Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

No language on earth has ever produced the expression “as enjoyable as filing your taxes.” This annual chore is the pits. It’s slow, frustrating work that requires organization, math skills, and the ability to decipher meaning from the U.S. tax code. People will jump on pretty much any solution that makes filing quicker, easier, and less painful–including giving AI a crack at it. Recent survey research from Qlik found that nearly 11% of taxpayers have used or plan to use a consumer AI system (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or Gemini) to help them prepare their 2025 tax returns. But how trustworthy are these AI systems when it comes to something as sensitive as your…

It sure is nice to have the web look the way you want—without all the usual awkward font choices and other assorted distractions—isn’t it? Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored a slew of interesting tools for taking total control of whatever you’re reading online: First, right here in these Cool Tools headquarters last week, my compadre and fellow Fast Company contributor Jared Newman showed you a series of simple sites for ​seeing minimalist, plain-text versions of sports, news, and weather​ online. Then, in my Android Intelligence newsletter soon after, I surfaced an awesome, out-of-sight feature in that arena for​ cleaning up and customizing the look of a…

When the art collective Meow Wolf opened the doors of its very first immersive exhibition, House of Eternal Return, on March 18, 2016, it had roughly 100 employees, less than $1,000 in its corporate bank account, and a dream. Ten years later, the company employs more than 1,000 people, operates five permanent exhibitions (with two more on the way), and has welcomed more than 13 million visitors. Meow Wolf’s early history reads like a tale of cosmic fortune: In 2008, a group of New Mexico-based artists got sick of the local art establishment; founded their own collective to host parties, rock shows, and art installations; and eventually parlayed that experience into a…

The promise of AI was always that it would handle certain kinds of work so we could focus on others. It was going to free our time, reduce friction, and let us concentrate on what requires human judgment and creativity. That promise assumed we would divide the labor wisely. That we would hand off the operational drag—the scheduling, formatting, and summarizing that eats the day before we’ve had a chance to think. We would keep the cognitive friction—the hard work of wrestling with ambiguity, forming a point of view, and figuring out the right approach. The work where your value is actually made. Instead we handed over the thinking first. Because cognitive friction…

For 60 years, people have read Warren Buffett’s annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters to gain insights into his investment philosophies. Every year, thousands convened at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting to gain insights from Buffett and his partner, the late Charlie Munger. Buffett has also done countless interviews over the years. Winnowing all that advice down to four items isn’t an easy task, but this is my attempt. Here’s Buffett on leadership, focus, the best investment you can make, and the true meaning of success. Buffett on leadership What model does Buffett use for managing people? A baseball batboy. As Buffett wrote in his 2002 sha…

Fast Company is extending its application deadline for Best Workplaces for Innovators 2026 to Friday, April 3 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. This marks the eighth year Fast Company will be recognizing companies and organizations from around the world that most effectively empower employees at all levels to improve processes, create new products, or invent whole new ways of doing business. In addition to ranking the world’s Best Workplaces for Innovators, we will also recognize companies in 19 different categories. What differentiates Best Workplaces for Innovators from existing best-places-to-work lists is that it goes beyond benefits, competitive compensation, a…

As anticipated by recent headlines, Oracle started laying off an undisclosed number of employees early this morning. A report from CNBC put the figure in the thousands, while a post on Blind—the anonymous workplace chat app—suggests that as many as 11,000 employees might have been impacted. According to reports across social media and on Blind, employees were notified about the layoffs through a mass email that was issued at 6 a.m. ET today. (Oracle declined to comment on the layoffs when reached for comment by Fast Company.) “We are sharing some difficult news regarding your position,” the email reportedly read. “After careful consideration of Oracle’s current b…

In 2019, Colorado adopted a law prohibiting conversion therapy for minors. It defined the controversial term as any practice or treatment attempting “to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” But a talk therapist from the state, Kasey Chiles, said the law inhibited her right to free speech in her practice—and as of a ruling on Tuesday, March 31, the Supreme Court voted overwhelmingly in her favor. The Supreme Court decided 8-1 to strike down Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors, setting a precedent that could undermine similar laws in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch justified …

Burritos should be celebrated, because they are ingenious inventions that wrap deliciousness in a handy tortilla for extra convenience. National Burrito Day (today, Thursday, April 2, 2026) was created to do just that. Here’s a little history about the origins of the yumminess before we dive into the freebies and deals to observe this glorious unofficial holiday. A brief history of burritos Burritos hail from Northern Mexico and were invented in the early 20th century. The region’s climate was ideal for wheat, so larger tortillas were made out of the crop. This bigger vessel set the scene for a new culinary delight. The first burritos contained meat, bean…

Your upper chest could be the key to your long-term health. A new study found a correlation between the health of a human’s thymus and the likelihood of cardiovascular disease or cancer. Published on Wednesday in the science journal Nature, researchers detailed the “crucial” effect of the thymus on long-term health and lifespan, reshaping prior assumptions about the organ. “These findings reposition the thymus as a central regulator of immune‑ mediated aging and disease susceptibility in adulthood,” the report states. Thymus health a key indicator Using AI tools, scientists analyzed more than 27,000 patient scans and medical records to evaluate thymus he…

Today, April 3, 2026, is Good Friday. It is an important day to Christians in the United States and around the world. But unlike in many other countries, Good Friday, in many U.S. states, isn’t an official holiday. When it comes to institutions and businesses, some observe the holiday, while others don’t. That can make it confusing for people to know exactly what is open and what is closed on Good Friday. Here’s what you need to know. Is Good Friday a national holiday? No, the federal government does not recognize Good Friday as a national holiday. This means that many federal institutions that are typically closed on public holidays remain open on Good Fr…

American healthcare faces a persistent paradox: We have extraordinary medical technology, yet patients often spend years navigating a system that treats symptoms before identifying the underlying cause of disease. This dynamic is especially pronounced for children with neurological conditions such as epilepsy, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. Many families endure years of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, specialist referrals, and inconclusive tests before receiving a definitive diagnosis. Clinicians often refer to this prolonged journey as the “diagnostic odyssey.” It is emotionally draining for families and deeply frustrating for physicians t…

One of the major changes unleashed by the pandemic—and the accompanying spread of remote work—was the large migration of employees from major urban areas. With many jobs no longer anchored to city-based offices, people were free to move to almost anywhere else they preferred to live—often at lower costs to boot. But now, new survey data indicates that exodus has reversed course, with grim labor markets and tightening return-to-office (RTO) mandates causing employment-focused workers to head back to metropolises again. That finding was one of many big changes noted in the State of Global Hiring study by payroll and human resources service company Deel. It said that whi…

These days, tech bros keep talking about “taste”— the ability to exercise human judgment and determine unique responses while guiding a machine. It’s a rare skillset, as some AI-made media automates content in the form of generic slop. And now tech professionals are the very people worried that technology will rob society of any real taste. The New Yorker’s Kyle Chayka, who broke down tech bros’ obsession with taste last month, coined the term “taste-washing” as the act of giving “anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.” In other words: giving AI properties human-like qualities and letting them run with it. When machines do all the creating, what are …

Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen has been publicly fighting with the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which took ownership of the Vermont ice cream maker last year. Cohen says Magnum has silenced the brand on social issues, including the war in Gaza, racial justice, and student protests. He spoke to Fast Company about why his business partner, Jerry Greenfield, stepped away from the business, how he’s fighting to protect his values, and how companies can be both socially active and profitable. View the full article

For decades, NBCUniversal’s “The More You Know” campaign has promoted the idea that knowledge is always a public good. And there’s certainly truth in that. But we’ve all watched as a movie character who starts to know too much soon meets their demise. As we navigate a reality inundated with an ever-growing amount of information, data, and artificial intelligence, I look to the recent unveiling of Banksy’s identity to see that we must reconsider the ‘more you know’ mentality. Reuters published an investigation revealing Banksy’s identity, arguing the piece was a matter of public interest. I was surprised by the backlash that followed. While plenty of people flocked to …

Universal Music Group saw its shares (AMS: UMG) rise more than 11% on Tuesday, following a proposal from billionaire Bill Ackman to buy the music giant through his investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management. Pershing Square currently owns a 10% stake in Amsterdam-listed UMG. Despite today’s bump, the stock is down about 15% year to date. UMG has an extensive music catalogue and is home to major recording artists such as Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan, and Bad Bunny. What would the deal mean for UMG? If approved, the deal would offer shareholders €9.4 billion ($10.9 billion) in cash and 0.77 shares in “new UMG” for each share of UMG they currently own. …

Some leadership lessons only come the hard way. Brené Brown reflects on the skills she wishes she had built sooner—and why they matter more than ever. View the full article

What does it take to lead a meditation company without finding a moment’s peace? David Ko spent years as CEO of Calm, one of the world’s most recognized mental health and wellness apps, helping millions manage stress. Now he’s stepping down. Ko unpacks why he made the call, what the relentless pressure of the C-suite really does to a person, and how to draw the line between the kind of stress that sharpens you and the kind that quietly breaks you down. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conv…

Deere & Co. has agreed to pay $99 million as part of a settlement that would resolve a class action lawsuit accusing the farm equipment giant of monopolizing repair services. The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer, which does business under the John Deere brand, has faced a handful of “right to repair” complaints over the years. The deal announced Monday — which still needs final approval from the court — would settle a 2022 lawsuit that accused the company of withholding repair software and conspiring with authorized dealers to force farmers to use their services for repairs, when they could otherwise fix tractors and other equipment themselves or use independen…

Anthropic said Tuesday that it is sharing a preview version of its upcoming AI model in a new cybersecurity initiative with a coalition of tech companies to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software infrastructure. The Project Glasswing initiative includes tech stalwarts like Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft, and Palo Alto Networks. Anthropic said the partners will use the model for defensive security work and distribute their findings within the industry at large. The company is also extending access to roughly 40 additional organizations that build or maintain critical software infrastructure. Fears have been …

In October 2025, the beloved Minnesota Pizza chain Gina Maria’s Pizza abruptly closed its doors. The closure of all four of the nearly 50-year-old chain’s locations was a shock to its loyal fans—and since then, many have been left wondering exactly why the chain shuttered its doors. Now we know. What was Gina Maria’s Pizza? While not widely known outside of Minnesota, Gina Maria’s Pizza was a locally cherished pizza joint in the Minneapolis area. According to an Internet Archive capture of its now-defunct website, Gina Maria’s Pizza was founded in 1975, when it opened its first location in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The chain served a small collection of…

It’s a tough time to own fast-food restaurants. Franchisees for popular chains such as Applebee’s, Subway, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen have filed for bankruptcy recently, and another has joined them. Multiple entities associated with Friendly Franchisees Corporation (FFC), owner of 65 Carl’s Jr. locations across California, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Restaurant Business first reported. Carl’s Jr. was founded almost 85 years ago and is known for its charbroiled burgers. FFC has yet to state whether any Carl’s Jr. locations will close as a result of the bankruptcies. Its founder, Harshad Dharod, owns the five associated entities that filed…

One of our favorite meme stocks is up more than 9%, but this time it’s for legit business reasons. BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB) saw its shares sharply rise Thursday morning following the release of its 2026 fourth-quarter and fiscal year results. The stock has previously been volatile due to BlackBerry’s place in the meme stock craze a few years ago. The Canadian company, once a leader in the mobile phone industry, reported $156 million in revenue for quarter four, a 10% increase year-over-year (YOY). Its adjusted net income also rose by a whopping 92% YOY. On a year-long scale, BlackBerry saw its revenue reach $549.1 million, a 3% jump YOY. “We are no …

April is off to a bruising start for people working in Hollywood. Since the month began, two major studios and one of Hollywood’s most high-profile production companies have announced layoffs totaling more than 1,000 jobs combined. The job cuts come at a time of great volatility in the movie and television industry, which is facing disruption from AI while also experiencing a rapidly changing business landscape and consolidation. Here’s what you need to know. Bad Robot to cut jobs as it leaves L.A. for New York The April layoffs began with an unexpected announcement from one of Hollywood’s most successful and high-profile production companies. On April 2, Vari…