Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Recently, the IRS realized that it owes $2.4 billion total in COVID stimulus payments to about one million taxpayers, with a maximum payment of $1,400. If you’re eligible for a stimulus check, you don’t have to do anything to receive it: The IRS is sending out honest-to-goodness windfalls to a million Americans. Unlike your tax refund—which is a portion of your salary being returned to you—no one is likely to wag a finger at you for getting a stimulus check. But that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to figure out what to spend your stimulus money on. If you’re looking for good uses for your stimulus money, here are several strategies that can help you make the mos…

For years, I thought saying yes was the key to success. Yes, to my parents’ dream of me becoming a doctor. Yes, to the long hours in medical school. Yes, to a career that others admired, even as I felt a growing sense of unease. I loved medicine’s ability to make a difference in people’s lives, but deep down, I had questions: Did I truly want to be a doctor, or was I fulfilling the role others expected of me? Every yes felt like another step away from myself. One pivotal moment came while I was working in a hospital in the Cook Islands. I treated patients with heart failure so advanced that basic mobility was a struggle. What struck me most wasn’t the lack of resources;…

It might sound a little silly that there’s an entire subgenre of influencers who offer investment advice around Pokémon trading cards. Probably because it is a little silly. The idea of some YouTube Jim Cramer breathlessly warning viewers that “Surging Sparks is setting a fire under collectors and investors” is the stuff Saturday Night Live sketches are made of. Yet, there’s nothing silly about the amount of money changing hands in the Pokémon card space these days. Especially right now. If it weren’t clear from all the viral videos of brawls at various Costcos, the soaring popularity of Pokémon cards has lately reached stratospheric new heights. (Costco ultimately had …

Today’s fast-paced workplace requires us to change and adapt at increasing speeds, while managing complex interpersonal demands. Despite these challenges, we can utilize emotional intelligence to meet these continually increasing demands and excel in our new reality. The basis of emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our emotions—as well as know how they impact others. Beyond that, emotional intelligence gives us greater ability to understand the emotions of others, allowing for greater empathy. This in turn increases our ability to work effectively with others of different backgrounds and perspectives. Glenn Llopis, author of Make R…

When the news first broke, I was appalled three times after hearing about the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. First, that this man was gunned down in the streets and his killer was at large. Second, when I learned that UnitedHealthcare rejects 33% of its claims, over five times that of competitors like Kaiser Permanente, which has a 6% claims rejection rate. Lastly, what shocked me most was seeing some people in a comedy Facebook group I’m in celebrating his death. One post featured a meme saying, “I hope he dies,” in response to news that he was shot. I get it, late-stage capitalism is brutal and unfeeling. The instinct to not care about those who seem to …

In early 2024, Ryan Broderick, a surgeon at UC San Diego Health, was commiserating with some colleagues about the profusion of screens in today’s operating rooms. Though the displays provided essential guidance for minimally invasive operations in progress, they also added complexity. “We were looking around the operating room,” he remembers. “We have a lot of monitors, a lot of clutter. We were like, ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this.’” It wasn’t just about tidiness. ”For [a] monitor to be in the ideal position for surgery, it really should just be directly in front of your head without having to turn your neck or adjust your body,” explains Dr. Broderick. “Bu…

The White House’s recent decision to grant press credentials to independent journalists, podcasters, and social media influencers marks a defining moment in the evolution of modern media. It acknowledges a reality that has been unfolding for years: How people consume information has fundamentally changed. For years, traditional media outlets have been the primary gatekeepers of news and information. Today, the landscape is fragmented, dynamic, and decentralized. Millions of people now turn to independent content creators, newsletters, and podcasts—often in place of mainstream news sources. This shift raises essential opportunities and challenges for companies and execut…

Susan Kare, designer of the original Apple icons, is back with a new 32-icon collection, one that you can buy in the form of silver or gold vermeil mechanical keys and pendants. Called Esc Keys, the new icons perfectly capture the everlasting magic of her 1-bit legendary past work, always mesmerizing in their extreme minimalism and at the same time as satisfying as triple-chocolate cake. Kare obviously had lots of fun creating them. Her new designs—from an alien head to a light bulb to love birds to puppies, plus a ‘Panic!’ key that we all really need right now—inspire the same joy she was gleaming with when I spoke to her from New York—where she was visiting for the Esc…

You might have a go-to hot sauce already. But for the past year or so, Sichuan condiments brand Fly by Jing has been repositioning to capture mainstream heat seekers, and its subtle packaging update, rolling out now, is the DTC darling’s latest move to optimize for its new distribution channel of choice: mass retail. To call the visual changes a “rebrand” would be a stretch, but the subtle updates point to how the company is pivoting its messaging for analog sales. It’s packaging uses pared-down graphics and copy, with more negative space and a strict focus on must-have details that allow first-time buyers to quickly make a purchase decision just by looking at the produc…

With over 900 million users worldwide, LinkedIn often feels like the ultimate goldmine for professional networking and career growth. But figuring out the right blend of authentic expertise, personal flair, and audience engagement can feel more daunting than it’s worth. Yes, it’s crucial to know how to boost engagement, but it’s just as important to understand which kinds of posts can hurt your reputation and sabotage your efforts to be seen as an expert. Here are three types of posts you’re better off avoiding. Algorithm-chasing posts LinkedIn’s algorithm is constantly changing, influencing the likes, views, and social interactions your posts receive from potential cli…

A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System, which potentially as early as 2026 could be used to aid MLB home plate umpires, but not replace them. Starting in 2024, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season. How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work? …

As renewable energy gathers steam around the world, the harms of mining its mineral components continue to grow. On the environmental front, for example, there’s the destruction of Indonesian rainforests to mine nickel and the draining of precious South American groundwater reserves to obtain lithium. There’s also the human toll, which can be seen in forced displacement and child labor exploitation in the cobalt-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as violence toward Indigenous people living on nickel-studded lands in the Philippines. The devastation raises the question: Is the world better off just sticking with the status quo? With these factors, is renewable…

Digital transformation is the most important investment that organizations can make to drive enterprise value. That’s according to 68% of 1,600 business leaders surveyed by Deloitte. And while I largely agree with their thinking, I would take things one very important step further. In my six years as CEO of Argyle, a technology company whose existence hinges on other organizations’ willingness to digitally transform their income verification process, I have learned this: A transformation that prioritizes the needs, skills, and experiences of the humans operating the technology being adopted is the key to long-term success. Consider the users Some call it takin…

Duo, the infamous Duolingo owl, is dead. The language-learning app shared the news in a tongue-in-cheek post yesterday. The cause of death remains under investigation, but Duolingo has its own theory: “Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know?” the company wrote on X. “We’re aware he had many enemies, but we kindly ask you to refrain from sharing why you hate him in the comments.” an important message from Duolingo pic.twitter.com/jTTT680yVs — Duolingo (@duolingo) February 11, 2025 The brand didn’t miss an opportunity to plug its premium service either, adding: “If you feel inclined to share, please also share your credit c…

Since December, Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has become an internet phenomenon. Both scorned and idolized, his notoriety has given rise to a number of online communities. Some have begun embracing violent rhetoric. A moderator from the long-standing subreddit r/popculture, where discussions about Mangione had been ongoing, was recently suspended for approving a large number of comments (by Reddit standards, that means at least 20) that contained direct calls for violence. “This sub has been placed in restricted mode, and the main mod was suspended for approving comments that mentioned ‘Luigi,” a post on r/popculture c…

Unlimited PTO policies were all the rage for a while, but now they’re starting to lose their allure. Here, experts weigh in on why companies are shifting away from this once-popular benefit, what alternative solutions look like, and why other options can be more effective. Failing to Deliver Unlimited paid time off policies are losing popularity because, in practice, they often fail to deliver the flexibility and wellness benefits they promise. While they sound progressive, the reality is that many employees end up taking less time off under these policies. Without a clear benchmark for what’s considered “normal” or acceptable, employees often hesitate to use their time…

Chili’s is celebrating National Margarita Day this month with a new romcom Lifetime holiday movie. The casual-dining restaurant chain and cable network will debut a 15-minute TV short film, called I’ll Be Home For National Margarita Day, first airing on Lifetime on February 19 and available on Lifetime.com, YouTube, and social platforms. Starring actors Maria Menounos and Taye Diggs, the new flick hits on all the classic Lifetime tropes, including a big-city-dwelling woman returning to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who happens to be a bartender at Chili’s. The reunited lovers must work together to save a small town’s National Margarita Day celebrati…

“Let’s circle back when we have the bandwidth to touch base on whether we need to hop on a call to tackle the low-hanging fruit.” (If this corporate buzzword bingo sent a shiver down your spine—apologies.) In the world of professional communication, business jargon is often a necessary evil. Email clichés: love ‘em or hate ‘em, we all use ‘em. Many of us are trapped in a terminal cycle of “reaching out” and “circling back” to make sure “we’re aligned.” Recent analysis from email verification company ZeroBounce looked at more than one million real work emails to find out which overused email phrases are the most common offenders. To no one’s surprise, “…

Picture this: It’s Black Friday, and the point-of-sale system your thousands of customers depend on keeps crashing. Understandably, those retailers are livid. Complaints pour in day after day, and you start to wonder if the business will survive. That’s exactly what happened to me when I was just starting out as an entrepreneur nearly 20 years ago. And as painful as it was, that near-death experience taught me something invaluable: the power of calm leadership. In today’s unpredictable world, whether that’s due to economic, environmental, or political events—it can be harder than ever to stay calm and centered. Company leaders are no exception to this. Yet it’s c…

Spring showers might bring flowers, but they can be a real hassle when you’re trying to look presentable at the office. Many of the best raincoats are made by outdoor brands, which tend to focus on utility rather than aesthetics. But a rugged jacket that is perfect for hiking through the rain can really ruin a professional look. When you’re headed to work, what you need is a jacket that is sleek and minimal, inspired by a traditional silhouette, like a trench coat or a car coat, but made from high-tech waterproof or water repellent materials. And ideally, you can find one that is so elegant that you want to reach for it throughout the spring and fall, even when …

Chess.com has a new subscription option for chess families and tight-knit players: a friends and family plan. The site, where players around the world can face off against live opponents, play bots, and solve chess puzzles, introduced its group tier in January, offering a players a discount on its top-tier offerings with the aim of winning the long-term loyalty game. For $199.99 a year, Chess.com’s “Friends and Family” Diamond Premium plan offers up to four people access to feature’s like an ad-free site experience, chess lessons, game reviews, and insights into how to improve their skills that would run an individual subscriber $120 a year. “It’s good for con…

The wellness market is the biggest it has ever been, with a valuation of nearly $2 trillion, according to a McKinsey report. But somehow today’s workforce is more burnt-out than ever before. Research by the Boston Consulting Group shows that 48% of workers are exhausted from stress. The reason? Wellness works, but the way we are working doesn’t. After spending a decade on Wall Street, I can attest that high stress periods at work are inevitable. Unfortunately, anyone advocating for better “stress management” often receives an eye roll due to the misconception that it means avoiding stress altogether. When I learned that “stress management” is not about removing stress bu…

The 2025 tax season is in full swing, and the number one question most people have on their minds after filing their return is, “Where’s my tax refund?” Thankfully, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers a quick and easy online tool to help you check the status of your tax refund. Here’s what you need to know about the tool as well as how long it may take to receive your refund. Check your tax refund status with the IRS’s ‘Where’s My Refund?’ tool If you’re anxious about where your refund is, there’s good news: you can check its status in just a few seconds using the “Where’s My Refund?” tool from the IRS. Checking your refund status is pretty easy. Here’s h…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How can I get more sleep? A: I am writing this at 11:12 p.m., so this advice is as much for myself as it is for anyone else. Here’s what we should all be doing differently: First, set a schedule and stick to it. The “stick to it” part is hard. But it’s called the golden rule of sleep for a reason. Set a bedtime, and then plan at least 20-40 minutes back from that time to start your bedtime routine. You might even need an alarm to remind you that it’s time …

The Panama Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world, with about 7% of global trade passing through. It also relies heavily on rainfall. Without enough freshwater flowing in, the canal’s locks can’t raise and lower ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Droughts mean fewer ships per day, and that can quickly affect Panama’s finances and economies around the world. But the same freshwater is also essential for Panama’s many other needs, including drinking water for about two million Panamanians, use by Indigenous people and farmers in the watershed, as well as hydropower. When the region experiences droughts, as it did in 2023–2024…