COVER
The TIME 100
The world's most influential people
Videos
M.I.A. Makes the TIME 100
Producer, DJ, singer, fashion designer. Sri Lankan pop star M.I.A. has global influence across many genres. That put her on this year's TIME 100
Heroes & Icons
TIME Editor-at-Large Belinda Luscombe and Movie Critic Richard Corliss discuss some of the heroes and icons on this year's TIME 100 list
Graphic
The People Behind the People
A peek at the circles of influence for this year's TIME 100
ESSAY
And No. 1 Is ... (The Awesome Column)
I've ranked the TIME 100 based on the importance of their contributions. Their contributions to me
Joel Stein Ranks the TIME 100
TO OUR READERS
Measuring Influence
In our annual TIME 100 issue, we do the impossible: name the people who most affect our world
WORLD
Postcard from Detroit (Postcard: Detroit)
As carmakers founder and the jobless rate skyrockets, Michigan's movie industry is the state's lone, surprising bright spot. The Motor City gets ready for its closeup
The Hollywood of the Midwest
Photos: Lured by a generous tax rebate, many studios are moving their productions to The Wolverine State
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Bob Dylan: Time For One More Change? (Music)
Bob Dylan's career has been full of surprises. On his 46th album, he mellows out
Tragic Hero: A Majestic Francis Bacon Show (Exhibitions)
A new show establishes Francis Bacon as the 20th century's greatest painter of anger and anguish
SPECIAL SECTION
Absorbing a Setback (Global Business / Thinking Big)
AbTech's founder couldn't sell his pollution solution to Big Oil. Turns out that big cities need it more
Nortel's Nadir (Global Business / Telecom)
How Canada's top tech firm lost its dial tone--and why other telephony firms will follow it
Sharing the Pain (Global Business / Real Estate)
Vacation time-shares were deemed recession-proof. Oops. Even in hot spots, prices have cooled
Why Businesses Are Still Giving To the Arts (Global Business / Corporate Conscience)
That is the question for firms that support the arts. Why many are sticking to their prerecession pledges
Recipe for a New Strategy (Global Business / Gadgets)
Zojirushi ruled rice cookers--but to grow, it had to bring a unique design focus to other products
Business Books (Also In This Issue)
Here's the beef: the cultural history of postwar Southern California, as viewed through a quirky hamburger chain. Also, games people play; Trump disses Madoff
BRIEFING
The Moment
4|27|09: Mexico City
The World
10 ESSENTIAL STORIES
Verbatim
Where Specter's Big Switch Leaves the Senate (Washington Memo)
The Pennsylvania Republican's change of party theoretically gives Obama a historic margin, but it does not give him an unfettered hand
A Brief History Of: Flu Pandemics
The Skimmer
Book Review: False Economy: A Surprise Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie