Table of contents for March 11, 2019 in TIME Magazine

DURING 10 YEARS OF SERVICE, MICHAEL Cohen says, he threatened hundreds of people on behalf of his boss, Donald J. Trump: he strong-armed contractors, browbeat reporters and warned schools against releasing Trump’s grades. But sitting before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Feb. 27, Cohen himself became a threat as he ticked off a long list of potentially criminal acts committed by Trump and laid bare the many legal and political perils the President faces for his conduct as a businessman, candidate and Commander in Chief. It was a sordid scene. Cohen produced a check, signed by Trump, allegedly reimbursing him for the hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He claimed that Trump inflated his assets to request a bank loan and that he used money from…

THOUGH PRESIDENT TRUMP TWEETED ON Feb. 21 that he wants “5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible,” that kind of upgrade to the nation’s Internet is easier typed than done. The term 5G is simply the name given to the next generation in wireless cellular technology, which is the fifth. Like the jump from DSL to fiber Internet, the move to 5G will bring with it faster data speeds—a hundred-fold increase over today’s standards—as well as lower latency (a measure of delayed response) and increased support for even more connected devices. That means smartphone owners will be able to play games lag-free, autonomous vehicles could react instantly to changes in traffic, and smart homes could get even smarter. But, though more 5G-friendly phones…

This is due in part to Trump’s successful disinformation crusade, which has worked to raise a nearly impossible and definitely illogical bar for Mueller to clear: proving “collusion” and charging a grand criminal conspiracy involving the Trump campaign and the Russian government. But it is also due to Trump’s critics, who have responded to Trump’s “No collusion!” mantra by shouting back, “Yes, collusion!” The word collusion appears nowhere in the order authorizing Mueller’s investigation. There is not even a relevant crime called “collusion.” What Mueller is tasked with is investigating “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with” the Trump campaign. If “links and/or coordination” also don’t sound like crimes, that’s because they aren’t. While Mueller is directed to charge and prosecute crimes he discovers,…

A SENSE OF IMPENDING CLImax followed Juan Guaidó from Venezuela’s capital city to its western border on Feb. 21–22. The young opposition leader is one of two people who claim to be President of the failing petrostate. And at regular intervals on the 500-mile road trip, his caravan pushed through checkpoints manned by the army that answers to the other—Nicolás Maduro, who still clings stubbornly to the presidency after ostensibly winning re-election in a ballot widely seen as stolen. At each roadblock, the contest for control of Venezuela played out in miniature. Guaidó may be recognized as the legitimate ruler by more than 50 nations, including the U.S. But control of the government depends on those in uniform who hold guns and claim allegiance to Maduro. The challenger’s journey,…

CHEERS (1982–93) The best comedy, and maybe just flat-out the best TV show, of all time. The characters were three-dimensional, the setting perfect, the actors so real and funny, the writing so sharp, and the relationships so vivid and specific. They started with the greatest comedy cast ever assembled—and then added Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth and Kirstie Alley. THE SIMPSONS (1989–PRESENT) Genre-defining and obviously massively influential. For world-building, the only show that comes close to rivaling it is The Wire. And The Simpsons is much funnier. THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970–77) It was the first “grownup” show I thought was funny. That cast was ridiculous. Besides Mary, who set a standard for “sitcom lead” that everyone since has had to live up to, they rolled out…

RICHARD PRYOR, LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP (1982) It felt like I was definitely doing something bad or wrong: I would watch him with the TV turned down low and maybe two inches from the screen. His facial expressions and his delivery, with how high his voice would go in certain moments, would destroy me. As a child, I was like, “Oh man, I would be friends with this guy.” STEVE MARTIN, A WILD AND CRAZY GUY (1978) I always describe myself as a no-nonsense person that’s all nonsense. I feel like Martin has that, and that’s what really spoke to me about him and this special. I imagine he’s very no-nonsense—and one of the silliest, silliest people. STEVEN WRIGHT, A STEVEN WRIGHT SPECIAL (1985) I hadn’t ever seen…

THE CASE AGAINST DESSERT SEEMS OPEN AND SHUT. SUGAR has been linked to weight gain and some of the chronic diseases that go along with it, including Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Many desserts also have an abundance of saturated fats, which can harm the heart, and plenty of empty calories. But recent research suggests that having an occasional dessert may actually be a useful tool for eating more healthfully. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, more than 130 university students and staff were offered a choice of two desserts at the start of the cafeteria lunch line. When people made the decadent selection—lemon cheesecake—they chose healthier meals and consumed fewer calories overall than those who picked fresh fruit. They didn’t even have to…

WITH TIT-FOR-TAT AIRSTRIKES ACROSS a cease-fire line in late February, tensions between India and Pakistan rose to their highest point in years. The two nuclear-armed states have long clashed over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which each claims as its own. But the situation deteriorated there after a Feb. 14 bombing by a Pakistan-based militant group killed 40 Indian paramilitaries, the deadliest attack in 30 years. CONFLICTING CLAIMS India sent jets into Pakistani airspace on Feb. 26 for the first time since 1971, and bombed what it said was a training camp for the terrorist organization responsible for the Feb. 14 attack. Pakistan denied any such sites were hit. The next day, Pakistan launched strikes of its own. It said it had shot down two Indian jets that…

DAVID SEDARIS, ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY (2000) When I read this essay collection, I didn’t know that you could view what you’ve gone through via a comedic lens and then work it out on the page. The story about his brother, the rooster: I remember being slack-jawed. I didn’t know people could work through their trauma in this way. CARL HIAASEN, SKINNY DIP (2004) The closest category I could put this novel in is like a caper: It’s just chasing through Florida swamps with people trying to murder one another. There are alligators and fishermen and all these insane characters. It’s really hilarious. And I love the idea of vengeful women: it’s how I try to live my life. ALLIE BROSH, HYPERBOLE AND A HALF (2013) She writes…

SOMETIMES I WORRY WE’RE SO BUSY “believing” survivors that we’ve stopped listening to them. In the #MeToo era, reports of sexual misconduct have brought down many powerful men: Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose and Les Moonves, to name a few. But as we damn the accused, the stories of the non-famous victims of sexual assault and abuse often disappear into the shadows. It’s a relief, then, that the eloquent HBO documentary Leaving Neverland centers the plight of survivors. The two-part film, which airs March 3–4, offers damning evidence to support the long-standing accusations that Michael Jackson molested children. More remarkable is the way director Dan Reed and his courageous subjects, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, demonstrate how damaging—and complicated—the relationships between young victims and their abusers can be. As an…

MOST AMERICANS ARE NEEDLESSLY TOSSING OUT PACKaged food—not because it’s gone bad, but because they take the date stamped on it far too literally. That’s according to a recent study published in the journal Waste Management, which surveyed more than 1,000 people about the phrases and dates on food packages. Many Americans wrongly believed that food product dates—often prefaced by “best by” or “sell by”—are federally regulated and indicate the point after which the food is no longer safe to eat. (Neither is true: labeling decisions are made voluntarily by food companies and are meant to help consumers determine how fresh a food is, according to the USDA.) As a result, 84% of people throw out food when it’s close to the package date at least occasionally, the researchers…

‘I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing.’DIANNE FEINSTEIN, U.S. Senator, to a group of young climate activists who confronted her at her San Francisco office; she told them that while she wants legislation on climate change, she does not believe the Green New Deal will pass in the Senate ‘If there ever was a time to discuss “the place of women in the Armed Services,” that time has passed.’GRAY H. MILLER, federal judge, ruling that the U.S.’s all-male military draft is unconstitutional given that women already serve in combat roles $3.70 Average amount of money that the Tooth Fairy leaves kids per tooth, according to a survey of parents by Delta Dental Plans Association ‘RATIONAL PEOPLE DON’T RISK WHAT THEY HAVE AND NEED FOR WHAT THEY…

“YOU STILL HAVE TO WALK ON THE RED CARPET, even if they aren’t looking at you,” Meg Wolitzer says, swiping through photos from the Academy Awards over breakfast the Tuesday after the ceremony. Less than 48 hours earlier, the novelist had taken her seat on the second mezzanine of the Dolby Theatre, in the same section as Rami Malek’s mother, who would watch her son accept the award for Best Actor. Wolitzer was herself hoping to witness someone important to her collect a trophy: Glenn Close, the star of The Wife, the movie based on Wolitzer’s 2003 novel of the same name. Close had sailed through wins at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards and so was presumed a shoo-in to win her first Oscar after leaving six…

COMING TO AMERICA (1988) This movie continues to be a classic. Watching it as a kid, I thought all the characters that Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall played in the movie were hysterical. But even more than the comedy, I loved the scale of this film—the size of the wedding and the scope of the ceremony with the African dancers. It never feels like a small, cheap movie. BRIDESMAIDS (2011) I remember watching it in the theater and thinking, This will forever change the face of comedy. Not only was it about women, but they weren’t all gorgeous, unrelatable women. Bridesmaids set the stage for us to pitch Girls Trip because we could point to another comedy starring women that was raunchy and successful. TRADING PLACES (1983) I watch…

TWENTY-THREE YEARS AGO, LAURIE HALSE Anderson woke up to the sound of a young girl wailing. Pulling herself from bed, she rushed to check on her daughters. Both were sleeping peacefully. The cries, she realized, had come from her own nightmare—an image of a girl, broken and sobbing. She sat down to write about what she’d dreamt. Those midnight notes turned into Anderson’s first novel, Speak, a landmark work of young-adult fiction about a 14-year-old girl’s battle with depression after she is raped by an older peer. In the 20 years since Speak was published in 1999, it has sold more than 3 million copies and won multiple awards. The novel has been analyzed in classrooms and adapted into a 2004 movie starring Kristen Stewart. In that time, Anderson’s…

GETTING HEALTHY CAN BE A DAUNTING ENDEAVOR, BUT recent research suggests there may be a single best way to begin. According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, starting an exercise regimen may also inspire you to eat more healthfully. “It’s hard to start a diet. Most people feel deprived from the get-go,” says study co-author Molly Bray, chair of the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. “Instead of taking something away, you can add physical activity to your life, and the consequent changes may be significant changes in the way you eat.” For the study, researchers recruited more than 2,500 college students who said they didn’t diet and hardly exercised. The students were put on a 15-week aerobic-exercise plan that…