Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Nothing is certain, least of all employment. It might be more traditional and financially responsible (initially) to be hired on as a full-time employee. But don’t be fooled into believing that it’s more secure. Most U.S. employment is “at-will,” and given the waves of return-to-office mandates and layoffs over the last year-and-a-half, the longstanding perception that employees are safer if they’re directly employed isn’t really justified. It may be easier, but it certainly isn’t more stable. And so it’s no secret that there are talented individuals seeking to break away from that merry-go-round. (I was one of them, a decade-plus ago.) That’s why we’ve seen a huge uptic…

In Q3 of 2025, Bot Auto achieved its first “driver-out” run on public roads: a trip in which the truck drove itself with no human behind the wheel, and in our case, no humans in the cab at all. This is a milestone reached by only a tiny handful of AV trucking programs. From the founding of the company to that milestone, we spent just $212,552 on one category of work that is usually very expensive in AI: paying people to manually label training data—for example, drawing boxes around cars and pedestrians—so a neural network can learn from them. To many people that number does not sound like a breakthrough. It sounds like something is missing: a cost not counted, a line …

A small Finnish startup says it has done what the world’s biggest automakers are still struggling to do: put a solid-state battery into a production vehicle, starting with a motorcycle that can charge to more than 100 miles of range in as little as five minutes. “For the last 15 years, the entire battery industry in automotive has been talking about solid-state batteries—that they’re the future,” says Marko Lehtimäki, CEO of Donut Lab, the startup that makes the new battery. “But up until today, despite all the talk, there’s never been a single production vehicle that uses solid-state batteries. They’ve only been used at lab level.” Verge Motorcycles, an elect…

Every year, open enrollment forces Americans to confront a familiar dilemma: Pay more for coverage that delivers less, or gamble on going without it. This year, that choice has become even starker. Employers are shifting more costs to workers, marketplace premiums are poised to rise, fewer prescription drugs are covered by insurance, and 3.8 million people could lose insurance annually if Affordable Care Act subsidies aren’t extended. Together, these developments represent a structural break in the U.S. healthcare system. It’s a perfect storm that will price many Americans out of health insurance altogether—many involuntarily, but some voluntarily. Fed up with s…

In an era where nearly everything we do carries a digital footprint, experts warn that our freedoms are increasingly under attack. But the average internet user can take steps to fight back against threats that range from mass surveillance to the decline of net neutrality to changes to the very architecture of the internet. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling on people to become involved in the nonprofit’s wide-ranging work at the intersection of technology and civil liberties. Last month, for example, it filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking transparency about DOGE’s access to Americans’ personal information and has a petition for…

An unsubstantiated online theory has recently taken hold, claiming that family vloggers are fleeing Los Angeles to escape newly introduced California laws designed to protect children featured in online content. In recent years, several states have introduced new legislation aimed at protecting child influencers from exploitation. In September 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom, with support from former child star Demi Lovato, signed two key bills designed to “ensure children and teenagers who perform in online content are protected from financial abuse.” One of the most important bits of the new legislation “establishes financial and legal protections for min…

The public disclosure of more than 20,000 pages of newly released documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been the subject of much online discourse this week. While the emails themselves are full of damning revelations, particularly regarding Epstein’s relationship with President Donald The President, the internet’s attention has been caught on another detail. “BREAKING: Newly released emails reveal Jeffrey Epstein struggled to compose sentences in English,” journalist Tom Elliott posted on X. “Why can none of these very rich and powerful men type or spell,” journalist Jill Filipovic asked. In case you haven’t seen it, one such email read…

On November 3, Vogue announced that it’s folding the sister publication Teen Vogue into Vogue.com. Now, the internet is mourning the loss of a rare publication that “took young people seriously.” The news came in the form of an article posted to Vogue’s business vertical. Per the post, the transition is “part of a broader push to expand the Vogue ecosystem.” The article goes on to explain that Teen Vogue “will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission,” and that the publication will “focus its content on career development, cultural leadership and other issues that matter most to young people.” Further, it notes that Teen Vogue e…

In early February, the 22-year-old design brand Areaware announced it will close on May 1 citing tariffs and “mounting pressures on the home goods industry” in a letter posted to its Instagram account. “Every product we’ve made has been an act of optimism—a belief that good design can make our world a little better,” the letter said. “Lately though, our world has been making that difficult for us to do.” It’s been a challenging few months for good design brands. In December, Food52, the parent company of Schoolhouse and Dansk, declared bankruptcy; earlier in February, it was stripped for parts and sold at auction. While Areaware and Food52 don’t share the exact same bus…

You might have a go-to hot sauce already. But for the past year or so, Sichuan condiments brand Fly by Jing has been repositioning to capture mainstream heat seekers, and its subtle packaging update, rolling out now, is the DTC darling’s latest move to optimize for its new distribution channel of choice: mass retail. To call the visual changes a “rebrand” would be a stretch, but the subtle updates point to how the company is pivoting its messaging for analog sales. It’s packaging uses pared-down graphics and copy, with more negative space and a strict focus on must-have details that allow first-time buyers to quickly make a purchase decision just by looking at the produc…

Since December, Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has become an internet phenomenon. Both scorned and idolized, his notoriety has given rise to a number of online communities. Some have begun embracing violent rhetoric. A moderator from the long-standing subreddit r/popculture, where discussions about Mangione had been ongoing, was recently suspended for approving a large number of comments (by Reddit standards, that means at least 20) that contained direct calls for violence. “This sub has been placed in restricted mode, and the main mod was suspended for approving comments that mentioned ‘Luigi,” a post on r/popculture c…

As a home business owner, understanding the ethical implications of AI in content creation is crucial for maintaining credibility and trust with your audience. How do you navigate the moral landscape of using AI tools in your blogging or video production? AI's Role: AI can assist in generating content ideas, optimizing SEO, and analyzing audience engagement, but it raises questions about originality and authenticity.Ethical Considerations: Utilizing AI responsibly means ensuring that the content produced aligns with your brand values and does not mislead your audience.Transparency: Being open about the use of AI in your content can enhance trust with your audience, showi…

I am an introverted person who feels shy at events. Early in my career, I found conferences to be so overwhelming that I’d sometimes just hide in the bathroom, go into an anxious spiral of fear and guilt, and then try to convince myself to get out and talk to at least one person. Watching how other people seemed to enjoy these events and easily talk to everyone made me think something was wrong with me. The truth is that 36% of young people have anxiety. But knowing that didn’t make networking any easier. However, networking is an important skill, and connections help drive your career and bring new opportunities. Research shows that people who network often tend to h…

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Sterile, isolating, and stressful: Today’s hospitals can kindle deep discomfort. Because they must be designed adequately for everyone, they’re designed perfectly for no one. So, what would our healthcare experience look like if physical hospitals were to disappear altogether? Artificial intelligence that is generative, predictive, and integrated, combined with the power of edge comp…

Apple has introduced its first new product of 2025: the iPhone 16E. The new iPhone replaces the iPhone SE from Apple’s lineup—the company’s entry-level, budget iPhone. But the iPhone 16E is more than just a minor spec update to the existing third-generation iPhone SE, which debuted nearly three years ago. As its name suggests, Apple’s new entry-level device has more in common with its flagship iPhone 16 series, introduced last year, than the now-discontinued iPhone SE of old. Here are five major changes Apple has made and who, exactly, the new iPhone 16E is for. [Photo: Apple] A new design with a 6.1-inch display The most noticeable thing about the iPhone 1…

When Apple first introduced MagSafe for the iPhone in 2020, I did not fully appreciate it. iPhones had supported wireless charging for a few years at that point—and Android phones started doing so in 2012—and while MagSafe offered faster and less finicky charging, it didn’t really change how you use your phone. Over time, though, Apple’s magnetic charging and docking system has blossomed into an important piece of the Apple accessory ecosystem. All of which makes the lack of MagSafe on the new iPhone 16e a letdown. It’s not the only compromise Apple made in pursuit of a $600 price tag: It also has just one rear camera lens, only two color options, and a front came…

The ongoing war in the Middle East continues to embroil new participants—from residential properties in Dubai to protestors in Iran getting caught in the crossfire of drones and missiles. And at the same time, global trade is slowing to a crawl, thanks to the effective shutdown of the Hormuz Strait, through which 11% of all global trade passes. Yet another sector finding itself in the firing line—literally—is data centers. A number of them in the region have been hit by enemy strikes during the two-week war, causing damage and outages. Data centers are an important part of modern economies, enabling the delivery of digital services that keep countries going. T…

Farmers around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran’s near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing. The fertilizer shortage is putting the livelihood of farmers in developing countries — already troubled by rising temperatures and erratic weather systems — further at risk, and could lead to people everywhere paying more for food. The poorest farmers in the Northern Hemisphere rely on fertilizer imports from the Gulf, and the shortage comes just as planting season begins, said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program. “In the …

Mia Francis, a 22-year-old barista from Boston, filed her taxes on her own this year for the first time, using a free government tax filing program that made it easy because it did most of the work for her. Francis said it took 45 minutes to finish her taxes with the IRS Direct File program, an electronic tax return filing system that the IRS made permanent last year and that has rolled out to 25 states. Francis is expecting a $530 refund. And because she saved cash by not using a commercial tax preparation company to file her taxes, “that money will go a long way,” she said. She plans to use it for a trip to Amsterdam this year. Despite its popularity with Francis and…