COVER STORY this issue: The 2019 TIME 100. Near the end of Tara Westover’s breakout memoir, Educated, she pauses on a timeless question, “Who writes history?” Decades from now when we look back at this era, it’s a fair bet that the answer will be many of the people on this year’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Among them is Westover herself, who has captivated readers with her…To understand the world we live in, read TIME.

A nation searches for a way out of catastrophe. Two men claim to be the President of Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves on the planet and so little food that in a single year the average citizen lost 24 lb. One, Nicolás Maduro, secured a second term in a 2018 election widely regarded as a sham. The other, Juan Guaidó, took an oath of office on Jan. 23, in a maneuver that was equal parts…

When Tom Shicowich’s Toe started feeling numb, in 2010, he brushed it off as a temporary ache. At the time, he didn’t have health insurance, so he put off going to the doctor. The toe became infected, and he got so sick that he stayed in bed for two days with what he assumed was the flu. When he finally saw a doctor, the physician immediately sent Shicowich to the emergency room.  Several days later, surgeons amputated his toe, and…