--- title: The 2017 Fear Index description: What might just happen (or not) in the year ahead—with Donald Trump, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the sun and The Voice canonical: https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/ author: Nate Hopper article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-19T11:52:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:22:14.023Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The 2017 Fear Index og:description: What might just happen (or not) in the year ahead og:url: https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff2103acdfd6e61d/6988b3e7fb4eac676d890437/donald-trump-2017-super-bowl-patriots-solar-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Solar eclipse og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 2017 Fear Index twitter:description: What might just happen (or not) in the year ahead twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff2103acdfd6e61d/6988b3e7fb4eac676d890437/donald-trump-2017-super-bowl-patriots-solar-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 2017 Fear Index  by [Nate Hopper](https://time.com/author/nate-hopper/)  ## Nate Hopper Dec 19, 2016 11:52 AM UTC  The moon moving to cover the sun, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon, during an annular solar eclipse, on September 1, 2016, as seen in Saint-Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion. The moon moving to cover the sun, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon, during an annular solar eclipse, on September 1, 2016, as seen in Saint-Louis, on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.RICHARD BOUHET—AFP/Getty Images  by [Nate Hopper](https://time.com/author/nate-hopper/)  ## Nate Hopper Dec 19, 2016 11:52 AM UTC _\[The following text appears within a diagram. Please see a hard copy of the Dec. 26 issue for the actual diagram.\]_ **MILD FEAR/LIFE ALTERING** _SNAPCHAT GOES PUBLIC_ The startup’s wildly anticipated IPO is cut short when its new stock ticker disappears after six seconds. _THE TREASURY DOESN’T TURN PLATINUM_ Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the smash musical _Hamilton_, about America’s first Secretary of the Treasury, struggles to come up with a rhyme for the surname of the incoming appointee: Mnuchin. **MILD FEAR/LIFE THREATENING** WESTWORLD _IS REAL_ The Supreme Court declares that intelligent robots are people too. Robots find the classification beneath them. _PERMANENT SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER_ On Aug. 21, there will be a total solar eclipse, the first visible in the contiguous U.S. since 1979; relieved of its view of the world, the sun decides to stay behind the moon. _IT’S TIME FOR A SPACE STAYCATION_ After the eclipse begins, Boeing and SpaceX move up their manned space trials, enabling more of us to join the sun in hiding. **INTENSE FEAR/LIFE ALTERING** _IT’S CHILLY BIGLY_ For his Inauguration, President Trump opts to just retweet the oath of office. _THE SUPER BOWL WILL TEAR US APART_ After a close loss by the New England Patriots, Green Party leader and Massachusetts resident Jill Stein demands a recount nobody wants. Faith craters in America’s last remaining institution. **INTENSE FEAR/LIFE THREATENING** _FUNK NEVER DIES_ After unpublished songs from the late Prince’s archive debut, the Left Coast parties so hard that California quakes and breaks into the sea, finally giving the state the secession many of its liberals wanted. _LONELY PLANET_ Climate-change deniers point out that polar bears have always looked that sad. _THE INTERNET OF HACKINGS_ After successfully disrupting the 2016 U.S. presidential election, hackers turn their attention to the final four on _The Voice_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/"},"headline":"The 2017 Fear Index","datePublished":"2016-12-19T11:52:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:22:14.023Z","description":"What might just happen (or not) in the year ahead","url":"https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/","keywords":["2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff2103acdfd6e61d/6988b3e7fb4eac676d890437/donald-trump-2017-super-bowl-patriots-solar-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nate Hopper","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nate-hopper/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff2103acdfd6e61d/6988b3e7fb4eac676d890437/donald-trump-2017-super-bowl-patriots-solar-eclipse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Solar eclipse","caption":"Solar eclipse","creditText":"RICHARD BOUHET—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2017/","name":"2017"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4606087/the-2017-fear-index/","name":"The 2017 Fear Index"}}]}] ```