Table of contents for October 2, 2017 in TIME Magazine

HANGING ABOVE MY DESK IS A LETTER from the editors of TIME to my grandfather. An immigrant who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, he, like so many others of his era, was introduced to America through the pages of this magazine. Now and then, he returned the favor by introducing TIME’s editors to some of his own ideas—in this case with a dispatch (in rhyme!) pointing out that they had erred in using the word who instead ofwhom on a recent cover. TIME acknowledged in response that, grammatically speaking, it was “skating on very thin ice” but noted, citing H.L. Mencken, Noah Webster and Do’s, Don’ts and Maybes of English Usage, that traditions change. Change happens to be a tradition at TIME. This publication has gone from black-and-white to…

Scores arrested in St. Louis protests Police arrested more than 140 people during three nights of unrest in St. Louis following a not-guilty verdict in the murder trial of a former police officer in the 2011 death of a black man. Officers later chanted, “Whose streets, our streets.” Merkel on course for a fourth term Polling ahead of Germany’s election on Sept. 24 suggested that Chancellor Angela Merkel was on track to win a fourth term. It put her center-right party with a 14.5-point lead over the Social Democrats, and a 26.5-point lead over the far-right AfD. Spain arrests Catalan officials Spanish police arrested at least 12 regional officials in Catalonia and Madrid for allegedly helping to plan an Oct. 1 independence referendum that was ruled illegal by Spain’s top…

U.S. tourists attacked in France Four female Boston College students were hospitalized after a woman threw hydrochloric acid in their faces at a Marseille train station. Two were treated for facial burns. Police arrested a 41-year-old woman described as mentally disturbed. National monuments at risk Ten national monuments could be resized or repurposed to allow mining, logging and grazing, according to a leaked report by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. President Donald Trump ordered the review after calling some monuments “land grabs.” Russian helicopter in missile blunder A Russian helicopter accidentally launched a missile into a parking lot during training exercises, nearly killing at least one bystander, according to video footage. The Kremlin denied Russian media reports that two reporters were injured. Sunken U-boat wreck found A German submarine that sank…

STANISLAV PETROV, THE retired officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces whose death at the age of 77 was announced on Sept. 18, did not enjoy discussing the day he averted a nuclear holocaust. Maybe he was tired of giving interviews about the cameo he played in the history of the Cold War. Whatever the reason, he balked at being called a hero when he took a call from TIME in August 2015. “Chush!” he said, in Russian. “Nonsense! I was just doing my job.” That job was on the Soviet early-warning system code-named Oko, or Eye, whose function was to detect the launch of an American nuclear attack. Having helped design and install the command center, Petrov was at the controls on the night of Sept. 26, 1983, when…

One way to make the world’s most populous capital seem more in tune with nature? Buildings inspired by forests, lakes and stones. That’s the idea behind Chaoyang Park Plaza, opening soon in Beijing; the local population is expected to exceed 130 million over the next century, thanks to a government plan to combine the surrounding areas into a “super city.” To relieve some of that urban density, the architecture firm behind Chaoyang, MAD, drew inspiration from traditional shan-shui (mountain-water) paintings to create a series of LEED-certified residential complexes, office blocks and public spaces. The skyscrapers seen above are meant to evoke mountains, replete with shining peaks and ridges from erosion. MAD founder Ma Yansong is just getting started: he recently proposed a similar shan-shui plan for the city of Guiyang,…

To become inclusive, open up about failure BLAKE IRVING, CEO and board director of GoDaddy Too many companies just issue reports announcing our micro-successes when it comes to diversity, while shielding our defeats—which we all have. For instance, each year GoDaddy shares the results of our gender-balance and pay-equity studies. We’ve made strides, but in some areas, we’ve lost ground. Transparency helps us shine a light on the dark corners in our culture that would otherwise be ignored. Automation is no apocalypse JOE KAESER, president and CEO of Siemens AG There has never actually been a choice between robots or people. Any transformation of the factory floor must be met by a company-led commitment to reskilling employees—perhaps through a public-private system of education. Businesses win by having a pipeline of…

The Front Runners JOE BIDEN, BERNIE SANDERS, ELIZABETH WARREN Each is a liberal icon with national name recognition, devoted supporters and a robust financial network waiting to spring into action if they decide to run. The Rising Stars KAMALA HARRIS, JULIÁN CASTRO, ERIC GARCETTI Now a Senator, Harris was California’s top cop, and she has drawn plaudits for her tough questions in hearings and willingness to work across the aisle. Castro is a former mayor of San Antonio and Housing and Urban Development Secretary. Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti brings big-city leadership experience. Together the trio reflect the growing diversity that the party counts among its strengths. The Senators KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, AMY KLOBUCHAR, JEFF MERKLEY Progressive and pragmatic, they’re tough to pick out of a crowd but unburdened…

SOURCE OF POWER In a region where water sources are scarce, the Brahmaputra is a vital asset. China has constructed a hydropower dam upstream, which gives it the ability to control flows into downstream states like India. HUNG OUT TO DRY Beijing is now withholding key data from Delhi during flood season, exerting pressure after a feud between China and India over a disputed Himalayan region. Beijing blames out-of-date hydrological stations for the lack of data. HELL OR HIGH WATER Experts fear that China could divert the river’s waters away from India, devastating its northeastern plains. A water treaty might prevent that scenario, but Beijing may not be inclined to relinquish control of the faucet. DIGITS$277,503 The amount of money donated to anti-arms and human-rights activists by British street artist…

IN A SURPRISING REVERSAL, REPUBLICANS resuscitated efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, moving a bill to the brink of passage days before a key deadline. The bill, introduced by GOP Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, would reshape the U.S. health care system. It would end the Medicaid expansion and state insurance marketplaces created by Obamacare, and instead give states pools of money to use as they see fit. The legislation would allow states to sell cheaper plans with skimpier coverage as well as waive minimum-coverage requirements, and would end mandates for people to buy insurance and employers to provide it to workers. “State control of health care will work,” Graham said. “The people in charge will be accountable to you.” Health…

BONNIE ANGELO, WHO escaped society-page duty at her hometown Winston-Salem, N.C., newspaper to write cover stories for TIME during a pioneering career that spanned three decades at the magazine, died on Sept. 17 at 93. As White House correspondent, she reported on Watergate and Nixon’s resignation, then became the first woman to run TIME’s London bureau in 1978, where she covered the rise of Margaret Thatcher and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. A beloved and respected colleague, Angelo had energy and good humor that masked a steely determination to gain equality for women journalists, a struggle she led as president of the Women’s National Press Club. In 1998, she was awarded the International Women’s Media Foundation’s lifetime achievement award.…

IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA, IT’S EASY TO assume that cold, hard facts can drive change. Not so fast, argues cognitive scientist Tali Sharot, whose new book, The Influential Mind, explores how emotion tends to overpower reason when it comes to human decisionmaking. Consider a study that found that people were more likely to donate to a medical fundraiser when it had a photo of a young woman smiling in the sunlight, rather than a picture of a person suffering in a hospital bed. Although the sicklooking patient may need more help, it’s hard for people to imagine that patient having a happy ending; the smiling picture evoked hope, which is a greater motivator. “If we want to affect the behaviors and beliefs of the person in front of…

A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week’s most talked-about studies: 1 FEELING BAD ABOUT FAILURE MAKES YOU IMPROVE A study in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making found that concentrating on emotions related to failure in a certain task made people more likely to try harder in the future than those who thought only about the details of their mistakes in the task. 2 TATTOOS MAY RELEASE TOXIC PARTICLES INTO YOUR BODY Research in Scientific Reports found that in autopsies of four corpses with tattoos, nanoparticles of titanium dioxide—a possibly carcinogenic ingredient found in tattoo pigments—had appeared in the lymph nodes. But more research is needed to assess possible dangers. 3 IT MIGHT BE NICER NOT TO SAY ‘SORRY’ A study of more than 1,000 people in…

1Explore life without social media Social media now dictates how people interact with friends, read the news and navigate their day-to-day lives. But that constant exposure may be taking a toll on the human psyche, research suggests. Recent studies have linked more frequent Facebook use to poorer physical and mental health, plus diminished life satisfaction. Another study found that the more time people spent on social media per day, the more likely they were to have symptoms of anxiety. That may be because platforms like Instagram make it easy to compare yourself with others, and news-heavy sites like Facebook and Twitter expose you to an onslaught of often disturbing headlines and upsetting opinions. What to do? Trimming your social habit to just one platform may lighten your load. And taking…

THE U.S. CANNOT COEXIST WITH A NUCLEAR-CAPABLE North Korea. It would not only endanger Americans at home but also deter the U.S. from protecting allies that were threatened or attacked by North Korea. That could mean the end of the American alliances with Pacific countries, a key pillar of global security. But options for getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal are not good. North Korea already holds U.S. allies hostage to attacks we cannot control—and may already or will soon pose a similar threat to the U.S. homeland. That presents an unacceptable risk of retaliation for any American military action. There is nothing the U.S. can do for NorthKorea that might induce it to denuclearize, because its leader, Kim Jong Un, uses his country’s war footing against the…

NOT MUCH HAPPENS TO THE LITTLE NURSING Sisters of the Sick Poor, the stars of Alice McDermott’s new novel The Ninth Hour—they live to serve others. But plenty has happened to those in their care. These nuns in early–20th century Brooklyn help people in rock-bottom situations: a woman who’s lost her leg to a rabid dog, children with life-threatening illnesses, a wife whose husband commits suicide while she’s pregnant. This last case is Annie, an Irish immigrant who came to America for the man who would eventually widow her. When their daughter Sally is born, the sisters give Annie a job in the convent’s laundry, and the twosome become lifelong associates of the nuns. The job is a life raft—little Sally has supervision down in that laundry room from infancy…

I GET DEEPLY INSULTED WHEN PEOPLE SAY, “LEAD, FOLLOW or get out of the way.” My entire career has consisted of getting in the way. It’s why people don’t like journalists: we’re always getting in the way of leaders by nitpicking that they shouldn’t start a war with North Korea or that they need to spend more than four days on our nation’s health care plan. Actually, people don’t like journalists because we’re smug and nerdy. Which is the same as getting in the way. Yet when I was a kid, people told me that I needed to be more of a leader because I was smart. This made little sense to me, since none of the adults who led were smart. It’s not like when my vice principal…

ransomware NOUN Malicious software that requires the victim to pay a ransom to access encrypted files The word was first used in 2005, but is now familiar as these kinds of hacking attempts multiply. Ransomware attacks are forecast to cost businesses $5 billion in 2017. schneid NOUN A losing streak (as in sports), e.g, “The Yankees this year are on the schneid” The etymology of the word schneid appears to be a diminution of the German word schneider (tailor), used in card games of a player who fails to score any points. pregame VERB To begin drinking alcohol before an event or activity Pregame has been used as an adjective (as in “pregame meal”) for over 100 years. In the 2000s, it gained currency as a verb among college students…

IN RECENT YEARS, FALL HAS become virtually synonymous with pumpkin spice, as U.S. grocery stories and cafes tout the flavor in everything from beer and lattes to Oreo cookies. But the trend is even more novel—if not downright impressive—when you consider how Americans once viewed the squash. Among colonial settlers, pumpkin “was a food of last resort,” says Cindy Ott, author of Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon. Because the crop was a new-world native, it was seen as primitive. In fact, “pumpkin eater” was a derogatory term for a poor, ignorant farmer. (Hence the nursery rhyme “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater,” about a man who can’t read or spell.) Things began to change when Americans flocked to cities in the mid–19th century. Nostalgia for farm life meant nostalgia…

DRIVING THE NEW NISSAN LEAF WILL TAKE AN UNINITIATED electric-car operator—like me—by surprise. During a two-day test drive on Washington, D.C.–area streets and highways, the Leaf accelerated fast, ran silently and allowed me to use a feature letting the driver never touch the brake pedal. Add to that a sleek redesigned exterior and you have a vehicle that will impress even a hardened electric-vehicle skeptic. But those elements are just part of what Nissan says will make this car a success when it hits the market early next year. Indeed, the Leaf’s impressive set of features still faces stiff competition from Tesla’s most affordable model, which offers greater range and a hotter brand name. Nissan is betting that the Leaf’s value—including its ample features and moderate price tag—will persuade potential…

WRITE A THANK-YOU NOTE. Reflecting on a friend’s impact can brighten your day and theirs. SNAP A SMARTPHONE PHOTO. It directs your attention, which may enhance your pleasure of the moment. DROP (ALMOST) EVERYTHING. One study found that the more people multitasked, the higher their anxiety levels. GET SOME SUN, which may help regulate mood by boosting serotonin, a brain chemical linked to calmness. JOT DOWN WHAT YOU’RE GRATEFUL FOR. Doing so has been linked to greater feelings of happiness. THINK ABOUT DOING SOMEONE A FAVOR. New research shows that that’s enough for a lift, even before you act. DO A MINI MEDITATION. A brief but consistent mindfulness habit can help people better react to stress. BUY TICKETS TO EVENTS. People get more joy from experiences than things, and many…

THE COMMUNICATOR Nichelle Nichols was the only woman on the bridge as communications officer Uhura in the original 1960s-era Star Trek THE BARTENDER Whoopi Goldberg, a lifelong Star Trek fan, asked for a role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran in the ’80s and ’90s THE CAPTAIN Kate Mulgrew became the first female lead in a Star Trek series when she was cast as Captain Janeway in Voyager in 1995 THE FIGHTER Zoe Saldana plays a more battle-ready version of Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films, the first of which came out in 2009…

ONE OF THE FOLLOWING IS not a feature of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Matthew Vaughn’s bodaciously entertaining sequel to his equally nutso 2015 comic-book adventure Kingsman: The Secret Service. A treacherous gondola in the Italian Alps, a pug puppy, a Sistine Chapel explosion, a royal wedding, Julianne Moore as a perky yet sadistic drug lord—lordess?— with a penchant for ’50s populuxe design. Give up? All you really need to know is that there’s enough sleek, meticulously tailored disreputability here for three movies. Taron Egerton returns as the insanely well-dressed secret agent Eggsy, member of an elite spy ring fronted by a London tailor’s shop. Colin Firth and Mark Strong also return as, respectively, Eggsy’s mentor and righthand tech expert. Don’t be shocked if Channing Tatum shows up as a Kentucky…

Murals by British street artist Banksy have appeared in central London near a new exhibition of work by Jean-Michel Basquiat. One mural bears that artist’s signature crown image. ‘So now, more great roles for women, please!’ NICOLE KIDMAN, accepting the Emmy Award for Best Limited Series as a producer of HBO’s Big Little Lies, in which she also starred A new photo of Prince’s ID badge on Rick James’ tour in 1980 surfaced, showing that the singer—at the beginning of his career—already identified as a “star.” The celebrity-staffed Hand in Hand telethon raised over $44 million for hurricane relief, thanks to support from stars like Oprah, George Clooney and Stevie Wonder. Selena Gomez revealed that, to treat her lupus diagnosis, she underwent a successful kidney transplant, with a kidney donated…

Mother! is about a couple (Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem) who are living an idyllic rural life until it is severely disrupted by unwelcome guests. It’s an allegorical epic that has split critics. Why make this film now? It started off with me wanting to return to the horror genre after Black Swan. I thought that the home-invasion movie would be a good place to start because everyone understands what it means to have a guest who stays too long. At the same time, I thought it would be interesting to talk about another home—not your home, not my home, but our home. You mean the earth? The mother of us all. The one who gave us all life. I wanted to tell a movie from Mother Nature’s point of…