Table of contents for August 7, 2017 in TIME Magazine

Sweltering truck leads to 10 deaths Ten undocumented immigrants died and dozens were severely injured after being smuggled into the U.S. and put inside the back of a tractor-trailer, which was discovered stopped by a Texas Walmart. The driver was arrested and charged with human trafficking. Sri Lanka faces dengue crisis The unprecedented outbreak has resulted in more than 100,000 cases and claimed nearly 300 lives this year so far. Aid groups say the epidemic is overwhelming the island’s health system. Men’s sperm counts dropping in West Sperm counts among men in Western countries, including North America, Australia and Europe, have declined more than 50% in less than 40 years, according to a recent study. The factors driving the decline are unclear. China bars Bieber performances The Beijing municipal bureau…

MONEY A bizarre video of drivers abandoning their cars in Kuwait City in order to grab paper money falling from the sky went viral in 2015. Officials had no explanation for the windfall. APPLES Rush-hour motorists were alarmed when it began raining apples over a main road in Coventry, England, in 2011. The freak downpour was thought to be caused by a wind vortex over a nearby orchard. WORMS In 2007, a woman in Louisiana was crossing the street when large, tangled clumps of worms began dropping from above. The worms may have been propelled into the air by a waterspout.…

THESE DAYS, IT’S COMMON FOR MAJOR public companies to market themselves using words like sustainability and mission-driven. But University of Baltimore history professor Joshua Clark Davis argues this kind of branding derives from big corporations’ antithesis: small businesses, especially those born during the socialjustice movements of the 1960s. In his new book, From Head Shops to Whole Foods, Davis profiles several of these entrepreneurial ventures, such as the black-owned Drum and Spear Bookstore and the feminist Diana Press, and explains how they pioneered what he calls “activist entrepreneurship” by selling progressive products, using storefronts as political spaces, sharing ownership, limiting growth and de-prioritizing profit. Although many of these businesses have since closed, their language legacy lives on, albeit in ways that would likely make their founders cringe.…

1 HAPPINESS DEFINITELY IMPROVES HEALTH A review in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being that analyzed more than 150 studies found that high subjective wellbeing— a rating people give their own lives— can positively affect everything from the cardiovascular system to immunity. 2 ONE IN THREE CASES OF DEMENTIA COULD BE PREVENTED A report in The Lancet found that practicing healthier habits in nine ways, such as avoiding smoking and keeping blood pressure reasonable, could prevent brain decline in one-third of all dementia patients. 3 BELIEVING YOU’RE NOT ACTIVE COULD DIMINISH EXERCISE BENEFITS A study in Health Psychology analyzing data from over 60,000 adults controlled for activity level and found that people who believed they were less active than others were 71% more likely to die during the study’s follow-up period…

A Armed Venezuelan police stormed Thamara Candelo’s apartment complex at dawn on June 30, 2016. It was two weeks after her wedding day, and Candelo’s American husband, Joshua Holt, was lying in their bed in Caracas. One officer demanded to see his visa. Others ransacked the rooms, took Holt’s phone and finally ordered him to get into a pickup truck. For the next five hours, his gun-toting captors mocked and hit him. Then they took him to the Helicoide, a prison home to the Venezuelan intelligence police. He has not been allowed out since. Holt, 25, sent this account of his capture in a letter last August to his parents, who live south of Salt Lake City in his childhood home. It was only the beginning of an ordeal his…

EXERCISE One of the most-studied natural approaches to treating depression, regular physical activity may lift mood in part by increasing certain neurotransmitters. Of course, embracing an exercise habit isn’t easy for most people—especially those with depression. “In my experience, the last thing depressed people want to do is move,” says Dr. Andrew Weil, founder of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. “But it has a striking effect.” Plus, it’s free. COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPYCBT, a type of talk therapy, focuses on changing negative thought patterns, and then learning how to home in on specific problems and find new ways to approach them. It typically lasts for 10 to 20 sessions. Some studies have shown it to be as effective as medication. BEHAVIORAL-ACTIVATION THERAPYPeople with depression often withdraw from the world,…

SOME DAYS IT SEEMS THAT half the universe’s population is made up of young men clinging to their childhood. But Brigsby Bear, Dave McCary’s debut feature, puts an unexpected and touching spin on guy nostalgia. Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney stars as James, a drifty, sincere naïf who discovers, in his mid-20s, that the survivalist loonies who raised him in seclusion (Mark Hamill and Jane Adams) aren’t his real parents. Worse yet, he learns that the space-adventure TV series he’s been obsessed with since childhood—with a Teddy Ruxpin–style hero named Brigsby Bear—isn’t even a real show but a hoax created by his captor dad. Written by Mooney and Kevin Costello, Brigsby Bear is a sweet-natured picture with an undercurrent of prickly energy. As James, Mooney is wide-eyed enough without ever…

7,500,000,000 Approximate number of minutes Americans spent watching Netflix on their phones in June 2017, up 73% from the same time in 2014, per ComScore ‘LET’S MEET FACE TO FACE AND YOU TELL ME I’M NOT WORTHY.’ KRISTIN BECK, a veteran of the elite SEAL Team 6 unit, who came out publicly as transgender two years after retiring from the Navy in 2011, addressing President Trump after he tweeted on July 26 that transgender people will be barred from serving in the military, reversing a 2016 change in policy; Beck was a SEAL for 20 years and received both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart Bang CBS show The Big Bang Theory inspired researchers to discover a new chemical compound GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK Flash Adobe announced that it…

Study strengthens link between football and brain damage Of 111 deceased NFL players studied, 110 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder associated with repeated head trauma. Researchers found that the severity of the CTE symptoms appeared to progress the more a person played the sport. Pakistan suicide bomber kills at least 26 The blast in Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, also wounded 54 people, including many police officers. The outlawed militant group Tehrike- Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility. Macron’s popularity drops in France The French President’s approval rating fell by 10% in July, just three months after he swept into power on a tide of antipathy toward mainstream parties. An IFOP poll found that 54% of people in France were satisfied with Macron in July, compared with 64% in…

ON AN AVERAGE SUMMER DAY IN PARIS, ABOUT 50,000 tourists pass through Notre Dame cathedral, one of the finest buildings of the medieval era still standing. Visitors from dozens of countries gaze up at the spectacular stainedglass windows, tiptoe through its vast choir and nave and whisper in awe at the centuries-old sculptures and paintings that line the walls. Notre Dame, which looms over the capital from an island in the center of the city, is a constant reminder of Paris’ history. It has seen more than its share of epic dramas, including the French Revolution and two world wars. But now there is another challenge. Some 854 years after construction began, one of Europe’s most visited sites, with about 12 million tourists a year, is in dire need of…

ANDREW BRUNSON The North Carolina pastor was detained last October in Turkey, where he has lived for more than two decades. Turkish authorities accused Brunson of belonging to a group the government considers to be a terrorist organization. In May, Trump personally asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to free Brunson. He is still being held. ROBERT LEVINSON The former FBI agent disappeared after traveling to the Iranian island of Kish in 2007. Since then, his whereabouts have been largely unknown. In July, the Trump Administration demanded his release, along with the return of other Americans imprisoned in Iran. AUSTIN TICE A freelance journalist, Tice was kidnapped in 2012 while reporting in Syria. The Trump Administration set up a secret CIA back channel with Syrian officials earlier this year in…

EARLY IN ATOMIC BLONDE, CHARLIZE Theron slowly stands up from an ice bath. Her back emerges, sinewy and covered in myriad dark purple bruises. When she looks in the mirror, a badly blackened eye stares back. This is not a woman to be crossed. Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent sent on a treacherous mission to Berlin in 1989, five days before theWall falls. The movie is a neon spree though underground parties and glittering speakeasies backed by thumping ’80s pop music. Lorraine, based on a character from the graphic novel The Coldest City, isn’t like most female heroes: she’s not a grieving widow, she’s not a protective mother, and she definitely doesn’t have daddy issues. “Writers are always giving women dead husbands or kids to make you emotionally…

Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s Adult Swim comedy follows the adventures of hapless teen Morty and his evil-genius grandfather Rick. The show, which returns for a third season July 30, is jammed with nods to everything from bad ’80s movies to classic literature. SEASON 1 SEASON 2 THE FREQUENT Stephen King’s work is probably the most often referenced, cutting across horror, sci-fi and fantasy THE OBVIOUS A lot of episode titles provide a rough story framework, even if they end up being loose homage THE RANDOM The show’s creators look far and wide for laughs, like this episode title that partially plays off the goofy rom com…

TIME’S WEEKLY TAKE ON WHAT POPPED IN CULTURE SPECIAL COMIC-CON EDITION Of watching Star Wars for the first time, actor Will Smith said: “There was nothing that I had experienced in my life that matched that point of ecstasy. I had sex a few years later. It was close, but no Star Wars.” The new Black Panther trailer got a standing ovation. Lupita Nyong’o stood out as a spy dispensing justice to a Kendrick Lamar soundtrack. Not to be outdone by her male co-stars taking shots at the Kingsman: The Golden Circle panel, Halle Berry chugged an entire glass of whiskey. ‘You bet your ass.’ HARRISON FORD, responding to a fan who asked at the Blade Runner 2049 panel whether the actor plans to reboot every franchise he’s ever starred…

POLAND’S PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA vetoed a bid on July 24 by the ruling Law and Justice Party that would have crippled rule of law in that country by stripping its highest court of its independence. He may well have been motivated by the huge protests across Poland on this attack on judicial independence. But the ruling party and its chairman, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, will surely try to find new ways to ensure that judges do what the government wants them to do. These events are part of a broader trend against liberal democracy that is playing out in all four of the so-called Visegrad countries— Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For example, governments in these countries have publicly pledged to ignore an E.U. quota system on acceptance of refugees.…

MELTDOWNS IN MAJOR TOURNA ments have a way of wrecking golfers. Jordan Spieth was hailed as the game’s next great after winning the 2015 Masters and U.S. Open at the age of 21. Spieth was poised to add a second straight green jacket the next year until he lost it on the 12th hole at Augusta, hitting a quadruple bogey that cost him the win. Spieth was headed for a similar fate in the final round of the British Open on July 23, after he sliced a catastrophic tee shot on 13. Fellow American Matt Kuchar, with whom he had been dueling all day, seemed sure to capitalize. But then Spieth found a resolve that had eluded him at the Masters, somehow saving bogey and then reeling off an onslaught…

Dating app Hater— known for matching people based on mutual dislikes— recently released a map highlighting which of its “topics” users hate most in each state. Here, a sampling of the results: CALIFORNIA Fidget spinners HAWAII Taking videos at concerts IDAHO Asking for directions IOWA Long hair on guys ILLINOIS Biting into string cheese MISSOURI People who believe in aliens NEW MEXICO Polo shirts NEW YORK Times Square PENNSYLVANIA People who use money clips TEXAS Sleeping with the window open VIRGINIA Dabbing pizza grease with a napkin WASHINGTON Keurig K-Cups…

CLIMATE CHANGE CAN SEEM LIKE AN intractably divisive issue in U.S. politics. But that polarization is a surprisingly recent phenomenon, and it didn’t develop all at once. As new evidence emerged in the 1980s that humans were heating the planet, those on both sides of the aisle expressed concern. In 1988, Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush even called for integrating “environmental considerations into all policy decisions.” As President, he pushed to launch the U.N. body that would lead to global deals on climate, including the Paris Agreement. At the same time, those whose bottom lines would be affected by emissions limits mobilized to try to discredit the science. (Perhaps the best-known example was Exxon Mobil’s funding of think tanks that boosted contrarian views on climate change.) That research was…

VLADIMIR PUTIN IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN INTER national relations. He constantly scans the horizon for opportunities to inflict damage on his biggest strategic target: the transatlantic alliance. He calculates that anything he does to damage it increases Russian influence and opportunity in the region. It’s working. As both Congress and the White House wrestle with the U.S.Russia relationship, we should spare a moment to consider how it all looks from overseas, where our credibility as a global force for good is deteriorating by the moment. Despite President Trump’s recent feelgood visit to Paris, the level of angst in European capitals over the U.S.Administration is shockingly high. The recent G20 summit further exacerbated concerns—especially Trump’s twohour meeting there with Putin, made at the expense of time with allies, partners and…

But they never worked for everyone. Now, some doctors and patients are putting their faith in a club drug E EVERY WEEK, WHENIANHANLEY SITS DOWN WITH his therapist, he goes through a list of depression treatments he’s been researching online. The bestknown treatments at the top of the list—half a dozen antidepressants and known combinations of those drugs—are all crossed out. “My therapist says he’s never had this much difficulty with somebody,” says Hanley, “which is sort of a dubious honor.” Hanley is only 21 years old, but he’s already six years into his search for something, anything, that can help him feel better for more than a few weeks at a time. “I’ve heard people describe it as sadness, and that’s not specific enough,” he says. Numbness is closer,…

TYLER, THE CREATOR’S career has been defined by immaturity. The Odd Future ringleader’s many talents— his ear for production, his gravel-studded growl, his cross-disciplinary aesthetic—have often been overshadowed by his penchant for lurid imagery and homophobic slurs. He’s not a malicious figure but a whip-smart provocateur, one who’s leaned on shock value and a network of devoted fans to become one of hip-hop’s most prominent polymaths. And while peers like Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt and Syd have released assured solo albums in recent years, Tyler has stagnated in the studio. His music was marred by stale transgressiveness and a lack of discipline. Flower Boy, his fourth studio album, is a welcome surprise: a focused, sentimental statement of purpose. Vulnerability has always been a fundamental part of Tyler’s music, but it’s…

MY YOUNGEST SON, WHO IS 10, HAS LONG HAD AN OBSESSION that crops up whenever we get in the car. As he climbs into the back seat he will peer over my shoulder at the dashboard and, depending on his mood, may ask the question we both know he is thinking: “Are we going to run out of gas?” My youngest sister—his aunt—is a therapist and the wise woman who taught me the possible-probable trick. And so I say to my son: “Is it possible for our Subaru to run out of gas when it has half a tank and we are only driving two miles to Costco and back? Perhaps. But it is definitely not probable.” Possible vs. probable. When applied in the right circumstance, it almost always gives…

You mostly cannot express your thoughts through speaking, but you’ve published more than 20 books. How does your writing process work? My basic methods of communication are my letter board and computer. The letterboard method involves a card with the alphabet arranged in the QWERTY format. I point to individual letters and “voice” the letters as I touch them. I can also type on a computer keyboard, but I get stuck on or obsessed about certain letters. Or sometimes I’ll type a word over and over. I can’t converse well, but this doesn’t mean I don’t think. It’s just that when I try to speak, the words that come to mind disappear. I wonder if this isn’t similar to the sensation we all have of forgetting something? Even if a…