Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

You can put a lot of different things in fried rice, but certainly not glass. Unfortunately, that might be an ingredient in certain packages of Trader Joe’s chicken fried rice. Frozen food manufacturer Ajinomoto Foods North America is recalling more than 3 million pounds of chicken fried rice products due to potential glass contamination. The recall includes products with both Ajinomoto and Trader Joe’s branding. The manufacturer, based in Portland, Oregon, notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) after it received four customer complaints of glass in the rice. As of Thursday, February 19, no related inju…

Meatball fans beware: A nationwide recall is underway for a popular brand of frozen meatballs sold at Aldi. The recall is due to the possibility that the product may contain metal fragments, which could cause serious injury if consumed. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On Sunday, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posted a safety alert about a Class 1 recall—the highest possible designation the agency assigns to recalled products. A Class 1 recall means that there is “a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” according to the…

More than a dozen frozen supplemental shake products are being recalled over fears that they may be contaminated with a deadly strain of Listeria monocytogenes. The outbreak is so far believed to have hospitalized 37 people and led to the deaths of 11 individuals. Here’s what you need to know about the frozen shake recall. What’s happened? On February 21, food distributor Lyons Magnus issued a voluntary recall of certain ReadyCare and Sysco Imperial Frozen Supplemental Shakes due to fears that they were contaminated with a strain of Listeria monocytogenes. The shakes were manufactured by a Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lyons Magnus …

Three years after suing to block Microsoft from buying one of the biggest names in video games, the U.S. government is finally giving up. The FTC announced plans Thursday to drop a Biden-era case against Microsoft over its $69 billion acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard, a decision the regulator said now best serves the public interest. In 2022, the FTC first announced that it would try to kill Microsoft’s planned acquisition of the gaming giant, which makes hit games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The following year, after the FTC failed to secure a preliminary injunction to stop it, Microsoft actually finalized the massive deal, but the regu…

Some good news for Publishers Clearing House (PCH) customers: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday that the sweepstakes company is paying for refund checks to 281,724 customers who ordered a product after receiving and clicking on an email, which included “deceptive and unfair” practices, according to the FTC’s allegations. Here’s what you need to know. What happened? Publishers Clearing House, which has been known for decades for its sweepstakes deals and big checks, agreed to pay a total of about $18.5 million in refunds and make substantial changes to its e-commerce operations. “While we disagreed with the FTC’s assertions at the time, we we…

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued Uber Technologies, accusing it of signing up some Uber One subscribers without their knowledge and making deceptive claims about the service. The service costs $9.99 a month and offers discounts on fees associated with Uber’s ride-hailing and food-delivery apps. Uber falsely claimed that users would save about $25 a month through the service and deceived them about how easy it was to cancel, the FTC said in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco. “Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said. “The The President-Vance FTC is fig…

Shares in the sports streaming service FuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO) are currently plunging in Tuesday trading. The stock price drop comes after the streamer reported its Q1 2026 results—and announced a relatively rare reverse stock split. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? Today, FuboTV Inc. announced its first-quarter results for fiscal 2026, which ended on December 31. For the quarter, Fubo reported revenue of $1.543 billion, up 40% from the year-earlier quarter. However, despite the company’s revenue growth, the streamer reported a net loss of approximately $19.1 million for the quarter. Its earnings per share for the period were negative 2 cents. …

There’s been a lot of noise in the advertising industry lately, from restructuring to consolidation to massive financial recalibrations at the industry’s biggest companies. It’s easy, in moments like this, to frame finance people as the enemy of creativity, something I’ve been reading a lot of recently. I don’t buy that. To me, the issue isn’t financial leadership. It’s the posture that financial leaders take. In a creative business, the CFO doesn’t just manage the numbers. They influence behavior, and their actions shape culture and whether a company builds or simply protects. It shows how they engage: are they leaning into tough conversations, helping solve …

Fujifilm’s newest camera model, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema, is a gadget that’s designed for the retro camera craze. The device is a vertically oriented instant camera that can take still images, videos (an Instax camera first), connect with your smartphone to turn its photos into physical prints, and capture images in a wide range of retro aesthetics. It’s debuting in North American markets in early February for $409.95. Fujifilm’s new model taps into a younger consumer base’s growing interest both in retro tech and film photography aesthetics—a trend that’s been driven, in large part, by platforms like TikTok. The Instax Mini Evo Cinema turns that niche into a cl…

Disney’s 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland taught audiences that “you can learn a lot of things from the flowers.” But the movie never mentioned the full moon named after those springtime sensations. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a celestial phenomenon called the “Flower Moon” occurs today, and despite being “micro,” it is still a sight to behold. Let’s take a deeper look into what all these names mean, and when you can see this “full flower micromoon.” Why is the May full moon tonight called the ‘Flower Moon’? The Old Farmer’s Almanac shares popular names given to each month’s full moons. Many of these monikers are based in Native American tradit…

As the old folklore goes, if you are feeling extra tired and cranky this week, the upcoming full moon might be to blame. And while you definitely won’t turn into a werewolf, there is some data to suggest the old folklore is true, even if the scientific research on the topic is limited: A 2013 sleep study found that during a full moon, participants spent 30% less time in deep sleep and lost out on 20 minutes of slumber on average. However, skywatchers are in for a treat this weekend, even if they may be missing a little sleep, as a full moon will rise on Saturday night. Here’s what to know about the full moon, and how best to see it. What is the name of the full mo…

In the Northern Hemisphere, February is the middle of winter. According to NASA, this is why Native American tribes named this month’s full moon the Snow Moon. Historically, the shortest month of the year was also the coldest because of the heavy snowfall that occurred. Another name for this lunar display of grandeur is the Hunger Moon. That name also makes historical sense because of how the snowiest month made hunting and gathering more difficult. If you didn’t plan ahead properly, your stomach was bound to rumble. Let’s take a deeper look at the winter of it all, and when to best peep up at the night sky for optimal full moon viewing. When exactly is the mi…

When the federal government shutdown on October 1, it started a chain reaction of income problems for federal workers. Roughly 900,000 government employees are now on furlough. Another 700,000 are working without pay because their jobs are too critical for them to stay home. To add insult to entirely preventable injury, the current administration has indicated that it may not provide the legally mandated back pay to these workers once the shutdown is over. Considering the fact that getting another job during the furlough may require the government employee’s agency approval (and wouldn’t help critical employees working without a paycheck), the shutdown could be a pers…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Consumers will spend a whopping $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, up from $25.8 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation. For 1-800-Flowers.com, the purveyor of candy, cards, and—yes—flowers, February 14 is a bit like its Super Bowl, with year-long planning…

Americans’ outlook on the job market has turned increasingly pessimistic, a surprisingly negative shift given the low unemployment rate but one that likely reflects an ongoing hiring drought. Just 28% of workers in a quarterly Gallup survey conducted late last year said now is a “good time” to find a quality job, with 72% saying it is a bad time. Those figures are a sharp reversal from just a few years ago, in mid-2022, when 70% said it was a good time. Americans have quickly gotten more pessimistic: As recently as late 2024, just under half of workers still said it was a good time to search for a job. The current survey was conducted during the final three months of 20…

Next week’s conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is a solemn affair steeped in centuries-old traditions. But far from the Sistine Chapel where cloistered cardinals will cast votes, people are placing bets on who will be chosen as the next pope. From cash bets on websites to online games modeled after fantasy football leagues and casual wagers among friends and families, the popularity of guessing and gambling on the future of the papacy is increasing worldwide, experts and participants say. It’s even topped the Europa League soccer tournament and Formula One drivers’ championship, said Sam Eaton, U.K. manager for…

Online betting is more accessible than ever, with 14% of U.S. adults saying they bet on professional or college sports online either frequently or occasionally, according to a February poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It’s also in the news, with a growing list of sports betting scandals making headlines. Public health advocates and personal finance advisers say it’s important to know the risks if you’re going to gamble online. “Gambling and ‘responsibly’ seem to be oxymoronic, because if you’re gambling it’s all about risk,” said Caleb Silver, editor in chief of personal finance site Investopedia. “But people still do it. Online gamb…

GameStop is providing details on a new compensation package for CEO Ryan Cohen that is dependent on him meeting certain “significant” performance targets. The video game retailer said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that Cohen would have to grow its market capitalization to $100 billion and it would need to hit $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA — or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — for his award to fully vest. GameStop said Cohen won’t receive any guaranteed pay, which it defines as no salary, no cash bonuses, and no stock that simply vests over time. “His compensation is entirely ‘at-risk,’ meaning he will only b…

Shares of GameStop fell more than 15% on Thursday after the company’s plan to finance its bitcoin pivot raised questions about the timing of its move and its strategy to turn around its struggling retail business. The video game retailer’s shares also gave up all their gains from a day earlier and were on track for their biggest one-day fall since last June, after the company said it was offering $1.3 billion in 0% 2030 convertible bonds to amass the cryptocurrency. The company’s announcement that it would buy bitcoin to hold as a treasury reserve asset had created a mini euphoria among retail traders, who keenly track the so-called “meme stock.” However, Game…

2026 is already shaping up to be a brutal year for GameStop (NYSE: GME) stores. This month, nearly 500 locations have been marked for closure. The shutterings come as GameStop’s CEO Ryan Cohen doubled down on the company and bought another half a million shares in GME stock. Here’s what you need to know. GameStop is closing hundreds more stores Over the past year, it seems that GameStop has had one primary focus: reducing costs by shuttering stores. At the beginning of 2025, the video game chain had around 2,325 locations in the United States. But by December, it had shuttered 590 of them. The same month, the company announced plans to close a “significant numb…

GameStop Corp. is forging ahead with efforts to reduce its physical footprint in the first weeks of 2026. The video game retailer is closing stores in numerous states this month, according to local media reports, and emails and store signage shared by customers on social media, part of its ongoing effort to reduce costs and adapt to changes in shopping habits. The closures are not completely unexpected. In its third-quarter earnings report on December 9, GameStop said it had already closed 590 stores in the United States during the previous fiscal year as part of a “store portfolio optimization review.” In a December filing to the Securities and Exchange Comm…