Table of contents for February 22, 2016 in TIME Magazine

'THESE HANDS,' BEN CARSON Carson exploits his most famous traits--skilled hands in the operating room---without dulling their impact. Repeated shots of the hands of Carson supporters working in all sorts of fields bolster Carson's missionary argument about upward mobility. 'CRUZ CHRISTMAS CLASSICS,' TED CRUZ Using family members in campaign ads is nothing new. But Cruz's controversy-courting staging--a mock book-club reading that targets the IRS and Obama--is delightfully nihilistic rather than sappy. It's a rare attack ad that, somehow, charms. 'AMERICA,' BERNIE SANDERS Sanders is no sentimentalist, so he lets Simon and Garfunkel do the inclusion and uplift for him. Their song "America" plays while he wordlessly summons the revolution. It situates the cerebral socialist in the comforting, recognizable milieu of '60s nostalgia. 'CHILDREN,' HILLARY CLINTON Decades in the spotlight--and countless…

GERMANY The state Tanzverbot (dance ban) laws threaten fines of up to $1,500 for venues hosting dance parties during Easter weekend, owing to the solemnity of the Christian observance. A group called the Pirate Party regularly stages dancing demonstrations in protest. JAPAN The Japanese government repealed a 1948 law against dancing in public after midnight in June after the public protested the ban. Members of government agreed to modernize the law before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, when the flood of visitors may seek late-night fun. BRAZIL Brazil passed laws in 2000 and 2008 that banned or regulated funk dance parties, especially in favelas, where police said they were disruptive and linked to gang activity. The parties made a comeback in 2009, after Rio de Janeiro outlawed discrimination against the…

SETTLED For $14 million, a lawsuit challenging Warner Music Group's copyright on "Happy Birthday to You." If approved, the deal would put the song in the public domain. SET A new high for Americans renouncing their citizenship, with 4,279 doing so in 2015. The renunciations, which broke records for a third straight year, are likely a response to paperwork required to comply with U.S. tax laws. PLEDGED About $11 billion in aid for victims of the war in Syria, by the world's wealthiest nations at a London summit--the most money pledged "on a single day for a single crisis," according to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. DIED Edgar Mitchell, 85, Apollo 14 astronaut and the sixth man to walk on the moon. He died on the eve of the 45th anniversary…

When Zoolander premiered in 2001, its titular character was supposed to be a joke. As played by director and co-writer Ben Stiller, the male model was unapologetically superficial and self-obsessed (he called himself "really, really ridiculously good-looking"), and audiences loved to mock him for it. The comedy, released just after 9/11, became a sleeper hit, grossing more than $60 million at the global box office. Fifteen years later, with Zoolander 2 in theaters, it appears the joke is on us. Thanks to the rise of smartphones, which take selfies, and social networks, which enable users to share them with the world, Derek Zoolander's not-so-model behavior has become de rigueur. We used to ridicule his vanity; now we bemoan our own. We used to laugh at his signature look, a pursed-lips…

On the day before the New Hampshire primary, Jeb Bush addressed a Rotary meeting at the Nashua Country Club. It was the sort of event that has, for the past 100 years, defined the Republican Party, just as union-hall rallies define Democrats. The Rotarians have always represented a peak of American bourgeois civility, and these Nashua businesspeople had listed some rules of discourse on a banner. The first two were: Is it the truth? and Is it fair to all concerned? Bush was perfect for this Norman Rockwell setting, speaking about his accomplishments as governor of Florida and his current travails as a candidate: he was tired of politicians who "push down a group of people to make themselves look better." That could have been one of the rules on…

Dr. Frank Longo isn't the kind of guy who chokes up easily. The pre-eminent neurologist is better known for his professional stoicism and scholarly approach to the devastation he sees weekly in his Alzheimer's patients--the people who come into his office at the Stanford University School of Medicine, their memory just a little bit worse than the last time he saw them. But today, even though he's trying to keep it together, his throat tightens. He's in a small exam room outside Kansas City, Kans., watching a young man do something people do every day. He's swallowing a pill with a big gulp of water. But it's not just any pill--it's a new drug that Longo hopes will prove to be an effective treatment for Alzheimer's--and when the man swallows,…

500 Clam The ocean quahog is a fist-size clam that can live to be 500 years or older. Some researchers believe the sturdy quahog's secret to a long life is its ability to protect its proteins from damage. This mechanism, if further understood, could lead to potential treatments for such age-related diseases as Alzheimer's, which is caused by protein disturbances in the brain. 30 Naked mole rat It isn't pretty, but the naked mole rat's elastic skin is part of why scientists believe the creature lives so long compared with other rodents--up to 30 years. The naked mole rat appears to be immune to cancer, even when exposed to carcinogens. A molecule involved in making the rat's skin so stretchy may stop the rapid division of cells associated with cancer.…

Sometime in late 2015, researchers seemed to deliver a blow to Pollyannas everywhere. The news? Happy people did not live longer than sad people, after adjusting for factors like the state of a person's health. The study, published in prestigious medical journal the Lancet, looked at survey results from nearly 720,000 women and concluded that happiness, when considered independently, had no bearing whatsoever on how long people lived. But many experts challenged that finding, taking issue with the study design, which removed as variables (or, in scientific terms, controlled for) things like how much a woman slept and whether she exercised. "The very reasons happy people live longer are some of the things the Lancet paper controlled for," says Sarah Pressman, associate professor of psychology and social behavior at the…

Living longer is a blessing. But how to fund extra years has emerged as a global conundrum, one that will not be solved with the pension systems now in place. Life spans have stretched by more than a decade since 1970, making lifetime income too costly for governments or corporations to guarantee. If trends continue, the number of poor or nearly poor seniors will double to 4.3 million by 2022, according to one study. Here is a peek inside the financial labs where experts are trying to find solutions. Social Security This bedrock benefit lifts 15 million seniors in the U.S. out of poverty each year and is the sole source of income for nearly 1 in 4 recipients. It's not going away. But by 2033, payroll taxes will be…

It's a funny thing about rock gods: They rise as a result of their rebellion, their willingness to push past propriety in search of musical Valhalla--and a few short decades later, what was once edgy is now establishment. Just ask the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or anyone who's ever made a buck selling a CBGB T-shirt. Or ask Mick Jagger! The Rolling Stone is now, with his film-world equivalent Martin Scorsese, an executive producer and co-creator of the new HBO series Vinyl, which premieres Feb. 14. With Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter and award-winning nonfiction writer Rich Cohen also on board, Vinyl attempts to capture the anarchic spirit of rock's 1970s heyday while cohering to the expectations of TV's new golden age--that a troubled, morally ambiguous hero will…

You begin the book by writing about your past experience with an eating disorder. What inspired you to open up? I felt like I would be lying to my friends--these people who have watched my videos for years--if I wasn't very honest about my struggle with body image. Once that was written, I had a much easier time making jokes about not wearing tinfoil to work. You come to the defense of sweatpants. Why? I've had this spirit-animal relationship with sweatpants. In a past life, I probably was a pair of sweatpants. They're like the white trash of the fashion world. It's interesting that sweatpants are currently trendy: stores like Banana Republic and Gap have "jogger" pants that are basically elastic-waistband pants, but you can't fool me. You were one…

Until I lived with my wife, I had no idea other people's brains worked differently from mine. And by differently, I mean worse. Many people, for instance, don't like to read with music blaring. Or be interrupted over and over again by the world's funniest jokes. Because of their inferior brains. So when Sonos asked us to be one of 31 families participating in a study to see if music brings people closer together, I feared I would throw off their results. However, I cared far less about science than about trying Sonos' amazing wireless speakers, each of which can play its own music that you choose from an app. They're one of the things you're required to have as a rich person now, along with a Tesla, an Apple…

'There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other.' Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, criticizing young women who support Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders over rival Hillary Clinton Samantha Bee The comedian launched her new show, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Bees New research shows humans are causing a decline in bee populations 'They are not very good at feeding their people, but they invest a huge amount in their weapons.' President Obama, after North Korea said it launched a satellite into space 28 Length, in feet (8.5 m), of a selfie stick, said to be the world's longest, wielded by Ben Stiller at the premiere of Zoolander 2 125,000 Number of Twitter accounts suspended for links to extremism, as the social network tries…

[This article consists of 4 illustrations. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.] LEGENDARY ENTERTAINMENT The production company behind hits like Jurassic World was bought by the conglomerate Wanda Group for $3.5 billion this year, the largest deal ever between China and Hollywood. WALDORF ASTORIA The iconic Art Deco hotel in New York City, operated for more than 60 years by Hilton, was purchased by the Chinese insurance firm Anbang for $2 billion in 2014. SMITHFIELD FOODS The Virginia-based pork giant, which processes 28 million hogs per year, was purchased by Chinese meat producer Shuanghui Holdings in 2013 for $4.7 billion. MOTOROLA MOBILITY The electronics manufacturer that invented the cell phone was bought by Google back in 2012, then off-loaded to Chinese tech giant Lenovo for $2.9…

People often talk about voluntary religious conversion as if it were motivated by spiritual zeal. But in her new book, historian Susan Jacoby argues that the past tells a different story. In the early 20th century, it was common for Jews, like Jacoby's great-uncle, to embrace Christianity to improve their social class and career prospects. In the years that followed, more people started converting for love--a man adopting his wife's religion to please her family, for example, or a couple taking up a new faith entirely before or after saying "I do." (One study estimates the latter comprises 15% of all conversions.) And at times, Jacoby writes, switching faiths could appear politically shrewd, as when Newt Gingrich, raised Lutheran, became a Southern Baptist years before launching his first campaign in…

Workplace-review site Glassdoor recently unveiled a user-generated list of the top company benefits--and they go well beyond day care and free snacks. Here's a sampling: NETFLIX A year of paid maternity and paternity leave for new parents REI Two "Yay Days," paid time off during which employees are supposed to enjoy themselves outdoors AIRBNB $2,000 per year to travel and stay in company listings around the world FACEBOOK $4,000 in "baby cash" for new parents PWC $1,200 per year to reimburse student debt BURTON "Snow days," so employees can hit the slopes after a large snowfall EVERNOTE Free team-building classes on subjects like macaroon baking WORLD WILDLIFE FUND "Panda Fridays," which are essentially free days off, every other week…

THE LONG VIEW OF VERY LONG LIFE From memory pills to animal super-agers, a special report from the frontiers of longevity 60 The good and not-so-good news about the new age of longevity By Laura L. Carstensen 64 A radical new approach to treating Alzheimer's--with a pill By Alice Park 74 Long-life secrets from naked mole rats, parrots, clams and more By Alexandra Sifferlin 80 The new science of how making everyday changes can help you live better, longer By Alexandra Sifferlin 92 Fresh thinking on how to plan for (and afford) a long retirement By Dan Kadlec PHOTOGRAPHS BY HANNAH WHITAKER FOR TIME ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUCI GUTIÉRREZ FOR TIME…

Imagine you just got some very, very bad news. You don't have much longer to live, maybe only a couple of years, and there's nothing anyone--not you, not your doctor--can do about it. Welcome to every day in the life of a very old person. We spend our entire lives dreading death and then, before we know it, it's upon us. For a senior with any sense, this ought to spell terror or at least sorrow. But for many--not all, but many--it can mean the opposite. The way so many older people manage the psychic jujitsu of being contented with what their short-term future holds has long mystified scientists. "You'd think people would get more anxious as they age," says Thomas Pyszczynski, professor of psychology at the University of Colorado…

You don't have to go vegan, pledge allegiance to an exercise cult or become a full-time meditator to get the longevity benefits of healthy habits. The latest science is showing quite the opposite, in fact: that extending healthy life is attainable for many of us with just a few small changes that aren't especially hard to do--and won't make you miserable. Researchers have learned that logging hours at the gym cannot counteract the negative effects of sitting for long periods, for instance--but something as simple as fidgeting can. They've also discovered that cutting down on how much you eat doesn't have to be excruciating--and it can improve your chance for a longer life. Finally, they are convinced that your inner life has an important impact on how well the body…

Short answer: Older than it is now. The economic pressures of aging populations and shrinking pension trust funds mean the retirement age will probably increase in the coming decades. But exactly how much will depend on where you live. The U.S. Congress has already set the age to receive full benefits at 67 for people born after 1960, and economists say the government could reasonably be expected to raise that age by a couple years by 2050. That number will likely become 70 in the U.K., 65 in China and 67 to 69 throughout much of the E.U. Economists and public-health experts say the government-set retirement age is just one factor in determining when people retire--if they retire at all. The reality of providing for a longer life span will…

With the rumble of an avalanche, something new in politics shook loose from the snowy crags of New Hampshire, having little to do with the D's or the R's. Strong showings by Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders--each won by more than 50,000 votes--represented the utter inundation of the political parties. The outsiders who won owe nothing to nobody; party leaders huddled like demoralized Romans as the Visigoths sacked their city. New battle lines were drawn for primaries in South Carolina and beyond: not left vs. right, not red against blue, but insiders and outsiders. For now, the anti-Establishment is winning on both sides of the ballot. Sanders, 74, and Trump, 69, entered the campaign last year as Don Quixote and P.T. Barnum, but they tapped a rebellious energy that has…

Just when it seemed things couldn't get worse for economically suffering Brazil, there is now serious talk that the Zika virus may cancel the Summer Olympic Games, scheduled for August. Dozens of cities across the country have already canceled Carnival celebrations, and the U.S. Olympic Committee has warned athletes and staff to consider skipping the Rio Games. Zika threatens public health, tourism revenue and the country's prestige. A slowing economy is already inflicting pain on Brazil's people. Inflation surged to 10.67% in 2015, its highest point in 13 years. Unemployment is on the rise. Per capita income has fallen by more than one-third since 2011. Brazil isn't in a recession--it's in a free fall. GDP growth fell from 7.5% in 2010 to --3.8% in 2015. In January, commuters in São…

As the leader and singer of earth, Wind & Fire, Maurice White created what is perhaps the world's greatest recipe for five minutes of sustained joy. It's called "Boogie Wonderland," and if it does not set your limbs in motion when it comes on the radio or over the speakers at a wedding dance, you may need to check your DNA for traces of humanity. White pioneered a sound that was perfectly in sync with the disco era of the late '70s: razor-sharp horns playing jazzy harmonies, James Brown--style funk guitar, popping bass, soaring background vocals and the insistent drive of high-hat cymbals. For his band and a host of other artists, he crafted smash hits--"September," "After the Love Has Gone" and "Best of My Love"--that kept dance floors packed.…

Over the past two years, TIME's digital audience has expanded dramatically, and close to half our readers are millennials. They are drawn not only to TIME's coverage of the world but increasingly to TIME's content on how to live a richer, smarter, more meaningful life--how to negotiate a raise, how to manage your inbox, how to actually unplug on vacation. It was, we discovered, millennial women who were most passionate and most engaged with that content, and they were looking for more. So we've created Motto, a new website from the editors of TIME dedicated to empowering the next generation. It's about offering the advice and support to blaze new trails and redefine success in the fundamental aspects of our lives: how we work, play and live. Motto draws on…

For the first time in history, not one but two Hispanic candidates--Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz--have a real chance to become President of the United States. Latinos were supposed to be very happy and proud. But there's no fiesta. Why? The reason is very simple. Rubio and Cruz turned their backs on millions of immigrants and broke a long-standing tradition. For decades, many prominent Latino politicians, regardless of party affiliation, have defended undocumented immigrants. Cruz and Rubio don't. Both have dramatically shifted their admittedly different positions on immigration--which have helped them during the Republican primaries--and now favor incremental enforcement-first approaches. They want walls, deportations, more agents and increased screenings. A massive program of legalization is out of the question. By contrast, 89% of Hispanics want a path to citizenship for…

Something astounding is happening. For most of human history, life expectancy was barely long enough to ensure survival of the species. During the 20th century, a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms, Americans began flourishing into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Asked in a recent survey about the prospect of century-long lives, the majority of Americans said they would like to live 100 years if they could do so in good health. Of course, in the same survey, nearly as many Americans said they want to retire at 65, and most of them said they eat too much and tend not to exercise. Hope is wonderful, but hope alone will not get us to 100 in good shape. An important first step in creating a culture that supports long…

I don't know how many unfiltered Chesterfields my grandfather smoked, but if you figure two packs a day for 75 years, it comes out to 1,095,000. He died on a Monday, at age 91, and he'd been at work the previous Friday. Outliers like that drive doctors crazy--but they can be useful for science. For decades, researchers have been trying to figure out what edge these folks possess in hope they may find a clue that can benefit the rest of us too. Some of the most telling findings so far involve a study of nearly 500 long-lived Jews who were either born in the U.S. or emigrated after World War II. Their mean age was 97.3. Whatever these seniors did to manage such a longevity feat, it did not…

Holistic-medicine devotees have been talking for decades about how chronic inflammation ages the body, but concrete proof of that has been elusive. Now, however, the longest-running human-aging study, the BLSA, has inched closer to proof. The BLSA has shown that having more than one disease, which doctors call "comorbidity," is a good indicator of how rapidly a person is aging, and it seems to be driven by chronic inflammation. That happens when the immune system's natural reaction to insult gets stuck in the "on" position. "Chronic inflammation seems to be the strongest predictor of comorbidity," says Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, scientific director of the National Institute on Aging and former director of the BLSA. The researchers aren't sure yet if that inflammation is a primary cause of aging, "but certainly it's…

If you ask nicely, Scott Sandford will build you a piece of the universe. It won't be a big piece; that'd be way too much for a single astrobiologist in a single lab at the NASA Ames Research Center near Silicon Valley. And it won't be a very interesting piece--just the gas and dust of interstellar space. He'll swirl it all together in a little chamber in a big machine and chill it down to 40 Kelvins, which is --388°F, or --233°C--and no matter what you call it, is very, very cold. "You're not allowed to put your tongue on that," he says, pointing to the chamber. Then, he does a very important thing: he hits the gas and dust with radiation--all kinds of radiation, as long as it's the…

Deadpool is the Marvel character for people who think they're too smart for comic books but read them anyway. Sarcastic but also prone to self-mockery, he takes pride in breaking the fourth wall: he seems to know it's ridiculous to be circumscribed by a comic-book panel, so why not bust out of it now and then? If you're going to make a Deadpool movie--as first-time director Tim Miller has done--Ryan Reynolds is the guy to play him. Reynolds delivers every line with a smirk you can hear--a good thing, because Deadpool's face is obscured by a stretchy red mask, the better to hide his scarred, mottled visage. In a flashback we learn that Deadpool used to be smart-alecky mercenary Wade Wilson, who was diagnosed with incurable cancer just after becoming…

Recent discourse about body image has aimed to empower women who don't fit the mold of svelte beauty. But in her insightful debut novel, Mona Awad doesn't try on positivity maxims like "Big is beautiful" or "Weight is just a number." Instead, she explores how living in a body you loathe can be misery. Awad's Lizzie is an overweight teen who loves vampires, fairy tales and David Lynch movies. Over the course of a decade, she loses half her body weight--and all her interests outside of diet and exercise, not to mention most of her friendships. The title is a nod to Wallace Stevens' poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," in which he wrote about "the beauty of inflections" and "the beauty of innuendoes." Replace beauty with pain…

LOVE IT A Florida cop responded to a call at an animal shelter and wound up adopting a puppy. To make up for shortening store hours on Feb. 8 for a food-safety meeting, Chipotle offered free-burrito coupons. Bernie Sanders appeared on Saturday Night Live opposite Larry David, who frequently plays Sanders. Rapper Drake accepted a ping-pong challenge from NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. Beyoncé's Super Bowl outfit paid homage to Michael Jackson. Marc Jacobs named a lipstick shade after Princess Charlotte; it's "inspired by the deepest saturated pink tones of an English rose." Time's weekly take on what popped in culture LEAVE IT CBS announced that The Good Wife will end after this season, its seventh. A Florida man was arrested for allegedly throwing a live alligator into a…

In your new book, Democracy in Black, you talk about the "value gap," the belief that white people are more valuable, which leads to "racial habits." Is that racism? Our typical way of thinking about racism is as intentional prejudice. Racial habits are much more diffuse. I'm not a climate-change denier, for example. But you wouldn't know that by the look of my house or my car or the way in which I use lights. I'm making choices that reproduce the effects of global warming. All of us have habits that give life to the value gap. How is what you call the "great black depression" different from the recession? There is all of this talk about economic recovery, but when we look at the vital statistical data around black…