albums, performed in the character of a futuristic android. But DIRTY COMPUTER Janelle Monáe iercely political—and her best work yet. INVASION OF PRIVACY Cardi B With her irst album, BronxCardi rapper B had a lotformer to dancer prove: and the reality-TV star, whose rise to popularity was buoyed by her candid, winning social-media persona, had only one big single under her“Bodak belt: which Yellow,” topped charts in 2017. But Privacy dark, defensive rap that earned her legions of fans, but alsoirresistible with hits like the izzyIt,” “I which Like nods at her LatinCardi’s debut roots. doesn’t just earn her a seat at hip-hop’s table—it marks her as a singular voice. BEST OF CULTURE BEST on loosens up, exploring the conditions of her identity as a queer black woman. She moves nimbly from singing, in the vivid feminist statement “Pynk,” to rapping, on the iery, conident single “Django Jane.” It’s Monáe also released a nearly hour-long sci-fi companion narrative film for Dirty Computer

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN SCHOELLER On “Girlfriend,” Christine and the Queens was influenced by ’70s band Cameo and producer Jimmy Jam

PHOTOGRAPH BY RYAN PFLUGER BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

The 10 3 7 “THANK U, NEXT” “NO PLACE” best songs The 5 Ariana Grande Rüfüs Du Sol BY RAISA BRUNER worst songs Few artists have been the subject Australian electronic-music trio of as much public scrutiny this Rüfüs Du Sol became more , year as Grande—so when she than just an EDM act by turning surprise-released “thank u, trancelike instrumentation 1 next” not long after her widely into a cathartic sonic journey, covered breakup with SNL’s as on “No Place.” It has “GIRLFRIEND” (FEATURING Pete Davidson, fans might have the genre’s trademarks—a expected a diss track. Instead, soaring intro, steady beat DÂM-FUNK) “thank u, next” is a highly and big drop—but vocalist Christine and the Queens “PSYCHO,” personal song of self-love and Tyrone Lindqvist’s understated On her album Chris, POST MALONE growth that subverts all the performance is what really obvious pop scripts. It allowed makes it sparkle. French performer Neither sung nor Grande to reframe her narrative rapped so much as as an artist and a woman—and Hélöise Letissier 8 rhythmically brayed, crafted an anthem that celebrates wanted to explore this nonsensical whine- gracious independence over fest was the year’s most heartbreak. “SUCKER PUNCH” what it means to be embarrassing No. 1. Sigrid manly—“a macho man,” 4 Norway’s Sigrid has established as she put it—while herself as a master of precision “GIRLS LIKE YOU,” pop, and from its irst percussive in a female body. On MAROON 5 “YEAH RIGHT” Joji twangs, “Sucker Punch” the dazzling, funky FEATURING CARDI B is a roller coaster of small “Girlfriend,” she pulls Cardi B’s verse is the Japanese-born Joji is part of movements. In speaking directly only saving grace of this a loose collective of artists to a generation navigating the it of and then some. inexplicable hit, which expanding Asian representation pangs of casual love, she shows Flexing lyrically over sounds engineered to in music—and on “Yeah Right,” her skill as one of pop’s most a Michael Jackson– soundtrack department- a slow-burning, melancholy R&B relatable lyricists. store commercials. single, he effortlessly shows off inspired beat, Letissier his impressive range. 9 wrestles with, and ultimately rejects, “THE HARD STUFF,” 5 “IT RUNS THROUGH ME” JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE gender norms. In the (FEATURING DE LA SOUL) Timberlake’s ill-advised “SELF CARE” Tom Misch Mac Miller process, she proves foray into folk comes British artist Misch is a jazz that pop’s boundaries crashing down on this Pittsburgh rapper Miller died musician irst, and it shows can be just as luid as messy, twangy tune. from an overdose just a month in the relaxed soul of “It Runs after releasing his last album, Through Me.” As he croons over identity—if only we are Swimming. “Self Care” is a bossa nova beat, Misch riffs on bold enough to assert “LOVER, LEAVER,” the standout, a sinuous and a timeless, endlessly seductive ourselves as she does. GRETA VAN FLEET introspective track that nods at subject: the sheer joy of music. Though the band is his demons. In a year that saw Some worry jazz is dead, but basically a Led Zeppelin the passing of many beloved Misch is here to prove it’s 2 tribute act, “Lover, artists, Miller’s insight into his simply evolving. Leaver” shows none of struggles rings true. “THIS IS AMERICA” that band’s creativity. 10 Childish Gambino 6 With his musical project Childish “BOYS” Gambino, Donald Glover has “KETCHUM, ID” Lizzo boygenius the power to kick-start a news No one has more fun than cycle with a single song—and Indie rockers Julien Baker, Minneapolis rapper Lizzo, whose top the charts too. Bolstered by Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus bold, bouncy “Boys” celebrates an irresistible but layered music know it can be lonely as a solo sexuality and self-love over a video, “This Is America” turned “FALL,” EMINEM act—doubly so as young women. funky beat. Lizzo’s trademark bona ide cultural phenomenon, Together as boygenius, the is upbeat feminist anthems, and rightly so: as it swings Slim Shady’s diss track trio tap into the solidarity and and they’re needed badly right effortlessly from trap to gospel, is so tasteless that even strength of sisterhood with biting, now amid so much turmoil: her commenting on race and police his collaborator on the honest lyrics and layered hums. boundless positivity is a light in brutality, Glover proves even our song, Justin Vernon, “Ketchum, ID” is about the trials the dark. most insidiously catchy party hits disavowed it. of tour life, but it’s also an exis- can still have something to say. tential sigh among like minds. CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS: AUGUST; POST MALONE, EMINEM: GETTY IMAGES BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

speechwriter for Barack Obama, The 10 best podcasts asks why the Democratic Party fell apart and how it might re- BY ELIANA DOCKTERMAN cover. While he interviewed over Honorable 100 people for the series, his mentions most intriguing talks are with vot- ers who cast a ballot for Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2016. Their 1 4 insights, however they might frus- trate liberal listeners, elevate the SERIAL BINGE MODE: HARRY POTTER show above partisan politics. Serial became a runaway hit in If Harry Potter spin-offs like its irst season—then hit a lull Cursed Child and Fantastic 8 Beasts haven’t sated your in its second. But the true-crime SANDRA podcast’s third season is its best. longing for more stories about GETTING CURIOUS J.K. Rowling’s magical universe, Actor Alia Shawkat stars Instead of focusing on one case, Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye this exhaustively researched, in a funny, futuristic the show covers a new story at fame interviews subjects about, ridiculously fun show should do fiction podcast that the Justice Center in Cleveland well, everything. Guests run the the trick. Hosts Mallory Rubin and probes our dependence each week. The cases may seem gamut from fellow members of Jason Concepcion meticulously on technology. mundane—like a man caught Queer Eye’s Fab Five and Reese recap every single Harry Potter carrying weed—but many stories Witherspoon to psychologists and book, chapter by chapter. They end in jaw-dropping revelations, activists. Van Ness’s effusiveness highlight Rowling’s careful plotting exploring the effects of racial bias BODIES buoys the show, even extending and discuss how her themes of along the way. Host Sarah Koenig Allison Behringer to the titles of the episodes (“How tolerance and resistance feel expertly demonstrates how daily explains how doctors Can We Be Less Rude to Bees?”). more relevant than ever. miscarriages of justice amass fail to understand It’s an age-old interviewer trick into systemic problems. certain bodies— to pretend to know less than you 5 especially female actually do, but Van Ness disarms ones—by exploring 2 his guests with his genuine THE HABITAT intimate medical eagerness to learn. mysteries. SLOW BURN Whoever travels to Mars irst After re-examining Watergate in will be stuck with several other 9 Season 1, Slate writer and host astronauts for years on end—so Leon Neyfakh turns to Bill Clinton’s NASA enlisted six strangers AMERICAN FIASCO EVERYTHING IS ALIVE to live in a remote, Mars-like Men in Blazers’ Roger impeachment for Season 2. The The premise of this podcast is environment in Hawaii for a year Bennett hosts a wry recency of that history makes for admittedly weird: Ian Chillag in order to research the social documentary on the a more complex podcast: Clinton interviews inanimate objects dynamic. Podcasting company implosion of the 1998 is still alive, and today’s feminists played by improvisors. Yet the Gimlet recorded the whole thing. U.S. men’s soccer team. are still reckoning with the way the show manages to be laugh- As romances and feuds ensue, media treated Monica Lewinsky. out-loud funny, surprisingly listeners learn a lot about space The parallels between the FBI informative and often moving, travel while bearing witness to an investigations into Donald Trump THE SHADOWS like when a grain of sand explains engrossing social experiment. and Clinton prove fascinating This stunningly personal that he thinks of himself in too—especially since many of the fiction podcast from the plural—just one among same political players appear in 6 Kaitlin Prest will test many—suggesting that if humans both sagas. audiences’ comfort thought that way too, they’d be THE DREAM levels as they listen to kinder to one another. It all makes a pair of puppeteers fall 3 for a profound pleasure. The Dream investigates multilevel in and out of love. marketing companies that IN THE DARK employ strategies resembling 10 In the second season of the pyramid schemes. Host Jane Peabody-winning podcast, Marie travels back to her 30 FOR 30: BIKRAM hometown in Michigan, where the producers moved to ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast broke many women have been enlisted DAY: SHUTTERSTOCK TRAINING IMAGES; GETTY SHAWKAT: Winona, Miss., to investigate the from its tradition of tackling a to sell makeup or Tupperware case of Curtis Flowers, a black new sports story every episode for one of these morally dubious man who was tried by a white for a ive-episode arc on Bikram companies, and explores how prosecutor six times for the same THE REWATCHABLES yoga’s #MeToo scandal. Host murder. If only all true-crime shows MLMs grew into big businesses Rediscover old Julia Lowrie Henderson was a would take this boots-on-the- that ensnare millions. favorites like The devotee until Bikram Choudhury, ground approach: host Madeleine Princess Bride and the founder of the cultlike empire, Baran susses out leads at family 7 Training Day as culture was accused of sexual assault. barbecues and on witnesses’ writers discuss movies Henderson hands the microphone porches. The podcast diligently THE WILDERNESS that will never grow old. to Choudhury’s victims to share avoids sensationalism—a rarity in their experiences, setting an true crime. Instead, Baran breaks The Wilderness is the best post- mortem of the 2016 presiden- example for how to tell a story down the case against Flowers about perpetrators of abuse while quietly but thoroughly. tial election yet. Crooked Media co-founder Jon Favreau, a former honoring survivors’ pain. 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© 1986 Panda symbol WWF ® “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark Rachel Kushner’s previous novel, The Flamethrowers, was on TIME’s list of Best Fiction in 2013 PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNY HUESTON FOR TIME ADJEI-BRENYAH: LIMITLESS IMPRINT ENTERTAINMENT; MURATA: SHUTTERSTOCK new voiceiniction. cements herplaceasanessential London’s Heathrowairport—that at detained by immigrationin2008 another—about anIraqiAmerican to with whichshetiesthatstory But it’s thesubtletyandskill whom shehadareal-liferomance. reminiscent ofPhilipRoth, with writer a between ayoungeditorand section, abouttherelationship made headlinesforitsirst Halliday’s novel debut three-part Lisa Halliday ASYMMETRY prison system. realities oftheU.S. interrogating theharsh unlikely places—while in mystery andhumor backstory—infusing Romy’s of tapestry the deliciously unfolds inalist, slowly and National BookAward Kushner, atwo-time prison inCalifornia. a miserable women’s at sentences life two club. She’s alsostarting San Francisco strip a former dancera at to ayoung sonand Romy Hallisamother Rachel Kushner THE MARSROOM eeta n o r are for Celestial and Roy aremarried In Jones’novel, Atlanta couple Tayari Jones MARRIAGE AN AMERICAN BY LUCYFELDMAN iction books 10best The 3 2 1 mrc nalisracism, its inall America WM ADJEI-BRENYAH KWAME r rnwae ntales in weaves Iran ary saefo revolution- from escape oe bu woman’s abouta novel RDYBLACK, FRIDAY tr olcin Adjei- collection, story USABROURREA ALBERTO LUIS ekn ocelebrate weekend to paln aeo the on sprawling take hspwru,layered powerful, This erns n abject weirdness and aiygtesone familygathers A mlyei Tokyo a employee in lc steperfect asthe place nti ii,original vivid, this In oe olw mis- a follows novel Urrea’s bighearted, in say goodbye and ovnec store. convenience ta h nsher shefinds as fit BROKEN ANGELS, Mexican-American Murata’s affecting Brenyah presents DYBLACK IDAY STORE WOMAN, SAYAKA MURATA NEGAR DJAVADI H OS OF HOUSE THE Honorable CONVENIENCE DISORIENTAL, consumerism. mentions fherfamily. of experience. NANA NAN and power. ongender ancient perspectives plays withtheclassicstoupend alike. Miller gods andmortals as awomanthreatenedby deined insteadby herresilience to swine.Inthisbestseller, she’s name by thehero’s turning sailors heartache andredemption. heartache it, funny shespinsadarkly taleof claustrophobic apremise.From of inventing sostrangeand is theraretalentcapable award-winning 2015’s Moshfegh,reborn. authorof for ayear, hopingshe’ll emerge New York Citytohelphersleep ethics-immune psychiatristin 20semploys themost her early and deeplyunhappy—woman in A sharp, beautiful, privileged— Ottessa Moshfegh AND RELAXATION YEAROFREST MY self-discovery. offreedom and an inspiringstory In preciseprose, Edugyan crafts their commitmenttoeach other. continents, testingthestrengthof onanepicjourney across embark inds himselfindanger, thepair When amandiesandWash master, anabolitionistscientist. plantation, befriendshisnew aBarbados on slave child a Wash, Esi Edugyan WASHINGTON BLACK In the prisonofamalenarrative. sets thesorceressCircefreefrom Miller’s retellingofaGreekmyth Madeline Miller CIRCE a lawed judicialsystem. that unravel familiesentangledin waves ofinjusticeandheartbreak middle, Jonesilluminatesthe bond andafriendstuckinthe prison, awifelosinggripoftheir ofahusbandin perspectives thatshiftbetweenchapters the convicted ofaviolentcrime.In businessman, iswrongfully only ayearwhenRoy, ablack 5 4 6 The Odyssey, Circemakes her Eileen, call to preserve ourenvironment. call topreserve and, soundanurgent intertwined, the mysterious power oftrees upagainst brush other characters WarVietnam veteranandsix farmers, aieldbiologist, a descendedfromchestnut artist novel. Ayoung sweeping 12th lives introducedinPowers’ it—is whattiestogetherthe Nature—and theurgetoprotect Richard Powers THE OVERSTORY adopted state. palpable ambivalencetoward her over adecade ago, channelsher Furies, Theauthor of herself. and awriterreminiscentofGroff teacher, abetrayed husband likeof characters ahomeless a backdroptothestruggles provideand animalpredators where treacherousweather Groff’s storiesstudyFlorida, short Lauren Grof FLORIDA theday.rules where roughjusticesometimes setinanAmerica of-age story language, craftsamoving coming- Clement, amasterofigurative ofguns. and enmeshedinaworld lives, alone Pearl indsherself their a dangerousmanenters trailer park, poorbuthappy. When Pearl liveinacarnexttoFlorida Margot andherteendaughter Jennifer Clement GUN LOVE shameful history. and asubtlecondemnationof and suspensefulpage-turner There climax. which leadstoaterrifying stories togetherattheevent, author masterfullyknitstheir each withdifferentaims.The to theBigOaklandPowwow, dwelling NativeAmericanshead In Orange’s debut, 12city- iery Tommy Orange THERE 10 9 8 7 who moved toFlorida BEST OFCULTURE isatonceapoetic Fates and | 2018 In essays about art and identity, Alexander Chee finds poetry in everything from tarot to catering

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK HARTMAN FOR TIME BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

The 10 best noniction books 7 BY LUCY FELDMAN FREDERICK DOUGLASS Honorable David W. Blight mentions In his new work hailed by critics as a deinitive biography, slavery it works and what we get wrong scholar Blight employs lively 1 about it. Rovelli has crafted an and absorbing prose to capture accessible, mind-expanding read Douglass’s trajectory from BAD BLOOD that challenges our perceptions escaped slave to celebrated John Carreyrou of time, space and reality. orator and abolitionist. Drawing In 2015, Pulitzer Prize winner on newly accessible archives, Carreyrou broke the news that 5 Blight paints a remarkably robust $9 billion startup Theranos— BELONGING, picture of an American trailblazer. which promised to revolutionize HOW TO WRITE AN NORA KRUG health care with a new blood- In this evocative 8 testing method—didn’t have the AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL Alexander Chee graphic memoir, Krug technology it claimed to have. wrestles with her ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW In this Silicon Valley drama, he Chee has lived enough family’s ties to Nazi Nicole Chung opens his reporter’s notebook to Germany and the deliver a tale of corporate fraud lives to ill a bookshelf weight of that history. Chung, a Korean American and legal browbeating that reads raised in a white adoptive like a crime thriller. of memoirs. As a family in Oregon, searches for teen, he immersed THE WIZARD AND her biological parents as she prepares to become a mother 2 himself in the culture THE PROPHET, herself—all while laying bare of Chiapas, Mexico. At CHARLES C. MANN BARRACOON the pain she suffered from being the height of the AIDS Will humans exhaust different. Opening readers’ eyes Zora Neale Hurston this planet? Mann to the complexities of cross- The inal survivor of the last epidemic, he shielded explores how two cultural adoption, Chung makes a known ship to carry enslaved a bloodied friend 20th century thinkers resounding case for empathy. people from Africa to the U.S. presented conflicting during a protest. He visions—innovation was 86 when Hurston, then a 9 young anthropologist, interviewed married his boyfriend vs. conservation—of him about his enslavement and in the wake of Donald our future. NINTH STREET WOMEN eventual freedom. The resulting Mary Gabriel work, unpublished until half a Trump’s election. Along century after the beloved author’s the way he became a WHO WE ARE AND Abstract painters Lee Krasner, death, is an urgently empathetic HOW WE GOT HERE, Elaine de Kooning, Grace story of persecution and survival. singular and sincere DAVID REICH Hartigan, Joan Mitchell and writer of both iction A leading geneticist Helen Frankenthaler were women who deied the odds, upending 3 and noniction. In this provides deep, provoca- the male-dominated postwar collection of essays, he tive insights into the EDUCATED real story of humanity’s New York City art scene as they wields experience to tangled roots. rose from downtown lofts and Tara Westover eventually to the Museum of Raised in Idaho by survivalist probe the intersection Modern Art. In her vivid history, parents, Westover was taught to of life and art. Gabriel captures both the artists read but never sent to school. and the cultural battles they She irst entered a classroom fought in all their dynamic facets. at 17—then, resisting the bounds 6 of the life created for her, earned 10 a Ph.D. in history from Cambridge THESE TRUTHS University. In clear, ringing prose, Jill Lepore HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE AMITY AND RIVEROS GUILLERMO GRISWOLD: SUBIN; NINA KRUG: Westover tells a story of tested The U.S. was built upon the Steven Levitsky and family loyalties and hard-won PROSPERITY, ideals of equality, inalienable ELIZA GRISWOLD Daniel Ziblatt self-actualization. rights and the people’s authority. Lepore is as interested in Griswold offers an For decades, Harvard professors 4 those pillars as she is in the intimate account of a Levitsky and Ziblatt have studied phrase Thomas Jefferson used Pennsylvania woman’s democratic governments around THE ORDER OF TIME to describe them, which she fight to protect her fam- the globe that succumbed to Carlo Rovelli borrows for the title of this nearly ily against fracking— authoritarianism. Here they apply 1,000-page history. In it, she and the story of the that expertise to American poli- The Italian theoretical physicist explores the ways in which the poisoning of America. tics. Today, they assert, democ- behind the global best seller nation has succeeded—and racy’s death is a slow burn, and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics often failed—to uphold its it’s already under way. Thankfully, turns his attention to time: how foundational values. they also offer a way out. Billie Piper has won a host of acting awards for her performance in Yerma

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM JAMIESON BEST OF CULTURE | 2018

The 10 best 4 7 theater SPRINGSTEEN ON BECKETT Honorable ON BROADWAY Bill Irwin’s erudite evening on the For anyone who has attended Irish playwright is like the most productions mentions one of Bruce Springsteen’s entertaining college lecture you BY EBEN SHAPIRO three-hour-plus stadium shows, ever attended, delivered by a his intimate one-man show on clown. One of the many highlights Broadway is a revelation. Drawing is Irwin’s riff on the competing pronunciations of Godot. 1 heavily from his best-selling memoir, Born to Run, Springsteen OKLAHOMA! illuminates how he transforms 8 the stuff of ordinary life into art Edgy, dark and sexy aren’t the without a shred of pretension. The qualities you typically associate ANGELS IN AMERICA MLIMAMLIMA’ S TALETALE show opened in 2017 and closes Still electric after all these years. with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s on Dec. 15, when Netlix will 1943 musical about life on Two-time Pulitzer winner Andrew Garield is superb in premiere a ilmed version of the the revival of Tony Kushner’s the prairie. Yet Daniel Fish’s Lynn Nottage turns her show—so fans can see it without provocative take jolts new life journalistic eye to the sprawling political epic about the paying $800-plus per ticket for AIDS crisis—and he won a iercely into this oft-musty staple. The horrors of the global ivory front-row seats. painfully relevant production lands trade with this story of a earned Tony for his performance. at the exact right moment in a legendary bull elephant— Yet Angels is made newly relevant country where demonization of played by the remarkable 5 by a sitting President who was immigrants and outsiders is on Sahr Ngaujah. tutored early on by the real-life the rise and mass shootings are MY FAIR LADY lawyer Roy Cohn (diabolically an everyday occurrence. (Racks In this retooling of the classic played in this production by of guns ominously cover an entire play for the #MeToo era, director Nathan Lane). It’s a shattering, wall of the set.) Damon Daunno’s Bartlett Sher gives Eliza Doolittle essential show. Curly is rock-star sultry, delivering (irst Lauren Ambrose, now Laura a smoldering rendition of “The Benanti) a newfound agency, 9 Surrey With the Fringe on Top.” making her the perfect foil for Plus, chili and corn bread are hapless patriarch Henry Higgins HARRY POTTER AND served at intermission. (Harry Hadden-Paton)—and a fully formed heroine for a more THE CURSED CHILD It’s a best-selling book series, a 2 feminist moment. PALE SISTER theme park, a blockbuster movie franchise and now a Broadway THE FERRYMAN In staged readings in 6 smash. And in classic Potter Jez Butterworth is one of the most New York and the U.K., high excess, one evening proves gifted playwrights of our time: his the stellar Beckett actor YERMA insuficient to probe the psyche 2009 play Jerusalem was a marvel, Lisa Dwan collaborated Billie Piper’s blistering of the adult Harry (Jamie Parker) a singular waterfall of dialogue. with the great Colm and his troubled son Albus The Ferryman has the same intoxi- Tóibín for this fierce performance as a (Sam Clemmett). Cursed Child is cating torrent of language—it’s reimagining of Antigone. woman who goes spread out over two nights, with borderline Shakespearean. This Long live the resistance. a irst-night cliffhanger for the show has it all: meaty themes, a mad and destroys her ages. The true star of the show is irst-rate cast, biting humor, Irish perfect life because the seamless stagecraft, which jigs and a jaw-dropping ending. leaves the audience gasping she can’t get pregnant in wonder—and terror—at the 3 dazzled London, then magic of it all. rocked New York City FAIRVIEW audiences to the core. 10 Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview is theater as a punch in the Performed in a glass TWELFTH NIGHT: stomach—it’s surely one of the SUGAR IN OUR WOUNDS box at the Park Avenue SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK most intense, innovative dramas of the year. Told in three identical This heart-wrenching Armory, which has If music be the food of love, play (sort of) acts, the play subverts staging of Donja R. become a home for on. This new musical adaptation and mocks the audience’s racial Love’s slavery drama some of New York’s of Twelfth Night is sheer bliss. stereotypes as each act gets featured a magnificent A mixture of stellar pros and weirder and weirder—until white tree that dominated most challenging enthusiastic amateurs enliven audience members are called the proceedings—and theater, the harrowing the Public Theater’s Public onstage to switch places with provided more than just Works Shakespeare in the Park the mostly black cast. It’s a vital shelter for this gentle adaptation of a 1934 production, with regular folk from production that literally forces queer love story. poem by Federico all ive boroughs joining in the viewers to confront the space they celebration. Music by the splendid take up in society. It should be García Lorca leaves Shaina Taub, who is also one of the stars, makes it soar.

PIPER: THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX; NGAUJAH, DWAN, LOVE: GETTY IMAGES widely performed. audiences speechless. SkinCancer.org

Follow us on BEST OF CULTURE | 2018 %*+.&*11&218'46; %4'#6'5 The 10 best video games #&7.6218'46; BY ALEX FITZPATRICK, ELIANA DOCKTERMAN AND PATRICK LUCAS AUSTIN %4'#6'5 %*+.&*11&218'46;

also dangerous. As a takes advantage of the 1 %4'#6'5 bonus: developer Unknown motion sensors in the Worlds refreshingly kept controllers, letting players GOD OF WAR guns out of the game shake, lip and stir their Previous God of War games to make it feel like an way through seriously silly focused on Spartan turned escape from real-world contests. (Switch) deity Kratos’ brutal acts violence. (Xbox One, PC) of revenge against the gods who killed his family. 8 This more mature story 5 shows the aging demigod ASSASSIN’S as a stoic father and RED DEAD CREED ODYSSEY grieving widower. God of REDEMPTION 2 The latest in Ubisoft’s War impresses with its A prequel to 2010’s much long-running series drops game play, but players may loved original, Rockstar players in ancient Greece need a tissue or two when Games’ Red Dead during the Peloponnesian the father-son dynamics get Redemption 2 is a sprawling War. While it offers gamers more real than mythic. (PS4) tale about the decline of more plot-altering choices the lawless West. Players than ever before and 2 ill the shoes of gang (inally) gives them the member Arthur Morgan, ability to pick between SPIDER-MAN on the run after robbing genders, it largely takes an Insomniac Games an oil magnate’s train. if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-ix-it has made the best-yet The otherwise enjoyable approach to deliver a Greek- video game featuring game was marred by history geek’s dream game. Spider-Man—in fact, players reports of overworked (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) will so enjoy the simple developers. (PS4, Xbox One) act of swinging around a 9 hyperrealistic New York City 6 that they might forget about DANDARA Worldwide, millions of children ighting classic Spidey FLORENCE live in extreme poverty. At foes like Wilson Fisk and In a radical update to the ChildFund International, we Electro. (PS4) A standout in an emerging old-school 2-D platformer, genre that blurs the line Dandara players dart from are committed to breaking this between video games and point to point to help the harmful cycle. In 25 countries, 3 interactive stories, Florence titular hero (inspired by a we are fighting poverty and is a novel experience 17th century Afro-Brazilian improving the lives of 11.4 million INTO THE BREACH in which gamers solve abolitionist of the same children and their families. Our From the makers of the puzzles to help the main name) save her “world of award-winning FTL: Faster character advance her new Salt” from the mysterious programs support early childhood Than Light comes this turn- relationship. In Florence, and infectious Golden Idea. development, children’s health based strategy game set in unlike other puzzle games, The beautiful graphics and and education, and help a nightmarish future world the challenges actually get wide range of attacks make strengthen families’ economic overrun by monsters. As in easier as the game goes the steep learning curve security and self-sufficiency. chess, successful players on, a moving metaphor worthwhile. (PS4, Xbox One, must think ahead and make for the bond that grows Switch, PC, iPhone,Android) sacriices for the greater between people over time. Learn more at childfund.org good. (Switch, PC) (iPhone, Android) 10

4 7 DONUT COUNTY Among the year’s strangest SUBNAUTICA SUPER MARIO PARTY games, Donut County turns Subnautica is a sci-i Super Mario Party is a each player into a giant hole survival game in which satisfying return to form for in the ground swallowing up brains, not brawn, are key a classic franchise. This as many houses, people and to staying alive. Players time, Nintendo’s designers pets as possible. Lurking take the form of a futuristic have wisely simpliied just beneath the surface of astronaut who crash-lands Mario Party’s board-game this enjoyable oddball is a 61&#;Ō5%*+.&*11& 218'46; on a mysterious ocean elements while bolstering surprisingly poignant mes- world. While the deep the crowd-pleasing mini- sage about selishness and /756016$'%1/'61/14419Ō5 blue sea is beautiful, it’s games. This version also greed. (PS4, iPhone, PC) 10 Questions

Liane Moriarty The best-selling author of Big Little Lies on her new book, sibling rivalry and unhealthy obsession along the path to wellness

he main character in your new Two of your ive siblings are also novel, Nine Perfect Strangers, writers. Who inspired whom? My Tis a genre iction writer who sister Jaclyn Moriarty was the irst to gets little respect. Is she a mouthpiece be published. It was sibling rivalry that for you? A little bit. I didn’t want the inspired me to write my irst novel. book becoming a soapbox or preachy. But of course because this character was Does the rivalry extend to your not close to my heart, she has feelings that introducing her to Nicole Kidman would be similar to mine. [who optioned the rights to both Lies and Strangers] just in case she likes Other characters have recently IT’S ALWAYS her novels more? Yes, I keep Nicole experienced sudden windfalls. What FASCINATED‘ hidden away! No, the sibling rivalry changed for you after you became extends to family anecdotes. When we successful? The biggest change was it ME, THE THINGS read each other’s work, we say, “Oh no, enabled my husband to become a stay- PEOPLE ARE you’ve taken that family story!” We get at-home dad. It enabled me to go on PREPARED really cross with each other. book tour while he holds the fort. TO DO IN THE In some ways Nine Perfect Strangers Nine Perfect Strangers is set at NAME OF SELF- reminded me of the Stanford Prison a spa. How do you feel about the IMPROVEMENT Experiment, where “inmates” did wellness industry? I hope I satirize it ’ whatt they were told even when it in the same gentle way that I satirized seemmed inhuman. Why do we do overly involved school parents [in Big whattwe’re told?For this book, I Little Lies]—with great afection. We read about Jonestown, so I did want absolutely need those overly involved to givve that feeling of being in a cult. school parents, and I completely believee We’re all basically obedient. I think in mindfulness. But people can become that desired to be someone new is so obsessive. It’s always fascinated me, the stronng that it’s easy to believe the things people are prepared to do in the most ridiculous things. name of self-improvement. This novel explores what people I certainly hope you got to go to a thinkk about when they’re facing spa for research. Did you? I did, but I death. Do you think that relects your didn’t sufer much for my art. I did go Cathholic-school education? I don’t like for ive days without cofee or alcohol. to annalyze how much of myself goes into And it enabled me to describe the my books. The fact that little parts of drilling sensation in the center of your myseelf might ind their way into these forehead when you give up cafeine for stories—it’se mortifying, to be honest. ive days. So it was useful. I looked at But I deinitely have that Catholic

Trip Advisor for the crazier things. fef elinng of guilt; I feel guilty about my IRISHMARK CONDREN—THE INDEPENDENT/EYEVINE/REDUX sus ccess.e In the early days I used to think, Can you describe the feeling “Youu’re going to pay for this; something of watching Big Little Lies as a terribleb will happen next.” Nothing has TV series? Great interest. People said, yet. ButB if it does, I’ll think, “Well there “I hope they don’t change your book,” you ggo; you deserved it.” and I’ve always said, they can’t—nobodyy can change your experience of reading Do you get to have a little rest now my book. I watched it on my iPad and or arre you already working on an- something went wrong and I thought other book? I’m really looking forward the whole series inished two minutes to life going back to normal. I never earlier. So at irst I thought the ending knew being an author involved so much was ridiculous; it was so abrupt. makeup.e —BELINDA LUSCOMBE The food lover’s heart The book lover’s heart

The lover’s heart The pulmonary hypertension heart Pulmonary hypertension puts unbearable stress on the heart.

Often misdiagnosed - as asthma, for example - Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) can cause death from heart failure. There is no cure. But at the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, we’re giving hope to PH patients and caregivers. Learn how you can help at www.PHAssociation.org