The Guessing Game - Updated/Julia Louis-Dreyfus

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses, in no particular order:

The Kennedys: The family holds an online memorial for Maeve and Gideon McKean, who drowned in a canoe accident in the Chesapeake Bay
Linda Tripp: Died at age 70
George Stephanopoulos: His wife is recovering but he's now been diagnosed with the virus. So far he says he feels fine
The Coronavirus: It's been on the cover of the last four issues, no reason for People to stop now
Harry and Meghan, Will and Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla: Nothing specific, it's just been a couple of weeks since we've seen any of the royals on the cover
Dr. Anthony Fauci: Will Donald fire him?
Listen To Your Heart: The latest Bachelor Nation show premiered last night; apparently the ratings were terrible. On the other hand, Sharleen Joynt loved it:

As a disclaimer, I should mention I’ve never even seen A Star Is Born (I honestly can’t even stand the song!), so the movie that “inspired” this show in no way “inspired” me to like this spinoff. But—ugh!—I liked last night’s Listen To Your Heart premiere! In fact, I liked it a lot. Perhaps I went in with overly low expectations, primed to have them surpassed. Maybe, being a musician, this show spoke to me on a level even a fantastic Bachelor season cannot. Or maybe—just maybe—I’m secretly soothed by this mansion’s familiar Bachelor-ific decor, calmed by its curiously wet driveway. Maybe I missed this show more than I’d like to admit, or maybe Listen To Your Heart satisfied a reality TV craving only a pandemic could induce. Maybe it’s all of the above, but I’ll argue, with or without special circumstances, Listen To Your Heart is a hell of a lot more than just a distraction or fresh meat. (Click here to read her review at Flare.com)

In other BN news, Reality Steve says the show is trying to find a resort, where they would kick all the customers out then sequester Claire, the cast and the entire production staff for the entire time it takes to film the show, with all the dates taking place onsite. Maybe...
Tom Hanks: Hosted Saturday Night Live from his kitchen
Andrew Cuomo: Still in the spotlight, he's the main cover story on the May issue of Rolling Stone:

Issue dated May, 2020


Click here to read the story. Andrew's brother Chris is still sick and he's going a little bit crazy; click here to see People's slide show of the two brothers' "journey to fame"
Oprah: She's raising concerns about the impact Covid 19 is having on the black community
Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and/or Barack Obama: Sanders dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Biden, then today (Tuesday 4/14,) Barack Obama endorsed him as well:

For all of us who love this country and are willing to do our part to make sure it lives up to its highest ideals – now’s the time to fight for what we believe in. Join us at https://t.co/Kboaxi3MVL. And I’ll see you on the campaign trail as soon as I can.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 14, 2020

Stories that appear on the new cover will be highlighted in green.

Update: Julia Louis-Dreyfus takes center stage this week, in a cover story celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day doesn't get much notice now, even in years when a pandemic isn't the biggest news story. Ten years ago I wrote a post titled "Earth Day: Good, Bad or Indifferent" (you can read it here,) in which I said maybe it's time for Earth Day to go away. Not because saving the Earth isn't important, it's more important than ever and will never not be. It's just that designating one day a year as the day of the Earth doesn't appear to be accomplishing much. And that list, mentioned on the cover below, "50 easy ways you can make a big difference"? You have to buy the magazine to read it.

Issue dated April 27, 2020: Julia Louis-Dreyfus


Last year at this time: Issue dated April 29, 2019


Last year, the issue following the one above was the "Beautiful" issue, featuring Jennifer Garner. Will People do one this year? It's one of their most consistent theme cover stories, but now might not be the right time. As I'm writing on Thursday afternoon there's nothing at People.com teasing a big announcement of who this year's cover girl is, a possible indication that the Beautiful issue has been postponed.

Earth Day: Good, Bad or Indifferent

I'm not a big fan of Earth Day. I want to be a good global citizen and do what I can to minimize the environmental impact of my time here on this earth, and I want everyone else to, too. Even with the best of intentions, however, it's not always clear how to do that, and most of the Earth Day "How You Can Help Save The Planet" articles I'm seeing today aren't helping much. For example, an article on the Huffington Post, titled "Seven Things You Can Do For Earth Day That Actually Matter," includes such gems as "Get rid of your car" and "Don't have a baby."

I would love to get rid of my car and live like a European, but as a resident of suburban Chicago it's just not possible. We don't have the public transportation infrastructure for that kind of lifestyle, and neither does any other city in America, which makes the suggestion in the Huff Post article not only unrealistic but really stupid. As for not having a baby, well, okay, I wasn't planning to, but a lot of other people are, not to mention all the people that already have kids, and I have to ask, do the geniuses at HuffPost really believe that telling people not to have kids is the way to save the planet?

I remember the first Earth Day, in 1970, when I was in junior high school and most of the kids in my school walked home instead of taking the bus. The irony was that the buses still ran their routes that day, and every other day since then, making our gesture of walking home symbolic but ultimately meaningless. 40 years later, as far as I can tell, most of the Earth Day activities are equally superficial, which makes Earth Day itself practically meaningless. If publishing articles with insultingly stupid ideas like telling people not to have kids is what now passes for "celebrating" Earth Day, it's probably time for Earth Day to go away.