For Day 9 , we encourage you to curl up by the warmth of your laptop and feel the Listmas spirit, as we introduce you to our favorite thinkers, doers, and lookers of 2011.
Photo: International Monetary Fund
Wael Ghonim
The 30 year-old Google executive who helped mobilize the Egyptian revolution is high in the running for person of the year. Mr. Ghonim’s saavy for social organization helped catalyze young Egyptians to overthrow long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, and his 11 days in captivity at the hands of the secret police earned him the respect of the world.
Photo: Al Jazeera English
Ayman Mohyeldin
The veteran Al Jazeera English correspondent, now with NBC, had already made his mark as a journalist during the trial of Saddam Hussein. When Al Jazeera’s broadcasting license was revoked during January’s protests in Tahrir Square, Mr. Mohyeldin kept on telling the world Egypt’s story, facing multiple incarcerations, and broadening the ever-growing reach of Qatar’s soft power giant.
Photo: IsaacMao
Ai Weiwei
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has been and central symbol in a year of protest and anger against unjust regimes. While ArtReview put him at the top of their list this year, he’s reached new audiences not only for his scathing artistic indictment of China’s one-party system, but also for his infamous house arrest and subsequent arrest at Peking airport.
Photo: UN Women Gallery
Michelle Bachelet
The former President of Chile, Ms. Bachelet was inaugurated as the first Executive Director of UN Women this year, with a mandate combining a number of activities promoting opportunity and equality for women and girls. Bringing together a number of fractured intergovernmental objectives together under one flag is no easy task, and Ms. Bachelet has done so with insight and aplomb.
Photo: JLODonnell
Guo Pei
The mastermind behind China’s Rose Studio fashion house, Guo Pei carries the banner of the Middle Kingdom as a rising soft power behemoth. Her imaginative creations are visual reminders of a nation in a constant state of slow transformation, blending traditional patterns with modern, mind-bending cuts. Her over-the-top craft spells good things for China as it lurches toward its impending role as a driver of global culture alongside the U.S.
Photo: Katrina Kokoska
Sal Khan
The concept behind Khan Academy was simple. Sal Khan was going to make short videos to explain some basic mathematical concepts. What started as a simple homework aid has blossomed into a groundbreaking innovation in modern education. Sparsely presented videos, now on hundreds of topics, in scaled lessons, with online practice for each lesson, all open, all free, all at your own pace. We recommend brushing up on taxes and personal finance before April.
Photo: USDAgov
Sam Kass (White House chef, better eating pioneer)
Sam Kass is what we believe government needs more of: people who practice what they preach. Mr. Kass is a chef at the White House, worker in the White House garden, and one of President Obama’s closest policy advisors on child nutrition policy. It’s rare to find those with practical experience leading the discussion, and we hope Mr. Kass continues to lead a number of quiet policy successes on these quietly vital issues.
Photo: Pop!Tech
Clay Shirky (NYU)
Clay Shirky studies the effect of the internet on society. This alone makes him a thinker worth matching, but we particularly admire Mr. Shirky for his commitment to teaching (as a professor at NYU’s respected ITP program) and to writing, a practice which we hope he continues as we continue to stubble into the age of communication technology. Clay, if you ever need a quote or two about running a web magazine, just shoot us a text.
Photo: Arun Reginald
Veena Malik
Ms. Malik is at the center of an ever-growing controversy. Her cover shoot for the Indian version of FHM magazine — featuring the Pakistani actress, seemingly naked and sporting a tattoo that reads ISI, the name Pakistani intelligence agency — has caused waves in her home country and around the world, with conflicting arguments over whether she posed naked or whether the photo was altered. Thong or no, we admire Ms. Mailk’s political strain in a society torn between extremists on ever issue, political or otherwise. Her neatly articulated takedown of a conservative mullah on TV this year only propelled her star higher, another shake up in a country in need of several.
