Table of contents for October 13, 2025 in TIME Magazine

True influence knows no age and can arrive early in a career Six years ago, when we launched the TIME100 Next, it marked our first step in growing the TIME100 from a single moment into a year-round project. As we’ve added new chapters to the TIME100 story, our mission has remained consistent: to use the TIME100—our list of the globe’s most influential people, first released 22 years ago—as a lens to better understand our world, and to guide TIME in our role as a key chronicler of leadership. To do that, we’ve taken a wider perspective on influence, and taken deep dives into the worlds of AI, Climate, Creators, Health, and Philanthropy. TIME100 Next showed us what growth could be possible, and for many at TIME, yours truly included, it…

President Donald Trump sent shock waves through the tech industry on Sept. 19 by announcing a $100,000 fee for new employer-filed H-1B visa applications, in a move that some worry will harm American innovation—including in the rapidly emerging field of AI—at a time when the U.S. is seeking to outpace foreign rivals. TALENT PIPELINE Since 1990, hundreds of thousands of foreigners have moved to the U.S. to work for tech companies through the visa system. But Trump’s proclamation said the system had been “deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” The move aims to force tech companies to prioritize American STEM workers. Subodha Kumar, a business professor at Temple University, says that it could help the domestic tech job market in the long term,…

In Donald Trump’s first term and at the opening of his second, the U.S. President and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked to have a special relationship. Similar views on the value of strongman domestic politics and a common aim to check China’s global ambitions made them well-aligned partners. Things have changed. Common interests remain the bedrock of relations between the U.S. and Modi’s India, but the personal trust that helped build their relationship has now cooled significantly. You might think the biggest source of tension between the two leaders is Trump’s search for leverage over Russia’s Vladimir Putin—in particular, his bid to halt India’s import of sanctioned Russian oil to force Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. But it’s another armed conflict that’s at the…

The Trump administration is finalizing a deal with the Chinese government to transfer TikTok into American hands. The deal is the result of a bill that Congress passed last year, based on fears that China was collecting the user data of Americans and using the platform for surveillance and propaganda. But while many Americans are celebrating the deal as a victory for user privacy rights and national security, some cybersecurity experts still have concerns. They contend that TikTok’s new structure, based on the details that have emerged, could open up users to surveillance and influence not from China—but the American government itself. At least 80% of TikTok U.S. will be American-owned, with a consortium of investors including Oracle and Silver Lake. Other investors that have been floated include Abu Dhabi’s…

Jonathan Bailey 37 / ENDLESSLY CURIOUS BY ARIANA GRANDE I first met Jonathan Bailey at dance rehearsal for Wicked. I was nervous because I have always found him so brilliant—having bookmarked and memorized a few bootleg clips of him onstage in Company and The Last Five Years—but from the moment we met, I felt like I was giggling with someone I had known for 20 years. I felt so immediately safe, connected to, and obsessed with my new scene partner and friend. I can’t even begin to describe what a privilege it is to see just how thoughtful he is about his craft and also how generous he is with himself on such a demanding level. While we were shooting Wicked, he was also bouncing back and forth between Bridgerton…

Emi Mahmoud 31 / CALLING FOR PEACE BY CATE BLANCHETT Those of us who know Emi Mahmoud can attest to her work’s unstoppable nature. In 2017, Emi created the first fully inclusive civilian peace talks in Sudan, lifting up the voices of women and displaced people. She then walked from El Fasher in North Darfur to Khartoum—over 1,000 km—to call for peace, capturing global attention and support. Today, she is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and the founder of the aid campaign Taharuk, as well as a poet, author, and humanitarian. Through her advocacy, Emi brings to light the plight of more than 122 million forcibly displaced people in the world as well as victims of war, genocide, and gender-based violence. She speaks not only for her community as an Indigenous…

Sanaz Toossi 34 / REVELATORY PLAYWRIGHT BY LYNN NOTTAGE I live for those incomparable moments when you encounter the work of an artist who opens a door to reveal a fresh perspective on the world. This transformative experience happened for me when I sat in the audience of Sanaz Toossi’s beautifully crafted, Pulitzer Prize–winning play English, which debuted on Broadway in 2025, earning five Tony nominations, including Best Play. The play is immersive, provocative, and immensely moving; set in Iran, it follows a small group of individuals in an English-language class, each searching for new forms of communication and, ultimately, liberation. Sanaz’s work poses profound questions about what it means to navigate and embrace different modes of expression, and how this shapes our identities. Within the play, there is both…

In his zeal to punish opponents, as in so much else, President Donald Trump has made no secret of being willing to defy norms. He crosses politics with justice—he has been open about having ordered the Sept. 25 federal indictment of former FBI director James Comey, despite reports that some Administration officials found the evidence thin—and has sought to clamp down on speech and protest from his detractors. That dynamic was made explicit when Vice President J.D. Vance appeared on Charlie Kirk’s podcast the Monday after the conservative activist was killed. “We are going to go after the NGO network that foments and facilities and engages in violence,” he said, referring to nongovernmental organizations he claimed are left-leaning. (A study of U.S. political violence by the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute found…

DIED Robert Redford Actor, director, and activist extraordinaire A movie star who used his charm, influence, and money to give aspiring filmmakers a start in the movie business, to help protect the natural world from those who would strip it for their own gain, to show by example how film storytelling can not only reflect facets of the American character but also help shape it: a human being who could do all that seems almost impossible to fathom in this age of disinformation, misinformation, and discord. But that was Robert Redford, who died on Sept. 16 at age 89. He was an actor, director, and producer who chose his projects carefully. His directorial debut, 1980’s Ordinary People, won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. As a performer, he…

Since February 2021, the Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars’ Jezero crater—a formation that was once Jezero Lake—looking for signs of ancient life. On Sept. 10, NASA announced that it may have hit pay dirt. In a now-dry river valley, the rover discovered a rock streaked in a range of strange colors—red, green, purple, and blue—flecked with poppy-seed-like dots and decorated with what the Perseverance scientists compared to dull yellow leopard spots. The rover’s instruments confirmed that the red is iron-rich mud, the purple is iron and phosphorus, and the yellow and green are iron and sulfur. All of those elements serve as something of a chow line for microbes. The dots and spots, meanwhile, resemble markings left behind by metabolizing microbes on Earth. When the rover trained its instruments…

ARTISTS GRACIE ABRAMS JONATHAN BAILEY MONICA BARBARO MILES CATON BECKY G LINA GHOTMEH ALI HAZELWOOD DAMSON IDRIS MANNY JACINTO TOYIN OJIH ODUTOLA JACK QUAID HELEN J SHEN MEGAN STALTER TEYANA TAYLOR TRAMELL TILLMAN OCEAN VUONG LAINEY WILSON KARA YOUNG PHENOMS PAIGE BUECKERS DAVID CORENSWET KAITLYN DEVER ALLISON ELLSWORTH MEGHANN FAHY TAYLOR FRITZ FUERZA REGIDA PHOEBE GATES YASHASVI JAISWAL SOPHIA KIANNI KARTIK KUMRA TATE McRAE SHREYA MURTHY NICO PARKER JEENO THITIKUL LOLA TUNG CRISTÓBAL VALENZUELA WANG NING ADVOCATES SHANTANU AGARWAL ELLISTON BERRY DAVID FAJGENBAUM HANNAH FRIED NINA GUALINGA MARSHALL HATCH JR. CHARLES HUA AMANDA JONES EMI MAHMOUD CATALINA MARTÍNEZ CORAL NOMZAMO MBATHA ROSE NJERI EFRÉN OLIVARES VIKTORIA RADVANYI ALEX SHELDON DANIEL SWAIN LAYLA ZAIDANE BERTHA ZÚNIGA CÁCERES LEADERS IRFAAN ALI JOMANA ALRASHID ISSA AMRO ALEX BRUESEWITZ SHAYNE COPLAN BYRON DONALDS DARA…

Tate McRae 22 / UNDENIABLE BY DAKOTA JOHNSON When I first started to teach Tate McRae how to dance, I thought to myself, “Gosh—this girl really has potential. If only she could be as flexible as me.” In sincerity, getting to know Tate has been a special experience for me. I’ve witnessed her quiet confidence, and how genuinely present she is. I’ve watched her listen closely to the world around her and truly absorb moments that inspire her. I’ve seen her brain working and her soul expanding. She is tender and deeply kind. My favorite moments, though, are when I catch a glimpse of the precious young girl whose dreams are manifesting before her eyes—this year, So Close to What became her first album to debut at No. 1—and whose…

April Koh 33 / MENTAL-HEALTH MAVEN BY AILEEN LEE In a year marked by rising mental-health challenges and attacks on our health care system, April Koh stands out as a powerful force for good. She co-founded and is CEO of Spring Health, one of the fastest-growing companies in mental-health care. Its tech platform quickly connects people with appropriate support—leading to better results for millions who might otherwise go without care. April’s impact is multifaceted. She started Spring Health out of empathy, inspired by loved ones struggling to find the right care. She’s one of the too-few female CEOs leading a unicorn company—a 2024 funding round valued it at over $3 billion—and advocates for destigmatizing mental-health issues. She’s expanded Spring Health’s reach to serve families and, globally, to deliver evidence-based, culturally…