As of today, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a slam dunk to win. But, it’s not even March yet, so who knows what will happen? Covid has shown us that it doesn’t like to be ignored.
IIRC, the title is not supposed to be an honor, but merely a recognition that a particular person, group of people, or even inanimate object has had major impact on the events of the year. While I agree Zelenskyy is performing heroically during this war, he is not the one with the most impact.
I’d argue Putin would be likelier. As the aggressor, and the one who ultimately calls the shots, he has a greater impact than Zelensky himself. The Time POY is most impactful, not necessarily most virtuous - that’s why people like Hitler got the distinction in the past.
That being said, though, sometimes Time magazine caves in to public pressure when it’s intense enough. That’s why Rudy Giuliani was named Time POY in 2001 rather than Osama bin Laden, even though bin Laden was far more impactful that year.
OTOH if Putin somehow backs down, get deposed, or even meets with an untimely accident, Zelenskyy would almost certainly be the choice.
Since every single one of these discussions just picks whoever most made the news at the moment im pretending it’s 2 weeks ago and I nominate Eileen Gu.
Fair enough to point out that the news changes, but it’s really tough to see what could be bigger news this year than the Ukraine War.
But in practice, Time DOESN’T always give it to the most impactful. They have a slight bias to the good story.
Dude! Have you never watched a movie?! Why would you EVER say such a thing???
Fuck, man, we’re screwed now.
Signed,
A two-weeks-away-from-retirement JohnT. I got a name for the boat and everything.
Yes, that’s too close to “I don’t see what could be bigger news this year than Franz Ferdinand’s assassination.”
Let’s all hope the Ukraine War remains the biggest news story of the year.
If Donald Trump decided to crash the 2022 midterms by creating his own “Patriots Party” like he’s threatened to in the past, that would also be a giant news story later this year.
If Putin does one of those things, that would be the most impactful of all.
As for that incident in 2001 . . .
The guys flying those hijacked jets were the most impactful of all.
Yeah…You might want to rename it the “S.S. Minnow”.
Got one last call, guys. Let me grab my badge and weapon, I’m sure this will be an easy nab. I won’t even need a vest.
~Retirement, here I come!~
But only if anyone cares.
Next COVID variant: “Hold my beer.”
mmm
The next Greek letter/variant is Pi; as we know, Pi never ends. 
Is it “The Sloop John T.”?
This is JohnT’s wife. He spent a lot of time here and you meant a lot to him, so I must regretfully… sigh… does anyone want to buy a boat?
I was actually going to start this thread today as well.
Time has mostly done away with the “most impactful” side of things, especially if it means picking the more favorable and optimistic side of the story. They’ll never pick Putin again, IMO.
Time to bump this thread…
My current top three:
- Zelenskyy
- The generic “Ukranian Freedom Fighter”
- King Charles III (maybe 2023, especially if that’s when the coronation takes place, unless something happens to Biden, in which case it’s pretty much automatically Kamala Harris)
It won’t be Putin, any more than Osama bin Laden had a chance in 2001.