“How do we have a new superpower relationship between China and the United States when they seem obsessed with trying to tap into every financial and military system we have?” asked journalist Mike Barnicle on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, in a discussion of TIME’s June 17 cover story, “The World According to China.” The article, by Hannah Beech, examined the tensions within China, whose confident new President, Xi Jinping, presents an image of a bold, ambitious nation despite the exodus of many successful Chinese to the West.
Max Fisher of the Washington Post praised the story for its take on “a mighty nation reclaiming its rightful place in the world.” Reader Craig Garrison proposed that the U.S. continue to monitor “human-rights abuses that continue unabated.” The cover art, created for TIME by the dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, sparked extensive chatter and nearly unanimous acclaim. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Mary Louise Schumacher called the cover, which features the traditional Chinese technique of paper cutting, “one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.” The International Center of Photography’s blog made note of TIME’s photo of the artist posing in his Beijing studio with the cover art. Zoe Schlanger of Talking Points Memo said, “This Ai Weiwei paper cut is really, really gorgeous.”
@ALEPASCOLI
A smart cover for TIME this week.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC
Stunning.
@REFORMEDBROKER
This weekend’s must-read, amazing cover.
DADS AND DAUGHTERS
To celebrate Father’s Day, TIME teamed up with Sheryl Sandberg’s women’s-empowerment organization, Lean In, to ask famous dads to write open letters to their daughters. And the responses were equal parts heartwarming (Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef: “You, my dear Nadia, have carved a place inside my heart”) and hilarious (Tom Brokaw: “Sarah, we’ll always have that New Year’s Eve where I encountered your boyfriend walking through our house, drinking my precious magnum of Dom Perignon straight from the bottle”). For more letters from dads–including Olympian Bruce Jenner and Senator Chuck Schumer–visit time.com/fathersday
TIME VIDEO
Remains of the Day
Exploring the business of death
To accompany Josh Sanburn’s feature story on the rising popularity of cremation in the U.S., TIME commissioned a 10-minute film by Shaul Schwarz about two Minnesota funeral businesses and their efforts to find creative ways for families to memorialize their loved ones. Schwarz, a photographer and filmmaker who has covered conflicts in Haiti and the Middle East, was new to the subject and says he was initially “cynical about all the options and merchandising” aimed at grieving customers. Members of one family he met were planning a service for their mother at a local zoo. The owners of the businesses impressed him with their candor and compassion. “It was sweet in a way, and respectful,” Schwarz says. “There are things we don’t want to think about, but when you do, it’s actually really fascinating.” Watch his film online at time.com/cremation
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