Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Starting next week on Tuesday, September 30, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will no longer issue paper checks for benefit payments, and instead move exclusively to electronic payments: either direct deposit or a pre-paid debit card. The change is part of a broader government-wide initiative to modernize its services and improve efficiency and security, to ensure some 70 million Americans receive their monthly benefits promptly. However, this could mean trouble for some older Americans who do not know how to set up direct deposit or will have trouble using a pre-paid debit card. In March, President The President issued Executive Order 14247, which man…

You might have noticed some of your coworkers are overly excited this week and counting down the minutes until midnight on October 3. No, these are not diehard cinephiles devoted to the 2004 film Mean Girls (which features a joke about the date). Instead, they’re Taylor Swift fans. The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s twelfth studio album, is set to be released late Friday night. (So if the Swifties in the office seem overwhelmed, grant them grace, because this is a big week.) Here’s everything you need to know about the album—in case you’re cornered by the coffee maker by someone with a friendship bracelet (the unofficial signifier of a Swift super fan). When and …

Heartwood Preserve doesn’t look like typical stormwater infrastructure. Instead of a primarily utilitarian design, this project in Omaha doubles as public art. Meyer Studio Land Architects created a series of 14 sculptural water retention basins across 500 acres of land that sit in a watershed at risk of flooding. The project is meant to be enjoyed by the public and even has features that educate about climate change. Heartwood Preserve is a winner of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. View the full article

Hello there, and welcome once again to Fast Company’s Plugged In. For something that continues to suck up so much of the world’s attention, social networking has not exactly been a font of wild innovation in recent years. Its big names are all up there in years and showing their age: Facebook is 21, Twitter is 19. Instagram is 15, Snapchat is 14. Newer entrants, such as BeReal, rarely live up to their early great expectations. Even Bluesky, where many of us have found a home after fleeing the Elon Muskified version of Twitter, isn’t growing at its old clip. So I was intrigued when two new social networking experiences debuted in rapid succession in late September:…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. When Brian Doubles became CEO of Synchrony in 2021, a global pandemic had upended the way companies thought about work. Remote options became ubiquitous, and many employees, when possible, were given the tools they needed to do their jobs from anywhere. Now, even as other financial servi…

Democrats believe health care is an issue that resonates with a majority of Americans as they demand an extension of subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the shuttered U.S. government. But it is also one of the most intractable issues in Congress — and a real compromise amid the government shutdown will not likely be easy, or quick. There are some Republicans in Congress who want to extend the higher subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of people who receive their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are set to receive notices that their premiums will increase at the beginning of the year. B…

A potentially worrisome trend is emerging among young adults. Instead of landing a job and moving to the big city after graduation, many are moving back into their childhood homes instead. About 1.5 million more adults under 35 live with their parents today than a decade ago. That’s a 6.3% jump, more than double the rate of growth for the young adult population overall. The issue is affordability. Over the past decade, urban rents have climbed about 4% per year, while wages for full-time workers have increased by only 0.6% annually. That means it’s harder than ever to live in a big city on the typical salary—especially if you’re a new graduate without much work experi…

OpenAI and Broadcom have formed a multibillion-dollar partnership to develop OpenAI-designed chips. Under the deal, OpenAI will design the chips to its own specifications and Broadcom will manage the development and fabrication of the chips, as well as help with their deployment. The companies plan to deploy enough chips to require 10 gigawatts of electrical power beginning in mid-2026, and running through 2029. Broadcom stock jumped almost 10% on the announcement Monday. The deal marks the second major move by OpenAI to reduce its dependence on Nvidia, which now dominates the AI chip market—the company announced a partnership with chipmaker AMD last week. …

Thirteen months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Metro Mattress Corp. is set to become the latest brick-and-mortar chain to wind down operations in 2025. The New York-based bedding retailer has disclosed in a court filing that it plans to shutter its remaining stores after some 21 attempts to find a buyer or strategic partner that would have allowed it to continue. Headquartered in Syracuse, Metro Mattress had 70 locations across New York and four New England states when it sought Chapter 11 protection in September 2024. At the time, it said it planned to close roughly two dozen of those stores and refocus its efforts specifically on its New York…