Full steam ahead on the AI boom with billions in investment and massive data centers, yet there is zero discussion or vision or foresight about the workers who could be displaced by artificial intelligence and automation technologies.
Yet while "Abolish ICE" serves as a unifying chant in the streets, Democrats are once again seeking to temper and co-opt people's demands into a narrow version of reform. The demands outlined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could not be more toothless: requiring ICE agents to unmask, wear body cameras, and to follow a code of conduct modeled on other law enforcement agencies.
One of the covers for the Time issue is a painting by Jason Seiler that repurposes the iconic 1932 photograph Lunch atop a Skyscraper (whose photographer remains anonymous). The original photo shows a group of ironworkers jauntily eating lunch on a steel beam during the construction of Rockefeller Center, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are 850 feet above the ground.
Viroqua, population 4,407, is far from New York City, where clueless pundits and political operatives keep telling us that Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's advocacy for an end to the genocide in Gaza is too extreme. But the news from Viroqua offers a reminder that Mamdani and candidates like him are not on the margin of the national debate. Nor do they threaten Democratic prospects in 2026.