Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries. It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. But the medication’s modest effectiveness and lengthy development process underscore the challenges of finding new ways to manage pain. Studies in more tha…

One of the largest non-profit blood centers in the country, New York Blood Center (NYBC), said it was hit with a ransomware attack over the weekend and is now experiencing disruptions in its services, including longer than normal processing times for blood donations, plus the cancelling and rescheduling of some blood donations. NYBC provides blood to over 200 hospitals in the northeast, including New York and New Jersey, and transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals across the nation. “At this time, we do not have a specific timetable for system restoration,” NYBC said in a statement on its website. “We are working diligently with third-party expe…

At a time when book bans are raging and the federal government is pushing back against DEI initiatives, there’s one place where diversity is thriving: children’s literature. Picture books—which cater to those under the age of 10—are often children’s first introduction to poetry and art. And this year, there are many newly-published picture books that celebrate aspects of Black life in nuanced ways, portraying history, culture, and joy. Here are five of our favorites. ‘City Summer, Country Summer’ [Art: Courtesy of Kokila/Penguin Random House] By Kiese Laymon, illustrated by Alexis Franklin. (Kokila/Penguin Young Readers, ages 5-9.) Author Kiese Laymon is…

In 1957, Hollywood released The Deadly Mantis, a B-grade monster movie starring a praying mantis of nightmare proportions. Its premise: Melting Arctic ice has released a very hungry, million-year-old megabug, and scientists and the U.S. military will have to stop it. The rampaging insect menaces America’s Arctic military outposts, part of a critical line of national defense, before heading south and meeting its end in New York City. Yes, it’s over-the-top fiction, but the movie holds some truth about the U.S. military’s concerns then and now about the Arctic’s stability and its role in national security. A poster advertises The Deadly Mantis, a movie released …

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Raycast is one of my favorite free apps. It’s a hidden gem that helps you do almost anything on your computer—add to your calendar, list tasks, search files, do math, or control apps—without touching your mouse. It’s free for Mac and coming soon to iOS and Windows. I use Raycast dozens of times daily for tasks that might take seconds individually, but cumulatively interrupt my flow. It saves me half an hour a week I can reallocate to deep work or family time. Read on for seven of my favorite ways to use Raycast and…

Recently, an ear infection and subsequent case of hives kept me in bed for a week. The first few days, I was tired and told myself to rest. But the rest of the week? Well, I enjoyed staying in bed, drinking coffee, and lingering over Wordle, Spelling Bee, and emails. So, the following week, I stayed in bed a little longer than usual, too. Turns out, I was hurkle-durkling. Hurkle-durkle is a Scottish term that originated in the 1800s. It means “to lounge in bed when you should be up and about.” While it was meant to be judgmental, it became a TikTok self-care trend with mindful mornings that prioritize mental health over productivity. In the U.S., the practice goe…

The Super Bowl is a lot of things. NFL title game. Pop concert. Cultural institution. It’s also The Only Day People Care About Ads. That last one is worth a lot of money to the brands who decide to advertise during the big game. Back in 2000, E-Trade used its Super Bowl ad to joke about how much money it spent. A chimp hits play on a tape deck, climbs up on a lawn chair, and proceeds to clap and dance for 30 seconds. The tagline? “Well, we just wasted $2,000,000.” But how much does a Super Bowl commercial really cost? We’ve all probably seen headlines about the outrageous costs of a single 30-second spot, which, this year, is nearing about $8 million. And if we scro…

Smartphone cameras are still getting bigger and better by the year, particularly if you look at high-end phones coming out of China with huge sensors and protruding bumps to match. These phones can deliver awesome results, and I’m happy to use them in several situations where I would previously have had to rely on a dedicated camera. Just this week I used the Xiaomi 15 Ultra to shoot a Formula One event in Tokyo. But for all the advances that have been made, the laws of physics remain undefeated, and you’re still going to get better results from a camera setup that’s able to make use of larger lenses and sensors. Phones do need to be able to fit into our pockets, aft…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Imagine a world where marketing managers oversee AI copywriters, sales leaders direct AI-powered CRM systems, and engineers supervise code-generating agents. This is already starting to happen. By 2030, AI is projected to displace 92 million jobs while creating 170 million new ones, according to the World Economic Forum. Rather than replacing humans, AI is redefining their roles. In the near…

Nearly 33% of women say they feel anxious about their careers in 2025, and another 17% feel overwhelmed. Close to 60% of women say current events are increasing stress levels and disrupting focus at work. These findings come from recent data from careers platform InHerSight. They overlay already concerning data about surging anxiety across the U.S. In 2024, 43% of adults reported feeling more anxious than they did the previous year, compared to 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022, according to a poll by the American Psychiatric Association. Anxiety about career progression and stress from current events are distinct challenges. However, they share a common thread. Both af…

People keep telling me that big agencies are the future—that you need massive scale, deep pockets, and cutting-edge tech to survive. But after 25 years in this business, I’ve seen firsthand that raw creativity and genuine curiosity still drive the best work. Sure, some folks think enterprise platforms and huge teams are the answer. I believe the future belongs to nimble agencies that can pivot quickly and bring fresh ideas to the table. The old “bigger is better” mindset is shifting. These days, brands want partners who truly get them and bring something distinctive to their work, and that’s where independent agencies shine. Why brands go independent At MOCE…

Most chatbots want to appear human. But their efforts to sound just like us only widen their uncanny valley feeling. Many are Elon Musk-level awkward. And most are annoyingly verbose. There’s only one AI persona that offers a completely different user experience: Tolan. This AI-powered being—which you can teleport into your iPhone—doesn’t pretend to be like us. Quite the opposite. Tolan embraces being very much unlike us. But in doing so, it feels more human and relatable than any other AIs I’ve come across. Tolan is an alien. The whimsical, colorful creature is made of friendly curved shapes that are designed to reflect, converse, and grow with its user. These AI-dri…

LG Electronics USA is recalling half a million electric ranges that have been involved in at least 28 fires, resulting in numerous injuries and a few pet deaths. But instead of issuing a refund or replacement, the home appliance maker is sending customers warning label stickers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) posted an alert on Thursday that it received at least 86 reports of “unintentional activation of the front-mounted knobs” leading to “at least five fires,” which “caused extensive property damage totaling over $340,000” as well as burns and eight minor injuries, with three fires resulting in pet deaths. According to the announcement, customers …

Starbucks’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, made a bet last September that the company could draw customers back into its stores by reintroducing personal touches you might see at smaller, third-place sort of coffee shops, like handwritten names on to-go cups. Here we are about four months later, and Starbucks has beaten Wall Street expectations, announcing $9.4 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of last year during its earnings call Tuesday. Niccol attributed the chain’s performance to “getting Back to Starbucks and those things that have always set us apart.” (Though it’s worth noting that the company’s sales are still down year over year.) Starbucks developed a b…

Lore isn’t just for games like The Elder Scrolls or films like The Lord of the Rings—online, it has evolved into something entirely new. The Old English word made the shortlist for Oxford University Presss’ 2024 Word of the Year (though it ultimately lost to brain rot). Oxford defines lore as “a body of (supposed) facts, background information, and anecdotes relating to someone or something, regarded as knowledge or required for full understanding or informed discussion of the subject in question.” Historically, the term has been tied to teaching and knowledge-sharing, with roots stretching back nearly a thousand years. Today, however, lore has evolved into intern…

France just unveiled its charming new TGV Inoui trains, and they’re a jealousy-inducing reminder that America’s rail travel renaissance can’t come fast enough. The TGV Inoui is a high-speed rail system, running at around 200 miles per hour, that connects France’s major cities as well as providing connections into Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. This Tuesday, the manufacturing company Alstom and the TGV’s operator, SNCF Voyageurs, revealed the brand-new fifth generation TGV Inoui interior design at Paris’s Gare de Lyon. [Photo: Alstom] The new train, which is slated to hit the rails in 2026, includes a delightfully colorful aesthetic, an ultra-s…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. In a world increasingly shaped by the potential of artificial intelligence, the life sciences industry may be one of the largest beneficiaries of its transformative potential. Artificial intelligence (AI) has already revolutionized elements of the drug discovery and development process, redefined research methodologies, enhanced disease detection and diagnosis, and paved the way for personalized medic…

Gallup recently released new data on employee engagement, and the results are dismal. Just 3 out of every 10 employees are actively engaged—which is the lowest percentage in a decade. But despite decades of effort and investment in tackling disengagement, this persistent issue endures. If you conduct an Amazon search for books on employee engagement, you’ll get thousands of results. There are also dozens of apps and “platforms” that promise to “unleash human potential” and “help people transform,” not to mention countless, self-described “coaches” offering services related to “re-engaging” the workforce. We’ve seen the rise and fall of “perks culture,” added opp…

The return-to-office (RTO) push at companies such as Amazon and AT&T—which both required employees to be back in the office full-time this month—has been met with discontent and frustration from much of their workforces. Some Amazon employees have said they are looking for new jobs, if they haven’t left already, while people at both companies have reportedly struggled to even find an open desk. But other leaders are not letting the prospect of low morale or limited workspace derail their plans to return to the office full time in 2025. According to a memo obtained by Business Insider, the latest addition to the mix is Dell, which had already tested the waters with…

More than three million developers are using OpenAI’s APIs as shorthand code to infuse apps and websites with an engine of advanced AI. And today, the company’s most popular API, called Chat Completions, is getting a significant sequel called Responses. Eight months in development, it will vastly expand upon and simplify the experience of plugging into OpenAI. For developers, Responses will mean using less code to stack more complex questions to the AI. A hundred lines of code will turn into just three, as the company is courting a wider set of developers who don’t consider themselves LLM experts. For consumers, it will mean you’ll soon be interacting with AI that’s fast…

Moments after Daniris Espinal walked into her new apartment in Brooklyn, she prayed. In ensuing nights, she would awaken and touch the walls for reassurance—finding in them a relief that turned to tears over her morning coffee. Those walls were possible through a federal program that pays rent for some 60,000 families and individuals fleeing homelessness or domestic violence. Espinal was fleeing both. But the program, Emergency Housing Vouchers, is running out of money—and quickly. Funding is expected to be used up by the end of next year, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and obtained by The Associated Press. That would le…

It was a fun moment to be online. When the news broke on May 8 that Pope Francis’s successor would be the first-ever American to hold the sacred position—and a Chicagoan, no less—social media erupted with celebration and Windy City-specific memes. Within days, some of those memes had morphed into t-shirts for sale. As the conversation around Pope Leo XIV quickly spread to his environmentalist leanings and political opinions, though, the wellspring of unauthorized merchandise spread far beyond novelty shirts that read “Da Pope.” What has flourished in the days since is a broader pope economy that spans clothing, memorabilia, food, tourism, and more—both in the U.S. and in…

The category of unbuilt and fantastical design ideas known as “paper architecture” may have no better exemplar than the radical British architecture group Archigram. Founded in the early 1960s, its experimental architectural concepts envisioning everything from temporary cities to inflatable structures have never been built—but nonetheless have become staples of modern architecture canon. Archigram initially published its iconoclast ideas in the form of a self-published, self-titled magazine, which came out in 10 issues between 1961 to 1974. These days though, the magazines are rarely seen. Only a few complete sets exist in libraries. That is until now. [Pho…

It’s been a year since Intuitive Machines (IM) made history with the first private soft landing and first American spacecraft since the Apollo program to land on the moon, after a nail-biting descent that came perilously close to failing. But this time around, they’re veterans. As they ready their second mission, IM-2, with an updated lunar lander named Athena, the vibe at the startup’s Houston headquarters is decidedly more relaxed and confident. “We’ve made 85 improvements to the vehicle and the process used for building and flying it,” says Trent Martin, IM’s senior VP of space systems. “That includes 10 for landing and determining its location in space, which we stru…