COVER

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

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

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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

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 Skimmer

Book Review: False Economy: A Surprise Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie

LETTERS