Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

As many families are preparing to gather for the holidays, influenza (flu) cases are spiking across the country. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), positive test results have reached the highest levels seen so far this season. ​The most frequently reported influenza virus this season is the influenza A H3N2 virus. Last week, Fast Company reported on a new mutated strain of influenza A H3N2, known as the subclade K flu variant, which emerged after multiple mutations. Here’s what you need to know. Recent data shows positive cases are spiking According to CDC data for the week ending December 13, 14.8% of …

For years, parents, teenagers, pediatricians, educators, and whistleblowers have pushed the idea that social media is detrimental to young people’s mental health and can lead to addiction, eating disorders, sexual exploitation, and suicide. For the first time, juries in two states took their side. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Tech watchdog groups, families, and children’s advocates cheered the jury decisions. “The era of Big…

Work is the closest thing most adults have to a full-time identity. Strip away sleep, and roughly half of our waking lives are spent working. If you take a conservative estimate—40 to 50 hours a week, across four to five decades—you end up with well over 80,000 hours on the job. And yet, the most salient feature of work is not how many hours we devote to it, but rather how we experience it, which varies wildly. For some, it resembles what the sociologist Max Weber once described as a “calling,” a source of meaning and even a kind of secular transcendence. For others, it’s closer to what Karl Marx labeled alienation: a draining, joyless routine that disconnects effort fro…

College across the country may soon start seeing a much older demographic roaming their campuses. According to a report from the higher education publication Best Colleges, at least 84 public or nonprofit colleges have announced they would merge or close over the past five years. Almost half of those are outright closures, as small colleges struggle to keep up with rising costs amid falling enrollment. In many instances, the shuttering of a college means the mothballing of its campus. But while some campuses are being left idle with no future plans, a growing number are finding new life in the form of senior living facilities. That doesn’t mean just moving seniors into…

Last year, the CEO of the department store chain Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) announced the closure of 27 locations in order to help shore up the company’s struggling finances. But in November, a new CEO took the helm, prompting many to wonder whether he would implement additional store closures. Now that CEO has made his plans clear. Here’s what you need to know. Kohl’s shut 27 stores in 2025 In January 2025, Kohl’s announced it was closing 27 underperforming locations in 15 states, as well as its San Bernardino E-commerce Fulfillment Center (EFC) in California. At the time, the company’s then CEO, Tom Kingsbury, said the closures were a “necessary” step “to suppo…

A few years ago, I read an article that changed how I think about bourbon. It wasn’t about distilling or aging. It was about bread. Bread Is Broken by Ferris Jabr explores how modern industrial farming stripped grains of their flavor and nutritional value in exchange for higher yield, longer shelf life, and cost efficiency. As I read, I kept wondering if flavor has been lost in wheat; what does that mean for the wheat in our whisky? So, I called Dr. David Van Sanford, a wheat breeder at the University of Kentucky, to ask if anyone had studied how farming practices impact flavor. He paused and said, “You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that.” That one q…

On a recent flight, I watched a woman try to sneak an oversize briefcase and suitcase onto the plane. When challenged, she waved her boarding pass at the gate agent and declared, “Do you see what that says?” pointing to her top-tier status. “That means I get to do what I want.” Her sense of entitlement was staggering, but familiar. Leaders of organizational transformation, such as major digital/data analytical capability overhauls, or launching a new set off offerings across the globe, often cling to equally delusional rationalizations. And just like that traveler, their self-justifications backfire. The odds of transformation success are already dismal: 70% to 80…

If you want to understand where AI-assisted parenting is headed, skip the research lab and look into a messy living room at 2 a.m. Some of the most revealing use cases are happening in the homes of AI engineers who have just become parents. Few environments are more demanding: high stakes, low sleep, a never-ending stream of split-second decisions with imperfect information. No mom or dad (us included) has patience for a tool that adds friction, noise, or guilt to the daily gauntlet of childcare. It is why parents—especially those who build products—are a valuable and overlooked source of AI product intelligence today. Consider Daanish Masood. When his young son was wit…

So many things went wrong last Jan. 29 to contribute to the deadliest plane crash on American soil since 2001 that the National Transportation Safety Board isn’t likely to identify a single cause of the collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people at its hearing Tuesday. Instead, their investigators will detail what they found that played a role in the crash, and the board will recommend changes to help prevent a similar tragedy. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration already took the temporary restrictions it imposed after the crash and made them permanent to ensure planes and helicopters won’t share the sa…

Hi there! My name is Marcus Collins, DBA, and I study culture and its influence and impact on human behavior at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Each week, this column will explore the inner workings of organizational culture and the mechanisms that make it tick. Every entry will be accompanied by an episode from my podcast, From the Culture, that digs deeper into the culture of work from my conversations with the organizational leaders that make it all happen. If culture eats strategy for breakfast, then this is the most important conversation in business that you are not having. Sign up for the newsletter to make sure you don’t miss a beat. __…

Layoffs are at an all-time high since 2009, and we’re also experiencing the lowest hiring on record in the job market. But AI spending is also reaching all-time highs—especially among Big Tech companies, who are on an extravagant spending spree. As I recently reported, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are forecast to drop a staggering $650 billion on AI in 2026 alone. And while many companies are pouring a lot of that money—we’re talking hundreds of billions—into building massive data centers, hoping to establish a long-term strategic advantage in the AI-arms race, many are still hiring workers for jobs that utilize AI skills. So, what are those skills? While…

When’s the last time you thought about pepper? Designers working in the consumer packaged goods category have reimagined many a pantry staple over the past several years, including olive oil, tinned fish, and even chili crisp, but pepper has remained as forgotten as it is ubiquitous. A playfully chunky new brand is giving the category design intentionality, functionality, and visual appeal—and could point to where food brand design is headed. Michael Laniak Michael Laniak, a former line cook, launched Milly on May 12 as a result of his failed attempt to source pepper in the same way he could olive oil or sea salt. Milly sells only whole peppercorns—black, white…

Comcast said on Monday it will appoint President Michael Cavanagh as co-CEO, adopting a dual chief executive model as the company prepares to spin off several NBCUniversal cable networks as part of a restructuring. Cavanagh will take up the new role in January and also join the company’s board, serving alongside Brian Roberts, who will continue as chairman and co-CEO. Several high-profile firms such as Oracle and Netflix have adopted a co-CEO model to better manage their operations as they become more complex and globally diversified. Comcast plans to spin off its NBCUniversal cable channels, including USA Network and CNBC, into a new company called Versant la…

In 2022, Jennette McCurdy released her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, a brutally honest portrait of her life as a former child star, her battle with eating disorders, and, as the title would suggest, her rather complicated relationship with her mother. The book has spent more than 80 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list with over three million copies sold. It’s currently being adapted into an Apple TV+ series with Jennifer Aniston playing McCurdy’s mom, and McCurdy serving as co-writer, co-executive producer, and co-showrunner. Adjacent to the massive success of I’m Glad My Mom Died has been McCurdy reclaiming writing, not acting, as her true passion. In her …

For much of the modern corporate era, brand has been treated as surface area. A story told outward. A set of signals designed to persuade, attract, and differentiate. When companies spoke about brand, they were usually talking about perception: how they looked in the market, how they sounded, how they were received. That framing made sense in a world where markets moved a little more slowly, organizations were stable, and leadership could afford to separate strategy from culture, product from meaning, execution from belief. That world no longer exists. Today’s organizations operate in a state of near-constant volatility. Strategy shifts quarterly. Teams scale …

The headline sounds like a pun: “The wheels are falling off Tesla’s Cybertruck.” But it isn’t a joke. Tesla is recalling 173 Cybertrucks because the wheels can literally fall off while the vehicle is in motion. Yes, friends, you could be driving to Costco, take a right, and off goes one wheel from your six-figure polygonal truck. Goodbye! Your car is now a prop from a Buster Keaton movie. The recall covers Cybertrucks fitted with 18-inch steel wheels, built between March 21, 2024, and November 25, 2025. The problem is as straightforward as it is alarming and surreal. Rough roads and hard cornering can crack the stud holes in the brake rotor, causing the wheel stud…

Power was restored Sunday to the bulk of the 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco impacted by a massive outage a day earlier that caused major disruptions in the city. About 17,000 customers remained without power as of noon Sunday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said. PG&E said earlier its crews were working to restore electricity in several neighborhoods and small areas of downtown San Francisco following Saturday’s outage. PG&E in a statement said it expects to restore power to remaining customers no later than 2 p.m. Monday. “The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive, and the repairs and safe restoration will be complex…

In many ways, renowned illusionist Rob Lake’s entire life has been building up to his Broadway debut in Rob Lake Magic with Special Guests The Muppets, which begins previews tonight at the Broadhurst Theatre. As a child growing up in Oklahoma, his parents exposed him to theater by taking him to touring shows. The education didn’t stop there. “When they took me to New York, my first Broadway shows were The Secret Garden, The Will Rogers Follies, and Beauty and the Beast, ” Lake tells Fast Company. “I was just so fortunate to be exposed to the arts quite often as a kid.” This early education included the Muppets and their films. “I wore those tapes out so many …

There’s no clearer sign of anime’s cultural ascendance than the box office haul of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle. The film, which hit U.S. theaters two weeks ago, has pulled in more than $555 million globally, including more than $104 million in North America, making it a bonafide hit for Sony Pictures, which distributed it outside of Japan through its anime streaming arm, Crunchyroll. The movie’s success reflects audiences’ growing interest in anime. A survey from market research firm Dentsu found that, 31% of people worldwide said they consumed anime at least weekly, with a full 50% of Gen Z reporting they watch it. That’s translated into a boom i…

As the rise of artificial intelligence continues, companies operating in this space or relying on the technology are finding that they have two inextricable needs: data centers that can run and process the AI, and access to ample energy to power those vast data centers. One new company, Fermi America, aims to offer solutions for both these needs. And this week, Fermi announced its plans for an upcoming initial public offering and dual stock listings. Here’s what you need to know about Fermi America and its planned IPO. What is Fermi America? Fermi America is a very young company. It was only founded this year, just nine months ago in January 2025. The company i…

In the world of convenience stores, 7-Eleven is undoubtedly the cool kid. Phoebe Bridgers named-dropped the c-store in a song, Lana del Rey has posed in front of its parking lot, and, in Asia, the stores have become a must-visit spot. But is the brand cool enough to wear? People seem to think so. “Nothing could have prepared me for how hard the 7-eleven merch website goes,” Axios congress reporter Andrew Solender said on X this week, sparking a discussion about the brand’s merchandise website. Some of the offerings are straightforward—a white t-shirt with 7-Eleven’s logo—while others look less like corporate swag and more look more like they belong to …

Starting today, McDonald’s U.S. customers will finally have access to the newest McValue platform, an updated menu that the burger chain has touted as offering more flexibility and better deals. Don’t be surprised if your next trip to the drive-thru isn’t meaningfully cheaper as a result. Announced earlier this month, the new menu offers an array of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items for under $3. While that’s an attractive price point to be sure, it’s not quite as attractive to some customers as what was on offer with the original McValue menu when it was introduced last year. That menu, you might recall, allowed customers to add various items for just $1 i…

China has become the first nation to outlaw the Tesla-style concealed door handle. Demanded by Elon Musk against the safety concerns of his own engineers, the handle and its electronic opening mechanism have been implicated in multiple fatal incidents where trapped passengers couldn’t open their doors from the inside, and emergency rescuers could not access from the outside. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued new safety rules, mandating all cars sold in the country must feature a mechanical release accessible from both the inside and outside. The new law—which takes effect on January 1, 2027—kills the flush, electronic handles that have in…

Back on February 6th, 2017, a teenaged Sabrina Carpenter tweeted, “Is there a way to look attractive while eating Pringles asking for a friend.” Is there a way to look attractive while eating Pringles asking for a friend — Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinaAnnLynn) February 6, 2017 Now, nine years later, the pop star is doing exactly that—in the brand’s Super Bowl ad campaign. Created by agency BBDO New York, the teaser shows Carpenter treating her Pringles like a flower bouquet, plucking chips while saying, “He loves me, he loves me not . . .” For Pringles, the spot represents the perfect formula for celebrity partnership. “Our partner talent has to be a ge…