Table of contents for February 27, 2017 in TIME Magazine

2 | Conversation 6 | For the Record The Brief News from the U.S. and around the world 15 | The fallout from Trump's Executive Orders on immigration 16 | Alternative facts fact-checked 17 | Famine threat in Somalia 18 | Ian Bremmer on U.S.-Japan relations 19 | Quick Talk: E.U. Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker 20 | California's Oroville Dam crisis The View Ideas, opinion, innovation 23 | "Live, from New York": Why Saturday Night Live is more important than ever 24 | The upside of artificial intelligence 27 | Pizza-making robot no longer a pie-in-the-sky idea 27 | The surprising origins of dog breeding 28 | How using what you have bolsters creativity 30 | Smart-home gadgets that make you safer The Features The Trump Effect Disruption and dysfunction…

CATALONIA The Spanish region's separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, recently promised a binding referendum before October. But the government in Madrid opposes a vote, calling it unconstitutional. PUERTO RICO The debt-stricken U.S. territory will hold a nonbinding referendum on June 11, its fifth such vote. Voters will choose between statehood (and the federal funds that come with it) and independence. SCOTLAND Scots narrowly rejected independence from the U.K. in 2014, but the government is mulling another ballot after a majority of Scots voted to remain in the E.U. in June's Brexit vote.…

Ask most people to describe the path to success and their answer will likely call for "more"--more money to buy things, more time to do things and more knowledge to inform things. There's an intuitive appeal to this argument. In terms of success, more is thought to be both a cause (the more we have, the more we can do) and a consequence (to the victor go the spoils). As alluring as this approach appears, recent research has started to call it into question. When we are focused on getting more, we overlook the value of what's already in hand. We emphasize the wrong things, like accumulating resources instead of taking productive steps to accomplish our goals. Over time, the "more" approach makes us less adaptive and less satisfied. There's…

LONGEVITY SPECIAL REPORT Cutting-edge research and truly strange science from the frontiers of longevity 70 Breakthrough science suggests the fountain of youth may be as close as a good night's sleep--if only you could get one. The new science of sleep BY ALICE PARK 80 The weird ways Silicon Valley is trying to cheat death, from young-blood transfusions to $25,000 physicals BY ALEXANDRA SIFFERLIN 86 An annotated timeline of the creative and crackpot ways humans have tried to extend life throughout history BY MERRILL FABRY 88 Can dogs outlive humans? Can you afford to live to 100? Do cranky people die young? Plus: three things to do today to extend your life BY TIME STAFF…

George Saunders may be the most celebrated debut novelist of the 21st century. Saunders, 58, won decades of acclaim for his short-story collections (1996's CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, 2013's Tenth of December) that amplify the intricacies of American culture via the surreal and fantastical. Lincoln in the Bardo, his remarkable first full-length novel, continues apace, taking for its starting point a historical anecdote about Abraham Lincoln visiting the tomb of his recently deceased son, killed by typhoid fever in 1862. In the novel, dozens of ghosts linger over the 11-year-old's grave, observing a President and father in grief. They are also Saunders' narrators, a chorus reflecting on parenthood, patriotism, race and death. TIME: Thousands of books have been written about Abraham Lincoln. Why write another? Saunders: I really didn't want…

As a superhero, Legion is not stronger or quippier or darker than his contemporaries. He is, however, mentally ill. At the beginning of FX's new show based on the Marvel character, David Haller (Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens) has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and locked away in Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital. There, a fellow patient helps him discover he has special abilities: telepathy and telekinesis. Are his delusions--a yellow-eyed devil, cutlery leaping from drawers and swirling around him--a manifestation of his illness or his powers? David doesn't know, and neither do viewers. Legion is a fringe comic-book character with a story seemingly impossible to translate to the screen, which is why show creator Noah Hawley chose to tackle it. Hawley, 50, has made a career of adapting the unadaptable. In 2014, he…

For Jordan Peele, comedy was a 15-year detour. Five seasons on MADtv. The award-winning Comedy Central sketch show Key & Peele. And Keanu, his movie with comedy partner Keegan-Michael Key about a kitten catnapped by gangsters. All pit stops on the way to his ultimate goal: horror director. Peele's directorial debut, Get Out, which hits theaters on Feb. 24, is the realization of a dream that he says has been "on the back burner all along." In a midtown Manhattan hotel some 12 blocks from where he grew up, Peele, 37, explains why he and the genre got off to a rocky start. "I was deathly afraid of horror movies until about 11 or 12, and then I began to respect something that could affect me so deeply." But the…

Your book imagines a future in which humans live in such an optimized world, they become useless and their lives lose all meaning. How do you enjoy a cup of coffee with such a cloud hanging over your head? In every generation, humans have lived under one cloud or the other. One cloud goes away, and another takes its place. Yes, artificial intelligence is definitely going to change society in a fundamental way, and there are possible dangers. But this is not a prophecy. If I thought that there is nothing we can do, why just make people upset? You present the possibility that select people will become superhuman, Homo deus. What would a superhuman do all day? We don't have any idea. The notion of superhumans is using bioengineering…

DO THE DEMOCRATS MATTER? After reading Sam Frizell's Feb. 20 cover story about Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and how he plans to negotiate with President Trump, Pam Jones of West Hollywood, Calif., wrote to say that she felt "a lot better" about the chances that Congress would do what it's "supposed to do to keep the country running." However, Curt Oyer of Bloomington, Ill., said that the article went too far in framing Republicans as responsible for earlier obstruction in Congress when Democrats were polarizing too. And some readers, like Marty Meiser of Loganton, Pa., argued that Platon's cover photo of Schumer as "a benevolent grandfather" was "visually manipulating" readers. JEFFERSON'S WARNING Many readers applauded TIME editor Nancy Gibbs' defense of freedom of the press and objectivity in her…

President Trump has been openly critical of the E.U. and said in a recent interview that "others will leave" after Britain's vote to quit the bloc. What was your reaction? We were a little bit disappointed listening to President Trump's first declaration when he was congratulating the British for having taken that decision, and more or less inviting others to do the same. That was highly unfriendly and not helpful at all. What is the best way for Europe to respond? Do we have to respond? If we invited Ohio to leave the United States, would they respond? I don't think so, so we don't have to respond to that. We have to show the world--as far as the future of the European Union is concerned--that we are united. How…

Even people who aren't dog owners probably know that purebreds are considered the best--at least in terms of price, aesthetics and dog-show titles. But purebreds have a less pure origin story. In fact, when competitive dog shows first emerged in 19th century Britain, they were less about dogs and more about establishing a social hierarchy. Women often weren't allowed to show their dogs with men, and most competitions made working-class pet owners show their dogs after their richer counterparts, "when all the good dogs had gone home," says Michael Worboys, a specialist on the social history of pedigree dog breeding in Victorian Britain. There was also the issue of breeding itself, which took off after the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's treatise On the Origin of Species. By allowing only…

Time Using all of yours on a project may seem like a badge of honor, but take a mindless break to boost creativity. Facebook Make connections with people who provide support instead of racking up the biggest number of friends. Parenting Avoid coddling children by allowing them to experience healthy failures that they can grow and learn from. Exercise A short, focused workout can provide more benefits than simply walking as many steps as possible. Housing Don't obsess over square footage; find a size within your means, then build from within. --S.S.…

YOU NEED TO LIE DOWN Mark Zielinski knew he was onto something when his mice stopped sleeping. Normally, the animals woke and slept on a 12-hour cycle. When the lights were on in the lab, the mice were active. When it went dark on a timer, down they went. But Zielinski, who teaches psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, had recently tweaked their schedule to keep the mice up past their bedtime. Zielinski and his colleagues would rustle the bedding in the mice's cages to keep them from dozing off when they started to display the telltale signs of sleepiness--drooping lids, sluggish walk, EEG readings showing their brain activity was waning. But Zielinski noticed that when the mice were left alone to slumber at will after the disruption, they didn't, or…

George Saunders, the comic empath, introduces President Abraham Lincoln as he unwittingly enters a bardo--a Buddhist limbo, here populated by ghosts he cannot sense. These specters travel around the cemetery where Lincoln's son Willie has been interred. They believe they are not dead and hope to return to life as they knew it. Yet if they succumb to temptation or resignation, they know they will experience the "matterlightblooming phenomenon" and disappear to the afterlife in an indescribable flash and crack. "And for what?" one reasons. "You do not know. A most unintelligent wager." In the bardo, Willie's ghost has befriended a trio: the naked, excessively endowed printer Hans Vollman, who just wants a conjugal reunion with his wife; the many-eyed, -nosed and -handed Roger Bevins III, who swears he "changed…

Yes! They could offer relationships to the lonely There were times certain sexual practices between humans were illegal. The general view now is "anything goes" between consenting adults, so I see nothing wrong from an ethical point of view with having sexual relationships with robots. One has to consider it as similar to a [sex toy], for example. Clearly there's nothing wrong in using electronic devices to create sexual satisfaction. Why should there be moral problems with hiring or buying a sex robot? David Levy, author of Love and Sex With Robots No! It perpetuates a culture that objectifies women Sex is already thought of as instrumental, and women in particular are already treated like objects. When you look at the trinity of prostitution, pornography and child abuse, you see…

Directors who feel true tenderness for misfits and oddballs will always be in short supply. That's just one reason to take note of I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, the feature debut of writer-director Macon Blair (also an actor, as seen in Blue Ruin). Melanie Lynskey stars as Ruth, a depressed nurse's assistant whose mood sinks further when a thief breaks into her home and makes off with, among other things, her grandmother's silver. The cops are no help, and Ruth sets out to find the culprits, enlisting the aid of local weirdo Tony (Elijah Wood), a high-strung amateur martial-arts expert. What follows is a lively, waggish and sometimes perversely violent caper, reminiscent of Something Wild--era Jonathan Demme. Blair has a gift for the absurd, but his…

Family: Philadelphia When: Beginning in late April Why now: The City of Brotherly Love's museum collection (don't miss the Franklin Institute or the Barnes) will add the Museum of the American Revolution. The grand opening (April 19) will feature, no surprise, a parade of military reenactors. Tip: For cheesesteaks, per Philly.com, skip the usual options and head instead to John's Roast Pork, Joe's Steaks or Philip's Steaks. Start here: visitphilly.com Nature: Costa Rica When: Now through the end of March Why now: Costa Rica is for (nature) lovers, whether you want to explore the rain forests of Corcovado National Park, walk under the canopy at Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve or snorkel the reefs of Cahuita National Park. Tip: Travel writer Camille Willemain recommends picking one beach to serve as…

'What the f-ck does she have to do to win Album of the Year?' Adele, pop singer, advocating at the Grammys for Beyoncé after her own album, 25, beat Beyoncé's Lemonade; during her acceptance speech, Adele broke her trophy in two 550 Weight, in pounds, of an American-made World War II bomb discovered 16 ft. beneath a gas station in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, prompting an evacuation of more than 70,000 residents $400,000 The opening pretax price of a flying car designed by Dutch company PAL-V; preorders began on Feb. 13 for the automobiles, which are said to be delivered by the end of 2018 'Trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded.' Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, describing the circumstances around the Feb. 13 resignation of…

President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Feb. 10 for three days of lavish praise, elaborate dinners, lots of golf and a ride on Air Force One. More important, the two leaders appeared to make real progress on major economic and security deals. Compare that with what's beginning to look like an awkward Trump relationship with Britain and it's easy to see that the U.S. and Japan have the new "special relationship." There's a reason Abe was the first foreign leader to fly to meet Trump in November, just days after his victory. As China rises and North Korea flexes, Abe needs a lot from the U.S. President. First is his commitment to sustained engagement in Asia. In particular, Abe wants Trump to…

DIED Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau, 76, the boundary-pushing vocalist who won Grammy Awards across the jazz, pop and R&B categories. Jarreau quit his job as a rehab counselor for the disabled to pursue a music career in the 1960s. Best known for his theme song to the TV show Moonlighting, he won his most recent Grammy in 2007. Raymond Smullyan, the mathematician, philosopher and expert puzzle writer, at 97. His 1978 book, What Is the Name of This Book?, was described by critic Martin Gardner as the "most original, most profound and most humorous" collection of logic problems ever written. REVISED Regulations by the U.S. Army that prohibited female personnel from wearing dreadlocks. Long twisted locks of uniform shape and size will now be permitted, a move celebrated by black…

As technology grows more sophisticated, it's getting exponentially better at interpreting, replicating and even influencing human emotions. In his new book, Heart of the Machine, futurist Richard Yonck acknowledges this may well lead to mass manipulation--allowing retailers, for example, to goad shoppers into spending more money by analyzing their posture and expression, assessing their mood, digging into their shopping history and projecting images of them wearing items they are predisposed to like. But this new technological norm could be a force for good as well, Yonck writes. Developers are working on AI that could help people with autism make sense of other people's emotions, among other advances. "It's in our best interest to explore the possible futures this technology could bring about," Yonck concludes, "while we still have time to…

A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week's most talked-about studies: 1 NAPS MAY HELP PRESCHOOLERS PROCESS LESSONS A small study in Child Development found that 3-year-olds who napped directly after learning new verbs understood the words more fully 24 hours later than those who did not nap afterward. 2 VEGGIES HELP YOU BEEF UP A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition analyzed the health records of nearly 3,000 people and found that plant-based protein benefits musculoskeletal health as equally as animal protein. 3 DOCTORS WHO TRAINED ABROAD MAY BE BETTER AT THEIR JOBS A study in the BMJ found that doctors who trained abroad and were practicing in the U.S. had a patient death rate of 11.2% among a national sample of Medicare beneficiaries from…

Gadgetmakers have a knack for making big, long-term promises about the advent of the so-called smart home. But one of the most potent applications is also the most basic: how to make your home safer. Here's a closer look at how the smart home can do so. Secure everyday tasks CONNECTED OVENS Smart ovens made by GE and Nest's smoke alarm now work together to automatically turn off the oven if, for example, smoke is detected. SMART PLUGS Wi-fi-compatible plugs like the Belkin Wemo Switch aim to eliminate panic about leaving the iron plugged in. You can see what's turned on and switch off appliances via its phone app. ENERGY MONITORS Sensors that plug into your home's electricity system, like the Sense, are meant to lower utility bills. They can…

When Joe Roseman, a retirement-planning expert in Charlotte, N.C., meets with a new client, there's one bit of information he wants to know first. It's not how much they have saved, and it's not when they want to retire. It's how long their parents and grandparents lived. That's not because it's necessarily the best predictor of longevity (though it's a decent place to start). Rather, it gives Roseman a baseline of his client's expectations. He'll then remind his clients that thanks to advances in medicine, they're likely to live even longer, which means their investments need to last longer too. "I tell people that you need to plan to live longer than you think you're going to live," he says. Life expectancy in the U.S. has been steadily increasing over…

Saunders is not the first to draw inspiration for a novel from the residents of 1600 Penn. Here are four more: AMERICAN WIFE BY CURTIS SITTENFELD The 2008 novel about a small-town girl who marries into a prominent Republican family was inspired by Laura Bush. LINCOLN BY GORE VIDAL This 1984 volume from Vidal's Narratives of Empire series provides a fictional account of the 16th President at war. WATERGATE BY THOMAS MALLON In 2012, the novelist framed Richard Nixon's downfall through the experiences of the people surrounding him. ELEANOR VS. IKE BY ROBIN GERBER This 2008 book imagined Adlai Stevenson dying in the 1952 election--with Eleanor Roosevelt taking his place on the ticket. --S.B.…

Pete (Pete Holmes) has it all figured out, for now. He's striving, with endless optimism, to succeed in comedy by taking open-mike gigs in Manhattan, commuting from the upstate home he shares with his wife (Lauren Lapkus). But his assurance soon runs up against the hard fact of his wife's infidelity and the even harder fact, after he decides to leave her, of New York City real estate. Crashing is yet another arch autobiographical show about life throwing obstacles in a comic's path. But unlike its forerunners Curb Your Enthusiasm and Louie, it never represents its protagonist as savvy. Pete is a charming naïf, undaunted by failure and excited by strokes of good fortune (a chance to hand out flyers outside a comedy club, a gig doing warm-up comedy for…

In an era when civilized discourse has gone the way of the flip phone, novelist, essayist and playwright James Baldwin--as heard and seen in Raoul Peck's documentary I Am Not Your Negro--is an ambassador from a lost time. The movie imagines an ambitious book Baldwin never completed, a work tracing the lives and legacies of his closest friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Peck obtained the manuscript notes from Baldwin's estate and wove them into a compelling minihistory of black identity in America. I Am Not Your Negro captures all that was galvanizing and forceful about Baldwin. The language in the film is his own--Samuel L. Jackson reads the manuscript excerpts--and it resonates, sometimes painfully, today. "I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the…

When your marriage breaks apart, a long train of loved ones assure you that time will heal your grief. They are not wrong. But as a data journalist, I misunderstood them to mean the arc of that recovery would be linear. In reality, I found, divorce is like penicillin: the bulk of the anguish passes through your system fairly quickly, but the dregs stick around much longer. Well after the heartbreak had abated, I was still afraid that I had missed my opportunity at a happy, lasting partnership. I got married on an autumn Sunday, five months after turning 30. Things abruptly fell apart a week after I turned 32. We finalized the divorce on a Thursday a year later, when I was 33. I do not normally meter my…