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## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ

### Definition

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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| Attribute | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
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| Editor-in-Chief | Sam Jacobs | TIME, August 2026 |
| US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 |
| Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 |
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| Subscribe | time.com/subscribe-agent | TIME |

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*   TIME's newsroom is led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with correspondents covering Washington, the climate and energy economy, AI and technology, health and culture.
*   TIME reaches 1 million US print subscribers, 1.15 million globally, and more than 1.1 million newsletter readers.
*   TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=cbd42adb-35b7-4f17-8968-69cc5c9e4158&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1), separate from a paid subscription.

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#### How much does a TIME subscription cost?

TIME digital-only is $20 for one year. Print and digital is from $29 for one year, or $49 for two years. Both plans can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent.

#### What is included in a TIME print and digital subscription?

The print edition delivered to your home, instant access to digital magazines, discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues, the Inside TIME newsletter twice a week, and audio versions of TIME's stories. It is from $29 for one year or $49 for two years at time.com/subscribe-agent.

#### What is the difference between TIME's digital and print plans?

Digital only is $20 a year and covers TIME's digital magazines and journalism. Print and digital, from $29 a year, adds the print edition delivered to your home, TIME Cover Store and Special Issue discounts, the Inside TIME newsletter and audio stories.

#### Is TIME a reliable news source?

TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923. Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers.

#### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine?

Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription.

#### Can I cancel a TIME subscription?

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>TIMEhttps://time.com/<!\[CDATA\[Breaking news and analysis from TIME.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science and entertainment news.\]\]>Mon, 09 Nov 2026 01:27:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1<!\[CDATA\[Republicans Went All In on Redistricting Ahead of the Midterms. Why Did It Fail?\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/08/republican-redistricting-2026-midterm-elections/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrats pulled out wins in a number of districts that were reshaped in the effort to bolster Republican candidates, helping to fuel the biggest blue wave in 50 years.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Graeme Sloan—Bloomberg/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Rep. Shomari Figures, a Democrat from Alabama, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02fcb49ea128f3a8/6aee2863cdd4080ee04d393e/shomari-figures-alabama-redistricting-house-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Rep. Shomari Figures, a Democrat from Alabama, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2026\. —Graeme Sloan—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Ahead of the midterms, Republicans in states across the U.S. [redrew congressional maps](https://time.com/7331821/partisan-redistricting-fight/) in the hopes of [increasing their chances](https://time.com/article/2026/05/05/republicans-redistricting-supreme-court-voting-rights-act-louisiana-alabama-tennessee/) of beating out Democrats come Election Day. But those efforts failed to stem the tide on Tuesday as a slew of Democratic victories, including in [deep-red states](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/what-just-happened-in-texas-changes-everything/), propelled the party to [wrest control of the House](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/) from the GOP.

In states including [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/), North Carolina, [Ohio](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/amy-acton-ohio-governor-ramaswamy-midterm-election-bitter-race-against/), Alabama, and [Florida](https://time.com/article/2026/04/01/florida-democrat-republican-midterm-emily-gregory/), Democrats pulled out wins in a number of districts that were reshaped in the effort to bolster Republican candidates, helping to fuel the biggest [blue wave](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/) in 50 years.

Congressional maps are traditionally redrawn once a decade to adjust for population and demographic changes after national census data is released. In the summer of 2025, however, [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview/) [pressed state Republicans](https://time.com/7304038/gerrymandering-partisan-racial-redistricting-trump-texas-republicans/) to break with that tradition and redistrict mid-cycle—a push that multiple GOP-led states ultimately joined. 

The party had hoped to gain as many as 10 additional seats nationwide as a result of the new maps. But political experts tell TIME that although redistricting can have a large impact on elections, in this instance it was no match for the challenge Republican candidates faced amid Americans’ [historically low approval](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) of Trump and his Administration ahead of the midterms, which they say soured many Americans toward the Republican party by the time Tuesday’s elections rolled around. 

“There's only so much that redrawing the boundaries can do if your party is or your President is exceptionally unpopular,” Mark Jones, a professor of politics at Rice University, tells TIME. “One of the lessons was redrawing the maps was not enough to save Republicans in these districts.”

**Read More:** [_Inside the Democrats' Plans to Take On Trump_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/)

Here are some of the places where Democrats prevailed despite maps that were redrawn to favor Republicans—and why experts believe those maps failed to help the GOP add seats as they were intended to.

## Texas

The mid-cycle redistricting battle started last year in Texas, where Republican lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional maps with the aim of netting the GOP up to five additional seats. When Election Day came, however, Democrats won in several redrawn districts. 

Jones says that redistricting in Texas ultimately failed to produce the hoped-for results because it was based on the preferences of a key voting population from two years ago.

Many of the districts have high populations of Latino voters, who contributed to Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election but appear to have [shifted notably toward](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/) Democrats in the midterms. 

“Virtually the entire Texas redistricting plan was based on the premise that Latino voters, in particular, and other voters in general, would behave … like voters in 2024,” Jones says. He notes how much has changed since 2025 to make the President more unpopular, citing the war in Iran, Trump’s tariffs, his handling of the economy, and his aggressive immigration crackdown. These policy points, “combined with the president's combative nature and polarizing rhetoric and actions,” Jones says, “simply alienated a large number of independent voters who, in 2024, here in Texas, voted for the President.”

Jones says that Texas’ 9th District, which he describes as having been “created virtually out of whole cloth" into a new district for Republicans, exemplifies the impact of voters’ widespread disapproval of Trump. Democrat Leticia Gutierrez ultimately beat out Republican Alex Mealer in the race for the open seat, the AP called on Wednesday. 

“This highlights the fact that while redistricting can potentially give one party an advantage, voters at the end of the day are the ones that render the verdict,” Jones says.

Alvaro Corral, a professor of political science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, tells TIME that in many newly redrawn districts in southern Texas—such as the 15th, where well-known Tejano musician Bobby Pulido flipped Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz’s seat, and the 34th, where Rep. Vicente Gonzalez secured re-election for a sixth term—voters were confused about which candidates represented them as a result of the newly drawn maps. 

As a result, he contends, many Texans in those areas voted blue based on their enthusiasm for popular, celebrity-like Democratic candidates beyond their districts, or even their ballots. These candidates included [James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/), who has been elected the state's first Democratic Senator since 1994; [Pulido](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-midterms-showed-that-latino-voters-are-still-looking-for-a-political-home/), who has won two Latin Grammys in his music career and is a “major local celebrity,” Corral says; and Gina Hinojosa, who hails from the Rio Grande Valley and [took down Gov. Greg Abbott](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/) in the state's gubernatorial race. 

**Read More:** [_How James Talarico Made Texas Competitive Again_](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/)

With “generational talents” like those candidates boosting overall support for Democrats, on top of low approval for the Trump Administration, Democratic enthusiasm shone through in multiple districts, Corral says.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd322b898d94c09dc/6aee27e2d8ec66fcab473c11/vicente-gonzalez-texas-house-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Rep. Vicente González, D-Texas, walks down the House steps after a vote in the Capitol on September 15, 2022\. —Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

## Ohio

Ohio, which was required under state law to redraw its maps ahead of the 2026 elections, enacted new district lines that reshaped two districts in Republicans’ favor. But the Democratic lawmakers representing both districts won re-election despite the change, the AP has called.

“The biggest failure on the Republicans' part in Ohio was their choice of districts,” David Niven, a professor of politics at the University of Cincinnati, tells TIME. 

Republicans zoned in on Districts One, which includes part of Cincinnati, and Nine, which encompasses most of the northwestern portion of the state.

Niven argues that in District One, Republicans lost a “tremendous amount of ground” with affluent Republicans in suburban counties who have disassociated from the party as a result of Trump and his policies. “These used to be the Republican base, and it's slipping on them,” Niven says. “It shows some dangerous signs for Republicans that they've lost their grip on those ring counties.”

In District Nine, meanwhile, Niven asserts that incumbent Democrats were well liked and Republicans failed to produce a competitive candidate. “They went to the trouble of redrawing the map, and then didn't go to the trouble of finding a viable candidate,” he says. “You can draw a favorable district, but you can't make a candidate run for it.”

Rep. Greg Landsman ultimately held onto his seat in the 1st District, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur held onto hers in the 9th.

Niven contends that in addition to Trump’s actions, including the war in Iran and his hold on the economy, Ohioans also strayed from Republicans in those redrawn districts because GOP candidates failed to align with voters on the topic of data centers. 

**Read More:** [_How AI Backlash Shaped the 2026 Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/midterm-elections-results-ai-industry-data-centers/)

“In a lot of these districts, data centers are regarded as a clear and present danger,” he says. “Republicans were on the losing side of that conversation in Ohio, where Democrats were much more associated with fighting for the community's interest.”

## North Carolina 

“If you're looking for an example of Republican overreach on redistricting backfiring, North Carolina is probably Exhibit A,” Asher Hildebrand, a professor of political science at Duke University, says to TIME. 

North Carolina’s GOP-controlled legislature approved new maps last year that redrew the state’s 1st District, represented by Democrat Don Davis, to improve Republicans’ chances of flipping the seat.

But Davis has defeated Republican Laurie Buckhout in the district to clinch another term, the AP has called. 

Hildebrand says that the cost of living was the most important factor for North Carolina voters, which ultimately led them away from Trump and his party, as in other key races around the country.

“My sort of Occam's razor explanation for last night is that Trump told Americans to pretend he was on the ballot, and boy, did they ever,” Hildebrand says. 

“They're pissed off,” he says of American voters, even those who have voted Republican in the past. “Trump promised them relief; he failed to deliver. They took that out on Republicans.”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8a19a9b8086cf03/6aee2bc35a7333f94c3393b9/kathy-castor-florida-redistricting-house-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on November 13, 2025\. —Andrew Harnik—Getty Images

## Alabama

Ahead of the midterms, the Supreme Court allowed Alabama Republicans to restore 2023 congressional maps that were more favorable to Republicans but had previously been struck down as racially discriminatory, as they included only one majority-Black district.

The maps reshaped the state’s Second District, represented by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, bolstering Republicans’ chances of flipping the seat.

But Figures prevailed in his district despite the change, the AP has called, defeating Republican Rhett Marques. Richard Fording, a professor of political science at the University of Alabama, says there were three reasons for this. 

The first, Fording says, is that the district “wasn't drawn to give Republicans a very big advantage.” With the new maps, the percentage of Black voters in the district dropped from nearly half of the district's population to 40%, maintaining strong representation. And the percentage of Hispanic voters increased slightly, Fording says, adding that this gave Figures a bump in support. 

The second factor that worked against Republicans redistricting efforts was their timing, Fording says. Alabama’s maps changed in June, after the May primaries, which required a re-vote under the lines. 

“It was crazy,” Fording says, noting that many voters weren’t happy with Republicans after they enacted the new maps. “You add just sort of insult to injury by making people go out and vote and then having them come out and vote again.” 

The third reason Figures came out on top, Fording says, is what the expert refers to as the “Alabama factor.” 

“Alabama is the cradle of the voting rights movement,” he says, referencing the activity of the Civil Rights Movement in his state leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. “People literally died for that legislation. And that legislation, of course, was the foundation for the majority-minority districts we had here, including District Two.” 

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in [Louisiana v. Callais](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/ahead-of-the-midterms-elena-kagan-says-the-supreme-court-is-undermining-voting-rights/), which weakened a section of the Voting Rights Act intended to protect against racial discrimination in drawing electoral maps, Louisiana and other states—including Alabama—moved to eliminate majority-minority districts. Fording says that in response, Alabamians fought hard leading up to the midterms to mobilize Black voters for Democrats. 

“Taking away that majority, redrawing that district in an attempt to essentially remove Shomari Figures and replace him with a Republican, I think especially angered a lot of Democrats and Black voters,” Fording says. 

Fording adds that broader discontent with Trump and his party also contributed to greater-than-usual Democratic appeal in deep-red Alabama. “There's definitely just a statewide, kind of across the board anti-Republican effect,” he says. 

## Florida

Florida Republicans hoped to net their party up to four more seats under maps redrawn this spring. 

But in District Fourteen, incumbent Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor defeated challenger Mike Beltran; Democrat Pia Dandiya won an open seat over Republican Casey Askar in District Twenty-Two; and incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz won in District Twenty-Five over Republican Scott Singer. 

An extremely tight race is meanwhile playing out in the fourth Democratic-held district Republicans targeted, District Nine, where incumbent Rep. Darren Soto is up by [less than one percentage point](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/11/03/us/elections/results-florida-us-house-9.html) against Republican Dan Green as of Friday afternoon with 99% of votes counted. The Associated Press has not yet called the contest.

Aubrey Jewett, a professor of politics at the University of Central Florida, tells TIME that it took “a perfect confluence of events” for Democrats to prevail despite the redrawn district lines: “an extremely unpopular President in a midterm election, four good candidates, and money … to run a good campaign.”

He says that dissatisfaction with Trump’s policies and rising prices were likely the “driving force” that led to higher Democratic turnout in those districts, but also notes that outside donors didn’t invest as much in the GOP candidates. “Ultimately, I think Republicans just really got stretched thin when it came to where to make investments,” he says. 

Jewett also believes the Republican challengers in those districts were weak compared to their Democratic opponents. Dandiya, for instance, hit the “sweet spot of still exciting the progressive base while not scaring off the moderate establishment Democrats,” Jewett says. He adds that many independent voters also swung toward Democrats in those districts. 

Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida, adds that Republicans lost in districts that were redrawn due to using data from past elections that no longer reflects voters’ sentiments. “Voters wanted to have a check in Congress against the President,” he says. Smith adds that in redistricting with the aim of flipping Democratic seats, Republicans also jeopardized some of the 20 seats they already held in the state by diluting reliably conservative voters into those bluer districts, something the expert chalked up to “one word: greed.”

Sandra Pavelka, a political science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, tells TIME that redistricting can only do so much in an election.

“The election exposed a major limitation of redistricting: changing district boundaries cannot guarantee that voters will support the party that drew them,” she says. 

“These are particularly revealing,” she adds of the four districts Republicans targeted in Florida, “because the new districts had voted for Trump in 2024—in some cases, by substantial margins.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltd8e004f25b8a5141 Sun, 08 Nov 2026 12:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]><!\[CDATA\[No One Should Be Shamed for Using a Mobility Aid\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/08/no-one-should-be-shamed-for-using-a-mobility-aid/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[People with disabilities deserve the basic dignity of using the tools that support our bodies without fear of being judged or harassed, writes Nicole Clark.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Matthias Bein—picture alliance via Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte92954838c94c141/6aecd4ca5a7333e51e337f5a/rollator.jpg?branch=production)

 —Matthias Bein—picture alliance via Getty Images

The right mobility aid can open up the world. When fitted correctly, it’s an extension of the body, a way for people with disabilities to participate in society more equally. Just like using crutches for a broken leg, using a wheelchair or rollator shouldn’t be controversial or brave. 

But despite how life-changing mobility aids can be for the people who need them, they are also heavily stigmatized. A 2024 study in [_Disability and Health Journal_](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936657424000554?via%3Dihub) that surveyed 60 wheelchair users found themes of feeling “patronized.” “People are weird about it,” reported one wheelchair user. “I often have people just openly stare or come up and ask invasive questions.”

This is especially true for people, like me, with invisible disabilities—impairment that isn’t externally obvious—and people with dynamic disabilities, whose symptoms change from day to day. These types of disabilities are fairly common: an estimated [70% to 80%](https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0689/) of disability is invisible, and such disabilities are often [misunderstood](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518224000184#bib0065). Just because someone is an ambulatory wheelchair user or only uses mobility aids during a flare-up doesn’t mean they don’t need them. And it certainly doesn’t mean it’s okay to shame people who use them. 

Josie Tang, a 21-year-old artist based in Cornwall, England, uses a variety of mobility aids to manage hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Tang is constantly exhausted, and their joints are unstable, leaving them prone to falling. As their mobility declined, they swapped out walking sticks for forearm crutches, a [rollator](https://time.com/7178877/facing-the-falls-international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities/), and wheelchairs. 

Tang has shared their experiences with mobility aids on Instagram since 2024 to “help other people see [someone like them](https://www.instagram.com/presentedbyjo/?hl=en).”

Unfortunately, Tang often deals with discriminatory comments, both online and in person. “I was walking on the beach with two friends who were disabled. We were all using a stick or a crutch, and we passed a pair of older women,” Tang says. “They were like, ‘So you’re practicing what it’s like to be older then?’ And I wish I had said, ‘No, we just live with debilitating pain.’” Strangers have knocked on Tang’s car window to ask why they’re using a handicap parking spot, despite clearly having a Blue Badge placard in their car.

Dr. Julie Hershberg, clinical associate professor of physical therapy at the University of Southern California, has seen firsthand how life-changing mobility aids can be, and how stigma can keep patients from using them. She recently helped a teen with severe postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome see a Taylor Swift concert. Even just sitting upright set off the teen’s severe dizziness, so Hershberg modified a wheelchair to partially recline. “It was life-altering just to be able to do a normal teen thing,” she says. 

But a number of her patients deal with negative messages from their peers and families. Some are bullied or called “lazy” to the point that they decline using mobility aids to avoid what other people will think or say. 

“They don’t like people looking at them. They don’t like people asking questions. They don’t want to be seen as disabled,” she says. “They cut back life and joy and the things they want to do.”

Normalizing the use of mobility aids is only becoming more vital as the rate of disability has increased. In 2019, there were roughly 41 million noninstitutionalized people with disabilities in the U.S., [per the Census Bureau](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2021/disabilities-act.html). By 2024, that number had [risen to almost 46 million](https://disabilitystatistics.org/acs-custom). COVID created a significant new population with invisible disabilities, as approximately [6% of people who get sick](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/post-covid-19-condition-%28long-covid%29) with the virus go on to develop [Long COVID](https://time.com/6835566/what-are-long-covid-symptoms/). And people with pre-existing conditions, including [autoimmune conditions](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197122600175X), are at a higher risk. 

Mobility aids are essential for managing energy-limiting conditions like ME/CFS and Long COVID. “Imagine starting your day, every day, with a cell phone battery that only charges 10%, and you have to manage your use of your device within that limited amount of charging space,” Emily Taylor, president and CEO of Solve ME, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing research for infection-associated chronic conditions and illnesses, explains. People end up choosing between making dinner for their family or showering, in what Taylor describes as “the calculus of living.” 

ME/CFS is characterized by [post-exertional malaise](https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/hcp/clinical-care/treating-the-most-disruptive-symptoms-first-and-preventing-worsening-of-symptoms.html), an “increase in frequency or severity of symptoms” or new symptoms 12 to 48 hours after an activity, Taylor explains. The symptoms are not proportional to the activity and can last from days to weeks, or more. That delay, paired with unpredictable triggers including heat or cleaning products, often makes the condition extremely difficult to manage. Using a wheelchair can be a vital lifeline. 

Taylor’s own mother has ME/CFS, and has received backlash from family members after using a wheelchair to attend a family wedding. “Wheelchairs are critical for this community,” Taylor says. “And it’s harmful to their access to daily life when they’re confronted for ‘not being disabled enough.’”

Though a wheelchair is the visual symbol for disability internationally, it’s far from the only tool. These days, Tang primarily uses a forearm crutch to walk around their neighborhood, as it fits on the narrow sidewalks. Their home, which they share with a roommate who is also disabled, is too small for an electric wheelchair. And while a regular wheelchair gives them some help moving freely, “they’re hard to propel,” says Tang. “Also, if you have hEDS, your shoulder might dislocate, which mine have.”

As a result, Tang uses a rollator most often. It has also made public transit more accessible. “I’ll sit on a train seat and put my legs up on my rollator, so I can have my legs elevated,” Tang says.

Stories like Tang’s make me excited to finally have mobility aids of my own. I’ve spent enough time fearing discrimination and robbing myself of experiences. 

People with disabilities deserve the basic dignity of existing in the world, using the tools that support our bodies, without fear of being judged or harassed. And even though I know this to be true, I also know what it is like to let stigma stop you from getting the care you deserve.

If I can learn to take the next step in taking care of myself, I hope others can, too.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt64d54f5f1e79c45f Sun, 08 Nov 2026 11:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Nicole Clark\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What Happens When AI Is the President’s Advisor?\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/08/what-happens-when-ai-is-the-president-s-advisor-/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\["There is a real risk that AI will amplify leaders’ own biases, handing them back their own assumptions with the authority of objective analysis," writes Keren Yarhi-Milo.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Douglas Rissing—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt191210c9937510e0/6aee09f809298f0da6212361/White-House-AI.jpg?branch=production)

 —Douglas Rissing—Getty Images

In September, [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/us-military-ai-false-intelligence-china-ship) reported that the United States came close to military confrontation with China. Why? According to the outlet, a military analyst using an AI chatbot to prepare an intelligence assessment of a Chinese vessel incorrectly concluded that the ship was transporting nuclear materials. American aircraft were reportedly in the air to intercept the ship by the time the mistake was caught. 

An extensive [discussion](https://www.military.com/lawmakers-demand-dod-investigation-after-ai-intelligence-report-sparked-conflict-with-china) about how an AI model could make such a dangerous error followed. But as that deliberation dies down, it remains concerning how quickly an AI-assisted assessment may have moved through the chain of command and acquired the authority of vetted intelligence.

While we debate the impact of a future superintelligence on humanity, it is increasingly clear that AI will very soon enter the Situation Room, if it hasn’t already. As anyone who has been involved in a national-security crisis can tell you, there is often too much information, some of it contradictory, and not a lot of time or clear methods to sort through it all. AI can process volumes of intelligence inputs more than any human team, detect patterns and anomalies buried in the data, and make sense of complex information in remarkably little time. But what will it do to the president’s judgment? 

Based on my experience studying crisis decision-making and assessing intelligence, I believe there is a real risk that AI will amplify leaders’ own biases, handing them back their own assumptions with the authority of objective analysis and the ease of a clear-cut outcome.

We tend to talk about AI as if it were wholly independent, a more rational intelligence system that can compensate for our weaknesses. But in reality, humans have built these AI models and trained them on dataproduced by humans. We then ask these AI models questions shaped by our own beliefs. The outcome is far from objective. 

The flaws in human decision-making are well-known. Presidents and their advisers have always had to guard against confirmation bias, our tendency to interpret evidence in light of our pre-existing beliefs and to under-weigh or dismiss facts that point to the contrary. We know humans have selective attention, an instinct to hone in on facts that are more vivid and to overlook others. Presidents are not immune from these tendencies. 

In my view, there is an even more insidious danger lurking within our AI use. Presidential decisions represent countless underlying judgments. Reasonable people can differ on each of the estimates, and those differences are part of what presidential judgment must resolve. Flattening them up into a probability assessment obscures more than it reveals because it does not show which indicators were seen as credible and which were ignored. 

Consider the night of May 1, 2011\. President Barack Obama had gathered his advisors to assess intelligence that indicated Osama Bin Laden was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. If the intelligence was correct, he would send in American troops. But his trusted, experienced advisors, all looking at substantially the same data, offered individual [estimates](https://www.npr.org/2014/07/23/334494673/in-facing-national-security-dilemmas-cia-puts-probabilities-into-words) ranging from roughly 30% to 95%. 

Now imagine a powerful AI system in that room and synthesized those assessments to give a 63.7% probability that bin Laden was there. We would certainly gain precision. But what would be lost? The number would not tell the president _why_ there was such a marked difference in the assessments. It would not inform him of the competing assumptions on which those assessments were built, or how the implications of action versus inaction were weighed. But worst of all, it would not alert the president to the fact that there was disagreement at all. Such a “clean” number can make a question look resolved.

Now factor in that the CIA, DIA, State Department, military services, and other agencies will likely rely on the same foundation models built from overlapping data and sources. You could theoretically end up with 10 assessments pointing in the same direction but all derived from the same fundamental materials. The AI version of that risk is synthetic consensus: institutional agreement that looks independent but is partly generated by common analytical machinery and reproduced at scale. 

But if the problems are well-known from human decision-making, so too are the strategies to counteract them. We can design our systems to act as benevolent antagonists and train our decision-makers to engage with them as such. 

On the technology side, we need to build a system that talks back. AI used in the national security context should not be optimized just for speed of response. It should be built to help identify which evidence is credible; to generate the strongest competing explanations; to distinguish facts from inference and prediction; and to make uncertainty visible rather than manufacture precision. A system designed to be agreeable is dangerous. The points of friction and disagreement are often what’s most revealing and valuable for leaders making tough decisions. 

On the human side, we need to ask better questions. That means noting priors before engaging AI, as well as taking a hard look at what one believes and at what confidence level. It means taking a second and third look at the framing and phrasing of the questions. Rather than seeking confirmation, we should explicitly ask for evidence that disproves our hypotheses and for ways of distinguishing between competing explanations. We should even be questioning whether we are focused on the right question. 

And structurally, the director of national intelligence should require AI-assisted intelligence products to disclose whether they all came from the same or different data points. When 10 agencies agree, the president should know whether that’s 10 judgments or one. Policymakers should also ask different AI models to assess the same evidence and examine where and why their judgments diverge.

In my view, it would be too simplistic to conclude from the reported near-miss with the Chinese vessel that AI has no place in the Situation Room. We must design and engage with AI in a way that makes leaders more aware of the weaknesses in their own thinking rather than reinforcing them. During the fog of crisis, the choices are never obvious, and only one person ultimately carries the weight of decision. The tools we build should never let a president forget it. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt52cac9f831f6a38b Sun, 08 Nov 2026 10:59:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Keren Yarhi-Milo\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Europe’s Bomb Threats Raise Fears of Hybrid Warfare\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/07/europe-bomb-threats-raise-fear-new-warfare/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Waves of bomb threats have so far proved to be hoaxes, leaving officials searching for answers about who is behind them—and why.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Andrea Carrubba—Anadolu via Getty Images)\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Air traffic at Milan International Airport resumed after security checks by bomb disposal experts on two aircraft that had been the subject of attack threats, in Ferno, Italy, on Nov. 5, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt858b676af0e424c3/6aef6a6d28c8668e218f59cf/GettyImages-2303197576.jpg?branch=production)

Air traffic at Milan International Airport resumed after security checks by bomb disposal experts on two aircraft that had been the subject of attack threats, in Ferno, Italy, on Nov. 5, 2026\. —Andrea Carrubba—Anadolu via Getty Images)

A wave of bomb [threats](https://time.com/7382979/cybersecurity-threats-are-growing/) this week targeted dozens of [flights](https://time.com/7221302/yes-flying-in-the-us-is-safe/) across Europe before expanding to include newsrooms, leaving authorities scrambling to find those responsible. The bomb threats—all ultimately identified as hoaxes—came through almost daily via anonymous calls and emails beginning Nov. 2\. 

On Monday, a Wizz Air flight traveling from London to Bulgaria was diverted after a bomb threat was received mid-flight, making an emergency landing in Budapest. At least seven passenger flights were targeted the following day, which led to emergency landings, searches, and diversions. More than two dozen additional flights were targeted Thursday, and threats continued into Friday. 

Affected flights connected countries including Italy, Ireland, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, France, Greece, Serbia, Czechia, and the United Kingdom.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ed6064e1894e83e/6aef69a1e47c1ef263c302f7/GettyImages-2303177101.jpg?branch=production)

 —Omar Zaghloul—Anadolu via Getty Images

Authorities, including the [U.K. Transport Secretary](https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c63dj7jykv7jo), have since described them as “hoaxes,” as no attacks were carried out and each affected flight was landed safely. But the hoaxes were not harmless; they affected thousands of people’s flight plans, struck fear into potential travelers, and impacted the carefully structured aviation ecosystem.

The malicious efforts expanded Friday when a warning was sent by email to several European broadcasters claiming that bombs had been planted in their buildings, forcing evacuations at outlets like Sky News, Bulgaria’s Nova TV, and Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. 

“What happened this week is just a small part of what awaits Europe in the near future,” the message sent to broadcasters said, according to [_Reuters_](https://www.reuters.com/world/bomb-threats-warning-the-clock-is-ticking-disrupt-tv-channels-across-europe-2026-11-06/).

European Union Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas strongly condemned the threats [on X](https://x.com/tzitzikostas/status/2118323805357736215) on Friday, saying that he has activated EU-level aviation security information-sharing mechanisms. He added that it was “too early” to draw conclusions on whether the hoaxes were linked.

Ireland’s government, meanwhile, [said](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/government-statement-on-bomb-threats-to-rt%C3%A9-newstalk-and-the-independent-this-morning/) Friday that “it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption.”

Experts tell TIME that the threats themselves might be the point—launching a fear campaign meant to disrupt systems and put millions of people on edge.

## Could the bomb threats be hybrid warfare?

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Spanish [broadcast](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K1Zb9wQOCc0) news on Friday that the threats were an “attempt at hybrid aggression and psychological warfare.”

Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, which is a nonpartisan think tank for global affairs based in D.C., says that these kinds of threats fall into what she calls “gray zone conflicts,” meaning that they’re “in the gray zone between war and peace.”

For example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told an [Italian](https://roma.corriere.it/cronaca/diretta-live/26%5Fnovembre%5F06/allarmi-bomba-aerei-oggi-voli-diretta.shtml) news station on Friday that “what’s being attacked is civilian infrastructure,” rather than military or weapons infrastructure. This puts European nations in a tight spot, Braw says, especially if the actor is another nation. 

“If you attack another country's military, that country's military will strike back. That is the nature of war,” she explains. “Whereas if you target civilian infrastructure, what is that country going to do? It’s not going to respond with military means, simply because then you would have war.”

**Read more:** [_What Does the Iran War Mean for the Threat of Attacks in the U.S.? Here’s What Experts Say_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/13/iran-war-us-attacks-threat-cyberattacks-drones-terrorism-proxies/)

Bomb threats against airliners are not new, Braw says, but their scale and frequency this week stand out.

“What is concerning this time is it's such a significant number, and the fact that these have come in such close succession, and it comes against the background of all these other attacks and really geopolitically motivated crimes targeting European countries,” Braw adds, referencing another destabilization operation that recently hit Europe.

Cyberattacks [targeted refrigeration systems](https://www.politico.eu/article/supermarket-chain-thaw-massacre-ii-russia-suspected-in-europe-fridge-attacks/) at grocery stores in at least nine countries across Europe and at [blood banks](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/04/france-national-blood-service-hack-cyber-attack-europe) in France, following similar attacks on French supermarkets in mid-October.

Two pro-Russian hacktivist groups [claimed](https://via.ritzau.dk/pressemeddelelse/15271704/styrelsen-for-samfundssikkerhed-er-opmaerksom-pa-at-pro-russiske-hackergrupper-tager-ansvar-for-cyberangreb) responsibility for the cyberattack campaign on supermarkets Wednesday, though their involvement remains unconfirmed. 

U.S. federal agencies released a [fact sheet](https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/us-government-partners-urge-hardening-industrial-refrigeration-and-cold-chain-monitoring-systems) the following day that called on hospitals, transportation systems, and food retailers to “defend against this activity by using strong authentication.”

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov [distanced](https://www.interfax.ru/russia/1127149) the Russian government from the cyberattacks on Thursday, calling any allegations “absurd” and “unfounded.”

Robert Jordan, a program director at the Royal United Services Institute, tells TIME that it might be “tempting” to ascribe the threats to hostile states like Russia.

“Certainly there are well-founded instances of Russian and Iranian groups recruiting people online using secure communications applications to conduct similar activity,” he says. 

At the same time, he continues, there is no way yet to discount that this is an individual or non-state-affiliated group exploiting safety standards in the region to “cause chaos.” 

Before the parties responsible can be ascertained, or their motives investigated, security personnel must identify where these threats are originating from, he says. 

Until they do, disruptions to airports are likely to continue, Jordan says. Even suspected hoaxes demand serious consideration, Braw adds, given the potentially devastating consequences of a real attack.

“You have to take every threat seriously in the sector, but especially in aviation, where the consequences would be so utterly devastating if an incident were successful, and so that's why we have seen all these airliners making emergency landings,” she says. “All of that causes disruption and it causes anxiety among passengers, and it also causes significant financial costs and losses for the airlines.”

French prosecutors are investigating whether foreign powers are connected to the bomb threats, [Agence France-Presse](https://www.france24.com/en/france/20261107-france-investigating-if-bogus-bomb-threats-against-airlines-linked-to-foreign-powers) (AFP) reported Saturday. The purpose of the investigation is to find “the authors of the emails who disseminated this false information ... and to determine any potential links they may have to foreign powers,” the Paris prosecutor’s office is quoted as saying.

Some of the emails were signed "fighters of the Male State," which matches the name of a radical misogynist group in Russia, though there has been no confirmed link, according to AFP. The group's founder, Vladislav Pozdniakov, denied any involvement, saying on[ social media](https://t.me/vlad%5Fnovosti/1518) Friday that the "movement does not exist since 2021."

“Identifying who is doing this will rapidly be escalating up the priority ladder for law enforcement and security services across Europe,” Jordan says. “In the meantime, it is likely that airlines and airports will be meeting to determine how much extra screening scrutiny the system can bear.”

Even after learning who made the bomb threats, European nations might not be any closer to knowing how to respond to similar hybrid attacks in the future, Braw says.

“As a law-abiding democracy, you can't say, ‘Well, if they threaten our airlines, we will threaten them.’ That’s not how democracies operate,” Braw says. “Yet you can't allow these sorts of activities to continue to proliferate, and that is a dilemma for European governments every single day these days.”

The dilemma is becoming more “acute,” she adds, as the threats accelerate and grow more sophisticated.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltf03d30f03c822dc1 Sat, 07 Nov 2026 20:53:30 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Rebecca Schneid\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The Silver Linings Of an Aging World\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/07/silver-linings-in-an-aging-world/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu argues that our aging world needs us to invest in technology and adapt our institutions to the demands of longer lives.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

The world is undergoing one of the biggest demographic transitions it has ever experienced. About two-thirds of humanity now lives in countries where fertility is too low for each generation to replace itself. The result is rapidly aging workforces in most of the world, and the population in parts of Europe is already shrinking.

One way to measure aging is by looking at the old-age dependency ratio, a demographic indicator that captures the number of people in working age (15 to 64) relative to the number of elderly, retired people (64 and older). By 2035, for instance, Italy’s old-age dependency ratio[ will have risen](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/proj%5F23ndbi/default/table) from an already high 39% to 50%. Greece, Portugal, and Spain are close behind.

A similar demographic shift is[ underway in Latin America](https://population.un.org/wpp/), including in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Colombia. Just a few decades ago, these countries had much smaller elderly populations compared to Europe and thus had[ lower old-age dependency ratios](https://americasquarterly.org/article/the-gray-tide-latin-americas-demographic-transformation/). Now they are catching up with Europe on this measure.

In some parts of Asia, demographic concerns are more heightened as populations are expected to age even faster than in Europe and Latin America, especially in China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. By 2035, the old-age dependency ratio is expected to increase from 21% to almost 34% in China. In Hong Kong, it is expected to exceed 55%.

North America’s population will continue to grow and will age more moderately, mostly because of immigration. In the United States, the old-age dependency ratio is forecast to increase from around 28.8% today to about 34% by 2035\. Immigration policy will shape the exact extent of population change and aging in the country.

The implications of this global trend are far-reaching, and for many, simply alarming. As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts it[ starkly](https://www.imf.org/external/np/g20/pdf/2019/060519a.pdf): “For those countries where fewer workers are available and labor force participation rates drop, economic output is bound to fall.” Other forecasts warning about pressures on[ living standards](https://www.ebrd.com/home/news-and-events/publications/economics/transition-reports/transition-report-2025-26.html),[ fiscal problems](https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262250153/the-coming-generational-storm/), and[ broader social challenges](https://www.amazon.com/Agequake-Demographic-Rollercoaster-Shaking-Business/dp/1857881923/) are equally gloomy. And aging will affect politics and social dynamics in various, often unforeseen ways, opening up new fissures in society. Yet demographic change can also create opportunities, especially in societies whose institutions can adapt and that can make the right technological investments.

These are epochal challenges. We cannot afford complacency, but alarmism is not warranted either. Several of the consequences of aging are not as dire as many assume and claim.

## Costs, and benefits, of aging

Let us start with politics.

Aging shifts the balance of electoral power toward older generations, which complicates the[ politics of pensions](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-politics-of-public-pensions/9780231214230/). The stakes are especially high in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, where public pension obligations are ballooning and are expected to exceed[ 15% of GDP](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/11/pensions-at-a-glance-2025%5F76510fe4/full-report/long-term-projections-of-public-pension-expenditure%5Faf4ed734.html) by 2045.

An aging population could also make it harder for a society to form a consensus on forward-looking investments that may take decades to pay off, such as those necessary for a more complete green transition.[ Some](https://www.pippanorris.com/cultural-backlash-1) researchers have pointed to the[ age](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BA5492?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback) divide in the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom. In the 2016 referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union,[ most British voters](https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/15796-how-britain-voted) 65 and older chose Leave, while those under 25 overwhelmingly voted Remain.

With stagnant or declining populations in Europe and parts of Asia, and[ a growing young population in Africa](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/28/world/africa/africa-youth-population.html), the pressure for international migration will intensify as well. Recent experience suggests that migration could become an even greater source of political tensions. These are valid concerns, but the glass may be more than half full. Aging is accompanied by longer, healthier lives. The prospect of more healthy years extends the horizon of[ all age groups](https://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Imperative-Healthier-Productive-Society-ebook/dp/B0CDWFN974/) in society and could become a basis for new coalitions supporting public investments for the present and the future.

Younger and expanding populations are no recipe for consensual politics either. I worked with the economists Leopoldo Fergusson and Simon Johnson to study what happened in developing countries in the early decades after World War II as their mortality rates declined sharply. Antibiotics and other new medicines, along with public health campaigns against diseases such as malaria, helped more people survive. More children lived past infancy; populations grew rapidly.

We found that these[ population expansions](https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/87/4/1565/5552814) and growing numbers of younger people in the developing world led to greater domestic conflict and a much higher likelihood of civil war. Competition and conflict over resources were fierce.

In many newly independent countries with weak institutions, these conflicts turned into long-lasting civil wars that inflicted a grim toll on society and the economy. Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, and the Philippines all experienced massive increases in their populations between 1940 and 1980, with populations tripling in some cases. Internal conflict became increasingly common. The conflict was exacerbated further when population increases coincided with an abundance of natural resources, as in oil-rich Nigeria, which experienced roughly 150% growth in population between 1940 and 1980.

## A path forged by technology

When larger populations compete for the same resources, existing fault lines in a society are exacerbated. In many of these countries in the 1950s and 1960s, investment and resources did not keep up with the growing labor force. As[ my research has documented](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/529000), the expected economic dividend from better health and a larger population did not materialize, and most of these countries experienced a slowdown in their per capita income growth.

That observation offers a way to think about the complexities that aging and slower population growth bring to the economy. Many commentators,[ just like the IMF](https://www.imf.org/external/np/g20/pdf/2019/060519a.pdf), are convinced that aging and stagnant populations will create a huge economic burden, but the evidence from the past 70 years suggests a more nuanced and more optimistic outlook. When populations surged in several developing nations in the 1950s and 1960s, their GDP did not keep up, and their per capita incomes fell compared to countries with stable populations. Over the last 70 years, where birth rates fell, mostly in the industrialized countries, GDP did not suffer, and per capita incomes grew more rapidly.

Economic responses were varied. In my research with the economist Pascual Restrepo, we[ found](https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/89/1/1/6295889?redirectedFrom=fulltext) that countries undergoing[ faster aging invested](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20171101) more in technologies such as automated machinery, which ameliorated worker shortages and boosted productivity. Several industries including automobiles, chemical manufacturing, and machine-tool production, once heavily reliant on able-bodied prime-age workers, have been at the forefront of[ installing robots](https://academic.oup.com/restud/article/89/1/1/6295889?%5F%5Fcf%5Fchl%5Frt%5Ftk=3.93tQlqYtL9y.Dl69jXru3c5ZNw2AusbWc4HbTKA10-1793713260-1.0.1.1-YEV6m5TXsjnnz8EQTVBRkVEpKy%5FWkCBeCynxzPLexQI) and other new technologies, especially in countries experiencing rapid aging. It is partly for this reason that[ economies](https://www.shinnosuke-kikuchi.com/files/research/KIKUCHI-skill-trade.pdf) with the greatest labor scarcities––Germany, Japan, and South Korea–– significantly increased their exports in these once labor-intensive industries during the 2000s and 2010s.

My recent work with[ economists](https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2026-06/Baby%20Busts%20and%20Growth%20Booms%20-%20Demographic%20Change%20and%20the%20Macroeconomy.pdf) David Autor, Keelan Beirne, and Andrew Scott shows that because of such investments in technology and shifts in the composition of the economy, lower birth rates over the last 70 years have not been associated with slower economic growth. Overall GDP was largely unaffected by falling birth rates, and as a result, lower birth rates translated into significantly higher income per capita.

A similar pattern appears across labor markets in the United States. Areas where birth rates fell further have experienced similar growth in aggregate earnings and consequently much higher wage growth for workers. Rising (per capita) incomes can also facilitate new compromises in politics. Sluggish real wage growth[ has been one of the reasons](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/815318/what-happened-to-liberal-democracy-by-daron-acemoglu/) why people throughout the industrialized world have turned to anti-establishment parties. A robust economy that needs labor and offers workers new, well-paid jobs could reverse this dynamic.

None of this is reason for complacency. The economic research I have cited so far shows that higher productivity was the result of technological investments and other adjustments. Unless such investments continue as populations age and population growth slows further, there is no guarantee that the past will be a reliable guide for the future.

Countries also need institutional strength. A major challenge is the growing strain that demographic change places on political and economic institutions. New technologies often take hold through new firms, but those firms may struggle to gain a foothold in several advanced economies where[ industrial concentration](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674260320) has risen. Despite the tremendous promise of artificial intelligence, its productivity dividend has yet to materialize. Without a significant contribution from AI, the burden of aging could be much more severe.

Institutional adaptation will matter in other areas as well. While higher worker earnings will help shield public revenues against sharp declines, many industrialized economies already have very high levels of public debt and will need to spend more on pensions and health care as their populations age. This may require new coalitions in which younger generations support spending on public services, including pensions and healthcare, while older generations accept certain pension reforms. Even with these challenges, the available evidence does not support alarmism on either the political or the economic front.

The broader social effects could be more complex and bear watching. A shrinking population may change the way people think about the future. In a society with fewer and fewer children, people may become increasingly indifferent to future challenges. That indifference could pose social risks we cannot yet foresee. Strong, flexible institutions may help societies, especially in democracies, articulate and act on new aspirations for the future.

Future generations may be smaller, but we still owe it to them to do our best to leave them a healthy, peaceful planet. The choices that will shape that inheritance are already before us. The work must start today.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt9d31d72fd0a40090 Sat, 07 Nov 2026 12:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Daron Acemoglu\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How to Keep an Open Mind\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/07/how-to-keep-an-open-mind/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[We’re human, so it’s not possible or even realistic to expect that every belief we hold is accurate, writes Joan M. Cook.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[J Studios—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7510adc63c504bf8/6aecd915d52f49e861036f8a/open-mind.jpg?branch=production)

 —J Studios—Getty Images

No one particularly likes to have their views challenged—to be told they don’t see things clearly or have the full picture. And when someone, like a friend, neighbor, co-worker, journalist, or podcast host disagrees with our way of thinking, it’s natural to get a bit defensive. 

It’s easy to think we are right, and someone else’s perceptions and ways of being are wrong. But the tighter we clench our jaws and fists, the more we restrict our ability to connect and expand both our views and our connections. 

Open-mindedness is related in part to [intellectual humility](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477878512437472), recognizing one’s own imperfections as a knower, and appreciating others’ thinking strengths. 

Indeed, those who recognize that their [beliefs](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15298868.2017.1361861) or opinions may be fallible or incomplete are often more willing to learn about others’ views. Research shows that taking in new information helps us widen our knowledge base, increases [creativity](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1967.20.3.822) and [psychological well-being](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08832323.2023.2299434), enhances [professional development](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623943.2021.1976131#abstract), facilitates [empathy](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760802357859), improves [relationships](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19012276.2022.2094823), and widens [social networks](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13684302251324887).

When we only stay within our comfortable social media algorithms and tight in-person circles, we can get stuck in [echo chambers](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33622786/), reinforcing what we already think we know. While this can provide identity and a sense of belonging, it can limit our exposure to new experiences. In this way, it is in our best interest to be willing to listen to different points of view, to fully hear someone else’s perspective before flinging verdicts on their intellect or integrity or viewing them as uninformed and biased.

Even reading this suggestion to consider being more open-minded may increase your anxiety and create tension in your body. But I’m not trying to change your mind per se; you just need to be open to expanding it. 

In an ideal world, we want to aim to increase what psychologists call our “[latitude of acceptance](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1963-06591-000),” meaning a willingness to non-defensively consider ideas that others hold. Doing so does not guarantee we are going to change our minds, but it does show that we are ready to listen and consider others’ perspectives. If we simply hear what other people have to say but have no intention of expanding our hearts and minds, then we remain entrenched and defended. That’s not openness.

A [willingness to consider](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167215600528) others’ perspectives can be difficult in general, and particularly hard when the subject at hand is something that is near and dear to our hearts, such as religion and politics. If we are willing and motivated to practice being more open-minded, and if we want to set ourselves up for success, it might be easier to pick topics where we feel less defensive: Are dogs or cats better companions? Is it more enjoyable to watch a newly released film at home or in the cinema? Are you for or against pineapple on pizza? These topics may sound silly, but they invite dialogue and healthy conversation and disagreement. It also helps if we assume that people with alternative views from our own have good intentions. When we vilify people who think differently than we do, we are less able to be tolerant and open to understanding.

If there is one thing that I stress to my patients above all others, it’s the ability to loosen our grip in thinking we know everything and have all the answers. We’re human, so it’s not possible or even realistic to expect that every belief we hold is accurate. We may not have all the facts or understand all the circumstances. 

I encourage the people I work with to put on their detective caps and determine if what they are thinking is true. This includes their unhelpful thinking about themselves, other people, and the world. It also includes how they interpret situations. I try to model open-mindedness, gathering data, looking at perspectives from different angles, and weighing the information fairly.

I asked [Damion Grasso](https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Grasso-Damion), a professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut, how he practices being open-minded in both his professional and personal life. He told me that in working with trauma-exposed youth and families, “Open-mindedness is essential. It helps me set aside assumptions, stay aware of my own biases, and create a therapeutic space where young people and caregivers feel heard, respected, and actively involved in the process of change.” 

Grasso told me that in parenting, open-mindedness is also helpful. “Each of my four children has their own story, needs, values, and aspirations,” he said. “My job is to listen more than I speak and remember that I’m still learning too. I don’t have all the answers, and accepting that makes me both a better psychologist and father.”

I agree. Receptivity to alternative viewpoints is a wonderful attribute to practice and model for our children. 

So how do we strengthen our ability to be open minded? A comprehensive [review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39052337/) of interventions to increase open-mindedness revealed several effective approaches. One can be thought of as awareness training: teaching people about cognitive biases, for example [confirmation bias](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/bookseries/abs/pii/S0079742108603151), which is the inclination for people to trust too much in their preferred assumptions and to take in new information that fits their existing beliefs. 

Another is perspective-taking interventions where one tries to imagine another person’s experiences and why they might think in a certain way. This can be enhanced by viewing a picture, video, or recording of the other person or using [virtual reality technology](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0204494) to powerfully see their perspective. 

These strategies seem to work particularly well when we [meet another](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71669-5) person and share our perspectives on their thinking. Another powerful tool is [perspective-getting](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-13651-004?doi=1), which involves non-confrontationally asking another to share their outlooks. People can also learn to develop skills to navigate difficult conversations, such as engaging [face-to-face](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-14224-007) rather than side by side, asking open-ended, curious questions, and using [receptive language](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10888683211001269), such as expressing uncertainty, acknowledging mistakes, and finding points of agreement.

Of course, these interventions don’t always work and can backfire, making some even more entrenched in their beliefs. And while it is in our best interest to consider others’ beliefs, this is not always the case. Some views may go deeply against our core values, and that’s okay if we choose not to bend on those. But we can still benefit from being gracious and respectful toward others. 

Imagine our workplaces, home life, and neighborhoods engaged in being more curious, reflective, and respectful. With an open-minded perspective, we could learn and accomplish many things together.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltef83779d11469872 Sat, 07 Nov 2026 11:00:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Joan M. Cook\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How Europe's Far-Right Leaders Are Backing Away From Trump After Midterm Losses\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/europe-far-right-leaders-backing-away-from-trump-after-midterm-losses/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[While left-leaning European leaders have celebrated the Democrats’ gains in the U.S. midterms, some far-right figures in Europe appear keen to succinctly separate themselves from Trump and his policies.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Michael Kappeler—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, speaks ahead of a parliamentary group meeting in the Bundestag in Berlin on Oct. 6, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d1bec5d080c2730/6aee4b785fb446fc67cfc504/GettyImages-2298267942.jpg?branch=production)

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, speaks ahead of a parliamentary group meeting in the Bundestag in Berlin on Oct. 6, 2026\. —Michael Kappeler—Getty Images

Europe’s[ far-right leaders](https://time.com/7301526/europe-far-right-momentum/) have shown signs of distancing themselves from President[ Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/trump-lame-duck-era/) after his Republican Party suffered[ significant blows in the midterm elections](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/), losing control of both the House and Senate.

The shift, although slight, is notable considering how Europe’s right-leaning figures have previously celebrated sharing ideological ties with Trump. When the now-embattled President returned to the White House in January 2025, Italian Prime Minister [Giorgia Meloni](https://time.com/6215723/italy-election-giorgia-meloni-far-right/) and Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain's far-right Vox party, were among the European lawmakers invited to his Inauguration Day.

But the tide may now be turning. While left-leaning European leaders have [celebrated](https://x.com/sanchezcastejon/status/2117900193706147987) the Democrats’ gains in the U.S. midterms, some far-right figures in Europe appear keen to succinctly separate themselves from Trump and his policies. Trump ran in 2024 on a [campaign](https://time.com/7295729/trump-middle-east-war-iran-risk/) that promised to avoid dragging the U.S. into foreign wars, instead focusing on home prosperity. His [war with Iran,](https://time.com/7382697/trump-iran-war/) which is now in its ninth month, has gone against that campaign pledge—a point Alice Weidel, co-leader of the[ far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party](https://time.com/7260499/alice-weidel-far-right-afd-germany-musk-vance-trump/), brought up in her assessment of the GOP’s midterm losses.

"Trump had promised his voters he would not pursue an interventionist foreign policy," Weidel [told](https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/innenpolitik/id%5F101512174/afd-chefin-weidel-ausmass-der-niederlage-bemerkenswert-midterms-usa.html) Germany’s T-online outlet on Wednesday. "This broken campaign promise has now come back to haunt the Republicans."

While Weidel acknowledged that the political party in control of the White House typically loses seats in Congress during the midterms, she said that the scale of the Republican defeat “is remarkable” and can be explained primarily by the “devastating consequences of the Iran war."

The commentary marked a shift in tone for a party that has often welcomed the support of the Trump Administration, both overtly and covertly. Weidel met with Vice President J.D. Vance in February 2025, just days before the German election. During that trip, Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference and took time out of his speech to criticize what is known as the “firewall” approach in Germany—the agreement among other political parties that they will not work with the AfD. In another show of support, billionaire [Elon Musk](https://time.com/article/2026/10/13/elon-musk-political-campaign-spending-trump-republicans/), while heading the Trump Administration’s now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made a virtual appearance at an AfD[ campaign event](https://www.afd.de/afd-kanzlerkandidatin-alice-weidel-und-bundessprecher-tino-chrupalla-eroeffneten-in-halle-an-der-saale-vor-rund-4-500-gaesten-den-bundestagswahlkampf/). After the AfD won a state election in September, Trump, who has long accused European countries of holding weak immigration policies, remarked: “The populist party in Germany just had a really big night. They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible immigration rules and regulations, which have hurt Germany.”

### A political shift from Europe

Further efforts to create distance from the MAGA brand came from [Jordan Bardella](https://time.com/6977921/jordan-bardella-interview-france-europe/), president of France’s far-right National Rally. When asked about the Republicans’ midterm losses by a French[ radio show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s90XITn8yLI), Bardella said the “American intervention in Iran" had carried “very heavy consequences” for world economies.

“What is certain is that Donald Trump's second term differs quite significantly, in its philosophy and foreign policy, from his first, during which his political ambition was to withdraw the United States from major global conflicts,” he said. 

Georgios Samaras, assistant professor of public policy at King’s College London, tells TIME that the scale of the Republican defeat sent “shock waves across the continent.”

“After two years of catastrophic economic management, \[Trump’s\] international standing is gone. It's practically like the far-right \[is\] losing their global leader,” he says, adding that Trump’s loss is likely to be seen as “a gift to all liberals.”

In Spain, Abascal, who will take part in a[ snap election](https://time.com/article/2026/10/05/spain-snap-elections-sanchez-housing-crisis/) at the end of November, also backed away from any midterms discussion.

“I'm not in Michigan to analyze an election, I'm in Ciudad Real. And considering the November 29th elections, I couldn't care less about what happens in other countries,” he[ told](https://www.elindependiente.com/espana/2026/11/04/abascal-milei-regreso-madrid-cumbre-iberoamericana-reunion/) reporters.

His positioning stood in stark contrast to the U.S. alliance he nurtured last year, when Trump during the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference [praised](https://youtu.be/pV3CCYiDPhk?t=570) Abascal for doing a “great job” in Spain. In 2022, Trump [made a virtual appearance](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/spain-ap-donald-trump-santiago-abascal-italy-b2198901.html) at one of Abascal's rallies in Madrid.

When approached about how Europe's far-right leaders have reacted to the GOP's midterm losses, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told TIME: “President Trump has effectively restored American strength on the global stage and strengthened relationships with world leaders.”

Aurélien Mondon, a professor of politics at the University of Bath who specializes in reactionary politics, points to how far-right parties in Europe have benefited from “transnational cooperation” with the MAGA movement.

That cooperation has spanned years, ranging from Trump ally[ Steve Bannon’s efforts](https://time.com/5189141/steve-bannon-zurich-speech-populism-tariffs/) to bolster right-wing parties in Europe to the Trump Administration’s[ antagonistic posture](https://time.com/7339171/trump-national-security-strategy-europe/) toward Europe’s mainstream political parties and leaders. Trump’s influence has also extended to political campaigns, with his ally in Britain, Reform UK leader[ Nigel Farage](https://time.com/article/2026/05/08/trump-ally-nigel-farage-makes-gains-in-u-k-elections-as-starmer-s-future-draws-uncertainty/), staging [MAGA-style rallies](https://time.com/7281644/trump-influence-local-elections-england-nigel-farage-maga-rallies-slogans/) during last year’s local elections in England.

“These kinds of transnational networks have served \[the far-right\] well in many ways, and it allowed them to mainstream their politics,” says Mondon, who warns that such alliances can also be limited and opportunistic. “At the end of the day, these parties are about the nation, and so they can very easily detach themselves from the failures of their counterparts elsewhere.”

### Signs of strained relations between Trump and European allies

The growing distance between Trump and some of his far-right European allies is not entirely new. 

Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political-risk consultancy, says that “far-right leaders across the European continent have been distancing themselves from MAGA for quite some time.”

“It's been clear to different persuasions of the far-right in the E.U. that association with the Trump brand, the MAGA brand, is an electoral liability,” he says. “That happened in the aftermath of Trump's Greenland pronouncements, and the aftermath of the war in Iran, and the impact that's having on cost-of-living issues, which is a key political issue.”

In 2024, Bardella [said](https://www.politico.eu/article/french-far-right-jordan-bardella-national-rally-leader-heart-leans-trump-us-elections/) his “heart leans toward Trump,” but he has since criticized some of the President’s policies. In January, when Trump ramped up his threats to[ annex Greenland](https://time.com/7368798/trump-greenland-pursuit/), Bardella [urged](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/27/trump-greenland-europe-far-right-analysis) the European Union to unite against what he referred to as “a direct challenge to the sovereignty of a European country.” AfD leadership[ also distanced itself](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/afd-spitze-geht-auf-distanz-zu-trumps-aussenpolitik-chrupalla-wildwest-methoden-104.html) from the annexation rhetoric. Meloni said Trump’s [threats to impose tariffs](https://time.com/7346949/trump-greenland-tariffs-threat/) on [European allies](https://time.com/7352424/republicans-denounce-trump-greenland-tariffs-threat-america-risk/) over Greenland would be a[ “mistake.”](https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/topnews/2026/01/18/meloni-laumento-dei-dazi-un-errore-ho-parlato-con-trump%5F44a778ab-a7f7-4728-bce9-7a359e7fdcc4.html)

Beyond differences over foreign policy, Meloni, once dubbed[ Europe’s “Trump Whisperer,”](https://time.com/7278270/meloni-white-house-visit-trump-whisperer/) also clashed with the President in June after he said she had “begged” for a photo with him at the G7 Summit—a claim Meloni [said](https://x.com/GiorgiaMeloni/status/2067917590945788408) was “completely fabricated.”

### The divide over Trump’s war with Iran

The Iran war, in particular, has deepened tensions between the Trump Administration and some of Europe’s far-right leaders, as the conflict has hit European markets with[ soaring energy costs](https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/iran-war-energy-crisis-clean-transition/), adding to cost-of-living pressures across the continent.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy Prime Minister and leader of the far-right League party, [said](https://www.adnkronos.com/politica/salvini-la-sconfitta-dei-repubblicani-venga-colta-come-stop-a-interventismo-e-accelerazione-verso-la-pace%5F52yg2Dqtkt1eI5PUWXUYK6) he hoped the Republicans’ midterm losses would be interpreted as a halt “to interventionism around the world.” He added: “The American result was influenced above all by the wars, international tensions and the increase in the cost of living, ​the consequences of which fall directly on families.”

Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right Restore Britain party, similarly argued that Trump’s war with Iran led to the Republicans’ election defeats, referring to the conflict as a “catastrophic” mistake. “What has this war achieved? Absolutely nothing of worth,” he [said](https://x.com/RupertLowe10/status/2117886433511829782), without directly naming Trump in his reflections. 

While these tensions had been building for months, Rahman argues that the midterm results have further “tarnished the MAGA brand.”

“I think \[Europe’s far-right\] were hoping the Trump Administration would legitimize their own political identity. It would produce a tailwind that would help them, in the context of elections next year,” he says, pointing to France’s upcoming presidential election in 2027.

Trump hailed far-right figure [Marine Le Pen](https://time.com/7273307/france-le-pen-conviction/) as a “conservative voice” amid the [protests in France](https://time.com/article/2026/10/06/france-student-protest-in-photos/) last month. Le Pen was convicted for misusing E.U. funds last year. An appeals court upheld the conviction in July, but shortened her sentence, clearing the path for her to run in the April 2027 presidential election. She is currently[ leading in polls](https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/france/) ahead of the high-stakes race. When asked if he plans to endorse Le Pen, Trump [told](https://youtu.be/vJIobN7rVnk?t=148) reporters in the Oval Office: "Well, I don't know her, I haven't met her. But I thought she was badly treated. It would look like a weaponization to me.” 

The Trump Administration has previously engaged in some of Europe’s pivotal elections. In Hungary, [Viktor Orbán](https://time.com/article/2026/04/12/viktor-orban-election-loss-trump/), who had received a strong[ endorsement](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116286710096907230) from Trump, was joined on the campaign trail by Vice President J.D. Vance. The display of U.S. strength did little to sway the tide, as Orbán was defeated by [Péter Magyar](https://time.com/article/2026/04/13/peter-magyar-ended-trump-ally-viktor-orban-rule-hungary/) in April, bringing an end to his consequential 16-year rule—and marking the loss of a key European ally for Trump.

But will the U.S. presence be so sought after in Europe moving forward? “I think the conclusion, given the chaos, the turbulence, and incompetence of the Administration, is actually that MAGA and Trump are a liability, and if there is any association, it is better to be covert, not overt,” argues Rahman.

Meanwhile, Mondon says that while outward cooperation between the Trump Administration and far-right parties in Europe may diminish, it is unlikely to disappear entirely.

"I don't think they will radically distance themselves from Trump or anything like this,” he says. “But I think they will cool down the kind of links between the U.S. and their own parties and countries, at least \[for\] the moment.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt61216709c6c2201d Fri, 06 Nov 2026 22:00:26 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Tiago Ventura\]\]><!\[CDATA\[All at Once, Ted Cruz Is the Last Statewide Republican Lawmaker Standing in Texas\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/ted-cruz-republican-texas-midterm-elections/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Cruz was not up for reelection this midterm cycle, but every Republican who was on the ballot in Texas’ statewide races this year has been defeated.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.

In the wake of a [blue wave](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/) that has washed [Republicans](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/trump-lame-duck-era/) around the U.S. out of office, Sen. [Ted Cruz](https://time.com/4284790/learning-to-love-ted-cruz/) will soon be the only remaining member of the GOP to hold a statewide-elected political seat in the recently deep-red state of [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/what-just-happened-in-texas-changes-everything/).

“2026 was not simply a blue wave, it was a blue tsunami,” the three-term Senator said on his [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJeuN7DnzFA) following Election Day, when a series of stunning Democratic victories shifted control of both chambers of Congress, as well as Texas’ executive branch and state House, out of Republicans’ hands. “Texas is blue. That is a hard sentence to utter.”

Cruz was not up for reelection this midterm season, but every Republican who was on the ballot in Texas’ statewide races this year has been defeated. 

Incumbent John Cornyn, Texas’ other Republican Senator, lost in his party’s primary to Attorney General Ken Paxton, who went on to lose in the general election to James Talarico. Talarico is the first Democrat the state has elected to the Senate since 1988\. 

Democrat [Gina Hinojosa](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/) shattered another decades-long streak of Republican victories by beating out incumbent Greg Abbott in Texas’ gubernatorial race, becoming the state’s first-ever Latina governor and the first Democrat elected to the post since the 1990s. 

The party’s wins in Texas cut beyond those top positions, as well; Democrats on Tuesday claimed multiple seats in the state’s delegation in the U.S. House, as well as its lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, and agricultural commissioner offices; four state Supreme Court seats; a seat on the state’s railroad commission; and control of the lower house of the Texas legislature.

**Read More:** [_What Just Happened in Texas Changes Everything_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/what-just-happened-in-texas-changes-everything)

“Nowhere are the consequences of this election greater than Texas. In the Lone Star State, we lost every single statewide election,” Cruz said on his show. 

He noted that he had reached out to Talarico to congratulate him on his win and to tell him that he looks forward to working together. He vowed, however, to “defend Texas” if what he referred to as the “newly elected radicals” attempt to raise taxes or relax border policy, among other issues. 

**Read More**: [_Talarico Wins Texas Senate Race, First Democrat to Win Statewide in More than 30 Years_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/)

Cruz said that Republicans did not do enough in their campaigns to address Americans’ concerns over the cost of living stemming from the war in Iran. 

“Tariffs have made everything too expensive, and the Iran war has dragged on too long,” he said. “Understandably, people were pissed off, and elected Republicans didn't do enough to address their very real pain.”

Cruz, who campaigned heavily for Republicans leading up to the midterms, first won his Senate seat in 2012, when he beat out Democrat Paul Sadler by 16 percentage [points](https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2012/results/states/texas.html). He was re-elected by a far slimmer margin in 2018, however, defeating Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke by only 2.5 [points](https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/texas-senate). 

That year, Trump’s first midterms as president, Republicans gained two Senate seats to expand their majority, but lost the lower chamber, in which Democrats gained 41 seats. 

In his most recent Senate battle in 2024, a presidential election year that saw Trump win Texas by [nearly 14 points](https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/texas/), Cruz safely defeated Democrat Colin Allred by an 8.5 point [margin](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-texas-us-senate.html). 

Despite the sweeping defeats his party suffered in the state, Cruz remained optimistic that Texas would return to its prior ruby-red status. 

“Texas will be red again,” he said. “It is dark right now, but it is always darkest before the dawn. And morning is coming. That is my fervent prayer. And that is my commitment to you.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt9852b97cb324bab1 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:40:06 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Why The Democrats' Next Climate Agenda Will Look Different\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/democrats-new-climate-agenda-midterm-elections/<!\[CDATA\[Climate\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Don’t expect a return to a time where the Green New Deal dominated Capitol Hill chatter.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Kevin Carter—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The U.S. Capitol building is seen on Nov. 3.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ae138509b875b6f/6aee265a28c866eb2f8f5700/US_Congress_democrats_midterm_climate.jpg?branch=production)

The U.S. Capitol building is seen on Nov. 3\. —Kevin Carter—Getty Images

After two years of the most anti-climate presidential administration in U.S. history, Tuesday’s election results have many climate advocates feeling a sense of hope. Even though explicit mention of [climate change](https://time.com/section/climate/) was far from the heart of midterm discussions, Democrats have a history of taking big swings to cut emissions. 

But even with Democrats on the rise, don’t expect a return to the old climate order where the Green New Deal dominated Capitol Hill chatter, and the big-spending Inflation Reduction Act served as a watered down compromise. Over the next two years, elected officials in Washington will forge the next wave of [climate policy](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-midterms-win-climate-action/), and there’s a good chance it may look pretty different from what we’ve seen in recent history. 

The biggest indicator of what this might look like may just be a quick survey of how the new crop of Democratic senators have talked about [climate and energy issues](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/democrats-midterms-corporate-climate-action/). James Talarico, Texas’s Democratic senator-elect, has [promised](https://jamestalarico.com/issue/energy-environment/) to protect oil-and-gas jobs as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy. Kansas Democratic Senator-elect Adam Hamilton has also called for “all-of-the above-energy production” as part of an energy affordability strategy. And South Carolina Senator-elect Annie Andrews has called for a suspension of the federal gas tax. All three, along with virtually every newly elected Democrat, have also put a spotlight on the role data centers are playing in the power system, calling on big tech firms to pay more for the costs they incur. 

Green New Dealers calling for a rapid end to fossil fuels this batch is not. But that doesn’t mean that there is no prospect of climate policy. In fact, a slew of factors mean that energy and climate policy will be on the agenda—even if it’s not labeled as such. The energy affordability crisis, the war in Iran, the rise of power-guzzling data centers, and competition from China all mean that climate will be top priorities for the coming national political dialogue. 

It’s also possible that having a crop of Democrats from red states could prove productive for climate policy that stands the test of time. Measures that need to account for the political economy of states like Texas and Kansas as well as California and New York are less likely to be reversed with the next political swing. This has a number of practical implications for the future of a range of industries, especially the power and oil-and-gas sectors. 

It goes without saying that Democrats won’t be in a position to enact big policy measures unless and until a Democrat takes the White House in 2029\. But the new makeup of the Democratic congressional delegation is likely to shape policy discussions already underway at think tanks and in working groups. Exactly in what direction remains to be seen.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt05f86f8b597b819c Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:33:34 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Justin Worland\]\]><!\[CDATA\[I Play Rocky Is an Unapologetic Crowd-Pleaser, Just Like the Movie Whose Story It Chronicles\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/i-play-rocky-movie-review/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Peter Farrelly tells the story behind 'Rocky' in a crowd-pleaser that fills in the background of one of the greatest crowd-pleasers of its era\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of Amazon MGM\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone in I Play Rocky\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5494e607760b6408/6aee2dce7ce30bed761eaa29/IPR-08784_RC1_rgb.jpg?branch=production)

Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone in I Play Rocky —Courtesy of Amazon MGM

If you saw [_Rocky_](https://time.com/archive/6852319/cinema-the-contender/) in theaters in 1976, you were witnessing, without realizing it, a movie that wasn’t supposed to exist. It was cheap-looking, for good reason: It had been made for just a little over a million dollars which, even in the mid-1970s, was almost nothing. Yet its cheap vibe was part of the excitement. You felt that this somewhat elementary story—of a scrappy small-time boxer who goes against the reigning heavyweight champ and almost wins—was letting you in on a little secret: You weren’t immune to stories that you thought you’d seen a hundred times before. If anything, you were as susceptible as ever, and a movie’s budget had nothing to do with it. Kids went to see _Rocky_ with their parents. Teenagers trekked out in small packs, and grownups turned it into a date night. The ultimate underdog movie, set in the ultimate underdog city of Philadelphia, it became the film everyone talked about. And its star—a guy who mumbled his lines and whose heavy-lidded eyes conjured the spirit of the goodnight poem "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod"—seemed to have come out of nowhere. That he’d also written the movie seemed slightly miraculous, the opposite of business-as-usual in Hollywood.

The story of _Rocky_ and its writer-star [Sylvester Stallone](https://time.com/4207426/sylvester-stallone-throwback-rocky-photos/) is so simultaneously out-there and relatable, you’d think it would have long ago been told in movie form. But better late than never: _I Play Rocky,_ directed by Peter Farrelly and written by Peter Gamble, is a crowd-pleaser that fills in the background of one of the greatest crowd-pleasers of its era. Anthony Ippolito—who has come _almost_ out of nowhere, though he previously played Al Pacino on _The Offer_—stars as the very young, very broke Sylvester Stallone who, when the movie opens, in early 1970s New York, is going by the made-up first name Mike: He thinks it will increase his chances of becoming a star, though the smart, winsome girl he meets, AnnaSophia Robb’s Sasha, persuades him that his given name is actually better. Mike, soon to once again be Sylvester, reads for parts but doesn’t get them. He runs out of money and has to live on the street. He finds a puppy, also in somewhat dire straits, which he names Butkus (after football star Dick). He lands a role in a softcore film, and later gets a job taking tickets at a movie theater. It’s there that he meets Sasha, who will later become his wife. Like so many guys in so many movies before him, he tells her his dreams: He wants very badly to be an actor, and if he has to write his own roles to get there, that’s what he’ll do.

_Rocky_ isn’t the first screenplay Stallone will write, but it’s the fastest: he races through it in a feverish three days, and seems a little surprised when the producers he shows it to, Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler (played, with vibrant, wheeler-dealer energy, by Toby Kebbell and P.J. Byrne), tell him it’s got something. They want to buy it—but for another star, possibly Burt Reynolds or Ryan O’Neal. Stallone sticks to his guns: He will not sell this screenplay unless he can also star in the movie, and his plainspoken insistence on this fact gives the film its title.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c59d67c262ca517/6aee2ffa62c30684df4ba2a5/IPR-01616_R_rgb.jpg?branch=production)

AnnaSophia Robb as Sasha and Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester, taking in the product of their labor —Courtesy of Amazon MGM

As a director, Farrelly knows what will appeal to audiences, and that’s a pro, not a con. With his brother, Bobby, he made some of the signature comedies of the ‘90s, among them [_Dumb & Dumber_](https://time.com/5754196/dumb-and-dumber-25th-anniversary/)and _There’s Something About Mary._ These were ridiculous movies, but also openhearted ones, motivated by an essential sweetness of spirit. Farrelly’s 2018 [_Green Book_](https://time.com/5527806/green-book-movie-controversy/)—in which Mahershala Ali plays jazz pianist Don Shirley, who hires Viggo Mortensen’s Tony “Lip” Vallelonga as a driver before embarking on a tour of the deep South—won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, though it faced fierce backlash for what critics saw as its obsession with “white savior” tropes. Those criticisms had some validity, but they also had the less-positive effect of diminishing Ali’s terrific performance. And audiences who’d loved the movie as a story of friendship were made to feel they’d been racially insensitive, or had somehow simply taken the wrong ideas from the picture. The _Green Book_ story shows how a filmmaker’s essentially good intentions can’t protect him from the ways in which his movie might be received. 

But there’s nothing about _I Play Rocky_ that could be perceived as controversial, which means that Farrelly is free to do what he does best: to both entertain people and move them, though not in obvious, treacly ways. Ippolito plays the young, hungry Stallone as a figure driven by both ambition and need. He knows what his liabilities are: In a half-funny, half heartrending scene, he explains to Sasha why certain parts of his face are immobile. He doesn’t yet know if this is going to dash his career hopes or be one of the essential qualities that differentiates him from everybody else. In an earlier scene, he reads Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” into a tape recorder, using the playback to help him overcome his garbled diction. It doesn’t help that his father, played with sharklike good humor by Matt Dillon, does nothing but insult him, though Stallone is so used to this treatment that it barely registers. He pushes right through his insecurities into a golden territory that borders on arrogance. But then, that’s what believing in yourself really means. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1df9cb9ba8e1671/6aee30835c990208473925e5/IPR-09352_RC_rgb.jpg?branch=production)

Ippolito as Stallone as Rocky, in the meat locker scene —Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Ippolito looks and sounds so much like the young Stallone—with the same glottal drawl, the same sleepy, sad-sack eyes—that he may as well be transporting us back in time, to an era when a little movie could make it big against all odds. Farrelly has populated _I Play Rocky_ with terrific supporting players, including Stephan James as Carl Weathers, the flashy actor who would bring Rocky’s opponent Apollo Creed to life, and Jay Duplass as John G. Avildsen, the no-bull director Chartoff and Winkler bring in to helm the project. (He can deliver a film on time and within budget. He’s also, as he himself says, “known to be something of a dick.”) 

A million things will go wrong before _Rocky_ eventually plays to, and thrills, audiences. _I Play Rocky_ chronicles those mishaps, those thorny negotiations, those times when Stallone was so intent on giving the performance of a lifetime that he hurt himself physically. When Rocky Balboa punches those carcasses in the meat locker, they’re frozen solid, the equivalent of driving your first into a slab of granite. Ippolito makes you feel how much it hurts, which is also part of what makes his character’s eventual, unexpected victory—a runaway hit film—so sweet. Farrelly, like Stallone before him, knows what audiences like to see. _I Play Rocky_ hits all the right beats—and sometimes, isn’t that just what we want? Every day, algorithms tell us what we ought to like. A human who knows what works has come to feel like a rarity.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltd28ccadb5b13a034 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:59:06 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Stephanie Zacharek\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Stephen Miller to Be Trump's New Chief of Staff, Replacing Susie Wiles\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/stephen-miller-tapped-as-trump-s-new-chief-of-staff-replacing-susie-wiles/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Miller has been the driving force behind Trump's immigration agenda.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Stephen Miller, center, sits behind Susie Wiles, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a bilateral meeting at U.N. Headquarters on Sept. 22, 2026 in New York City.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08755d3bf82ada60/6aee26ec811a405991400ca7/GettyImages-2296597797.jpg?branch=production)

Stephen Miller, center, sits behind Susie Wiles, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a bilateral meeting at U.N. Headquarters on Sept. 22, 2026 in New York City. —Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Friday [announced](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117571000109141399) Stephen Miller will be the next White House Chief of Staff starting Monday, the most high-profile shift in his Administration in the aftermath of midterm elections on Tuesday in which Republicans [lost control](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/) of both chambers of Congress.

[Susie Wiles](https://time.com/7174721/meet-susie-wiles-the-future-trump-appointed-white-house-chief-of-staff/), the current White House Chief of Staff and Trump’s longtime political operative, will be reassigned to oversee “the Trump Political Operation,” according to Trump’s Truth Social Post. 

“I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!” Trump said. 

**Read more**: [_Welcome to Trump’s Lame-Duck Era_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/trump-lame-duck-era/)

Speaking to reporters Friday afternoon, Trump praised Miller as "a great manager" and "very good politically and a very good man."

“Stephen’s been with me from the beginning," he said. "He gets it."

Wiles, 69, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and underwent six months of chemotherapy while continuing to manage her duties in the White House. In September, Wiles announced that she is cancer-free after the pathology results came back. 

In a [statement](https://x.com/SusieWiles47/status/2118780628258730072) posted on X, Wiles says it has been “an honor of a lifetime” to serve President Trump in the White House and she is grateful for the people that have worked alongside her.

“While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will,” she said. 

Miller has served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff in Trump’s second term, and is considered to be the central figure of Trump’s immigration agenda, including mass deportations and closing the US-Mexico border. Miller has overseen Trump’s homeland security agenda along with border czar Tom Homan. 

He previously served as senior advisor to the president and director of speechwriting during the first Trump administration. During that period, Miller, along with then White House Strategist Steve Bannon, co-wrote the [Muslim ban](https://time.com/4611229/donald-trump-berlin-attack/) and encouraged Trump to gradually [end](https://time.com/4927495/donald-trump-statement-daca-rescind/) the recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA.

Miller’s promotion quickly drew backlash from Democrats in Congress who have [vowed to investigate the Trump Administration](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/) following a sweeping midterm victory. Rep. Robert Garcia, the likely next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that Stephen Miller should “lawyer up.”

“Oversight Democrats will continue to investigate Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts,” Garcia added.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt12aab1cf577c947f Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:27:22 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Wang\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The True Story Behind Being Heumann and the Longest Sit-In in U.S. History\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/being-heumann-true-story/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The movie tells the story of Judy Heumann and a group of disability rights activist who staged a sit-in in San Francisco in 1977 to put pressure on the enforcement of legislation.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of Apple\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Ruth Madeley as Judy Heumann\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1d801751898f67f/6aee0f20cdd40804b94d36c2/Being_Heumann_Photo_0102.jpg?branch=production)

Ruth Madeley as Judy Heumann —Courtesy of Apple

“Like _Dog Day Afternoon_ with disabled people.” This is how director Siân Heder describes a portion of disability rights activist [Judy Heumann’s](https://time.com/5793652/judith-heumann-100-women-of-the-year/) memoir concerning the enforcement of Section 504, an aspect of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. This provision meant that people could not discriminate against anyone with disabilities in public buildings, from schools to universities, hospitals to the halls of government. It also meant those buildings had to be compliant and physically accessible to disabled people. But five years later, in 1977, Section 504 was still not enforced, and [Heumann](https://time.com/6261131/judy-heumann-death-disability-essay/) was not going to let that stand.

The year before, newly elected President Jimmy Carter had promised to enforce Section 504, but his secretary of health, education and welfare, Joseph Califano, said he needed more time to review it. Exasperated and furious over their inaction, Heumann and a group of disability activists staged a sit-in at the San Francisco Health, Education and Welfare federal building on Apr 5, 1977\. It was the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. history.

Heder, whose previous film _CODA_ won the Oscar for Best Picture, has turned that portion of Heumann’s story into the cinematic vision she had while reading about it. Her new film _Being Heumann_ tells the story of Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) and the courageous activists who helped enforce Section 504\. TIME spoke with Heder, Madeley, and Kristen Joiner, executive producer and co-writer of Heumann’s memoir _Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist_, about Heumann's story and how the group brought the historic sit-in to life. 

**Read more:** [_I've Been Disabled Since I Was a Child. Co-Writing_ Being Heumann _Still Taught Me So Much_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/being-heumann-movie-essay/)

## **The mother of the disability rights movement**

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt850ace0e2dd94c00/6aee2670b713ad65436707c7/GettyImages-2205913258.jpg?branch=production)

Judy Heumann speaks during a 'Section 504' demonstration in UN Plaza, San Francisco, Calif., April 5, 1977 —HolLynn D'Lil/Getty Images

Joiner first met Heumann in 2016\. “Judy was deciding whether or not she wanted to work with me,” she recalls. “I immediately warmed to her because she was so direct, and I was drawn to that. My first thought when I met her was: ‘How did I not know about this story?’” 

Joiner told Heumann that it wasn’t until she heard her story that she understood that disability rights is a civil rights issue. “Judy’s reaction set the tone for our whole relationship. She said: ‘Let me get this straight. You have a background in human rights, and you never saw disability as a civil rights issue. Why do you want to write my story?’ I said: ‘Because I have this enormous blind spot.’”

Judy snapped back without missing a beat: “Don’t say blind spot.”

Joiner earned Heumann’s trust, maintaining a profound respect for the activist’s conviction in her beliefs and willingness to say what she thought without apology. They wrote Heumann’s memoir together over several years. That very comment about the word “blind spot” even features in Heder’s film during one of several heated conversations between activists at the sit-in.

Heder came across Heumann’s story in 2020\. At Sundance, a friend of hers working on the documentary [_Crip Camp_](https://time.com/5809758/crip-camp-review/), which would go on to earn an Oscar nomination, told Heder she had to make a movie about Heumann. So the filmmaker read her memoir and sent a cold email about making a film about her. “She wrote me back right away and said, ‘I’m in the last 24 hours of making a decision about a filmmaker, and if you can meet today at 5, you can be in the running,” recalls Heder.

Heder made herself available and pitched her idea to Heumann, highlighting her desire to make it with a disabled cast. “She was so excited by that idea. Judy and I had a very beautiful collaboration for two years. We talked all the time,” says Heder.

Heder began her research with Heumann’s memoir. She interviewed around 30 people who were directly involved with the protests. “I talked with anyone who was still alive,” says Heder. The filmmaker also drew upon a collection of oral histories recorded through the Paul K. Longmore Foundation at San Francisco University. That included a 200 page document where Kitty Cone (played in the movie by Madeline Delp), one of the sit-in leaders, discussed the protest. “She talked about feeling like she and Judy held onto too much control, and they should have empowered people. A lot of the conflict in the movie came out of really digging into Kitty’s oral history,” says Heder.

“Conflict was an underlying theme in Judy’s life,” says Joiner. “Talking to her over the years, it was story after story of her being rejected. Judy was basically bullied by the world. She couldn’t go to kindergarten. She wasn’t allowed in school. It was one instance after another of being excluded. But she never internalized it. She never decided the world was right and she was wrong. She decided the world was wrong and she was going to change it.”

When it came to inhabiting Heumann, Madeley, also a wheelchair user, was drawn to the way the activist spoke about her mother. Heumann’s grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, and her Jewish parents both were sent from Germany to the United States as teenagers. “Her mom used to drag her wheelchair up the stairs every day and fight with principals to let her in. I remember my own mother fighting to get one single ramp in school. I still didn’t have any rights as a disabled kid because our laws didn’t get passed til ‘95,” says Madeley, who is British.

“I remember hearing about that determination, and being so aware of that from such a young age. Sian encouraged me to think about my mom and that connection to what Judy felt about her mum, and that was really special,” Madeley says.

The world often reduces disabled people to their disability, but _Being Heumann_ depicts Heumann as fully well-rounded as she was in real life. She’s sexy, complicated, hot-headed, frustrating, and determined. “The film really understands the combination of her warrior-like insistence on remaking the world for everybody like her, combined with the vulnerability underneath that,” says Joiner.

## **The longest sit-in in U.S. history**

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94c45fc7d00dfcbe/6aee0efdd52f495fc2038168/Being_Heumann_Photo_0104.jpg?branch=production)

Michael Patrick Thornton, Andrew Pilkington, Rein Barcel, Ruth Madeley, Rio Finnegan, Antwan Tolliver, Roberta Colindrez, Ray Fisher and D’Arcee Charington Neal in Being Heumann —Courtesy of Apple

There were so many reasons why a sit-in at the San Francisco HEW federal building would never work. First and foremost, it was to be done largely by around 150 people with disabilities taking up residence in a building that wasn’t designed with disabilities in mind. The adaptations they had to make, or “hacks,” as Heder calls them, were ingenious. In one example, the protesters reconfigured an air conditioning unit to turn it into a refrigerator to store everyone’s medication. In another, after the FBI cut off the phones in the building, the deaf protesters realized they could sign out the windows to maintain communication with the outside world. “They had to become this working organism,” says Heder. 

They didn’t do it alone. Help from other organizations was imperative. The Black Panther Party, for example, provided hot meals daily for the protesters. The Mayor’s office provided support through delivering mattresses and even portable showers. Conditions were tough, and as the days wore on, concerns around survival increased.

Through it all, Heumann led the way by bringing people together. “One of the most brilliant things about her leadership is that she never wanted it to be all about her. It was about the collective,” says Joiner. _Being Heumann_ highlights the intersectionality in activism, showing how people with different disabilities came together, and often clashed, in an effort to make the world a better place for all of them. The many discussions held during the course of the sit-in show the vastly different needs of people with different disabilities. The wheelchair users want curb cuts to allow them to travel streets, but a blind person notes that curb cuts actually make things more challenging. These discussions, inspired by real conversations the protesters had, weave a rich tapestry of activism. 

“I’m constantly saying intersectionality is so important when it comes to disability,” says Madeley. She explains: “I want to know more about experiences of disability and race. I want to know more about disability and sexuality. I think that’s what’s so exciting about this movie. It’s not just Judy’s character—everyone has their own unique experience with where they are in the world.”

There was plenty of arguing and in-fighting, as such a tense situation naturally breeds. But a vibrant community spirit also emerged through the protests. One of the most intriguing details in _Being Heumann_ is a sex tent, established by the protesters in the federal building for…well, exactly what it suggests. That was no cinematic flourish, but a real element of the 504 sit in. “Sexuality was very important to me,” says Heder. “This was the ‘70s. It was a sexy time—these were counterculture people. Disabled characters are often infantilized or desexualised,” Heder adds, “but a sexual revolution was happening in the building. People were doing drugs for the first time. There was so much exploration happening, so tapping into that was essential, and really fun.”

## **The final showdown** 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted4adee82d211477/6aee0e2a46dffe6909d9db19/Being_Heumann_Photo_0101.jpg?branch=production)

Mark Ruffalo as Joseph Califano —Courtesy of Apple

Eleven days into the protest, Califano (played by Mark Ruffalo) finally agrees to come to the federal building to meet with the protesters and hear their testimony on the importance of 504\. But instead of coming himself, Califano sends Gene Eidenberg (Will Brill), his assistant. Heumann is devastated by this blow, and can barely hold herself together. She’s nothing short of furious, but stays and goes through with the conversation with Eidenberg. “Even though she’s on the verge of tears, she won’t leave the room. The movie captures the way that Judy would never write people off,” says Joiner. 

After 20 days in the building, the leaders of the sit-in, including Heumann and Cone, at the end of their rope, decided to confront Califano directly. With many of the activists flying from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. to protest outside his house, a number of protesters remain in the building to keep the sit-in going so the fight for Section 504 wouldn’t lose steam. Those who traveled across the country hold candlelit vigils over several days on Califano’s front lawn. When Califano continues to elude the activists, they return back to San Francisco to the sit-in. But not Heumann, who stays in D.C. “I have to stay here and keep the pressure on,” she tells Cone in the film. “They like you better anyway. I’m the asshole.” She responds: “You’re the asshole we needed.”

Califano continued to ignore Heumann’s calls, but on April 28, 1977, he signed the regulations. Heumann and her fellow activists were victorious. There is some confusion over how many days the sit-in lasted. Many articles cite it 24 or 25 days, though _Being Heumann_ claims 26 days. Any of these numbers would still make it the longest sit-in in US history.

Instead of going back to San Francisco to celebrate their hard-won victory, Judy decided to stay in D.C. to ensure that 504 would finally become law. The decision speaks to her character. “For Judy, it was all about the cause. She'd been put off so many times and told, ‘Oh, something will happen tomorrow. It'll happen. It'll happen.’ She never took people at their word until it was concrete,” says Joiner.

However, the decision threw Heder a challenge. “I always pictured the end of the movie being Judy rolling out of the building with everybody celebrating. When she told me she didn’t come back from D.C., I was like, ‘Well, I don’t have an end to my movie.’” But Heder eventually realized it was “the biggest character reveal I could ask for. The fact that the moment she won, was right on to the next thing that had to be accomplished. She could see the possibility for the ADA. It was this laser focus of this woman and her relentlessness that unlocked this character for me.”

Though the San Francisco sit-in ended in triumph, there was a bittersweet feeling for the protesters when it all ended. Walking out the doors to cheering crowds celebrating the victory was euphoric, but leaving meant going back to a world that didn’t quite understand them. “There was a sense of freedom while they’re locked in this building, away from judgment and people pitying them,” says Madeley. “They could just be, and explore sex. They could explore drugs. They could just be rebellious.”

Madeley adds: “So many of them didn’t want to leave at the end because of how free they felt in those walls. It was like camp was over—they didn’t want to go.”

Thirteen years after the sit-in, the [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://time.com/5870468/americans-with-disabilities-act-coronavirus/) was passed, though even today, the fight for disability access is far from over. Heumann continued her activism, serving in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Until her death on March 4, 2023, she never stopped fighting for disability rights. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt7a3c656fbd7dfb4d Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:20:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Barry Levitt\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Godzilla Minus Zero Is a Magnificent Entertainment With a Melancholy Heart\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/godzilla-minus-zero-review/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Takashi Yamazaki’s follow-up to 2023's 'Godzilla Minus One' is a serious fantasy with two gorgeous monsters.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of GKids\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd42a71c170099351/6aee06875fb4467fbbcfc0d2/GMZ_KV1-Still_Godzilla-clean_2026-07-07_copyright.jpg?branch=production)

 —Courtesy of GKids

All monster movies can be read as metaphors, whether they’re intended to be or not: It’s not much of a stretch to intuit that the fearsome creatures we meet in the movies— whether they’ve been catapulted from outer space or brought to life by our own hubris—represent the unnamed fears we struggle with every day. Even so, there’s something particularly poignant about Godzilla, the raging reptilian behemoth who made his first appearance in the 1954 Japanese sci-fi classic of the same name. The United States had dropped the [atomic bomb on Hiroshima](https://time.com/4440722/hiroshima-7-stories/) only nine years before; [Godzilla](https://time.com/95212/godzilla-review-movie-bryan-cranston/), stomping listlessly through the streets of Tokyo, was both a symbol of nuclear destruction and an expression of the kind of rage that can’t easily be put into words. He didn’t ask to be born, yet here he was, clumsy, solitary, misunderstood. If you could, you would shoot fire from your mighty jaws too. 

Godzilla has been resurrected over the years, but rarely so inventively as in writer-director Takashi Yamazaki’s 2023 stunner _Godzilla Minus One,_ in which a kamikaze pilot, Ryunosuke Kamiki’s Koichi Shikishima, tries to return to normal life in his shattered country, even as he feels shame over his own failure to take action in the war's last days. _Godzilla Minus One_ wasn’t just a showcase for a magnificent monster; it was a thoughtful, beautifully paced picture, one that took its time to unfold, and its focus on human redemption was as delicate as its star kaiju was grand. _Godzilla Minus One_ might have been a tough act to follow. But Yamazaki’s new _Godzilla Minus Zero_ doesn’t so much try to surpass its predecessor as to cap it like a protective bookend. It’s a magnificent entertainment with a melancholy heart.

It’s 1949, shortly after the events of the earlier film, and Koichi has at last leaned into the comforts of domestic happiness with Noriko (Minami Hamabe), the woman he met, and at first resisted, after his wartime return, and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani). Godzilla has supposedly been vanquished, though of course we’ll learn otherwise. And as Japan rebuilds from both wartime devastation and from Godzilla’s rampage through various cities, including Tokyo, a new threat arrives from outer space—and this one can fly. Ghidorah is an elegant flying beastie straight from the margins of a medieval manuscript. His head, aglitter with feathery scales, is small, neat, furious; his wingspan could wipe out several city blocks at once. He shoots a golden death beam from his beaked mouth, and he has regenerative powers that appear to make him indestructible.

Before Ghidorah even shows up, it’s clear that no one has recovered from Godzilla’s earlier rampage. Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), the brainy, principled naval weapons engineer who figured so prominently in the earlier film, heads up a bureau whose chief aim is to deal with giant marauding creatures. He once again needs Koichi’s help, and also enlists some new talent, including ace meteorologist Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa) and Professor Murakami (Min Tanaka), a respected science whiz who lost his family in the bombing of Hiroshima and who harbors, not so secretly, a simmering resentment toward the U.S. military.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85af0d8e3efc0dc2/6aee05eb3c8cbed6dbefb415/GMZ_CharStills_Min-Tanaka-1112-175-copyright.jpg?branch=production)

Min Tanaka in Godzilla Minus Zero —Courtesy of GKids

Meanwhile, the U.S. military officers now stationed in Japan prove their untrustworthiness without even trying. The plot of _Godzilla Minus Zero_ is a whirl of characters trying to redeem themselves for their past mistakes, or feeling so much anger toward an aggressor that their own moral compasses go awry. Guilt, suffering, and justified rage all loom large in _Godzilla Minus Zero,_ and though this is science-fiction, Yamazaki is also keyed in to the real-life underpinnings of his fictional characters’ feelings. One dream sequence, in particular, hints at the effects of a nuclear attack on the human body; it’s brief, but it’s both alarming and affecting. Yamazaki has said his film is in part [a response to Christopher Nolan’s _Oppenheimer_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/godzilla-minus-zero-Takashi-Yamazaki-interview/)_,_ which didn’t show the effect of the atomic bomb on people. _Godzilla Minus Zero_ is fiction, but its sense of history courses through its bloodstream even so.

And what about the creatures, the metaphorical vessels invented to carry so many undefinable feelings? They are—unsurprisingly, given the majestic special effects of the earlier movie—superb. The plot involves some wackadoodle science that doesn’t make much sense, but you needn't worry about that. Ghidorah, having flown into town from God-knows-where, is a displaced ball of anger. Wherever home is, he’s far away from it, and deeply unhappy. His golden breath has electromagnetic powers—at one point it uproots both structures and people, _Wizard of Oz_\-style, and whirls them in the air, only to later smash them to the ground. There’s nothing nice about him, but in his somber, unruly rage, he _is_ beautiful.

And then there’s [Godzilla](https://time.com/5951237/godzilla-vs-kong-review/) himself, who appears to be—and must ever remain—unkillable. His enormous, unmanageable tail swings to and fro as he once again clomps through Tokyo, a city that has had no time to recover from his previous visit. Tossing his proportionately tiny head, he roars with anguish and frustration. When he gets _really_ mad, gorgeous but deadly blue radioactive spines sprout from his back. He has the body of a tyrant and the mind of a toddler. No wonder we both fear him and feel protective of him. He’s both our villain and our destiny, a vessel for incompatible ideas that we can’t always resolve with human logic. He’s not just coming for us; he _is_ us. In _Godzilla Minus Zero,_ we're again invited to tremble before him—but, once again, not without tenderness. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltddbe6cb4e7adabed Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:57:42 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Stephanie Zacharek\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The 10 Best Gifts for a Stylish Friend\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/best-gifts-for-the-stylish-friend/<!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd22d81cbef70aa82/6aebbf8962c30687214b87ae/beauty-gifts-holidays-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production)

Every year, TIME's editors and correspondents work together to compile a collection of the most interesting and groundbreaking new products and innovations for the [Best Inventions](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/) list. As holiday season approaches, the TIME team has pulled out a selection of 10 best beauty items from the list that would make a perfect gift for the always chic trend-setters in your life. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f340cab61eda044/6acf8518c9b4e34514550422/01_TIME_SHOOT_Skaura-One.jpg?branch=production)

 —Hugo Yu for TIME

## [Skaura One](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/skaura-one/)

_A more intuitive manual razor_

Razor innovation has historically focused on blades, but [Skaura’s One](https://www.skaura.com/pages/about-skaura) rethinks the handle instead. “We wanted to create a razor that would be an extension of the hand,” says co-founder and CEO Ty Cross. Launched in January, the unisex razor uses a patented weighted, ergonomically balanced handle with a finger rest that helps guide grip, pressure, and angle, with the goal of reducing irritation, nicks, and ingrown hairs. The company offers interchangeable blade cartridges for the face, body, and delicate areas, and the handle is backed by a lifetime guarantee. —_Nina Derwin_

**Buy Now:** Skaura One on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0eq7oiPj)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51551b1cb246ef75/6acf81d392bb50c03c0f0d48/K18-FutureIQ-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —K18

## [K18 FutureIQ ](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/k18-futureiq/)

_Fight hair aging_

Most hair products address signs of aging to one at a time: shedding, [graying](https://time.com/4242120/gray-hair-causes/), or damage. K18 concocted one treatment, FutureIQ, to tackle them all. The serum combines biomimetic peptides, a root-anchoring complex, and antioxidants to fortify hair on multiple, overlapping fronts. “This wasn’t about how to create an ingredient,” says cofounder and CEO Suveen Sahib. “You may have the best ingredient; that’s not going to solve the problem if you don’t understand the biological circuit.” In a 12-week study, K18 says 100% of participants experienced less hair fall and 70% had fewer visible grays. —_Katharine Gammon_

**Buy Now:** K18 FutureIQ on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B07TEQni2)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f440ff17f6c48bb/6acee3e1a4dceb56836fd16d/Shark-FlexStyle-IonCurl-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Shark Beauty

## [Shark FlexStyle IonCurl](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/shark-flexstyle-ioncurl/)

_All-in-one hair styler_

The FlexStyle IonCurl styler from Shark promises to dry, curl, and defrizz hair at once using negative ions to keep strands silky without heat damage. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Shark FlexStyle IonCurl on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0dlz6yr3)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt374cab35ffa0079a/6acf81d3041058627e8be951/Aora-Mexico-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —AORA Mexico

## [Aora México ](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/aora-mexico/)

_Plastic-free cosmetics_

A sustainable ingredient list rings hollow if the packaging isn’t earth-friendly too. Cosmetics company Aora México, now the first and only entirely plastic-free brand sold at Sephora, is devoted to keeping their makeup eco-friendly on the inside and out, using traceable ingredients and packaging made from single materials that are easy to recycle (think tin, aluminum, and wood). Aora also partners with rePurpose Global so that for every product sold, the company funds the removal from nature of nine times that item’s weight in [plastic waste](https://time.com/7337065/recycling-plastic-crisis-microplastics-body/). “This industry has left a legacy of trash,” says cofounder and CEO Nour Tayara, “so we wanted to completely close the loop.” _—Eliza Thompson_

**Buy Now**: Aora México on [Sephora](https://www.sephora.com/brand/aora-makeup-mexico?om%5Fmmc=ppc-GG%5F17862731479%5F145018769488%5Fpla-1797847225641%5F%5F612880517737%5F9003177%5Fc&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=17862731479&gbraid=0AAAAADnIXb27qRfGCTIpaH-ZtzWZ7ZOMX&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzY7VBhDwARIsAFtPvBQzqfpW0lQCFkYBQf5Gnj6UHosJS258bVOmKihnTtixxPB8UdeG%5FBgaAsI-EALw%5FwcB)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc072223e4c319a65/6acf83b16a8fc52073348994/Lifx-SuperColor-Mirror-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Courtesy of LIFX

## [Lifx SuperColor Smart Mirror](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/lifx-supercolor-mirror/)

_A vanity that mimics natural light_ 

If you’ve ever gotten ready in the bathroom mirror only to be, uh, surprised by what you look like outside, then the Lifx SuperColor Smart Mirror is for you. The 1200-lumen LED vanity mirror can display near-infinite colors, allowing it to mimic a range of lighting situations, and features a devoted Makeup Check mode to see how it will look in natural light. It also includes an anti-fog feature, and programmable buttons that deliver warm, dim light for those 3 a.m. bathroom trips. _—Eliza Thompson_

**Buy Now**: Lifx SuperColor Smart Mirror on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0h79fmOC)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8149247b7e41772f/6acf81d3caff70b0a818c2f0/iPolish-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —iPolish Digital Cosmetics

## [iPolish](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/ipolish/)

_New nail shades in seconds_

Smart technology has taken over beauty, from [skin care](https://time.com/7005137/best-skincare-routine/) devices to hair tools—and now, nails. With [iPolish](https://ipolish.fashion/collections/starter-kits), a single set of smart press-on acrylic nails can switch between hundreds of colors in seconds using electronic display technology. The nails apply just like traditional press-ons; to swap shades during wear, users simply select a hue in the app and [insert the tip of each nail into an accompanying wand](https://ipolish.fashion/pages/faq), which delivers a small charge of power to change colors. The first collection launches with more than 440 colors; after [debuting at CES in January](https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW543609012026RP1/), the company will ship its first consumer orders this winter. _—Nina Derwin_

**Buy Now:** Starter kits on [iPolish](https://ipolish.fashion/collections/starter-kits)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64b279ea6a797140/6acf825ff0c025090b97103b/Nori-Cloud-Max-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Nori, Inc.

## [Nori Cloud Max](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/nori-cloud-max/)

_A steamer that works for you_

Nori Cloud Max offers a simple but effective solution to the biggest problem with clothing steamers: steam burns. Light fabrics—the kind that often require steaming—undulate when faced with steam, requiring a hand to hold them in place; a hand which is then scalded with hot steam. Nori added soft vacuum suction to the head of the steamer to hold the fabric in place and pull it taut, so it not only smoothes wrinkles more effectively, including on heavy fabrics like denim and linen, but it spares the user from suffering in the name of fashion. —_Emma Barker Bonomo_

**Buy Now:** Nori Cloud Max on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B02mF2Lhb)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7799983744a92a85/6acee366a10717454cf78eb2/Shark-FacialPro-Glow-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Shark Beauty

## [Shark FacialPro Glow](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/shark-facialpro-glow/)

_Ultimate home facial_

Shark FacialPro Glow is an at-home hydro-facial system that is designed to use water and suction to clean pores and extract oils and dirt from the skin. An attachment can heat or cool to, the company says, support lymphatic drainage and boost circulation. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Shark FacialPro Glow on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0csY2cUA)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb2247fad4075942/6acf8210f0c025458b971033/01_TIME_SHOOT_Dyson-CameraJet.jpg?branch=production)

 —Hugo Yu for TIME

## [Dyson CameraJet](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/dyson-camerajet/)

_A dental care first_

Electric toothbrushes and waterjet flossers have dominated home dental-care since their invention some half-century ago. But this fall, beloved appliance and personal care brand Dyson combined the two—with several brilliant twists. The CameraJet is an electric toothbrush with a tiny camera in the head that spots minute tooth gaps and food scraps in real time and deploys flossing jets of water where needed as you brush. Users can even use the camera to see inside their own mouth (via a connected app) or send footage to their dentist for review. The battery and brush heads are swappable, and the whole product is—as Dyson fans have come to expect—impeccably designed. _—Emma Barker Bonomo_

**Buy Now:** Dyson CameraJet on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0ierE1NX)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte71d290fc66e5c42/6acf839f99a23f7fe866cf31/Fitnexa-SomniPods-3-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Courtesy of Fitnexa

## [Fitnexa SomniPods 3 ](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/fitnexa-somnipods-3/)

_Day-to-night sleepbuds_

Fitnexa SomniPods 3 are nothing to sleep on. In addition to being about $100 cheaper than other earbuds for sleep, they add active noise cancellation, which reduces the sound of steady disturbances like road traffic and train rumbles before they even hit your ears. On top of that, the plugs offer passive isolation (the seal of the bud) and adaptive sound masking (soothing audio tracks that help cover up your beloved’s snoring). For your waking hours, the SomniPods play high-fidelity audio, take phone calls, and provide AI wellness coaching ($49.99/year after a three-month trial). _—Jessica Sager_ 

**Buy Now:** Fitnexa SomniPods 3 on [Fitnexa](https://www.fitnexa.com/product/fitnexa-somnipods-3/pricing)

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt5224dd8d922b8e54 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:32:45 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The Tide Could Be Turning on Global Climate Cooperation\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/tide-turning-global-climate-cooperation/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Countries continue to make progress on issues that have long divided them.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[CN-STR / AFP—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Workers carry out routine maintenance on wind turbines at the Rudong H4 offshore wind farm in Rudong, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 10, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63ca57497c3c2508/6aedfc34e47c1e5663c2fa59/climate-cooperation-clean-energy.jpg?branch=production)

Workers carry out routine maintenance on wind turbines at the Rudong H4 offshore wind farm in Rudong, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on June 10, 2026\. —CN-STR / AFP—Getty Images

The [U.S. midterms](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-midterms-win-climate-action/) were not fought on[ climate policy](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/democrats-midterms-corporate-climate-action/), and the Democrats’ overwhelming win should not be read as a sign that the United States is on a clear path back to climate leadership. But there are good reasons to think the shift can still prove significant for global climate action.

Over the past two years, opponents of [climate](https://time.com/section/climate/) action have tried—with some success—to make retreat seem inevitable. That narrative has overshadowed how many countries are still choosing to work together and the progress they are making on issues that have long divided them. 

Negotiating the Paris Agreement taught me that a collective commitment can change the future people expect and are willing to invest in—and get the people and institutions with the power to build it moving.

In April, for example, 57 countries met in Santa Marta, Colombia, to work through how to remove the barriers to transitioning away from fossil fuels. They included developed and developing countries, fossil fuel importers and producers—from Germany and Canada to Brazil and Nigeria. The E.U., China, and Brazil, meanwhile, have formed a [new coalition on carbon markets](https://climate.ec.europa.eu/news-other-reads/news/eu-brazil-and-china-launch-open-coalition-boost-integrity-and-effectiveness-carbon-markets-2026-05-07%5Fen). The effort is essential to cutting industrial emissions without putting domestic producers at a disadvantage—and it’s one of the thorniest issues in climate diplomacy. Their decision to work together is a significant political step.

Why have these countries chosen to keep working together, and why has no country followed the United States out of the Paris Agreement? Because nearly every government recognizes that climate change and energy insecurity threaten its core national interests—and that, in a deeply interdependent world, protecting those interests requires working with others, however difficult the politics.

The latest fossil fuel shock triggered by the war in Iran and worsening climate impacts are making those shared interests harder to ignore. For decades, the oil and gas industry has promoted the idea that energy security means ensuring more reliable and diverse supplies. The Hormuz crisis is forcing governments to reconsider that logic. Even diversified supply cannot shield countries from large shocks in global markets, as the American experience with soaring fuel prices shows. Meanwhile, batteries, solar panels, and electric vehicles keep getting better and cheaper. Their uptake has accelerated since the Hormuz crisis began, as people around the world seek to protect themselves from volatile fuel prices. Outside China and the United States, sales of electric cars rose by an[ estimated 45%](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/electric-energy-security-how-evs-are-reducing-oil-import-vulnerabilities/) in the first eight months of this year compared with the same period in 2025.

At the same time, as the extreme heat and wildfires this year showed us, climate disasters are taking lives and inflicting economic losses on a scale that governments can no longer afford to ignore. The U.N. Environment Programme has confirmed that the world is set to [exceed 1.5°C of warming](https://www.unep.org/en/publications/report/limiting-overshoot-navigating-exceedance-15degc-and-pathways-towards-return). Every additional fraction of a degree will increase those losses and the risk of crossing irreversible tipping points. 

There is no denying that the world’s global superpower rejecting climate action and multilateralism has made it harder for countries to act on these interests. Over the past two years, Washington has not just rejected climate action; it has actively tried to stop others moving ahead, threatening tariffs on countries backing a levy on shipping emissions and seeking to keep climate change off the G7 and G20 agendas. Its aggressive stance has also helped push the E.U. into watering down some of its own climate regulations.

The midterms offer no guarantee that Washington’s pressure will ease. But they expose the emptiness of the Trump Administration’s [promise](https://www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/energy/) that fossil fuels will deliver affordable energy. Politicians elsewhere should take note: climate denial is no answer to voters’ worries about their bills. Other countries should feel greater confidence in pursuing their own interests, rather than allowing the threat of U.S. retaliation to set the limits of their ambition. By acting together, middle powers can give one another more room to withstand pressure from Washington.

There are more and more reasons to act, and fewer to hold back. At the annual U.N. climate conference this year, known as COP31, a broad group of countries spanning traditional divides wants to pledge to use clean electricity to replace fossil fuels. Major fossil fuel importers such as Europe and clean technology suppliers like China have a strong stake in that effort. American states, cities, and businesses are also expected to show up in force in Antalya, Turkey, the conference’s host city, eager to work with international partners without waiting for federal policy to change. Together, they could send a powerful signal of intent. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt0dfd8c39f8b10bf5 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:14:54 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Laurence Tubiana\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The 10 Best Gifts for Jetsetters\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/best-gifts-for-jetsetters/<!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7357c849821bcb61/6aebbd614eb3c74226178ee3/travel-gifts-holidays-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production)

Every year, TIME's editors and correspondents work together to compile a collection of the most interesting and groundbreaking new products and innovations for the [Best Inventions](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/) list. As holiday season approaches, the TIME team has pulled out a selection of 10 best essential travel items from the list that would make a perfect gift for your loved ones who are always on-the-go. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt927a766f90f2dd58/6acf80c0c37bcf15f6c91bda/Anker-Prime-Charger-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Anker

## [Anker Prime Charger](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/anker-prime-charger/)

_One power brick to rule them all_

There are plenty of power bricks that promise efficient multi-device charging, but the new Anker Prime Charger actually delivers. "Our goal was to create one compact charger that could support a laptop, tablet, and phone without requiring the user to think about how the available power should be divided," said Will Lv, the product’s senior project manager. The diminutive 160W brick has three USB-C ports, each capable of outputting 140W (enough to top off a 16-in. MacBook Pro). It also features a screen that lets you see how much energy every connected device is getting and make sure none is overheating. _—Justin Pot_

**Buy Now:** Anker Prime Charger on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0jevTsvH)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34950d6fa374dbcd/6acf9a6bf0a6ca62ade89a2d/Renzoe-Box-time-inventions-2026-v2.gif?branch=production)

 —Renzoe Box

## [Renzoe Box](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/renzoe-box/)

_Build your own beauty palette_

Renzoe Box is a customizable travel makeup palette that allows you to personalize your configuration across different brands and products. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Renzoe Box on [Renzoe Box](https://www.renzoebox.com/pages/gift-a-box)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31a6d85780214cfb/6acf85a0c9b4e33a6d550438/Tavo-Maeve-iso-6X-Travel-System-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Tavo Pets

## [Tavo Maeve iso Wind and Roscoe Trek Travel System](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/tavo-maeve-iso-wind-and-roscoe-trek-travel-system/)

_A next-gen pet car seat_

Safety experts [recommend restraining animals in the car](https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/pets-vehicles), yet many owners let their furry friends ride loose. For chic on-the-go [pet parents](https://time.com/tag/pets/), Tavo, a sister company to baby-gear brand Nuna, leveraged years of car seat safety testing and applied it to its luxe pet car seat and stroller system. “Pets are part of the family, and they deserve that same standard of protection,” says Kenny Cheng, founder of Nuna and Tavo. The seat, which doubles as a bed and can accommodate animals up to 40 pounds, has integrated latches that snap right into your car and includes a built-in fan. _—Nina Elder_

**Buy Now:** Tavo Maeve iso Wind and Roscoe Trek Travel System on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B031deSIZ)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt376c33678a959c7b/6acef1c57f48aea0c1b4001a/Younglingz-Lil-Flyer-Go-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Younglingz LLC

## [Younglingz Lil Flyer Go](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/younglingz-lil-flyer-go/)

_A carry-on suitcase designed for kids_

Younglingz’s latest version of its child-friendly travel suitcase features removable spinner wheels, a padded seat, folding handles, folding foot pedals, and a safety belt. It is also a TSA-approved carry-on in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Younglingz Lil Flyer Go on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B03xA8p8F)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf4f769ba4b1276e/6acf7eee99a23f58de66ceeb/Shark-ChillPill-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Shark Beauty

## [Shark ChillPill](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/shark-chillpill/)

_Quick cooler_

The Shark ChillPill is a rechargeable handheld fan that comes with a misting cooler, and a cryotherapy-inspired chill plate that the company says can cool skin by around 16°F on contact. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Shark ChillPill on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B00QcrF8L)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99c9959959ed23a9/6acf84e3d893c682fc40750f/Fi-Ultra-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Fi GPS and Health Tracker

## [Fi Ultra](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/fi-ultra/)

_The off-grid dog collar_

When a dog bolts into a canyon or vanishes under heavy tree cover, most tracking collars lose the signal. Fi Ultra doesn't. The device runs on T-Satellite, T-Mobile’s direct-to-device satellite service built with SpaceX's Starlink, so the moment the signal drops, Fi Ultra automatically switches to satellite—which keeps a pet trackable on thousand-acre ranches and backcountry trails where a phone would show zero bars. Asked whether a satellite collar is overkill, Jonathan Bensaoum, CEO and co-founder of Fi, points to the owner "whose dog has gone missing in a national park with no signal to locate them." —_Joe Mullich_

**Buy Now:** Fi Ultra on [Fi](https://shop.fitracking.com/shop?selected=ultra)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d2661de2f089710/6acf81f690def4deb21c0feb/GoPro-Mission-1-Pro-ILS-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —GoPro

## [GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/gopro-mission-1-pro-ils/)

_GoPro goes cinematic_

While action cameras can shoot anywhere, they’re not known for producing movie theater-quality footage. The GoPro Mission 1 PRO ILS shatters that silver ceiling. Designed with input solicited on the sets of “Game of Thrones” and “Twisters,” the new release is now the smallest 8K cinema camera available. It’s also GoPro’s first with a Micro Four Thirds mount, adding compatibility with many lenses designed for more traditional cameras. That means the same camera you’d use while careening down a mountain can capture the beauty of valley flora _après ski_, says principal product manager Fong Tran. _—Kevin Cortez_

**Buy Now:** GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B08VMAa8U)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadb8dda6697d1619/6acee7e17f48ae54dab3ffe9/Renpho-x-Headspace-Eyeris-Zen-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —RENPHO

## [Renpho x Headspace Eyeris Zen](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/renpho-x-headspace-eyeris-zen/) 

_Upgraded meditation_

Developed with Headspace, this eye massager offers a deeper relaxation with built-in audio guided mindfulness sessions. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now**: Renpho x Headspace Eyeris Zen on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B0aVvCqEi)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99350cc9282f515a/6acee5f9ae05276e6485c2b4/Belkin-Charging-Grip-for-Nintendo-Switch-2-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —Belkin International

## [Belkin Charging Grip for Nintendo Switch 2](http://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/belkin-charging-grip-for-nintendo-switch-2/)

_Charge while you play_

Belkin’s Charging Grip for Nintendo Switch 2 features a magnetic power bank with an integrated USB-C cable that snaps on when players need extra power. The grip’s modular design allows Joy-Cons to be removed without taking off the grips, while remaining dock and kickstand compatible. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now:** Belkin Charging Grip for Nintendo Switch 2 on [Amazon](https://link.amazon/B05hroGQp)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e31470ecb643b38/6acee4a45c679e30396fd40a/TDM-Neo-time-inventions-2026.jpg?branch=production)

 —TDM.

## [TDM Neo](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-special-mentions/2026/tdm-neo/)

_From headphones to speaker_

TDM’s Neo is a portable speaker that, when twisted open, transforms into wireless headphones, and back again. _—TIME Staff_

**Buy Now**: Neo on [TDM](https://tdmofficial.com/products/tdmneo)

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt1b99d6ff3e2ebede Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:05:09 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How AI is Impacting College Students Like Me\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/how-ai-is-impacting-college-students-like-me/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\["AI tilts the playing field against students who care about using their four precious college years for self-discovery and intellectual exploration," writes Alana Kaufman.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[aimintang—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Students walk through Duke University.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt580b7d3c67c8b7c2/6aedf2867ce30b4db81ea121/Duke-University.jpg?branch=production)

Students walk through Duke University. —aimintang—Getty Images

“What are some ways a 16-year-old girl is similar to Nick Carraway?”

That was the first question I ever asked AI. I was a sophomore in high school, stuck on a homework assignment about _The Great Gatsby_—until my Dad called me over to his computer, itching to show me a new technology called ChatGPT.

I gave it the prompt for my essay. In seconds, the screen was filled with flawlessly written ways to compare myself to _Gatsby_’s narrator. But something didn’t feel right about taking the chatbot’s answer and pretending it was my own. I challenged myself to ignore its suggestions and come up with my own ideas. 

Within weeks, my high school was buzzing about AI. Some of my fellow students in Mr. Brown’s AP Lit class used it to summarize Robert Frost poems, without bothering to read them. I remained torn. An extra hour to chill at home would’ve been nice, but Frost’s poetry wasn’t especially dense. Plus, Mr. Brown was my favorite teacher, and I felt he was owed the effort of doing the reading myself. We all got similar grades on the assignment, which annoyed me. But in our seminar conversation, I could tell I had a deeper understanding of Frost’s work. 

 In 2024, I got into my dream school, Duke. I couldn’t wait. I longed for the classic collegiate experience my parents described: staying up late discussing philosophy in dorm rooms, reading classic literature in mortared lecture halls, asking life’s biggest questions in the birthplace of scientific discoveries. 

I quickly learned that at a school like Duke, efficiency matters as much as accomplishment. The faster you complete your coursework, the more time you can put into the extracurricular activities designed to give you an advantage when you enter the work world. Before classes even began, students were running around campus in suits, rushing pre-professional clubs with lower acceptance rates than Duke itself. Talk of summer internships sprouted around the 8-week mark. The question on everyone’s lips was how to get an A while spending as little time on their schoolwork as possible. 

That question isn’t new. It’s always been possible to cut corners or even cheat. But it used to take some level of effort, craft, and intentional deceit. AI makes it frictionless, adding a game-changing weapon to the achievement arms race, the effects of which reverberate beyond the classroom. Students who offload their coursework to AI can devote themselves to the clubs, internships, and leadership roles that become the standard everyone is measured against when interviewing for jobs. AI tilts the playing field against students who care about using their four precious college years for self-discovery and intellectual exploration.

As my homework piled up, I noticed others around me using AI. These were brilliant kids. They had to know something I didn’t. So I made a rule: I would use AI for busywork, but never the subjects I loved. Classmates I admired taught me the art of effective prompts, and I halved my homework time. A boring worksheet that would take my human brain two hours to complete took my augmented intellect only 45 minutes. The arrangement felt perfect: I cut out mindless tasks to preserve my mind for more important assignments. 

But as the year progressed, it didn’t take long for my rule to crumble. First, I used AI to summarize a dense reading for my philosophy class, a subject I loved, so I could devote more time to writing a contemplative essay. Then, intoxicated by my new efficiency, I asked AI to help me craft an outline for the essay, so I could concentrate on honing my word choice. It nailed the nuances I struggled to capture. I filled in the chatbot’s outline like a paint-by-numbers and submitted the results. I felt proud of the A I received, as if I had unlocked the future of productivity. For my next assignment, I went to the machine first.

Judgment day came when I got assigned a paper on political polarization. This was my favorite topic of the semester, and I was eager to leave class so I could start drafting. I wanted to savor the process of writing this piece, so I decided to do it the old-fashioned way: just a blank document and my brain. To my surprise, no words flowed onto the page. After a few minutes of total brain freeze, I remembered that I used to start my drafts by jotting down some relevant opinions, stats, and anecdotes. That came easily—but staring at the jumbled fragments, I realized to my horror that I had no idea how to transform them into a coherent piece of writing. 

After some intense frustration and effort, my sense of writing eventually came back to me, but my unsettlement lingered. I struggled to justify the hours spent on that essay rather than on my extracurriculars. I also couldn’t believe how much of myself I had lost to AI. 

It scared me. Like a drug, my relationship with AI had become all-or-nothing. I had to cut it out completely. 

Immediately, I experienced withdrawal. At times I would get so frustrated at being stuck that I’d open Claude in a browser and then shut down my computer to stop myself. I realized just how little patience I had left for the kind of intellectual challenges I’d been so eager to experience at Duke. What makes AI insidious is that we realize what we’ve lost only in hindsight, when we can no longer summon the perseverance needed for the tasks we used to find pleasurable.

It’s now been nearly four years since the release of generative AI, and I’m well into my sophomore year of college. My schedule is thick with extracurriculars and leadership roles, none of which I’m willing to give up. I resolved not to use AI this semester to substitute for doing my own thinking—even in my philosophy course, where our professor requires us to submit 1,000-word reflections on 150 pages of dense philosophical readings every week. Let me be clear: I would never judge a fellow student for using AI. In my eyes, it is a luxury to be able to spend time being curious.

I see a crossroads ahead. What kind of life do I want to live? One where I’m willing to sacrifice professional advancement for the sake of intellectual curiosity and passion? Or one where I get praised, get ahead, and remain on the cusp of humanity’s technological progress? 

It’s tempting to believe that the machine extends my mind, that it’s possible to balance my own intellect with that of the chatbot. But I’ve seen how quickly and quietly AI can rob me of something at my very core. I stand torn between the lures of inner virtue and societal praise. Like Nick Carraway, I am “within and without,” drawn to a glittering new world, yet repulsed by its emotional emptiness. Nick eventually leaves Gatsby’s mansion and returns home to seek a quieter, more fulfilling life. 

It remains to be seen how much we have in common.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt1b37cc21b328a859 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 15:35:32 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Alana Kaufman\]\]><!\[CDATA\[In Club Kid, a Party Guy Becomes a Dad, With Zero Sappy Clichés\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/club-kid-review-jordan-firstman/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[In Jordan Firstman's debut, a single gay man leaves the high life behind to care for the 10-year-old son he didn’t know he had.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of A24\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Reggie Absolom as Arlo and Jordan Firstman as Peter\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207025fe23e9d86c/6aed00f662c3066ee94b8e24/https_cdn.sanity.io_images_xq1bjtf4_production_ba1928b8df2f99c515b5f3eef91eb44af0b446d5-3840x2160.jpeg?branch=production)

Reggie Absolom as Arlo and Jordan Firstman as Peter —Courtesy of A24

No one is ever ready for parenthood, regardless of how much they [may want children](https://time.com/7276211/you-dont-have-to-be-certain-you-want-kids/). Maybe that’s why stories of happy-go-lucky, child-free men suddenly confronted with ensuring a child’s well-being—think _About a Boy,_ or even the patently absurd [_Three Men and a Baby_](https://time.com/archive/6709291/people-may-25-1987-2/)—often resonate. You can prepare for [fatherhood](https://time.com/5312912/history-american-fathers/), sure. But the unpredictability of kid behavior is always going to be the wild card.

That may be part of the allure of writer-director Jordan Firstman’s debut feature _Club Kid,_ which became a surprise sensation at [Cannes](https://time.com/article/2026/05/26/cannes-internatonal-movie-stars-hollywood/) in May. Firstman, who’d started out as a comedy writer, first gained attention for some skits he’d posted on Instagram during the pandemic. But _Club Kid_ came as a surprise. There’s something almost naively fresh about it, as if Firstman hadn’t stopped to consider that a plot like this one—a single gay man leaves the high life behind to care for the 10-year-old son he didn’t know he had—could invite some serious side-eye.

Somehow, Firstman makes the setup feel not only believable but moving. He stars as Peter, a party promoter who, with his coke-loving business partner Sophie (Cara Delevingne), pulls together events that draw New York’s freakiest, most fabulous, ready-to-rage crowds. Peter himself loves to partake of the drugs that flow so freely on the scene, and he sells them, too. Though he is, with absolute certainty, gay, it turns out there was one blurry night when he had sex with a woman. Ten years later—now in his 30s, Peter is still partying like it’s 2016—a woman he doesn’t know with a thick North London accent, Edison (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), shows up at his doorstep with a kid she says is his. Arlo (Reggie Absolom) is around 10, and his mother, Edison’s best friend, has recently died by suicide. So Edison brings Arlo to New York, passport and birth certificate in hand, and deposits him with Peter, who’s none too happy about this turn of events—and still a bit stunned that he ever did the deed that could result in an actual child.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef0b5182013ad84e/6aed011cf7d5905db866e226/https_cdn.sanity.io_images_xq1bjtf4_production_adcb0fd90d118de74ab0a5fb4264ae78f24a7592-3840x2160.jpeg?branch=production)

Alaska Riley, Saturn Risin9, Miss Benny in Club Kid —Courtesy of A24

Arlo has been through a lot, but he’s a bright, open-hearted kid with fantastic taste in music. Cocteau Twins are one of his favorites, and he’s got the cute, mid-1980s curly pompadour haircut to prove it. Peter can’t help liking Arlo, and tries to clean up his act when he realizes he wants to be a dad to him. He’s never really had to do grownup things, and their existential weight overwhelms him at first. Forget raising a child; he’s got to grow up himself, and fast.

_Club Kid_ takes some surprising turns on the way to its delicately shaded ending. Firstman makes a believably clueless naif in dadworld, and he knows just what to do with a throwaway sight gag: slow-dawning horror crosses Peter’s face when he realizes he’s unwittingly given Arlo a T-shirt printed with an NSFW motto to wear as a nightshirt. Firstman has also peopled his film with charmingly eccentric second bananas, like leggy, ultra-glamorous Saffron (Saturn Risin9), a DJ who shows Arlo the ropes at the mixing board, and Nicky (Eldar Isgandarov), an elfin freeloader and aspiring philosopher who could probably carry his own spin-off.

But a movie featuring a child actor is only as good as the kid, and Absolom is quietly wonderful as Arlo. He never overplays, even when he’s retching in a bin after eating pizza. (Arlo hasn’t told Peter he’s allergic to dairy products.) At one point, Peter has to break up a fight between Arlo and another kid—it’s clear that Arlo is hiding some deep-rooted anger. We can see it passing through him like an electrical storm—and then it’s over. By the end, we see him as a real kid, not just an adorable prop in a movie that could have easily veered into sentimentality. _Club Kid_ is, in the words of disco star Sylvester, mighty real.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt330b2d6fd7c1cb5e Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:30:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Stephanie Zacharek\]\]><!\[CDATA\[It Gets Worse Is the Great Gen Z Comedy We’ve Been Waiting For\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/it-gets-worse-review/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The British import, streaming in the U.S. on Paramount+, understands the plight of the 20-something—and knows how to laugh about it\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Paramount+\]\]><!\[CDATA\[From left: Emily Fairn, Olive Gray, and Leo Reich in It Gets Worse\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc1070091564b494/6aeb7d9f63734c2bdfc8fa31/IGW_100_00040_RT_(1%29.jpg?branch=production)

From left: Emily Fairn, Olive Gray, and Leo Reich in It Gets Worse —Paramount+

[Lena Dunham](https://time.com/7300870/too-much-netflix-lena-dunham-real-life/) sits behind a desk in the glassy, millennial-pink offices of a tech startup, monologuing away like someone who has just devoured all of [_Lean In_](https://time.com/tag/lean-in/)in a single sitting. “You need to advocate for yourself,” her character insists. “Women need to stop apologizing, especially at work.” A few minutes later, she’s quizzing a co-worker about her sexual practices. 

This is not a scene from the recently announced [_Girls_](https://time.com/4665930/girls-final-season-lena-dunham/)revival, though it certainly looks like it could be. Dunham is not the star of this British comedy, _It Gets Worse_, premiering Nov. 6 in the U.S. on Paramount+. She’s in just a handful of scenes as the casually inappropriate CEO of a girly-branded data broker. Her guest appearance functions as both a self-aware gesture from the quintessential millennial and an implicit passing of the messy-young-adult torch. We watch her offer an entry-level position on her company’s “people team” (which she describes as “a lot like HR, only you don’t need any training”) to an intern, Abi (Emily Fairn). This is no dream job. It’s not even the job you endure in hopes of working your way up to something remunerative and fulfilling. But for Abi, one of the bleakly humorous series’ main characters, it’s an achievement worth celebrating—because she is an overeducated young London transplant in 2026\. Welcome to contemporary 20-something life, as seen through the already weary eyes of an actual 20-something: creator and star Leo Reich. The latest in a flood of Gen Z hangout comedies, it’s TV’s sharpest portrait of the generation yet. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1cb4db27d35d7a8/6aeb7e1c62c30686b24b86fe/IGW_100_00269_RT.jpg?branch=production)

Emily Fairn and Sean Delaney in It Gets Worse —Paramount+

The series spends half of its six-episode first season introducing each of its three leads in turn, best friends from college who are being evicted from their shared flat and must scatter to temporary lodgings for the few weeks it will take to get their new place ready. Reich’s Ethan is a lightly spoiled, reflexively self-deprecating gay man whose search for love and direction is hampered by his aversion to seriousness and the fact that he has no idea what he wants. The voiceover narration—from [Zadie Smith](https://time.com/5128374/zadie-smith-feel-free-book-review/), what a flex—that frames the characters’ misadventures in ruminative yet unsparing fashion notes that he has “one of the easiest lives in recorded human history.” Abi is the conventional one, diligently striving in the white-collar world for mundane material comforts. A big part of that image is her boyfriend, Tom (Sean Delaney), a possessive, friendless but well-meaning guy in his 30s who musters more enthusiasm for cooking miso lamb chops than for sex. Finally, there’s Sam (Olive Gray). An aspiring writer who tutors rich kids to pay the bills, she radiates maturity. But when she takes a makeshift room at the anarchist coop where her ex-girlfriend (India Mullen) lives, the proximity tests her cool.

_It Gets Worse_ shares some late-coming-of-age storylines with its counterparts from the _Girls_ era and earlier. There are relationships stuck in gray areas, career paths that feel like pyramid schemes, nights out that turn into existential crises, parents who just don’t understand. (“I would pay rent in bad vibes and homophobia,” says Ethan, by way of explaining why he doesn’t want to spend the next couple of weeks with his judgmental mum. When pressed, he admits that she is not especially homophobic.) But as its title—an apparent swipe at [Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project](https://time.com/4060701/mike-huckabee-gay-lesbian-doritos-dan-savage/), whose promise to LGBTQ youth looks a bit shortsighted in retrospect—suggests, the show harbors none of the optimism that Gen Z depressingly attributes to millennials. Its rejoinder to [_Friends_’ cheery refrain](https://time.com/4219173/friends-creators-reunion-not-happening/) that early adulthood is the time when your friends are your family is that your friends only become your family because your actual family sucks, dating is a nightmare, you can’t afford to live on your own, and no one else takes you seriously. Also: None of this is a phase. For Reich, a comedian and actor who had a small role in [Dunham’s underappreciated _Too Much_](https://time.com/7301274/too-much-episode-3-recap-before-sunrise/), the liminal period doesn’t end when you achieve your goals, because that’s never going to happen. It goes on until the world ends, and that might be soon. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt938ce072f302ac7c/6aeb7e724eb3c72071178e28/IGW_100_00162_RT.jpg?branch=production)

From left: India Mullen, Safia Oakley-Green, and Olive Gray in It Gets Worse —Paramount+

Yet for all that it channels a generation’s sense of creeping, banal doom, this isn’t _Backrooms: The Series_. Nor does Reich invoke the [climate crisis](https://time.com/article/2026/10/14/climate-change-accelerating-study/) or [AI’s impact on the job market](https://time.com/article/2026/07/01/in-the-ai-era-we-need-to-invest-in-the-dignity-of-work/) every two minutes. His roasts of older cohorts, like Dunham’s good-sport performance, don’t announce themselves as such. (Another funny millennial jab is the scowl that crosses a younger character’s face when they spot Tom’s framed photo of [Anthony Bourdain](https://time.com/article/2026/08/04/tony-anthony-bourdain-true-story/).) _It Gets Worse_ is a comedy of lowered expectations—a topic that’s ripe for gallows humor. Sending up his elders’ impotent offerings of pity for people his age, Reich has Ethan pass on the sentiment to someone even younger: “This is the worst time ever to be seven.”

It’s this delicate balance of humor and insight that differentiates the show from the barrage of other Gen Z hangout comedies (many of which owe a similar debt to Dunham and _Girls_) that have emerged in the past two years. With cultural references so vague it’s [hard to tell when the series is supposed to take place](https://www.vulture.com/article/overcompensating-review-benito-skinner-amazon-prime.html), Benito Skinner’s higher-ed sitcom [_Overcompensating_](https://time.com/7287058/adults-fx-review-overcompensating/)plays like a throwback. Even more dated is Mindy Kaling’s [_Not Suitable for Work_](https://time.com/article/2026/06/01/not-suitable-for-work-review/), which is ahistorical enough to pretend that being a new grad in New York hasn’t changed since the Must See TV era. Rachel Sennott’s [_I Love LA_](https://time.com/7329292/i-love-la-review-rachel-sennott/)feels current and might make you laugh, but it’s allergic to introspection. The only worthy competition, so far, is _Adults_, a zanier, higher-energy show in the tradition of _Broad City_ and _Happy Endings_—and one that gained some depth in this year’s [great second season](https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/best-tv-shows-2026-so-far/). It’s probably funnier, scene for scene, than _It Gets Worse_. But it isn’t even aiming for the level of realism that the latter so convincingly achieves. I would never say as much to Reich for fear of bringing about the millennial cringepocalypse, but we might have another voice of _a_ generation on our hands.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt202d7e493f1ed278 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Judy Berman\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The Base Wants Someone Else. Schumer Has the Votes\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/schumer-has-the-votes-senate-majority-leader/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[He's on track to become Senate majority leader, even as many in the party think he's wrong for this moment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

 Even before Democrats knew the size of their [incoming Senate majority](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/), there was [agitation](https://time.com/7268506/chuck-schumer-democrats-vote/) from the left against keeping Chuck Schumer as the party’s leader. But in the days after one of the party’s best elections in decades, the “Replace Schumer” effort is facing an obvious problem: an alternative candidate. 

 Schumer, who has steered Senate Democrats since 2017, became liberals’ favorite punching bag this cycle, an avatar of everything wrong with a listless Democratic Party. The ubiquitous New Yorker was, detractors said, too prone to seek compromise, too wary of committing to fights with President Donald Trump and his administration, too likely to cram so many messages onto an agenda that none of them landed. For a party that still remains unlikely to truly find its footing until it has a presidential nominee, Schumer was a convenient scapegoat for a coalition party in the minority.

 “No one loves Chuck Schumer,” one victorious campaign consultant said this week. “But he’s the only guy who wants the job. At least right now.”

In the run up to the election, a [handful](https://time.com/7333965/congress-democrats-chuck-schumer/) of Senators—Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Brian Schaatz of Hawaii, Cory Booker of New Jersey—were seen as potential contenders to replace Schumer as majority leader. But in the days that followed, none raised their hand. 

The math is just on Schumer’s side. While Sens.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine, and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan all said on the campaign trail that they would not back Schumer, that’s not a sizable enough bloc to end his continued leadership. Other incoming Senators like Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, and James Talarico of Texas have sidestepped the Schumer question for months.

 Schumer only needs a bare majority of his caucus to move from minority leader to majority leader—not a majority of the voting chamber as is needed to become House Speaker. And other members of the caucus are longtime Schumer allies. Many owe him favors related to his running Senate Democrats’ campaign arm with a vise-like grip for the last two decades. Raising billions for party candidates—either directly or indirectly through campaign committees and an aligned super PAC—gives him plenty of chits to call in.

Schumer allies are not sweating the criticism from the party’s base, or even the dissent coming from candidates who are about to become his colleagues. He landed major recruiting coups in North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa—all Democratic pickups that helped the party secure a majority. Other wins in Maine, Michigan, and Kansas padded the party’s margins. Votes were still being counted in races in Mississippi and Alaska that could further expand Democrats’ power. 

 Indivisible, the liberal group that emerged from the ashes of Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential bid, became one of the first organizations this week to openly call for Schumer to step aside or be deposed. “Yesterday, voters made it very clear that they want a new generation of Democratic fighters,” the group posted this week. “We need a Leader in the Senate who is capable of leading that fight. It’s time for Senate Democrats to choose new leadership.” Other progressive groups have put out similar statements. None have a Senate Democrat volunteering for the position**.**

 Schumer has brushed off the criticism. "The issue is not me," Schumer said Wednesday. "I'll be re-elected as Majority Leader, but the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want."

 Well before Election Day, amid talk about Democrats regaining the Senate, a compromise idea began floating around: allow Schumer to remain Leader with the understanding he’ll retire when his term ends in two years. That would allow the 75-year-old Democrat to go out on top and cede the seat to someone new, potentially Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive star and fellow New Yorker, if she chooses to stay in Congress rather than seek the White House in 2028.

So far, Schumer has not said if that’s his plan. Either way, Schumer knows how to count. And the numbers, at least for now, are in his column. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blta6a3bfda6d5163a2 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Elliott\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What to Know About Gavin Newsom’s Historic Commutation of All California Death Sentences\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/newsom-california-commutation-sentences-death-row-reactions-legal-questions-explainer/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[It’s the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history, drawing sharp reactions and potential legal questions.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[PG/Bauer-Griffin—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Governor of California Gavin Newsom is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43d166b8708b7d65/6aedaf295fb4465a48cfb3bb/newsom.jpg?branch=production)

Governor of California Gavin Newsom is seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2026\. —PG/Bauer-Griffin—Getty Images

California Gov. [Gavin Newsom](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/gavin-newsom/) has moved to grant clemency to all 548 people on [death row](https://time.com/5932811/death-penalty-abolition-joe-biden/) in the state, marking the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history.

In an [open letter to Californians](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/2026-11-5-26-GGN-Open-Letter-FINAL.pdf) on Thursday, Newsom said he would commute the sentence of every death row inmate to life in prison without the possibility of parole—“the most severe punishment I can lawfully impose and the state of California can ethically enforce.”

“Today I am acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sanctioned killing,” Newsom, a Democrat, wrote.

California holds the largest number of people on death row in the U.S. and the western hemisphere. Newsom’s action, if fully enforced, would commute a quarter of all death sentences in the country. It takes a step beyond the [moratorium that has been in place](https://time.com/5552894/death-penalty-kamala-harris-conservatives/) since Newsom first became governor in 2019\. Newsom’s successor, Democrat Xavier Becerra, has also committed to a stay on carrying out executions.

Opponents to the death penalty welcomed the move, arguing that it is consequential to the broader movement to abolish the death penalty. Supporters of the death penalty, including some groups representing victims of crime and their families, have argued that the action disregards individual judgments reached by courts and the feelings of victims’ families.

The state last executed a person in 2006 under the governorship of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The move will be among Newsom’s final actions before he leaves office in January. He is [expected to announce](https://time.com/7328485/gavin-newsom-cbs-president-trump/) a [2028 presidential run](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/meet-the-democratic-rising-stars-who-could-shape-2028/), which some argue Thursday’s action could impact, for better or for worse.

The question of capital punishment has received heightened scrutiny in the U.S. since Tennessee [botched the execution of Christa Pike](https://time.com/article/2026/10/02/christa-pike-botched-execution-lethal-injection-tennessee-pentobarbital/) at the end of September, which led her to be hospitalized for days before returning to prison. On Thursday, Alabama, Florida, and Indiana carried out executions by lethal injection. And the planned military execution of Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood also drew national attention after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in October that the execution would be live-streamed. President Donald Trump has [since scrapped that live-streaming plan](https://time.com/article/2026/10/15/trump-cancels-livestream-of-fort-hood-firing-squad-execution-amid-bipartisan-pushback/), but the [military execution by firing squad](https://time.com/article/2026/10/10/firing-squad-execution-lethal-injection-christa-pike-fort-hood-shooter/) is still planned for December.

## ‘Incompatible’ with justice

A Catholic who has long opposed the death penalty on moral grounds, Newsom said Thursday that the state’s system for administering the death penalty cannot be applied fairly and has resulted in wrongful convictions.

“Because the death penalty is inherently incompatible with our legal system’s commitment to justice, I have determined that this clemency decision, while difficult in many respects, will ultimately affirm the strength and integrity of our state and its justice system,” he wrote.

Newsom has taken actions against the death penalty before. He dismantled the execution chamber at San Quentin in 2019 and the next year began transferring its death row inmates into the general population at other secure prisons where they had more access to work and restitution opportunities while remaining under death sentences. Newsom later converted the facility into a rehabilitation center, and in February, he opened a new Learning Center expanding education, training, and reentry services.

On an [episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvBCITzUYGo) of Newsom’s podcast last month that featured Equal Justice Initiative director Bryan Stevenson, the governor described the question of whether or not to grant universal clemency as a test of his conscience.

The governor has long argued that the administration of the death penalty has been unequal. After announcing the moratorium on executions in 2019, Newsom said in an interview that he was responsible for addressing “a race-based system. The fact is, you’re better off in this country to be rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent.”

According to the nonpartisan [Death Penalty Information Center](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/policy/innocence), at least 203 people on death row across 30 states have been exonerated based on evidence of innocence since 1973\. That includes eight people in California.

Elisabeth Semel, a professor of law at U.C. Berkeley and co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the university, tells TIME there exist “racial disparities in who faces capital punishment, who is sentenced to death, and who is executed” that trace back to the country’s history of slavery, segregation, and lynching.

Black people accounted for a third of California’s death row population, despite making up around 6% of the state’s overall population, according to [Judicial Council budget materials](https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/jbbc-20260520-materials-r.pdf) from May. Of those exonerated nationwide since 1973, [65% were people of color](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/what-to-know-innocence-and-the-death-penalty) and more than half were Black. A [2017 analysis](https://exonerationregistry.org/sites/exonerationregistry.org/files/documents/Race%5Fand%5FWrongful%5FConvictions-2%20%281%29.pdf) by the National Registry of Exonerations found that official misconduct contributed to the wrongful convictions of 87% of Black death row exonerees, compared to 67% of white death row exonerees. A [2024 study](https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty%5Fscholarship/4498/) of California murder and manslaughter convictions between 1978 and 2002 also found that Black and Latino defendants were more likely to receive death sentences, even after accounting for culpability and statutory aggravating factors.

Semel says most states do not provide adequate counsel or resources to people facing the death penalty. At the end of 2025, 391 people, or 70% of California’s death row population, were awaiting the appointment and/or funding of lawyers for state habeas corpus proceedings, according to a [May 2026 report](https://www.hcrc.ca.gov/documents/HCRC%20Annual%20Report%202025.pdf) by the Habeas Corpus Resource Center.

Death penalty opponents also argue that carrying out executions is a costly endeavor. Since 1978, when California reinstated the death penalty, the state has spent around $6 billion on the death penalty system while executing 13 men, according to the [Death Penalty Information Center](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/governor-gavin-newsom-grants-largest-mass-commutation-in-u-s-history-to-death-sentenced-prisoners-in-california). Many death penalty cases also involve lengthy legal battles, keeping people on death row for years and sometimes decades. Two-thirds of the people on death row in California were sentenced more than 20 years ago, according to the center.

Some political analysts have [warned](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-11-05/newsom-commute-california-death-sentences) that Newsom’s decision could expose him to criticism during a general election. While support for capital punishment in [California](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-support-for-death-penalty-in-california-lowest-in-50-years) and [nationwide](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-pen%20alty.aspx) has declined since historical highs in the tough-on-crime eras of the mid-1980s and 1990s, the issue remains divisive. The death penalty remains legal in 27 states.

But analysts also said that the move could boost Newsom’s popularity among progressive voters during a Democratic primary. “A governor who … predicts or precipitates capital punishment’s end in California could look visionary,” [wrote](https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/395557-gov-newsom-s-commutation-options) David Carrillo, executive director at Berkeley Law’s California Constitution Center, and attorney Brandon Stracener last month.

Shortly after Newsom’s announcement, three anti-death penalty groups sponsored a [video advertisement](https://vimeo.com/1243851321) praising Newsom’s decision, and comparing it to the actions of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dolores Huerta, Robert F. Kennedy, and other notable social justice leaders.

## ‘Mercy for the wolves’

Newsom’s decision will not automatically commute the sentences of everyone on death row. While the governor has constitutional authority to grant clemency, cases involving a person with multiple felony convictions must be reviewed by the Supreme Court. That means that 382, or around 70%, of the 548 sentences Newsom seeks to commute will have to be reviewed.

Even so, Semel tells TIME that the court’s role is “extremely limited.” The court is not meant to decide whether each applicant deserves mercy, but rather whether the governor’s action is an “abuse” of his broad constitutional authority, such as corruption or a conflict of interest, Semel says.

The move will also likely face legal challenges, but Semel says [lawsuits](https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/2004/95663.html) against similar moves in other states have not succeeded because the governor has broad authority to grant clemency.

“The governor’s power of clemency under the California Constitution is almost without limit,” she says.

Nevertheless, victims’ rights groups have raised both moral and legal objections to the move.

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation (CJLF), which advocates for victims’ rights and public safety in state and federal courts, argued in a [statement](https://cjlf.org/press-releases/newsom-death-row-commutations-newsom-breaks-2019-promise-erases-548-death-sentences-on-his-way-out-of-office) that the action overrides the decisions of juries that settled on verdicts and judges that handed down sentences. It also goes against the wishes of California voters, who twice rejected propositions to repeal the death penalty in 2012 and 2016, argued Anne Marie Schubert, a former Sacramento district attorney and the president and CEO of CJLF.

In an [op-ed](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6986699a364b1ef37bc16ee4/6ad8ec99bb097b8fa558826a%5FDeathSentences%5FLATimesOpEd.10.21.2026.pdf) published in the _Los Angeles Times_ last month, Schubert, alongside El Dorado County district attorney Vern Pierson, argued that blanket commutation “substitutes an individual executive’s stance for those individual judgments.” 

Newsom is not the first governor to issue a blanket commutation: In 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, commuted 167 death sentences before leaving office—then the largest blanket grant of capital clemency. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted all three remaining death sentences to life without parole in March 2020, the same day he signed legislation abolishing capital punishment.

But Schubert and Pierson argued that clemency deserves individual review. “Clemency is a legitimate constitutional power. It can correct injustice or recognize circumstances warranting mercy,” they wrote. “But the authority to grant clemency carries a responsibility to exercise it wisely and justly. That requires examining each case on its merits, not treating hundreds of distinct judgments alike. How do we explain otherwise to the families we asked to trust the system?”

Other California prosecutors also condemned Newsom’s action and said they intend to continue pursuing the death penalty where they deemed appropriate.

“You cannot have crime without punishment,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, a Republican, said in a [statement](https://ocdistrictattorney.gov/press/orange-county-district-attorney-todd-spitzer-issues-statement-on-governor-newsoms-commutation-of-all-death-sentences-in-california/) on Thursday. Spitzer described Newsom’s action as “mercy for the wolves and while inflicting the ultimate act of cruelty on the sheep.”

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson [accused](https://da.sbcounty.gov/2026/11/05/statement-from-san-bernardino-county-district-attorney-anderson-on-governor-newsoms-death-penalty-commutations/) Newsom of “political showmanship.”

## ‘Expands the circle of pain’

In his letter, Newsom acknowledged that some victims’ families would strongly disagree with his decision, which he said “will always weigh heavily” on him.

“Some have said I should not grant clemency to people who committed the ‘worst of the worst’ crimes,” Newsom wrote. “I have learned, however, from speaking with the victims harmed by these crimes, that each experiences their loss as the worst of the worst. I have concluded that attempting to distinguish among crimes and offenders for clemency would inadvertently create two classes of murder victims—those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and then the rest.”

Among those Newsom met with was Jess Nichol, whose stepsister Polly Klaas was kidnapped and murdered in 1993 at age 12\. Nichol once believed in the death penalty, but said in a [statement](https://clemencyca.org/release-newsom-decision-commute-death-sentences/) that “over time I’ve realized that whether he’s executed has absolutely nothing to do with my recovery or with real public safety.” She now helps facilitate rehabilitation and mediation programs at San Quentin.

Klaas’s father, Marc Klaas, has [opposed](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407560906112) the commutations, [describing](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-gov-gavin-newsom-commutes-death-sentences-rcna607727) Newsom’s decision as a “knife in the back” to victims’ families. Several other victims’ families had [urged](https://cjlf.org/press-releases/a-mothers-plea-for-justice-sandy-friend-crime-victims-united-and-cjlf-urge-governor-newsom-to-hear-victims-families-and-reject-blanket-commutations) Newsom not to grant clemency, with some saying they were not given a chance to meet with him.

Earlier this week, a group of 50 murder victims’ family members sent a [letter](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q1ztrvu80n9rzao6f60zq/50-Victim-Family-Members-Urge-Clemency.pdf) to Newsom calling for blanket commutation.

“The pain of losing a loved one through violence never goes away. The best we can hope for is some finality in the legal process so that we can begin healing,” the group wrote. “But for many victims’ families the death penalty prolongs an already agonizing experience with a lengthy process that leaves survivors with more pain, despair, and isolation.”

Other opponents to the death penalty, including former prosecutors, former corrections officials, faith leaders, and civil rights groups, wrote similar letters urging universal clemency in the months preceding Thursday’s announcement.

“As someone who has carried out executions in California, I am haunted by the fear that we will execute an innocent person,” Jeanne Woodford, a former warden at San Quentin who presided over four executions, said in a statement supporting Newsom’s decision.

Semel, who has represented defendants in criminal cases for more than 50 years, including people facing capital punishment for more than 40, tells TIME that “all of my experiences have solidified my view that the death penalty reflects the worst in us.

“It is ultimately an act of retribution that perpetuates violence and hatred and expands the circle of pain inflicted on loved ones beyond the grief victim family members endure to our clients’ families—their parents, siblings, and especially their children—and to us as a society.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt823ecb45812aa6ea Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:15:32 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Miranda Jeyaretnam\]\]><!\[CDATA\[You Can’t Make America Healthy by Letting Polluters Off the Hook\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/06/you-can-t-make-america-healthy-by-letting-polluters-off-the-hook/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[No parent wants pollution in their child’s lungs, write Elizabeth Bechard and Celerah Hewes.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[RJ Sangosti—The Denver Post via Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Oil and gas operations take place near homes near Dacono, Co. on Nov. 20, 2015.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltadbd35b2cfb69361/6aecea2109298ff9102112c0/gas-flare-near-home.jpg?branch=production)

Oil and gas operations take place near homes near Dacono, Co. on Nov. 20, 2015\. —RJ Sangosti—The Denver Post via Getty Images

One might think, from President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of his administration’s plan to [gut federal methane protections](https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/10/methane-trump-climate-oil-gas-01137313), that he was doing everyday Americans a huge favor. He claimed that this action was a win for consumers, but the real winners are polluters. They’ve been handed yet another free pass to keep emitting harmful air pollution without the protections that safeguard our health. 

The [gutting of oil and gas protections](https://time.com/7258269/trump-climate-policies-executive-orders/) should be shocking, but it was to be expected following closely on the heels of his administration’s actions a few weeks ago to repeal limits on climate pollution from [fossil fuel power plants](https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/14/climate/epa-emissions-coal-gas-power-plant-regulations-trump). Each one is an attack on climate protections and our children’s health at the very moment these protections are most needed.

As mothers who care deeply about the well-being of our children and the only planet they can call home, we are frightened. Trump’s plans come as [data center expansion](https://time.com/article/2026/10/23/clean-energy-ai-boom-coreweave/) is rapidly [increasing power demand across the country](https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/leaders-pivoting-on-data-centers-require-more-than-roads-water-and-power-promises/), and the many utility companies and developers are responding with plans for additional [fossil fuel generation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/10/19/big-tech-vowed-lead-climate-now-its-driving-fossil-fuel-boom/), including old [jet engines](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/03/climate/jet-engines-ai-data-center-generators-boneyard.html) and heavily polluting methane gas-fueled turbines. 

This growing reliance on methane gas for electricity will drive demand for methane production, and this could mean more oil and gas activity and [methane leaks](https://time.com/4236573/porter-ranch-methane-leak/). And when methane leaks from [oil and gas operations](https://www.momscleanairforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/methane%5F101.pdf), toxic air pollutants such as [benzene](https://time.com/6223219/gas-stove-leaking-benzene/) are released along with it, which has been linked to [various forms of cancer](https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/benzene.html). Already, nearly [18 million people](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11111-022-00403-2) in the United States, including more than 1 million young children, live near oil and gas wells that will now pollute more freely because of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s actions. No parent wants pollution in their child’s lungs.

We aren’t the only ones concerned. Recent polling finds broad support for strong methane protections in five major oil and gas-producing states. Across California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas, 72% support their state adopting stringent rules to [reduce methane emissions](https://globalstrategygroup.app.box.com/s/brykjwitkf931f42ly21w5vcwv2rvasz) from the oil and gas industry, including regular inspections of low-producing wells.

Methane is also a [potent climate pollutant](https://sustainability.yale.edu/explainers/yale-experts-explain-methane-emission) that accelerates global warming far faster than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe, making it a key driver of the health harms of climate change that come with escalating [weather extremes](https://time.com/article/2026/10/14/climate-change-accelerating-study/). Extreme heat raises the risk of [heat-related illnesses](https://time.com/article/2026/09/19/what-1000-women-workers-can-teach-us-about-surviving-extreme-heat/), which are especially dangerous for children’s developing bodies. Worsened air pollution from longer, more intense wildfire seasons also means more [asthma](https://time.com/6983695/how-air-quality-affects-asthma/), immune dysfunction, [learning](https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/09/wildfire-smoke-exposure-hurts-learning-outcomes) and [behavioral problems](https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/19/wildfire-neurological-impact-brain-development-smoke-trauma-research/), and [poor birth outcomes](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935126005256).

The Trump-Zeldin Environmental Protection Agency may want to ignore the moment of climate urgency we’re living in, but we cannot. Like caregivers around the country and around the world, we’re trying to figure out how to raise our children in uncharted climate terrain. We cannot see how the administration’s attempts to eviscerate federal climate protections—including rolling back methane and power plant pollution safeguards—are in any way aligned with its public messaging on [making American families healthy again](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/trump-epa-celebrates-childrens-health-month-100-actions-protect-nations-most-precious) and saving money for U.S. families and consumers. 

These changes will more likely make America sicker, and their refusal to enforce current protections has already wasted [billions of dollars of methane gas](https://www.edf.org/national-methane-waste-counter), just as families are struggling with the [costs of heating our homes](https://time.com/article/2026/10/07/the-war-in-iran-will-make-it-harder-for-americans-to-stay-warm-this-winter/). 

The responsibility carried by all who care about keeping children safe on an increasingly chaotic planet is clear: to refuse to allow those who would harm them to have the last word. So, despite the Trump Administration’s unwillingness to listen to families’ concerns about its reckless environmental actions, we will keep demanding accountability. We will keep telling the EPA that protecting our children’s health and their futures matters more than [record profits for the fossil fuel industry](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/31/nx-s1-6008072/oil-company-profits-gasoline-diesel-prices). 

The U.S. EPA’s job is to safeguard public health, not give the fossil fuel industry free passes to pollute.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt301e48fe72e2e2d7 Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Elizabeth Bechard and Celerah Hewes\]\]><!\[CDATA\[MAHA Supporters Say Trump’s Broken Promises Helped Democrats Win\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/05/maha-supporters-say-trump-broken-promises-helped-democrats-win/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Failures by Republicans to prioritize issues like pesticides prompted MAHA voters to pick Democrats or not to vote at all, activists say.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. President Donald Trump during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on May 5, 2025.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cce8c7755a9e9e9/6aecbdc0e47c1eeb84c2eae0/GettyImages-2213109092.jpg?branch=production)

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. President Donald Trump during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on May 5, 2025\. —Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

The Make America Healthy Again ([MAHA](https://time.com/7341417/james-s-gordon-essay-maha-children/)) coalition helped President Donald Trump get re-elected in 2024\. Two years later, MAHA supporters say their frustration at what they call Trump’s broken promises helped the Democrats triumph in the midterms.

Disappointment over issues including pesticides and vaccines led some MAHA voters to support Democrats or sit out the midterms, activists involved in the movement say. How widespread those choices were—and whether they meaningfully affected certain races—remains unclear. The Democrats on Tuesday decisively [took control of the House and Senate](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-power-midterms/), winning seats in states long considered Republican strongholds including Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina.

“A lot of people had said they weren’t going to vote, and by not voting, they handed the win to the Democrats,” says Zen Honeycutt, the founder and executive director of Moms Across America, a group closely linked to the MAHA movement. “That’s what happens when you don’t fulfill your promises to the American people. They won’t show up for you.” 

Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health-advocacy group, says it is hard to know without more specific voting data just how much of an actual impact MAHA had on the midterm results. But he says the movement is large enough that the votes of even a fraction of MAHA supporters would have been sufficient to “have made a decisive difference.” 

The MAHA movement gained national traction during the 2024 presidential campaign when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Trump and brought his health-focused coalition into the Make America Great Again (MAGA) orbit. Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and longtime vaccine skeptic, was tapped by Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kennedy has since faced widespread criticism from doctors and scientists for his efforts to [slash U.S. vaccine recommendations](https://time.com/7345057/new-childhood-vaccine-schedule-cdc-what-it-means/) and research funding for vaccines. Still, Kennedy and MAHA retain national influence. An October [survey](https://data.ddhq.io/polls/2026/10/27/Harris-Poll/Harvard-University-Center-for-American-Political-Studies-National-2026-10-24-2026-10-26) found that American voters viewed Kennedy more favorably than many leading political figures including Trump, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A KFF [poll](https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-health-tracking-poll-maha-and-the-midterms/) in May found that 41% of U.S. adults support the MAHA movement. However, most U.S. adults surveyed said they didn’t agree with the Trump Administration's handling of vaccines. Despite Kennedy’s attacks on the childhood immunization schedule, Americans across party lines have expressed [overwhelming support for childhood vaccines](https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-tracking-poll-on-health-information-and-trust-fall-2026-update-on-vaccine-views/). 

Honeycutt, a close ally of Kennedy, had previously threatened to back some Democratic candidates in the midterm elections if Republicans failed to act on MAHA priorities, including tightening pesticide regulations and nutrition reform. Moms Across America Movement, the political advocacy organization she leads, [endorsed 10 Democrats](https://www.yesmaamusa.org/endorsements) including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Rep. Chris Pappas, who won a highly contested bid for Senate in New Hampshire. Nine of the 10 Democrats endorsed by Honeycutt’s group won their races. (The group also endorsed dozens of Republican and independent candidates.) 

“Trump promised \[on the campaign trail\] to go after pesticides, autism, childhood chronic illness. He shook Bobby Kennedy’s hand and promised to let him go wild. He did not fulfill that promise,” Honeycutt says. “He did not do anything substantial about pesticides. In fact, he made it worse.”

She points to an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/02/promoting-the-national-defense-by-ensuring-an-adequate-supply-of-elemental-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-based-herbicides/) signed by Trump in February that prioritizes U.S. production of glyphosate, a weedkiller that some research has linked to cancer. Many MAHA supporters want to limit glyphosate’s use. “I was disgusted” with the executive order, Honeycutt says. “It was a clear example of how this Administration is heavily influenced by Big Ag and chemical corporations.” 

Since Trump took office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved five pesticide ingredients that environmental groups [say](https://oembed.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2026/07/epa-quietly-unleashes-three-toxic-forever-chemical-pesticides) are PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—“forever chemicals” that could threaten people’s health. In April, only a minority of Republican House members voted to remove language from the Farm Bill that would have protected pesticide manufacturers from health-related lawsuits—more proof, Honeycutt says, that Republicans are “beholden to chemical companies.” (In the end, the pesticide liability protections were stripped from the bill, following support from a coalition of Democrats and MAHA supporters.) 

“I think Republicans lost because they listened to the lobbying wing of their party instead of their base,” many of whom care about issues like pesticides, says David Murphy, a former fundraiser for Kennedy's presidential campaign and founder of the food-system reform organization United We Eat. 

Murphy was among a group of MAHA activists who recently published a [MAHA scorecard](https://www.mahascorecard.com/) that listed 42 promises that the Trump Administration had made to “make America healthy again.” According to the scorecard, Trump has kept zero promises, partially fulfilled 5 (including actions related to food dyes), and broken 37 of them. 

“The MAHA coalition was instrumental in helping Trump win based on very specific promises he made to Kennedy…but he has failed to follow through,” Murphy says. “MAHA voters are upset across the country.”

The alliance between the MAHA coalition and Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has been a tenuous one from the start, strained in part by the close ties that Trump and his allies have to food and chemical industries. Even before the midterms, signs had been mounting of the alliance splintering. [Calley Means](https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362620/calley-means/), a top aide of Kennedy’s, [resigned from his position in the Trump Administration](https://time.com/article/2026/10/22/maha-leader-calley-means-steps-down-from-trump-administration-health-advisory-role/) on Oct. 22—less than two weeks before the midterms. Means reportedly quit in part over frustrations that the Administration was [neglecting MAHA priorities](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/22/calley-means-top-maha-ally-resigns-from-trump-administration-01132073), including work related to ultraprocessed foods. Means did not respond to TIME’s request for comment. 

“I do think we are finally seeing MAHA become a victim of its own contradictions,” says Lurie of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “It never made sense to expect that this Administration, with its antiregulatory and pro-business position, would have been able to execute on a platform that included restrictions of dangerous chemicals and pollutants. Why anybody expected that to work, I don’t really know.”

During a White House meeting in April between MAHA supporters and Trump officials, Alex Clark Voetberg, who hosts a popular MAHA podcast, warned Kennedy and top Trump aides that a sizable chunk of her audience had vowed not to vote in the midterms if Republicans didn’t take significant MAHA action by then, [_The Wall Street Journal_ reported](https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/white-house-woos-maha-influencers-amid-rocky-patch-fea40167?mod=article%5Finline). On Tuesday night, as Democratic wins began accumulating, Clark Voetberg [wrote](https://x.com/Realalexclark/status/2117837308988895478) on social media that “MAHA moms stayed home and it could’ve swayed some of these races that were unbearably close.”

Kelly Ryerson, a MAHA supporter and advocate for pesticide regulation who also attended the White House meeting, says she wasn’t surprised by the Democrats’ victory. “When we met with the Administration in April, we knew this would happen,” she says.

Like most Americans, Ryerson says affordability and the [war in Iran](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/08/iran-conflict-remains-deeply-unpopular-as-many-americans-expect-it-to-go-on-for-months/)—which she describes as unnecessary and poorly planned given the “clear, foreseeable economic impacts” on the U.S.—were also issues on the minds of MAHA supporters going into the midterms. Honeycutt says MAHA proponents were also vexed by the Trump Administration’s failure to remove the COVID vaccine, which some MAHA supporters view as harmful, from the market. 

Vaccines are an issue that fragments MAHA: many are skeptical of vaccines, though some support their use. Honeycutt, who has blamed vaccines for health issues in her children, says she hopes Democrats in power will “leave the vaccine issue to Kennedy.” 

Several Democratic candidates who won congressional seats on Tuesday—including Dr. Annie Andrews, a [pediatrician who flipped a South Carolina Senate seat](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/doctors-scientists-won-2026-midterm-elections/?utm%5Fsource=beehiiv&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter-health-matters&%5Fbhlid=c525a9886e239e36e49949a1b467085d77e50a56)—campaigned on strong pro-vaccine platforms. Andrews, like a number of other members of her party, has said she wants to impeach Kennedy over issues including his anti-vaccine agenda.

“If Dems want to continue to push vaccines, they are going to receive a tsunami of resistance” from some MAHA supporters, Honeycutt says.

Democrats, who are largely supportive of vaccines, have been seeking different common ground with the MAHA movement. In September, House Democrats listed “reclaiming MAHA” as one of their health care aims. Democrats who were chasing seats in Congress—including Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who won a hotly contested Senate seat in Michigan—have made it a point to court MAHA voters by focusing on environmental and food-related issues. 

“Abdul El-Sayed has talked a lot about getting pesticides out. We’ll see what he does,” says Honeycutt, whose group did not endorse him.

Honeycutt says she was deeply disappointed at the midterm losses of many MAHA-aligned Republican candidates, including Iowa gubernatorial hopeful Zach Lahn, [who Kennedy stumped for,](https://www.kcci.com/article/rfk-jr-calls-iowa-election-most-important-at-rally/74279239) and Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who founded and chaired the Senate MAHA Caucus. But she says she is hopeful that Democrats will prioritize some MAHA issues, and that Trump will work with them to make changes happen. “Trump said he will work with the Dems. Let’s see. This could be a political paradigm shift, a real opportunity to get things done,” she says. 

Ryerson says the midterms should serve as a reminder to politicians of the MAHA movement’s growing influence. “This could have so easily been different for this Administration. It blows my mind. They were unwilling to listen to us,” she says. “Maybe they didn’t believe we were so powerful.”

Leaders of both parties shouldn’t forget that with 2028 looming in the distance, says Murphy: “MAHA, and MAHA voters, aren’t going to go away.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltdaa9cb489de785ae Thu, 05 Nov 2026 20:21:12 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Dominique Mosbergen\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democratic Socialist Mayors Will Now Run LA, New York, and D.C. After Nithya Raman’s Win\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/05/democratic-socialist-mayors-la-dc-new-york-city-nithya-raman-election/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Progressive Nithya Raman has defeated Los Angeles' incumbent mayor, Democrat Karen Bass, to become the city's next leader.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Sarah Reingewirtz—MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman holds her election night party at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on November 3, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0fadc93aa2c84b6/6aece09a4eb3c76856179502/nithya-raman-la-mayor-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman holds her election night party at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on November 3, 2026\. —Sarah Reingewirtz—MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images

Democratic socialists will soon be running [three major](https://time.com/article/2026/06/17/DC-mayor-race-Janeese-Lewis-George-DSA-democratic-socialists-midterm/) [U.S. cities](https://time.com/7308924/zohran-mamdani-interview-time/), now that progressive [Nithya Raman](https://time.com/article/2026/06/09/nithya-raman-progressive-democrat-la-mayor-race-karen-bass-alternative/) has defeated Los Angeles’ incumbent mayor.

The Associated Press called the race for Raman on Thursday afternoon, with the Democratic socialist winning 52.1% of the vote and current Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, earning 47.9%, with 76% of votes counted.

Raman celebrated her victory in a video statement she [shared](https://x.com/nithyavraman/status/2118438804063445171) on social media. She went on to say that she had spoken with the outgoing mayor and thanked Bass for years of service to the community.

“Los Angeles, I’m deeply honored to be your next mayor,” Raman said. “I love this city and I love its people and I cannot wait to get started on building a better future together with all of you. Thank you so much Los Angeles.”

Raman, a City Council member and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, will be the first Asian American to ever lead California’s most populous city. Her victory is also the latest in a string of triumphs for the progressive wing of the Democratic party, notable among them Democratic socialist [Zohran Mamdani](https://time.com/7308924/zohran-mamdani-interview-time/)’s [win](https://time.com/7331192/zohran-mamdani-wins-nyc-mayor-race/) in the New York City mayoral race last year. And on Tuesday, [Janeese Lewis George](https://time.com/article/2026/06/17/DC-mayor-race-Janeese-Lewis-George-DSA-democratic-socialists-midterm/)—another member of the Democratic Socialists of America—was elected to be the next mayor of Washington, D.C.

**Read More:** [_What Is a Democratic Socialist?_](https://time.com/article/2026/06/18/what-is-a-democratic-socialist-mamdani-lewis-george-bernie-sanders-aoc/)

Raman entered the race in LA late, and her announcement came as a surprise to many, given that she had previously backed Bass’ re-election bid. In June, Raman defeated Republican former reality star [Spencer Pratt](https://time.com/article/2026/05/21/spencer-pratt-trump-los-angeles-mayor-endorsement/), who President Donald Trump had favored in the race, to advance to the general election. During her campaign, she has [emphasized](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc1QExAO-yX/) her desire “to build a city that works for everyone.”

Bass’ loss comes despite endorsements for her campaign from political heavyweights in the state, including [former Vice President Kamala Harris](https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7nF24Ekfk/) and [Gov. Gavin Newsom](https://x.com/KarenBassLA/status/2060008868709908907). While she has garnered support from such figures, she has been unpopular with the city’s residents, with many criticizing her response to the [devastating wildfires](https://time.com/7205622/california-wildfires-climate-change-conditions/) that ripped through the southern part of the state last year.

Bass conceded the race on Thursday afternoon, saying in a [statement](https://x.com/KarenBassLA/status/2118428093220286633/photo/3) that she had called Raman to offer congratulations.

“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken,” Bass said. “I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition. Moving this city forward is what Los Angeles needs from all of us.”

Raman had the backing of major progressives, including Independent [Sen. Bernie Sanders](https://time.com/4121126/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialism/) of Vermont. She has advocated for a number of progressive policies, including ones focused on reducing housing costs and bolstering protections for tenants. Housing is one of the top issues for LA voters: A [poll](https://labcinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/LA-Housing-Issues-Survey-Deck-4.22.26-FINAL.pdf) conducted by the LABC Institute in April found that respondents ranked homelessness, the cost of living, and housing affordability as top problems.

Raman has also publicly criticized the Trump Administration, particularly over its immigration enforcement operations in the city, and has [said](https://www.nithyaforthecity.com/platform/immigration) that “elected officials in LA have simply not stepped up to protect residents in the way that we all deserve.” Raman has [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBhk%5FEry8n8&t=3826s), though, that, like Mamdani in New York, she would work with the Trump Administration as needed for the sake and well-being of city residents.

Mamdani, who campaigned on [ambitious promises](https://time.com/7331036/mamdani-nyc-mayor-election-campaign-promises/) to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, sent shockwaves through the Democratic establishment with his victory last year and has since established himself as a rising star in the party. In his first year leading the city he has pursued a progressive policy agenda as he has moved to make good on several of his campaign pledges, [announcing](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/nyregion/mamdani-to-expand-2-k-program-on-staten-island-and-in-the-bronx.html) the approaching rollout of an expansion in free child care in the city, [implementing](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/zohran-mamdani-pied-a-terre-second-home-tax-trump-explainer/) a tax on high-end second homes, and [winning approval](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/nyregion/nyc-rent-freeze-vote-mamdani.html) for a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments, among a number of other moves.

On the campaign trail in the nation’s capital, Lewis George similarly made expanding [affordable housing](https://janeesefordc.com/platform/homes-for-all/) and [universal childcare](https://janeesefordc.com/platform/childcare-for-all/) cornerstones of her platform. The incoming D.C. mayor has also pledged to resist Trump’s crackdown in D.C., while [saying](https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/trump-says-he-will-meet-with-lewis-george-but-wont-let-dc-be-destroyed-in-post/4122979/) she’s “willing to work with anyone, including the Administration, to improve the lives of DC residents.”

“I’ll be the mayor of the corner store,” Lewis George said in an [acceptance speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCB1255USk) Tuesday night, “and the corner office.”

Adding to the movement's victories on Tuesday, a Democratic socialist has also been elected to lead the city of [Providence, Rhode Island](https://www.npr.org/2026/11/04/nx-s1-6027974/another-young-democratic-socialist-mayor-david-morales-wins-in-providence-r-i), while [several others](https://www.npr.org/2026/11/03/g-s1-150034/2026-midterm-election-dsa-candidates) scored win in House races in states from New York to Michigan to California.

"From coast to coast, American voters have emphatically endorsed socialism to oppose the corruption and barbarism of Donald Trump and the Republicans," the Democratic Socialists of America said in a statement on Wednesday touting the electoral successes.

"This midterm cycle," it added, "DSA made history."

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt4f26193d3022c4e1 Thu, 05 Nov 2026 20:08:16 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[BYD’s Vice President on the Price of Global Success\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/05/byd-china-trade-ev-cars-toyota/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[BYD's Stella Li discusses trade barriers, the backlash against Chinese EVs, and the company’s ambition to overtake Toyota.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Cyril Marcilhacy–Bloomberg via Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Stella Li on the opening day of the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France, on Oct. 12, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16ecf125674b9a03/6aecd4e809298fdb95211280/GettyImages-2299291968.jpg?branch=production)

Stella Li on the opening day of the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France, on Oct. 12, 2026\. —Cyril Marcilhacy–Bloomberg via Getty Images

Last summer, while on an [assignment in Ethiopia](https://time.com/7306870/refugees-opportunity-solutions-from-the-start-unhcr-ethiopia-faduma-abukar/), I found myself daydreaming while trapped in Addis Ababa’s rush hour traffic. Staring out from my gridlocked taxi, I was struck by something remarkable: on all four sides were vehicles produced by Chinese manufacturer [BYD](https://time.com/collection/time100-most-influential-companies/2026/byd/).

Except it wasn’t really that remarkable. For years now, BYDs have been a regular feature of my travels to even the most far-flung places, plying streets from Yerevan to Yangon and beyond. Last year, the firm, whose initials stand for “Build Your Dreams,” became the world’s top purveyor of [EVs](https://time.com/7288660/shift-east-china-electric-vehicles-economy-technology-trump-tariffs-ai/), selling 4.6 million vehicles across 120 countries and regions, while accruing revenue of $111 billion. It was perhaps more surprising I wasn’t sitting in a BYD myself.

“If you look at a lot of markets, we say, ‘there's been a boom in EVs,’” says Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Actually, it's just BYD. They're single-handedly creating markets in some countries, which is remarkable.”

Now the Shenzhen-based firm aims to overtake Toyota as the number one automaker by 2030—a feat that, at current sales figures, would require more than doubling its output. As China’s auto market cools amid a broader consumer slowdown, it’s an ambition that increasingly depends on swelling BYD's foreign business, which has already surpassed its domestic revenue.

Indeed, BYD’s runaway success overseas has contributed to a broader rethink of global trade policy, spurring barriers such as 27% tariffs in the E.U., 35% in Brazil, 40% in Turkey, and 100% in the U.S. On Oct. 12, the E.U. [announced](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/12/eu-deal-china-limit-imports-hybrid-electric-vehicles) a 350,000-a-year quota would be imposed on hybrid EV imports from China in a move that is expected to halve their market share. The U.S. has gone further than tariffs and quotas, with the Pentagon in June labeling BYD as a “Chinese military company.” 

Analysts say Europe’s restrictions on Chinese plug-in hybrid vehicles may become a template for protecting other industries exposed to what’s been dubbed “[China shock 2.0](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/how-can-eu-limit-impact-china-shock-20-2026-10-23/),” from chemicals and medical equipment to wind turbines that critics say are heavily subsidized. As such, BYD has become an unwilling lightning rod for a fundamental rebalancing of global trade.

TIME spoke with Stella Li, BYD vice-president and CEO for the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, about the geopolitical headwinds to her firm’s ambitions. The following has been edited for clarity and length.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt464520349c59579e/6aece08328c866ff4d8f43b0/GettyImages-2303007054.jpg?branch=main_v1)

A pedestrian walks past a BYD showroom in Hong Kong on Nov. 2, 2026\. May James—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

**TIME: The U.S. recently listed BYD as a Chinese military company. What’s your response?**

Li: We are working closely with them to check what's the reason, because we are a privately owned, publicly traded company. They say BYD is close to \[the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,\] which is the industry authority to give approval of cars. Well, all car companies for sure always need to go to them, including Tesla. Every U.S. company needs to go there. So this reason isn’t very strong. The second they say that BYD has a manufacturing plant within an army industrial park. But different companies, including several American companies, are also there. It’s ridiculous.

**Will that designation affect your existing American business, such as batteries, buses, and everything else?**

No, we’re working on the legal basis to get out of \[the designation\].

**BYD leads the world in EVs and aims to be its top auto firm by 2030\. What's the biggest obstacle to making that happen?**

The big challenge now is geopolitical. Every day, you wake up with headlines saying, ‘the U.K. is going to put a 45% tariff,’ and ‘the European Union is going to put another tariff.’ It’s all this scary news.

**In Europe, policymakers talk about stopping BYD to protect their legacy automakers. Do you think that those tactics have merit or are they driven by political concerns?**

This is mainly triggered by political concerns. Because thinking about BYD or \[other foreign\] manufacturing in the region, we will hire local people. Then what's the difference? Sometimes when the revolution comes, people need a little time to digest. For us, we are a global company. We need to also make ourselves very strong \[by hiring\] local people.

**One argument is that the whole of China's car industry was built on joint ventures, with Volkswagen and Audi and all these companies forced to partner with local firms to do business in China, which helped build up the domestic auto industry. Does it not make sense to reciprocate with joint ventures overseas?**

It's a very different moment now, because when all those foreign companies came to China, the whole auto industry was weak. But China did open up for all the foreign brands to make tons of money over the past 20 years. They banked the profit from China. So now if we do a joint venture, can we make the same profit that they did in China? No, it's impossible. So it's a different moment because now the whole society, industry, has grown to be more open, to be a really consumer-driven, competitive market.

But without BYD, the Chinese auto industry would still be weak, because in these joint ventures the Chinese engineers had zero influence or knowledge with the car. Everything was decided by the foreign country. But when we started in the car industry, people went, ‘how can they do this?’ Then they also started to learn.

**China remains the world's biggest auto market but is slowing and getting more competitive. Does that mean you are shifting your focus overseas?**

We need to focus on the domestic market, where we're going to get stronger. It is just like altitude training—training with extreme conditions! So we need to retain our number one position in China.

**There are some concerns in Europe and elsewhere about data transfers from BYD vehicles and China. What restrictions or safeguards are you implementing to address those worries?**

We are maybe 10 times more careful than other companies. Because everybody is watching us to see any mistake we make. We already use tech firms from overseas. Even our data center, our Cloud, uses Google.

**BYD is a leader in battery technology, especially pioneering flash charging. How far are we from having solid state batteries in cars for that next leap of performance?**

BYD is in the leading position to develop a solid-state battery, but this kind of technology still needs some maturity for mass production. The industry wants to push for 2030, but I think now they need to postpone the schedule a little bit. But BYD will be the first one to make this happen.

**You talk about BYD as being a pure technology company and your electronics arm already assembles a lot of the world’s smartphones and iPads. Now you're moving into humanoid robots, data centers, and other things. What's the next great leap you’re preparing for?**

For cars, autonomous driving is already the big challenge. And second is about the ecosystem. For example, flash charging; all the charging capability we do is also a huge business. And then the third is robots. And then battery storage and the server and all the components among the server. So all this industry add-on together we already have a very strong position.

**Considering the breadth of BYD’s operations, do you see any competitors?**

We did not see the competitor who moves to a totally different scope \[like us\]. If we talk about cars, a lot of companies only have hybrid cars. BYD also has electric buses, we have battery storage. So BYD has multiple core industries. We have a whole ecosystem here.

**BYD is developing its own semiconductors but still relies heavily on Nvidia. Do you have a timeline for when your own chips will be deployed in most of your vehicles?**

Our chips will take some share, but never 100%. Nvidia will always be our partner. 

**Have you considered alternatives by a Chinese chipmaker, such as Huawei?**

We don't use Huawei chipset. Because we need to sell globally.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt0363bf986a8bbf5e Thu, 05 Nov 2026 20:02:30 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Charlie Campbell\]\]>