COVER
Time Frames
The end of history? More like the start. The 21st century runs on fast-forward, and the only way to keep up is to stop and figure out what really happened
2000: A Nation Divided
The 36-day battle over the Florida ballots was only the first test of faith in our officials and institutions
Ground Zero: Out of the Ashes
After nine years, construction of the new World Trade Center finally takes off
The Men Who Stole the World
Four young programmers nearly brought down the entire entertainment industry. Then they disappeared
Instant Icons: Life After the Headlines
They became famous overnight not for glamour or riches or simply being famous but for the explosive public issues they represented. Caught up in forces larger than themselves, they gave a human face to confounding situations like Iraq, Katrina and Cuba
ESSAY
The Tick, Tick, Tick of the Times (Tuned In)
After 9/11, the shock wore off. But the news ticker kept cable's pulse pounding
Where Is Our Deliverance? (Viewpoint)
Black America expected more from Obama, but the radical agenda of the Struggle is obsolete
My Continuing Education (In the Arena)
No columnist nails every call. Here's one I got wrong — and why I should have known better
TO OUR READERS
The Long View
The news cycle propels us ever forward. But at the end of an extraordinary decade, TIME looks back at the stories that mattered most