The 20 Things You Need to Know For 2011

We want to make sure this is absolutely, positively clear: what we say over the following pages is not a guess, nor is it the slightly more educated cousin of a guess, a prediction. There may be, in parts, a bit of extrapolation at work; we are not fortunetellers, and, until our eccentric billionaire backer comes through with his promised check, we do not own a time machine. And there are other places where, yes, we are more interested in having a laugh than actually telling you anything concrete about the next 12 months. But rest assured, we are not wasting your time with something as frivolous, as fleeting, as a guess or prediction. If they haven’t already done so, the people and ideas we have included here will impact your life at some point in 2011. They will matter to you. (Unless they don’t. In which case, never mind.)