# Time Person of the Year 2023 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925 "2023-08-22T15:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/1 "2023-08-22T15:31:50Z")
I have nothing better to do, and I didn’t see this mentioned anywhere else yet, so here’s the annual Time Magazine Person of the Year speculation thread… I think it comes down to two people at the moment: 1. King Charles III - there has only been one other person who was “newsworthy”, and that’s: 2. Donald Trump - and the only reason he isn’t #1 on my list is, is Time afraid of a backlash if he’s the choice? It also could be waiting until 2024 to select him, especially if Biden is re-elected. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/2 "2023-08-22T15:38:36Z")
I would like to thing the person of the year would be someone that did something in a positive manner. Trump has done nothing positive. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/3 "2023-08-22T15:50:06Z")
Other possibles: 1. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, again. 2. Greta Gerwig, 1st woman director of a movie that made a billion bucks 3. Greta Thumberg, 'cause climate change hasn’t gone away 4. Dolly Parton, who made in into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame somehow, and now has an R&R album out 5. Vladimir Putin, for negative reasons ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/4 "2023-08-22T16:04:42Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I would like to thing the person of the year would be someone that did something in a positive manner. Trump has done nothing positive. That would be nice. However, it is my understanding that the criterion is “most important” not necessarily “most positive.” Hitler was the winner for 1938. Here is _Time_’s explanation. “Hitler became in 1938 the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/5 "2023-08-22T16:14:53Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > “Hitler became in 1938 the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today” Until now. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/6 "2023-08-22T16:49:06Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Other possibles: > > 1. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, again. > 2. Greta Thumberg, 'cause climate change hasn’t gone away Has anything really changed since either of these two won (2022 and 2019, respectively) to warrant a repeat selection so soon - well, other than an increase in snooker matches being interrupted by Just Stop Oil types with their orange powder? As for my suggestion that they may be saving Trump for 2024, everybody takes a back seat to the Artemis crew if they do land on the moon by the end of that year - shades of 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/7 "2023-08-22T17:00:38Z")
The NAFO fella: [![](https://nafo-ofan.org/cdn/shop/files/Screenshot_2022-12-28_at_8.10.33_PM-removebg-preview.png?v=1672276279&width=1500) ](https://nafo-ofan.org/cdn/shop/files/Screenshot_2022-12-28_at_8.10.33_PM-removebg-preview.png?v=1672276279&width=1500) > **[We Are NAFO](https://nafo-ofan.org/pages/we-are-nafo)** > > The history of NAFO and its expansion is quite the tale. Read about it here. > **[NAFO (group)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAFO_(group))** > > The North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO, French: Organisation des Fella de l'Atlantique nord, OFAN, a play on NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an Internet meme and social media movement dedicated to countering Russian propaganda and disinformation about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has been categorised as a form of information warfare. > In addition to posting irreverent commentary about the war and memes promoting Ukraine or mocking the Russian war effort and st... ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/8 "2023-08-22T17:11:29Z")
How about Jack Smith? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/9 "2023-08-22T17:13:08Z")
Possibly a combo with Fani Willis. Or maybe just “the prosecutors.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/10 "2023-08-22T20:03:39Z")
My feeling is this will be too much of an unfinished story to rise to that level this year. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/11 "2023-08-22T20:52:07Z")
Thank you! I think even considering him is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/12 "2023-08-22T21:41:43Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Dolly Parton, who made in into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame somehow, and now has an R&R album out There’s also her Imagination Library. > **[Dolly Parton's Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AU](https://imaginationlibrary.com/)** > > Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/13 "2023-08-22T22:01:26Z")
Jack Smith hands down. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/14 "2023-08-22T23:12:32Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Thank you! I think even considering him is disgusting. I agree it’s long past time for Time Magazine, itself a pale mostly useless shadow of its former glory to retire the “… for good or ill” part of its Man of the Year program. If you’re too damned lazy to find the best of the good, sure don’t settle for the worst of the bad. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/15 "2023-08-22T23:16:17Z")
How about “Mother Nature?” Though fictional, she’s certainly had an incredibly influential impact all over the globe. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/16 "2023-08-22T23:23:51Z")
IIRC, they have done “The Earth” before. But I think most likely is the folks in the justice system working to take down Trump, including Jack Smith, Fanny Willis, and the various judges. Smith if they want one individual, though they might go for all of them collectively. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/17 "2023-08-22T23:51:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Jasmine](#): > > > > Thank you! I think even considering him is disgusting. > > I agree it’s long past time for Time Magazine, itself a pale mostly useless shadow of its former glory to retire the “… for good or ill” part of its Man of the Year program. > > If you’re too damned lazy to find the best of the good, sure don’t settle for the worst of the bad. More honestly it’s “Person who is going to get the most people talking about Time once a year.” Having the discussion every year about how it’s not a prize for the best person gets people talking. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/18 "2023-08-23T00:13:01Z")
Though, in practice, they dropped the “or ill” decades ago. That’s why, for instance, it was Giuliani in 2001, instead of bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/19 "2023-08-23T00:34:41Z")
Yes. After some serious backlash over the choice of Ayatollah Khomenei in 1979 it became an understood though unwritten practice to not award to figures that would appall the American public. Which is still NOT the same thing as being a choice of whoever did most for the “good”: e.g. Putin 2007. As it is you still get debate and pushback anyway - was Greta Thunberg _uniformly_ seen as most influential individual in 2019? Or just the most recognizable face to put on the climate issue? And a whole half of the country would say she did nothing worthy. They have been known to every so often put on the cover group choices like “American Scientists” in 1960, “Whistleblowers” in 2002, or the Me-Too “Silence Breakers” in 2017; or “conceptual” choices like “Middle Americans” 1969, “The Computer” 1982, “Endangered Earth” 1988, “You” (a mirror) 2006. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925/20 "2023-08-24T18:22:33Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > As for my suggestion that they may be saving Trump for 2024, everybody takes a back seat to the Artemis crew if they do land on the moon by the end of that year - shades of 1968. According to NASA’s Artemis III page, the lunar landing won’t be until 2025. Yes, Artemis II will have the first woman orbiting the moon, and that will most likely be in 2024, but they’re not going to give it to astronauts two years in a row (remember that Neil Armstrong didn’t get it in 1969, in no small part because the Apollo 8 astronauts got it in 1968). Speaking of waiting, Time may be waiting for convictions in 2024 before giving it to the Trump prosecutors/indictors, especially if Biden is re-elected. _House_ Light Bulb Moment… The favorite has to be the striking actors and writers - especially as every network is reduced to reality TV and repeats this fall (well, except for Fox, which has new episodes of its animated shows ready). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2023/988925.md?page=2)