Table of contents for April 27, 2020 in TIME Magazine

NOT LONG AGO, I ASKED A TIME 100 honoree if he had enjoyed the TIME 100 gala. Jennifer Lopez had performed, and members of Congress mingled with Oscar winners, astronauts with activists, CEOs with artists. “I had a great time,” he said. “But you have all these influential people. That’s an extraordinary opportunity. What are you going to do with it?” The answer to that question became one of the most important initiatives we’ve launched over the past year, expanding the TIME 100 franchise from an annual list of the world’s most influential people into a global leadership community. We reached out to hundreds of TIME 100 alumni from across the years and around the world, inviting them to find ways to collaborate. Last fall, for the first-ever TIME 100…

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE U.S. ARE under shelter-in-place orders requiring them to stay home when possible, but a growing number don’t have that luxury. Their landlords are kicking them out for not paying the rent, despite moratoriums on evictions in dozens of cities and states. Robert Stephenson’s lawyer says an illegal eviction put the 49-year-old diabetic veteran on the street. When COVID-19 hit, Stephenson had been living for four months in a New Orleans guesthouse with his girlfriend, Jade Gribanov, who is known locally as Jade the Tarot Reader from Jackson Square. Gribanov’s income disappeared as tourism stopped, and Stephenson was still in the process of applying for disability benefits. When the couple’s savings ran out, the guesthouse told them to leave, despite the city’s suspension on evictions. They…

WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE U.S. under stay-at-home orders, the ensuing surge in online purchases might seem like good news for the U.S. Postal Service. But the independent federal agency, like so many businesses, has in fact been rapidly losing money since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Postal Service leaders warn that revenue losses this fiscal year could reach $13 billion and are appealing to the government to keep the operation afloat. “As Americans are urged to stay home, the importance of the mail will only grow,” Megan Brennan, the Postmaster General and CEO of the USPS, cautioned in an April 10 statement. “As Congress and the Administration take steps to support businesses and industries around the country, it is imperative that they also take action to…

DIED Stephen Gregory One of the overlooked STEPHEN GREGORY WAS BREATHING O.K. around 8 a.m. on April 9. A few days earlier, he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He asked a nurse for water that morning; though he’d had an up-and-down fever, Stephen, my father’s brother—my uncle—hadn’t been displaying any great respiratory distress. We thought he’d pull through. But this disease, my family learned firsthand, ravages quickly. At some point that afternoon, his breathing stopped. Stephen Gregory—whose lanky moves propelled him to Best Dancer honors at the Park Gardens Rehabilitation and Nursing Center annual Academy Awards ceremony—was pronounced dead, after complications from COVID-19. He was 68. COVID-19 has stolen an all-too-broad swath of humanity. We’ve lost beloved public figures and educators. Heroic health care workers, many of whom…

IF THERE’S A UNIVERSAL through line in every conversation I am having with parents of school-age kids right now, it is this: “I miss my children’s teachers so much. When do we get to see them again?” When I was in college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. A lot of people in my family suggested that I become a teacher. I heard it a lot: “Why don’t you use all of that performance you want to do and translate it into the classroom?” But I thought I’d be the worst teacher in the world. Teaching is a calling. It’s not something you just pick up because your original dream didn’t work out. You become a teacher because you want to be an educator…

DURING THE FIRST MONTHS of this year, we have seen once again how fragile is our global world, how great the danger of sliding into chaos. The COVID-19 pandemic is facing all countries with a common threat, and no country can cope with it alone. The immediate challenge today is to defeat this new, vicious enemy. But even today, we need to start thinking about life after it retreats. Many are now saying the world will never be the same. But what will it be like? That depends on what lessons will be learned. I recall how in the mid-1980s, we addressed the nuclear threat. The breakthrough came when we understood that it is our common enemy, a threat to all of us. The leaders of the Soviet Union…

In her 2019 memoir, Know My Name, Miller described the experience of being sexually assaulted on the Stanford University campus in 2015, but also delved into her identity as a Chinese American and as an artist. Like many Asian Americans, Miller has felt the threat of racism that has surged since the coronavirus outbreak began. RECOMMENDATIONS Massimo Bottura Our dear friend from Naples, Giovanni Assante, a.k.a. the man behind Gerardo di Nola pasta, has been sending us little poems every day since stay-home was enforced in Italy in early March. These kernels of insight and mindfulness are keeping us afloat. Here is one of our favorites: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”—Leonard Cohen Bottura is a chef Bobi Wine Leadership: In Turbulent Times by…

1.HASAN MINHAJ COMEDIAN ‘Bribery is amazing with children. I use quid pro quos all the time with my 2-year-old. It’s the only way I can get her to change, sleep or eat dinner. I’m not even ashamed of it.’ 2. JOHN KRASINSKI ACTOR AND DIRECTOR ‘Shower the dog at the same time you shower the kids. Three birds, one stone!’ 3. HOPE JAHREN SCIENTIST AND WRITER ‘Kids can’t break dirt. My son and I have started a garden—right now it’s just seedlings from seeds on the windowsill—and we’re up past 60 plants now that we’ll plant as soon as the ground thaws. We’re both learning something we can apply next year.’ 4. RAJ PANJABI CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF LAST MILE HEALTH ‘ENSURING OUR CHILDREN GET EXERCISE IN BETWEEN HOMESCHOOLING IS IMPORTANT—NOT…

A FEW MONTHS IN, IT IS STILL HARD TO GRASP THE scale and scope of COVID-19’s global impact. A third of the world population is estimated to be under some sort of lockdown. Nearly 200 countries are affected, and the numbers of new cases and deaths in many places are still growing exponentially. All the while, a second crisis, in the form of an economic recession, is under way. We all want to leave this crisis behind as soon as possible. But eager as we are to restart social and economic life, to do so, we must put prime focus on public health. Government and business collaborating is our best chance. While governments and companies that have “bent the curve” can cautiously start initiatives to get parts of social…

TAIWAN IS AN ISLAND OF RESILIENCE. CENturies of hardship have compelled our society to cope, adapt, and survive trying circumstances. We have found ways to persevere through difficult times together as a nation, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Despite the virus’s highly infectious nature and our proximity to its source, we have prevented a major outbreak. As of April 14, we have had fewer than 400 confirmed cases. This success is no coincidence. A combination of efforts by medical professionals, government, private sector and society at large have armored our country’s defenses. The painful lessons of the 2003 SARS outbreak, which left Taiwan scarred with the loss of dozens of lives, put our government and people on high alert early on. Last December, when indications of a contagious…

How do we stay present when our visions of the future keep changing? It’s a question on everyone’s minds—including publishers, who have moved to postpone many spring releases. It also drives many books still set to arrive late this month. From debut novelists to seasoned storytellers, these writers show us how to brace for unanticipated hardship, whatever that might look like. In doing so, they offer a welcome sense of relief—immersing us in the drama of someone else’s narrative. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Cho Nam-Joo Since it was published in Korean in 2016, Cho’s debut novel has sold more than 1 million copies and been hailed as helping to launch “Korea’s new feminist movement.” Now, an English-language translation will introduce the titular character of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 to…

WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT … HEROES OF THE FRONT LINES Readers hailed the April 20 cover package about the health care workers, essential employees and others on the front lines of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Patricia McFeaters of Oceanside, Calif., wrote that she was “moved and touched” by the stories of “heroes who are risking their lives to help us in this crisis.” Suzzane Mansager of Salinas, Calif., was moved to tears of “gratitude” reading the special report. Many who are themselves essential workers were thrilled to see their efforts appreciated. Duke anesthesiologist Paul Wischmeyer shared one of the issue’s five covers—the one featuring Italian anesthesiologist Francesco Menchise—and tweeted that it was “great to see our often ‘unrecognized’ specialty get recognized.” Miguel Villarreal, a school food-service director…

SOUTH KOREA’S ELECTIONS ON APRIL 15 marked the first nationwide vote in a country with a major coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began. South Korea has more than 10,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases, but officials have flattened the curve through aggressive contact tracing, prolific testing and travel restrictions. To protect people heading to the polls, the government enacted a similarly rigorous plan. If it works, South Korea may offer other countries, including the U.S., a model to follow. PROTECTING VOTERS Across South Korea, polling stations were disinfected regularly, wearing a mask was mandatory, and voters were given hand sanitizer and plastic gloves. People waiting in line were asked to stand at least 3 ft. apart. Those with COVID-19 could send in ballots by mail or vote early at special polling…

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS I learned from fighting the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is that you have to prepare before an epidemic has reached your doorstep. You have less to lose if you make adequate preparations and don’t get hit than by waiting for the disease. By then you could be overwhelmed and not able to contain it. Early preparation is key. In the current pandemic, things are getting scarier every day in Liberia. We have limited capacity in many areas, ranging from human resources to equipment. Because many facilities are not prepared to handle cases of severe respiratory symptoms relating to COVID-19, they have begun to turn away patients, which may worsen the health burden in Liberia. So far, all our patients are responding to treatment, so…

1. MARTHA STEWART FOUNDER OF MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA ‘My flocks of chickens provide me with dozens of eggs each day, and I am so grateful to them. Steamed soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, frittatas for lunch, soufflés for dinner—the options go on and on.’ 2. MASSIMO BOTTURA CHEF ‘Passatelli in brodo. It is the ultimate Sunday-night comfort food: a hearty and satisfying meal out of almost nothing, just a dough of bread crumbs, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, eggs, a pinch of grated nutmeg and simmered in broth. Buon appetito!’ 3. LIL NAS X MUSICIAN ‘HONESTLY, PANCAKES AND EGGS WITH CHEESE. A CLASSIC SLAP OF A MEAL.’ 4. SCOTT KELLY ASTRONAUT ‘Whiskey. For obvious reasons. I jest. Sort of.’ 5. ELISE STEFANIK U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (R., N.Y.) ‘The simplicity of salsa and…

SOMETIMES FRIENDS ASK ME TO HELP with some problem in the world, using some “magical powers.” I always tell them that the Dalai Lama has no magical powers. If I did, I would not feel pain in my legs or a sore throat. We are all the same as human beings, and we experience the same fears, the same hopes, the same uncertainties. From the Buddhist perspective, every sentient being is acquainted with suffering and the truths of sickness, old age and death. But as human beings, we have the capacity to use our minds to conquer anger and panic and greed. In recent years I have been stressing “emotional disarmament”: to try to see things realistically and clearly, without the confusion of fear or rage. If a problem…

OVER THE PAST YEAR, THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT has drawn unprecedented interest because of climate change itself. We’ve seen record-breaking fires and floods, from California to Siberia. Now we are faced with another crisis, but we cannot let the COVID-19 pandemic destroy this momentum or let the economic fallout push climate down the list of priorities for governments. Surely if we think we can forget the changing climate, nature will continue to remind us. Even as we rise to the urgency of the pandemic, this situation is providing valuable lessons that will help us address the crisis of climate change, worse by orders of magnitude and looming on the horizon. A few immediate lessons are already evident. First, we can see now that global challenges have no national borders. They…

DO YOU THINK YOU REMEMBER A MOVIE IN WHICH a knight gallops toward a castle just as its drawbridge is going up, and his white horse jumps the moat in one glorious airborne leap? I could picture it too, but when I went looking for this image on the Internet, all I could find was a couple of cars sailing over rivers via lift bridges and the Pink Panther detective flailing around in the murky water, having missed. Nonetheless, we’re that rider. Chasing us is the dreaded coronavirus. We’re in midair, hoping we make it to the other side, where life will have returned to what we think of as normal. So what should we do while we’re up there, between now and then? WHAT MADE YOUR LIFE WORTH…

IN RECENT WEEKS, GOVERNMENTS and citizens alike have turned to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, for help with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, edited excerpts from TIME’s conversation with CEO Sundar Pichai about how he’s navigating this new landscape. You’ve talked, as many innovators have, about crises being spurs to innovation. What does that look like right now? Google was founded right before the dotcom crash and built in a moment of severe, I would say, scarcity. That inspired us to solve problems with constraints. And be it distance learning, delivery—I think this moment will make people think creatively and think ahead. It also seems as though there has been increasing collaboration between Alphabet and other tech companies, which might be competitors under different circumstances. Absolutely. When I…

MARCH 6. THAT’S WHEN IT ALL BECAME very real. I had just played my first basketball game in months the night before, and conversations were swirling about what this virus might mean for the league. That night, I started to feel sick. The fever set in. First at 100. Then 101. My first thought was, “What are the chances? Could this really happen?” After months of waiting to get back on the court following a broken hand and two surgeries, I just wanted to play. But the threat of this mystery virus locked me in my bedroom to protect everyone I cared about: wife, kids, teammates, fans. I was the first NBA player tested for COVID-19. Thankfully, my test came back negative. But that experience hit me, and it…

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS A STARK reminder of just how interconnected the world is. The disease has cut a broad swath across the globe, from Europe to Asia, to North and South America, and to Africa. Infections continue to rise in developed and developing countries, rendering distinctions of wealth, poverty, nationality, race and class meaningless. At the time of this writing, there have been more than 10,000 confirmed cases in nearly all African countries. While this is low compared with other regions, unless something is done now, this figure will rise exponentially in the coming weeks and months. With its weak health systems, widespread poverty, poor sanitation and urban population density, Africa is particularly vulnerable. THIS PANDEMIC COULD SERIOUSLY SET BACK EFFORTS TO ERADICATE POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT This…

‘Leaders have to fully educate themselves on the facts surrounding every aspect of the crisis. Do not downplay the facts. Do not over-sensationalize them.’INDRA NOOYIDIRECTOR ON AMAZON’S BOARD AND FORMER CEO OF PEPSI ‘Communicate, communicate, communicate with clarity and conviction. And sometimes you have to break glass to move the bureaucracy and status quo, and demand answers.’ELISE STEFANIK U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (R., N.Y.) ‘Remember the words of John Wooden: Focus on what you can control, and do it to the best of your ability.’TOM STEYER PHILANTHROPIST AND FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ‘Keep calm, vigilant and logical.’BOBI WINE UGANDAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND POP STAR ‘It’s important to remember that everyone has something they are dealing with, whether they are sharing it or not. It helps to be understanding and accommodating.’MARISSA MAYER LUMI…

‘OUR COUNTRY’S FUTURE HANGS ON THIS ELECTION.’BARACK OBAMA, former U.S. President, endorsing his Vice President, Joe Biden, for the presidency in 2020, in a video released on April 14—a day after Biden was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, his former rival for the Democratic nomination ‘The crisis we are facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to so many people.’POPE FRANCIS, in his April 12 Easter Mass, in which he spoke of spreading a “contagion of hope” 69% Increase in volume of Sprint MMS messaging over the month ending April 9, the company said, amid a broad increase in network traffic attributed to stay-at-home orders ‘How you treat our citizens is more important to us than even how you treat the ambassador.’FEMI GBAJABIAMILA, Speaker of…

Chernobyl narrowly avoids fires Ukrainian authorities said April 14 that rainfall had helped 400 firefighters control wildfires that spread to the exclusion zone around Chernobyl, site of history’s worst nuclear disaster. The flames came within a few miles of the defunct nuclear reactor and a radioactive-waste-storage facility. Biden allegations in spotlight Tara Reade, a former Senate aide to Joe Biden, filed a police report on April 9 alleging she was sexually assaulted in 1993. In subsequently published pieces in the New York Times and Washington Post, Reade said it was about the former Vice President. He denies the allegation. COVID-19 hits crisis-stricken Yemen Yemen, which is suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis amid a five-year civil war, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on April 10, a day after…

I HAVE KNOWN MARIANE PEARL FOR 15 YEARS, as a friend, mother, journalist, champion of the voices of women and an unconquerable spirit. We came together over a shared concern for displaced people, and in 2007, I had the privilege of being involved in a film telling her story. Eighteen years after her beloved husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, was murdered at the hands of terrorists in Pakistan, I spoke to her about overcoming trauma, raising a child in the wake of a tragedy and her perspective on the current moment. I rang you as soon as I heard the news that a court in Pakistan had overturned the convictions of the four men accused of killing Danny, finding them guilty of kidnapping but not murder. The men…

IF YOU’RE ONE OF THE MANY PEOPLE worldwide who are now practicing social distancing by spending all day, every day, at home, you might be noticing all the clutter you’d been ignoring. In her new book, Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life, tidying expert Marie Kondo offers her best strategies for creating a productive workspace. She spoke to TIME about pivoting that advice to make your home into a space that sparks both joy and productivity. What’s the best way to make our living spaces more livable? In addition to selecting things that you want to keep—things that spark joy—and letting go of things that don’t, consider how you’re storing the items that spark joy for you. I do realize that we’re not able to go donate anything right…

HOW WE TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER WILL BE WHAT we remember from the coronavirus pandemic. The neighbor who checks in on the older person living alone in her building. The way my stepdaughter’s school community has banded together to support one another through homeschooling. Every night here in Chicago, the city gives thanks to the health care workers by applauding them from our windows at 8 p.m.—an anthem of gratitude for those who take care of us. Domestic workers have not received such applause, despite being on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus. They are the nannies caring for children so that their parents can go to work in medical centers, they are home-care workers keeping loved ones who are elderly comfortable and safe in their…

DAN BARBER, THE VANGUARD CHEF BEHIND Blue Hill at Stone Barns, earned two Michelin stars as he championed the farm-to-table movement in New York State. But the pandemic has hit the restaurant industry hard, and even as they respond to today’s emergency, insiders are planning for the next one. That means rethinking everything. When did you know the coronavirus would have a huge impact on the food world? It went in concentric circles. [My restaurants] closed, and my first understanding is the employees were going to be really hurt. Just as quickly comes the understanding of what this does to the entire restaurant industry and small, independent farmers and producers that rely on restaurants in the farm-to-table movement. That network is shattered. We got into relationships with some farmers…

1. TOM STEYER PHILANTHROPIST AND FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ‘I EXERCISE DAILY, PRAY DAILY AND TRY TO TALK WITH AS MANY POSITIVE PEOPLE AS I CAN. THAT PUTS ME IN A POSITIVE FRAME OF MIND, GIVES ME HOPE AND INSPIRES ME TO KEEP FIGHTING FOR WHAT’S RIGHT.’ 2. LIYA KEBEDE MODEL AND MATERNAL-HEALTH ADVOCATE ‘Sometimes I manage to meditate, and sometimes I manage to do 30 minutes of yoga. When I feel my mind is suffocating, I go on walks. I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself.’ 3. ALY RAISMAN OLYMPIC GYMNAST ‘Working out, gardening and guided meditation. I write in my journal, take long walks, and several times a day, I stop and tell myself at least three things I feel grateful for.’ 4. MISTY COPELAND BALLET DANCER ‘Communicating…

ON THE WEDNESDAY EVENING WE TAPED OUR LAST show in the studio, our executive producer came out and took a photo of the packed crowd. “I think it’s going to be a long time before there’s an audience in here again,” he said. I had never seen the news change as rapidly as it did that day: border closures, shutdowns and terrifying statistics. By the time I came home to my wife and children that night, it felt like an entirely different world. At first, we thought about how to do our show without an audience. But then, within hours, it became clear the entire staff of The Late Late Show couldn’t even be in the same room anymore. I know how important arts and entertainment are: I say…

ESPN HAS TAKEN NOBLE SWINGS AT PROGRAMMING a sports network with no sports. But there are only so many airings of marbles races, old games and gabfests about the April 23–25 NFL draft—an event that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, feels as significant as a speck of sand—that viewers can take. That’s why fans clamored so hard for ESPN to move up its highly anticipated 10-part docuseries starring Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest athlete ever to grace this earth, from an original airdate of June 2—coinciding with an NBA Finals series that no longer exists—to ASAP. People need a dose of nostalgia, and reason to anticipate any kind of shared cultural experience, now more than ever. Luckily, the network listened. The first two episodes of The Last Dance, which…

You were the first governor in the country to announce the entire state school system would close, starting on March 16. You’ve been a step ahead on other things. Did you know something other governors didn’t? I have spent 40 years in public office, and the mistakes I’ve made are generally when I didn’t have enough information. I think that has served me well during this because we’ve just been really focused on trying to find out everything that we could. The one message I kept getting from the people is you have to move quickly and you have to move early. Even delaying a few days can make a huge amount of difference. Your daily briefing has zero sugarcoating on it. Why? I want people to have confidence in…