Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Few brands can point to a specific date for their downfall. For Sonos—once the darling of home audio—that date is May 7, 2024, when it rolled out a disastrous app update that left many of its 15 million customers confused by hardware and software features that were suddenly unusable. When all was said and done, more than a decade of brand trust was flipped like an off switch. Now Sonos is taking its first major steps to earn back trust and audiophile stature with a new brand strategy and the launch of two new speakers: the Sonos Play and Era 100 SL. The Sonos Play is framed as a “callback” to the original Play:1 speaker that invented the smart wireless speaker ca…

Fast Company will be back in Austin, Texas this March 13–16 for its 13th annual Fast Company Grill at South by Southwest. Hosted at Cedar Door Patio Bar & Grill in downtown Austin, attendees can expect four days packed with engaging programming, networking opportunities, activations and raffles, delicious food and drinks, live musical performances, and exclusive parties. We have a compelling lineup of speakers joining us, including: Ben Cohen, Cofounder, Ben & Jerry’s John Stamos, Actor, Producer, Author, and Chief Innovation Officer, Zeam RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO, Rivian Lana Condor, Actor, “Pretty Lethal” Maddie Ziegler, Actor…

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week via email here. AI pioneer pulls in a cool billion to launch his “world model” AI company Yann LeCun, one of the pioneers of AI and Meta’s former chief AI scientist, has long argued that large language models alone will not produce AI systems that outperform humans at most tasks. LeCun says today’s transformer-based large language models are useful enough to be applied in valuable ways, but he also believes they are unlikely to achieve the general or human-level intelligence needed to perform many…

James Beard Award-winning chef René Redzepi, who co-founded the iconic, Michelin Starred Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, announced his resignation on Wednesday. The announcement comes following years of allegations of abuse, assault, and the creation of a toxic work environment at the restaurant which is one of the world’s most famous, influential and acclaimed dining spots. Back in 2017, at the height of the #MeToo movement, entire industries were upended with a long-overdue, global reckoning that held countless high-profile men accountable for past behavior of abuse, leading to widespread cultural and workplace change. The chauvinistic toxicity of the restaurant indu…

Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be. Days of downpours have begun in Hawaii. The Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern Great Lakes states. And the dreaded polar vortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing Arctic chill. This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash already hit much of the East. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C. residents walked around in shorts in record-breaking 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 Celsius). On Thursday, it snowed. “All of the country, even if you’re no…

Feeld markets itself as “the dating app for the curious.” For most of its users, that means curiosity about kink and casual sex—but its newest tool asks you to be curious about yourself. As a favorite platform for the kink, fetish, and non-mongamous communities, Feeld is a place where taboos are the norm. But a new survey from the app suggests that kink is more mainstream than dominant culture would have you believe. And Feeld’s new tool, Reflections, accompanies the data by letting anyone, Feeld users and otherwise, assess their own relationship with nontraditional sex. Feeld surveyed thousands of both its own users and external respondents for opinions on the pe…

A few meters below the former site of Seville’s 1992 World Expo, a promising climate experiment blending ancient technology and modern science is underway. Rows of black pipes run along the ceiling and down the bare concrete walls. These, in turn, connect to bright blue and green tubes and enormous silver pumps. In a control room to the side, an array of monitors display the heat, humidity and wind speed above. “We have deployed several types of cooling systems here, each one used depending on climatic conditions,” says Maria de la Paz Montero Gutiérrez, a researcher at the University of Seville, from down in the building’s bowels where she is helping supervise th…

During last year’s NCAA Tournament, basketball fans complained about the lack of a team-focused Cinderella storyline to define the event. The only double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 was Arkansas, out of the SEC, coached by Hall of Famer John Calipari. That’s hardly the kind of underdog we’re used to seeing. In 2023, Princeton made it to the Sweet 16, Florida Atlantic lasted until the Final Four, and Fairleigh Dickinson University beat No. 1 seed Purdue. And we’re unlikely to ever see a repeat of 2022, when Saint Peter’s made the Elite 8. The 2025 tournament was one of the “chalkiest” of all time, meaning the teams that made the final rounds were pretty …

Is Benjamin Netanyahu dead? According to this video posted on March 15 by the Israeli prime minister’s office, he’s alive and thriving. You may have seen it online, along with a rabid debate between the crowd who claims it is fake (it is not) and the people who say it is real (which is correct, as determined by fact checkers and independent intelligence analysts). But we are not here to debate about what is true or not. What matters is the debate itself. It’s another point of proof in our new normal: Since AI can make up believable new realities, people now doubt reality itself, using that claim to support their beliefs and push their agendas. The rumors of Netany…

Alibaba’s net income fell 66% year-over-year (YOY) for 2025’s fourth quarter while it invested heavily in AI. In total, net income dropped from 46.4 billion Chinese yuan ($6.8 billion) to 15.6 billion Chinese yuan ($2.27 billion). The downturn is one of multiple disappointments in the Chinese technology giant’s latest financial results, announced Thursday, March 19. Alibaba also reported a 71% decrease in diluted earnings per share YOY. Higher cloud revenue, but not high enough Even Alibaba’s revenue, which rose 2% YOY, failed to meet expectations. The company reached 284.8 billion Chinese yuan ($41.4 billion) in revenue for quarter four, falling sho…

People who live and work in Washington state don’t currently pay any income tax. But in a few years, a small group of residents will be subject to one: Washington lawmakers recently passed a bill that would impose a 9.9% tax on income earned above $1 million, which goes into effect on January 1, 2028. The so-called millionaires tax could raise up to $4 billion annually for the state, revenue that Governor Bob Ferguson has said could go toward free breakfast and lunch for students, and to working families through a tax credit. (Ferguson has yet to sign the bill, which landed on his desk March 13, but has pledged to.) The tax is part of a wave of bills that lawmaker…

A former SpaceX engineer walked away from rockets to chase something far more impactful: a perfect coffeemaker. JC Foster left the aerospace giant to launch Puresteel, a startup building what he described as “an affordable, convenient, plastic-free coffeemaker,” he wrote in a post on X. For Foster, developing Puresteel was about more than a perfectly brewed cup of coffee at a precise 200°F. “Creating Puresteel was about solving a problem that hits close to home and helping humans thrive,” he wrote in the company’s Note from the Founder. The problem, as he saw it, was plastic. Foster began searching for a completely plastic-free coffee machine and quickl…

Few sectors of the economy show the growing divide between the haves and have-nots more than the airline industry, which is increasingly catering to high-income fliers in an effort to squeeze as much revenue per available seat mile as possible. United Airlines, which just announced newly designed economy seats you can lie flat and sleep on, found a clever way to appeal to everyone by bringing the couch to coach. This week, the airline announced what it calls “United Relax Row,” a row of three seats that transform into a single lie-flat space. The seats will begin appearing on United aircrafts in 2027. Reaction online to the airline’s announcement was joyous. “Uni…

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…

Nike is attempting to turn things around, but it could be a long road to success. The athletic company closed out March with the release of its latest earnings. The fiscal 2026 third-quarter report brought mixed progress, leading to a more than 10% drop in shares of Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) after hours on Tuesday and into premarket on Wednesday. Nike stock was already down more than 16% year to date, compared to a more modest decline of 4.8% for the broader S&P 500 index. The earnings report comes a year and a half into CEO Elliott Hill’s tenure and less than three months after Nike announced it would lay off 775 workers across its U.S. distribution centers.…

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In. More than 15 months ago, I wrote about Surf, a discovery engine for the social web from Flipboard—itself an earlier twist on the same concept dating to the early days of the iPad. At the time, it was still a rough draft, and in private beta. Rather than rushing it out to a broader audience, Flipboard took its time. The app went through a series of revisions that were both numerous and substantial, ending up significantly different than the intriguing prototype I tried in December 2024. This week, the company finally deemed Surf ready for prime time. It’s now live in web form at Surf.social; a beta Android…

Fashion, it turns out, is a leading indicator. Long before mainstream business commentary catches up to a structural shift in the economy, the runway has usually already staged it. The announcement that John Galliano—arguably the greatest couturier alive—has signed a two-year creative partnership with Zara is one of those moments. It looks like fashion news. It is actually a signal about the future of value creation itself. The most surprising move in fashion in years To understand the shock value, a little context. Galliano’s career has been defined by the haute maison—Givenchy, his own label, Dior, and then a celebrated decade at Maison Margiela, where he orchest…

The battle for overhead bin space on flights is likely to intensify as United Airlines announced it will increase the checked bag fees starting Friday. It will now cost $10 more to check luggage for passengers traveling on flights in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Latin America. Since the airlines often move in tandem on ancillary fees like checked bags, this could mark the beginning of a trend ahead of the busy summer travel season. Earlier this week, JetBlue Airways raised its prices for checked bags by $4 to $9 per bag, depending on whether passengers are flying during peak or off-peak periods, with the highest fee now coming in at $49. Airlines are grappling w…

HarperCollins Publishers and AI-powered animation studio Toonstar have announced a multi-year partnership to co-produce original YouTube series based on HarperCollins titles. It marks the second announcement this week from the book publishing giant regarding a partnership with an AI-centered company. On Monday, HarperCollins division Harlequin said it entered a multi-year agreement to co-produce 40 animated micro-dramas with AI entertainment company Dashverse. Inspired by Harlequin Romance titles, the collaboration launches in April, beginning with an adaptation of A Fairy-Tail Ending by Catherine Mann. The deals highlight how book publishers are turning to …

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

You don’t need all the answers to be a leader—but you do need this mindset. Emma Grede explains why excellence is non-negotiable and why trying to please everyone will hold you back. This is the leadership advice nobody tells you. View the full article

April officially marks the beginning of Spring. But, for Halloween fanatics, it marks the halfway point until the year’s spookiest holiday, and decorations are already available for those planning ahead. Unveiled on the morning of April 8, Home Depot debuted its annual Halfway to Halloween collection, a line of exclusive and over-the-top decorations for those planning ahead of the holiday. “Halloween lovers have started shopping for decor and planning their setups earlier and earlier,” a Home Depot spokesperson told Fast Company. “We wanted to provide another moment for them to prepare for the Halloween season. Year after year we have seen this trend grow amongst…

Remember the iPod? It’s making a quiet comeback. Four years after Apple killed off its digital music player, secondhand sales are surging. It’s fueled in part by young people interested not just in its retro looks but a desire to listen to music in a focused way and with playlists not determined by algorithms. “There’s a growing trend, particularly amongst younger users, to mitigate the ease with which they can be distracted by smartphones, often driven by mental health and well-being concerns,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. “Having a dedicated music device, such as an iPod, is a good way to reduce your dependence on a smartphone and avoid being dra…

In case you didn’t hear, we just went back to the moon. NASA has been heavily promoting the Artemis II mission for months, which concluded on April 10 after its four astronauts splashed down off the coast of California. No doubt, this venture was an objectively awe-inducing feat. The space agency successfully demonstrated the most powerful rocket it’s ever built, the Space Transportation System, and tested Orion, its crew vehicle, with a crew for the first time. NASA’s astronauts also traveled farther into space than ever before, and humans saw the dark side of the lunar surface with their own eyes (another major first). But how excited did the rest of humanity ge…