Lily Rothman

Lily Rothman is managing editor at TIME. She was also the founding editor of TIME’s history section.

Recent Articles

Why Sandra Day O’Connor's Appointment Won Bipartisan Praise

O'Connor was the first woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court

By Lily Rothman

Our Changing Relationship With Time Itself

The pandemic created a window for many to re-evaluate their attitudes toward time itself. Now we’ll find out if what we learned will stick

By Lily Rothman

Queen Elizabeth II Showed Why Britain Still Has a Monarchy

Her power was not the work of tradition alone. Look back at TIME's coverage

By Lily Rothman

It's Harder Than Ever to Care About Anything

They say never to read the comments, and that’s generally good practice for mental health on the internet. But sometimes you can’t resist. And so it was while reading the comments on a January David...

By Lily Rothman

How Prince Philip Became Queen Elizabeth's Unlikely Husband

Philip's unusual background allowed him to help his Queen and wife become the monarch who defined a new era for her nation

By Lily Rothman

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Legacy Doesn't Start With the Supreme Court

Here's how she made news decades earlier

By Lily Rothman

John Lewis on Why He Kept Telling the Story of Civil Rights

Read a previously unpublished excerpt from John Lewis' 2017 conversation with TIME

By Lily Rothman

What It's Like to Be an Advice Columnist During a Global Pandemic

In the weeks before the coronavirus reshaped the lives of people around the world, Daniel M. Lavery, who writes the "Dear Prudence" advice column at Slate, received an unusual letter. The writer, in the course...

By Lily Rothman

Doris Kearns Goodwin: Coronavirus Demands a Leader Like FDR

"The overwhelming majority have never seen a situation that so severely disrupts our daily routines. Maybe that’s where history can provide perspective and solace"

By Lily Rothman

Greta Thunberg Is the Youngest TIME Person of the Year Ever. Here’s How She Made History

The climate activist is the first teenager to receive the recognition

By Lily Rothman

'We're All Growing Up Together': As Sesame Street Turns 50, Big Bird Is Still Making Friends Everywhere He Goes

There are perks to being an 8-ft.-tall canary. Everyone recognizes you and wants to be your friend. On the other hand, our world is not built for 8-ft.-tall canaries. Inside a television studio, for example,...

By Lily Rothman

Robert Mugabe Ruled Zimbabwe for Decades. Here's How He First Came to Power

What Mugabe did with his power, however, was less easy to explain

By Lily Rothman

How to Be an Antiracist Author Ibram X. Kendi on What We Get Wrong About Racism

The National Book Award winner on "the R word," the end of capitalism and his new book, How to Be an Antiracist

By Lily Rothman

The New Head of the Smithsonian Thinks Americans Can Find a Middle Ground in Museums

The 14th secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, on his new job, the value of pandas and how to make the past personal You've said you can tell a lot about a place...

By Lily Rothman

President Trump Said He Would Take Foreign Campaign Help. Here's What Past Candidates Did in That Situation

What two candidates did in parallel situations in 1968 is an instructive lesson for today, argues presidential scholar Ken Hughes

By Lily Rothman

The 'Counter-Textbooks' Offering Kids a Radical Look at History

Throughout the promotion of Beacon Press' ReVisioning American History series--in which each book tells the nation's story through the lens of a marginalized group--the authors kept getting the same question, usually from a teacher: Is...

By Lily Rothman

What Even Happened to the Mountain? What the Real History of Necromancy Tells Us

The word has several meanings

By Lily Rothman

Is Jon Snow’s Royal Claim on Game of Thrones Really Stronger 'Because He’s a Man'? Here’s What Real Succession Rules Say

And what Varys gets wrong about primogeniture

By Lily Rothman

What The Woman Who Helped America Have Better Sex Has to Say to Millennials

The sex therapist, 90, on living with history, her advice for millennials and the new documentary about her life, Ask Dr. Ruth. You were born in Germany and lived in Switzerland, Jerusalem and Paris before...

By Lily Rothman

Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Is Ushering in a New Act for the Metropolitan Opera

In the fly space above the stage at the Metropolitan Opera and around and behind it, scenery waits to be called into action. An intricate system of pulleys and lifts allows quick changes. Today's afternoon...

By Lily Rothman
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