Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Two things that made massive cultural splashes this year — Labubu and “KPop Demon Hunters” — will fill the sky and streets of New York when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicks off this year. Conan Gray and Lainey Wilson will bring the tunes. The Nov. 27 parade begins rain or shine on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and ends at Macy’s Herald Square flagship store on 34th Street, which serves as a stage and backdrop for performances. It will feature 34 balloons, four mini-balloons, 28 floats, 33 clown groups and 11 marching bands — all leading the way for Santa Claus. Here’s key things to know about the parade and how to watch it. What time does the Macy’s Than…

When actress Maddie Ziegler first read the script for the film Pretty Lethal, which premiered at SXSW over the weekend, she was immediately drawn to it because of its authenticity—even if, sure, the ballerinas are also seen scrappily fighting like a bunch of feral cats. “There’s been so many dance films that have not accurately depicted what it’s like to be a real-life ballerina,” Ziegler said during a panel discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. After first gaining fame as a young dancer on the reality show, Dance Moms, Ziegler had strayed from dance to instead pursue acting, and this project proved both emotional and cathartic for her. “It just completel…

As Madonna promotes her new album, she’s going where only one pop diva has gone before: Grindr. Ahead of the July launch of Confessions II, Grindr will feature an evolving takeover with exclusive content and limited-edition drops. The partnership debuted Thursday with Madonna’s profile nestled in Grindr’s grid of nearby users. Tapping the profile opens an ad with a voice memo from the singer, and a link to preorder a limited picture disc vinyl of Confessions II as a nonstop mix that blends each track into the next. “Hi Grindr, it’s mother,” the voice memo says. “I wanted to go where the hottest action was, so I got on the grid.” The partnership—which the compa…

The National Capital Planning Commission has voted to approve President Donald The President’s controversial White House ballroom plans, greenlighting the demolition of the historic East Wing to make way for a new neoclassical structure. But the ballroom is just one piece of a much bigger picture. Last year, the president signed an executive order mandating that new federal buildings return to a “traditional and classical” style, sparking a fierce debate among architects about who gets to decide what American democracy looks like. On this episode of FC Explains, staff writer Nate Berg breaks down the design agenda behind MAGA architecture, who is driving it, and what…

The new year has so far not been kind to the share price of Big Tech stocks, particularly the so-called Magnificent 7. These seven companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—are America’s tech crown jewels. Combined, they have their hands in the hottest areas of tech, including artificial intelligence, mobile computing, chipmaking, and transportation. Yet all of these tech companies have seen their share prices decline since the beginning of the year. Here are some possible reasons why. The Magnificent 7 is seeing red in 2026 As of this writing, there isn’t a single Magnificent 7 stock in the green for 2026. Their year-to-date return…

Virginia-based Gerber Products Company is voluntarily recalling limited batches of Gerber Arrowroot Biscuits, a cookie-like snack meant for children 10 months or older. On January 26, the baby food and snack producer issued the voluntary recall due to the potential presence of soft plastic and paper pieces that “should not be consumed,” the company said this week. The material comes from a supplier of arrowroot flour that initiated its own recall, Gerber said. The company said it was no longer working with the supplier, though it did not name the supplier in its recall notice on Monday. No illnesses or injuries have been reported. Gerber says it is issuing t…

A major Burger King franchisee with dozens of locations has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Consolidated Burger Holdings, based in Destin, Florida, filed the court documents this week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida. The franchisee now operates 57 Burger King restaurants in Florida and Georgia, after it reportedly closed 18 locations before its Chapter 11 filing. “Over the past several years, and particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Debtors’ business suffered significantly from loss of foot traffic, resulting in declining revenue without proportionate decreases in rental obligations, debt service, and other liab…

Several of the largest U.S. banks are reportedly pausing or reassessing how they send sensitive information to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) following a major cyberattack on the regulator. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon have halted electronic information-sharing with the OCC, Bloomberg reported. Bank of America is working to transmit data through what it considers more secure electronic channels, according to the report. The moves come after hackers reportedly accessed more than 100 accounts within the OCC’s email system over the course of a year—a breach the OCC and U.S. Treasury have labeled a “major incident.” The attackers are…

Advancements in artificial intelligence are shaping nearly every facet of society, including education. Over the past few years, especially with the availability of large language models like ChatGPT, there’s been an explosion of AI-powered edtech. Some of these tools are truly helping students, while many are not. For educational leaders seeking to leverage the best of AI while mitigating its harms, it’s a lot to navigate. That’s why the organization I lead, the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund, collaborated with the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) and Education First to write Proof Before Hype: Using R&D for Coherent AI in K-12 Education. …

I’m always amazed at how easily we give our time to others without thinking, and then are mad later when it was wasted. What exactly did we think was going to happen? That everyone was going to be prepared, productive, and appreciative? Time has become the ultimate luxury—we never have enough of it, and are jealous of those that have it. For too many of us, endless meetings, back-to-back emails, and constant interruptions leave little room for focused, meaningful work. Additionally, in our effort to be nice or generous, we offer our time even when we’re running on empty. But what if I told you that much of this time theft could be prevented with a little more min…

More children are cashing in their Make-A-Wish requests to meet their favorite content creators, with creator wishes more than doubling in the past decade. Make-A-Wish Foundation has been granting life-changing wishes for children with a critical illness since 1980. Now, alongside A-Listers and sports stars, YouTubers and TikTokers are also flooding requests, Axios reported. Requests to meet content creators make up 32% of the wishes granted within the entertainment industry, per Axios, the second largest source of requests behind the music industry. Several of the creators say they’ve been granting wishes for years and more than 50 creators and influencers …

Starting a new job can be exhilarating and stressful at the same time. You are excited to meet new people, take on new responsibilities, and grow. You also want to demonstrate to your new employer that they made the right choice by hiring you. So, how do you put your best foot forward? Perhaps the most important thing to remember about that impression is that how you do things is more important than what you accomplish in those first few weeks. You are helping your new colleagues to get to know what it is like to work with you. This approach is valuable whether you’re entering the organization near the bottom or the top of the org chart. Listen first When …

When the Los Angeles wildfires swept through the city earlier this year, experts flocked to the internet to dissect the anatomy of a fire-resistant building. Many of them ended up describing bunker-like architecture with boxy buildings, sparse landscape, and lots of concrete. A new building in Malibu offers a more nuanced approach. Malibu High School, which opened in August, is located in an area that Cal Fire (the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) recently designated as a very high fire hazard severity zone. This means that the school, which has replaced a nondescript building from the 1950s, had to comply with stringent fire safety regulations. …

Tax Day isn’t usually cause for celebration. The annual due date for filing taxes usually comes with headache-inducing financial stress and mountains of difficult-to-decipher paperwork. But this year, Tax Day apparently came with an unexpected upside for some New Yorkers, thanks to an announcement from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich,” Mamdani said in a video posted to social media on April 15. “Today, we’re taxing the rich.” Mamdani went on to say he had secured a new pied-á-terre tax, or second home tax, a first for the state of New York. The tax would incur an annual fee on residential properties wor…

As summer approaches, cities across the United States, Mexico, and Canada are readying to host the highly awaited 2026 FIFA World Cup kickoff. But with exorbitant prices and disruptions ahead, local officials are battling to tame discontent as fans try to keep their eye on the ball. On Monday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that New York City, which is serving as a cohost to a series of World Cup soccer matches with New Jersey, will host free fan zones across the five boroughs. The free programming aims to offset the high ticket prices that may gatekeep fans from attending the event. For instance, some tickets to the final m…

After years of pressure from the pandemic, the challenges of managing remote, hybrid, and RTO workplaces, and inconsistent organizational support, managers are on the brink of a crash. The coming manager collapse is kicking off a vicious cycle for organizations. As managers struggle, Gen Z sees the toll of the job and backs away, leaving fewer employees to rise into management roles. This puts more pressure on remaining managers. At the same time, several years of manager layoffs have left fewer people taking on these responsibilities. In 2023 alone, middle managers made up over a third of all layoffs. The remaining managers are under more pressure, with growing s…

Managers are rushing to deploy AI for efficiency gains. Employees have to figure out how to make it work—and that’s sometimes harder than it seems. Half of organizations piloted general-purpose AI tools last year, according to MIT research. But adoption and readiness aren’t the same thing. According to Rumman Chowdhury, former U.S. Science Envoy for AI and CEO and cofounder of Humane Intelligence, the burden is likely to fall on workers. “There’s a lot of FOMO among C-suites and high-level execs on pressure to build AI, and then they’re also incentivized to pretend like it works really well,” she says. “If and when it doesn’t, the responsibility is on the emp…

Manchester United unveiled plans on Tuesday to build the “world’s greatest” soccer stadium. A proposed 100,000-seater arena would replace its iconic Old Trafford home and surpass Wembley as the biggest in the United Kingdom. “Manchester United is the world’s most favourite football club and, in my view, is the biggest and deserves a stadium fitting of its stature,” part owner Jim Ratcliffe said. Ratcliffe, who is one of Britain’s richest people, said the new venue could be a tourist attraction in the manner of the Eiffel Tower. “We have 1 billion people around the world who follow Manchester United. They will all want to visit this stadium,” he said. D…

Twice a year, New Yorkers and visitors are treated to a phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun aligns with the Manhattan street grid and sinks below the horizon framed in a canyon of skyscrapers. The event is a favorite of photographers and often brings people out onto sidewalks on spring and summer evenings to watch this unique sunset. The first Manhattanhenge of the year takes place Wednesday at 8:13 p.m., with a slight variation happening again Thursday at 8:12 p.m. It will occur again on July 11 and 12. Some background on the phenomenon: Where does the name Manhattanhenge come from? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson coined the ter…

With help from AI, I finally tackled some computer chores that I’ve been putting off for months. My Downloads folder is cleaner than it’s been in ages. The photos that OneDrive blandly sorted by month are now arranged into folders by event. The obscure, unpurchasable jazz album I ripped from YouTube ages ago is now properly sliced into separate tracks, tagged with metadata, and sitting inside my media server at last. Instead of spending hours on those tedious tasks myself, I delegated them to Manus, an AI assistant whose desktop app is free to download for Mac and Windows. Manus launched in March of last year with an emphasis on being able to accomplish tasks auto…

Psychological safety is a crucial key to high performance, a positive culture, and team success—and for good reason. Google’s Project Aristotle found that it’s the number one factor in high-performing teams. When people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and challenge ideas, teams learn faster and perform better. But as the concept has gained traction, something else has happened. Many misunderstand what it actually means, and that misunderstanding is quietly killing accountability. At its core, psychological safety is about creating an environment where people can speak up without fear of humiliation or punishment. What it’s not about is avoid…