Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Yesterday, customers of Verizon Communications across the country picked up their phones only to discover that they had no service. Calls, texts, and the internet simply didn’t work. Verizon now says the underlying issue has been resolved. But just what caused it, and will Verizon compensate customers for the outage? Here’s what you need to know. What happened? On Wednesday, a little after noon ET, customers around the country began taking to social media to report that they had lost Verizon service on their phones. Calls and texts could not be made or received, and internet access was nonexistent. Many iPhone owners on Verizon’s network saw the “SOS” ico…

Last week, the baby nutrition company ByHeart recalled all of its infant formula over concerns that it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes infant botulism. Now the company is facing increasing legal drama and backlash from customers for potentially exposing babies to the dangerous illness. According to a November 14 update from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a total of 23 infants in 13 states who were exposed to the formula have developed suspected or confirmed infant botulism. All of the infants have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported to date. ByHeart had voluntarily recalled two batches of its…

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. …

In today’s dynamic labor market, industries from manufacturing to healthcare continue to grapple with persistent workforce shortages. To fill these gaps, organizations are looking beyond traditional talent pools. One of the most promising yet significantly underutilized groups is second-chance talent, or graduates of prison education programs. These individuals represent millions of highly motivated and skilled professionals seeking stability after incarceration. Too often, outdated hiring methods and social stigmas have blocked justice-impacted individuals from employment opportunities that could change their lives. However, by shifting perspectives and implementing …

Stocks moved slightly lower in midday Friday trading as investors returned from the Christmas holiday. Trading is expected to be light. The S&P 500 index was down 0.1% as of 12:15 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was down less than 0.1%. Institutional investors are largely closed out of their positions for the year. The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year, helped by the deregulatory policies of the The President administration as well as investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence. Gold and silver prices continued to climb, with silver rising more than 7% to $76.88 an ounce. Gold w…

Throughout 2025, we’ve watched companies treat employees with a stunning disregard: rolling layoffs (with thousands let go at a time), unchecked workloads, turning a blind eye to burnout—with 76% of U.S. workers reporting at least one health condition today—and a near-gleeful rush to replace people with AI. Over 200,000 American women quit their jobs this year, many citing inflexible policies and lack of support for balancing work and life. Relentless rounds of cuts have destabilized employee trust and left employees uncertain and questioning leadership at every level. Across industries, leaders have routinely prioritized short-term efficiency over human impacts, send…

In today’s hyper-competitive B2B landscape, marketing leaders face a paradox: The pace of change is relentless, yet the need for clarity and purpose has never been greater. With artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping every facet of business, the imperative is not just to keep up but to lead the charge. To navigate this complexity, we must lead with vision and innovate with intent—focusing our efforts, aligning teams, and making decisions that drive the business forward. Below is a no-nonsense framework for CMOs to fulfill our mandate of not just keeping up with the market but shaping what comes next. VISION IS THE STRATEGIC COMPASS Vision is more than a lo…

On the surface, Apple’s announcement on Tuesday of a subscription service called Apple Creator Studio does not demand a whole lot of explanation or analysis. The Mac/iPad/iPhone offering, which bundles the Final Cut Pro video editor, Logic Pro audio editor, Pixelmator Pro image editor, and other apps for making and manipulating media for $13 a month or $129 a year, is exactly the sort of thing you’d expect the company to get around to introducing. After all, its strategy of expanding the portion of its revenue that comes from services has already resulted in offerings such as Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple News+. It would have been weird if Apple hadn’t p…

The health care industry, like many others, has traditionally relied on tried-and-true conventional, one-way marketing tactics. However, that strategy is no longer enough to break through to consumers. More than 81% of consumers tune out generic ads and crave more engaged and personalized content, signaling that marketers need to adapt and stop ineffective communication that tries to pull consumers to them. Instead, we must go to our customers, meeting them precisely where their attention already lives. We know a great story has the power to transcend demographics, evoke emotion, and build lasting connections. Ultimately, brands are collections of human beings, an…

At the turn of the 20th century, the steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million to New York to build libraries across the city. Leading architects of the time designed the branches, 67 in all, to look and function like civic temples with elaborate Beaux-Arts detailing, welcoming entrances, dignified reading rooms, and open stacks where patrons could freely browse. They quickly became important, and beloved, neighborhood establishments and remain so today. After more than a century of use, and ad hoc upgrades and adaptations that are also dated, the buildings are due for upgrades. Last year, the New York Public Library (NYPL) completed a $17…

Discovering that a colleague with the same job title is earning more than you is never fun, though it is quite common. According to a global survey of 1,850 workers by résumé building platform Kickresume, 56% have discovered that someone with the same job at their company is earning more than them, and another 24% have their suspicions. “People are much less willing to discuss their salaries than we thought they would be—there’s still quite a stigma around it,” says Kickresume’s head of content Martin Poduska, who helped conduct the study. “The weirdest thing is that we didn’t identify a good reason for it.” Poduska explains that compensation is far from a pre…

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. I’m Mark Sullivan, a senior writer at Fast Company, covering emerging tech, AI, and tech policy. This week, I’m focusing on gathering some informed opinions from people trying out Google’s new Gemini 3 Pro AI model. I also look at another “circular” AI investment agreement. Sign up to receive this newsletter every week via email here. And if you have comments on this issue and/or ideas for future ones, drop me a line at sullivan@fastcompany.com, and follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @thesullivan. What smart people are saying about Google’s Gem…

A lot of people chase bigger paychecks and fancier titles, convinced that their next role will finally make them happy. I know I did. That’s why I spent years stuck in a job that, on paper, many would consider glamorous. But deep down inside, I knew it was toxic. I took on more and more responsibilities, kept a chaotic schedule, and bent over backwards to please my demanding boss. All because I thought that’s what it took to be successful. Then I would get home and push myself more, scrolling job boards, tweaking my résumé, and submitting applications. I was working around the clock, and rest wasn’t an option. All because I was convinced that a new role would chan…

Americans know AI runs on electricity — and they’re starting to realize they’re the ones paying for it. A recent nationwide survey of more than 1,400 U.S. households found that two-thirds of Americans believe AI is already driving up their power bills, and most said they can’t afford more than a $20 monthly increase. They’re right to be worried. As tech companies pour hundreds of billions into new data centers, the surge in electricity demand is rewriting the economics of the grid — and households are footing the bill for an “AI power tax” they never voted for. The frustrating truth is that this isn’t about running out of power. As prices keep rising and politicians …

The U.S. Federal Reserve agreed to cut interest rates at its December meeting only after a deeply nuanced debate about the risks facing the U.S. economy right now, according to minutes of the latest two-day session. Even some of those who supported the rate cut acknowledged “the decision was finely balanced or that they could have supported keeping the target range unchanged,” given the different risks facing the U.S. economy, according to the minutes released on Tuesday. In economic projections released after the December 9-10 meeting, six officials outright opposed a cut and two of that group dissented as voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee. …

Investors in the live entertainment giant Live Nation are feeling optimistic this morning after reports that the company has settled its civil antitrust lawsuit with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and 39 participating states. The settlement will cost Live Nation, but it means that the company has narrowly avoided a forced breakup with its popular subsidiary, Ticketmaster. The reports come after a week-long trial in which the DOJ laid out its argument that Live Nation and Ticketmaster rely on anticompetitive conduct to create a monopoly over the live events industry in the U.S., leading the DOJ to call for a separation of the brands. On March 9, sources close to…

Two data breaches, multiple class action lawsuits, and a removal from the Apple App Store later, the popular and controversial dating safety app Tea for Women is back and launching a new website version of its services today. Billed as a “Yelp for men,” Tea was created in 2023 but was relatively unknown until July 2025, when it quickly became a viral sensation and shot to the top of App Store downloads—at one point outranking ChatGPT on the Apple App Store. Similar to “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” Facebook groups, Tea offered women what they thought was a secure forum to obtain information and advice on men they had matched with on dating apps. Women using …

Shares of the budget airline Sun Country were flying today after the carrier announced an upcoming merger with Las Vegas-based competitor Allegiant. In a press release published on January 11, Allegiant shared its plan to acquire Minneapolis-based Sun Country in a $1.5 billion cash and stock transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Per the release, the merger will bring together a shared customer pool of nearly 22 million annual fliers across 175 cities and more than 650 routes. It will also give Allegiant access to Sun Country’s multi-year partnership delivering packages with Amazon Prime Air, which Allegiant CEO Greg Anderson told CNBC…

A new mandatory safety feature requires Roblox users in the U.S. to submit to facial age estimation via the app to access its chat feature. The online gaming platform announced it was implementing the system to prevent children younger than 16 from communicating with adults. About 42% of Roblox users are younger than 13. But a cursory scroll on eBay found that various listings of age-verified Roblox accounts are available for purchase, some for as little as $2.99. This allows the purchaser to sign in to the account without having to use any ID or facial scan, voiding the new safety feature Roblox has implemented. The description of one listing (since removed) rea…

There is a budget line in your business that no one is managing. According to research by Leadership IQ, confirmed across multiple subsequent studies, the average 18-month failure rate across industries is 46%—meaning nearly one in two hires either underperforms significantly or leaves within 18 months. The cost of each of those failures runs between 50% and 200% of that employee’s annual salary, accounting for recruiting costs, onboarding investment, lost productivity, team disruption, and replacement. Run the math. A company making 50 hires a year at average fully-loaded salaries of $95,000—not a large organization, just a growing one—is sitting on a financial expos…

Every day, New Yorkers receive a staggering 2.3 million packages at their doorstop. Nearly 90 percent of those goods snake through the city on trucks that cause traffic congestion and pollute the air on their way. To address the problem, global architecture firm KPF is asking an ambitious question: “What if New York was designed for the perfect delivery?” The answer, which is outlined in the firm’s latest book, Connective Urbanism – New York, features towering distribution hubs, drones, and a hyper-connected logistics network that encompasses the city’s rails and waterways. KPF presents its solution as a provocative speculation designed to start a dialogue about t…

Too late. Too expensive. Too bland. Too antiquated. Too much of the same. There are just too many toos when it comes to Tesla’s new “cheap” cars, which the company announced on Oct. 7. Its highly anticipated “affordable models” are just stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y variants that come in at a more expensive price point than the current 2025 models. Some marketing genius labeled them as “Standard,” but judging the cars against cheaper, better models from automakers around the world, Tesla’s newest offerings can’t even claim that benign adjective. The truth is, these cars are terrible news for the company. With its reputation in tatters thanks to Musk’s bra…

Below, co-authors Suzy Burke, Rhett Power, and Ryan Berman share five key insights from their new book, Headamentals: How Leaders Can Crack Negative Self-Talk. Suzy, president and co-founder of the leadership consultancy Accountability Inc., is an organizational psychologist and seasoned executive with an exceptional track record in a diverse array of businesses, from a Fortune 20 technology company to a highly successful beverage start-up. She is also a National Institute of Mental Health scholar and member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches Agency. Rhett is the CEO and co-founder of Accountability Inc. and was named the #1 Thought Leader on Entrepreneurship b…

There’s an idea in AI called “liquid content.” It typically refers to the idea of morphing the facts, ideas, and expressions from one medium to another. The most well-known example is a feature within Google’s NotebookLM: Once you’ve filled a folder with various kinds of data, it can whip up a podcast about that data, enlisting a couple of cheery AI-generated voices to give you an overview, analysis, or debate. Taken to its logical extreme, liquid content suggests a future for media companies where what you create is repurposed across any and all formats. Making a podcast? With the right tools and prompting, in mere minutes, it can be reimagined as a series of clips, …