Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

The devastating California wildfires have led to a number of benefit events, from concerts to comedy shows, with the intention to fundraise for wildfire recovery efforts. The team at Critical Role, meanwhile, is going to do what they do best: play Dungeons & Dragons. Critical Role announced a special live one-shot D&D adventure titled “Freaky Thursday,” featuring Bells Hells, the characters from its third D&D campaign. The charity event stars Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, and Liam O’Brien, with game master Matthew Mercer. “Let’s do some chaotic good,” wrote O’Brien on X, sharing the an…

“What’s more motivating than a punch card?” That’s the simple idea behind a recent so-called “punch party” that creator @emiliamariehome hosted with friends. On January 24, @emiliamariehome posted a video on TikTok of her group of friends creating punch cards (think: loyalty cards) as a Galentine’s day activity. It quickly went viral, gaining over 1.5 million views. Because whether it’s scoring a free cappuccino at your local coffee shop or a fresh loaf of bread at an independent bakery, the satisfaction from punching that final hole in a punch card is unmatched. Now, social media users are hacking that dopamine hit to achieve their own goals, from dating to readi…

Despite growing up with a financial planner for a father, the idea of investing intimidated me well into my adulthood. From my point of view, investing seemed like a mysterious process. Not only was this magical money-making exercise conducted in an arcane language (what exactly is a NASDAQ, and why does it sound like something you treat with a special cream?), but it also required my dad to keep the TV in his office tuned to the world’s most mind-numbing broadcast, even though cartoons were just a channel away. It’s no wonder I grew up thinking that investing was boring and impossible to understand. And investment ambivalence is pretty common. A recent NerdWallet fin…

The Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek could not be accessed on Wednesday in Apple and Google app stores in Italy, the day after the country’s data protection authority requested information on its use of personal data. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said it had also requested information from DeepSeek about data processing in relation to Irish users. DeepSeek last week launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services. By Monday, the assistant had overtaken U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s App Store, sparking panic among tech stock investors. “The news of the withdrawal of the …

In the run-up to this weekend’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, fans couldn’t be more excited to see the Philadelphia Eagles face off against the Kansas City Chiefs, as the latter attempts to make Super Bowl history as the first team to win the championship three times in a row. With advertising prices hitting all-time highs, and an exciting halftime show featuring recent Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar scheduled, why are ticket sales plummeting? That’s right: Ticket prices for Super Bowl LIX are down 30% over this past week, or around 50% cheaper than last year. Currently, the cheapest seats are selling for somewhere between $3,057 to $4,300 before taxes on the secondary mar…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How do I get a hiring manager to respond to me? A: I’ve been on both sides of this scenario. I know how frustrating it can be to send your résumé and cover letter out into the void and wait for weeks without hearing anything. I also know how overwhelming it can be as a hiring manager to shift through hundreds of applications while meeting all of the normal demands of your job. So it’s a delicate balance. As a candidate you just want to know, but you also …

The cost of Valentine’s Day may be a lot higher this year compared to last year. You’ve probably heard the price of eggs has skyrocketed, but if you haven’t already started shopping for your Valentine, be prepared for some sticker shock, especially for perennial favorites like roses and chocolates. Here’s why. How much will I pay for roses this year? Depending on where you live, you might be paying a hefty price. This Valentine’s Day, the average price for a dozen long-stemmed roses (red or white) is a staggering $90.50, 2% more than last year, according to FinanceBuzz as reported by CBS News. Yet a 2% hike would be getting off easy, considering that if you liv…

Remote work is here to stay, and late-stage startups offer a nice mix of financial backing, stability, and potential for success that might be lacking in your current job. If you’re looking for a chance to join a company on the move while working from the comfort of your own home, this is the list for you. From AI to health to cybersecurity and more, these remote-friendly companies have plenty of openings. Grafana Labs: 50 Grafana Labs provides a suite of tools—including Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, and Tempo—that help organizations monitor, analyze, and understand their applications and infrastructure. Grafana Labs is hiring for a variety of remote roles, in…

David Ko, CEO of Calm, speaks with Brendan Vaughan about the state of mental health solutions in the workplace. View the full article

Well, well, well—look who suddenly wants a word with the sheriff in the fair-use Wild West landscape of artificial intelligence. As Bloomberg reports, Microsoft and its partner company OpenAI are investigating the white-hot Chinese startup DeepSeek after Microsoft security researchers allegedly discovered people linked to DeepSeek withdrawing large amounts of data through the company’s API last fall. Elsewhere, White House AI czar David Sacks told Fox News on Tuesday that there is “substantial evidence” that DeepSeek “distilled” knowledge from OpenAI’s AI models. These allegations align with other suspicious aspects of the new AI. For instance, when a Fast Company…

Nearly three in five people worldwide—a significant 58%—plan to look for a new job in 2025. That’s a lot of people in the hunt and if you’re one of them, it can feel a bit overwhelming. It doesn’t help that many job seekers are also feeling stuck, applying to more positions than ever yet hearing back less often. The shifting job market, influenced by more competition and the growth of AI, has made old strategies less effective. To succeed, job seekers need to rethink their strategy—focusing on roles that align with their skills, crafting tailored applications, and finding ways to stand out. The good news? With a clear, intentional approach, you can navigate these chal…

After 17 years, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky is hitting reset—reinventing the business from the ground up and expanding the brand in unexpected ways. Chesky joins Rapid Response to explain why now is the right time for Airbnb’s “great reinvention” and takes us inside his relationship with Sam Altman, revealing previously unheard details about Altman’s brief yet tumultuous dismissal from OpenAI. 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 conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time c…

Imagine this: A team meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. in California. For software developers in Mumbai, it’s 5:30 a.m. the next day—prime sleeping hours or, at best, the tail end of an exhausting night shift. In Poland, where other team members are based, it’s already 1 a.m., and the developers are long offline. Awkward timing for a call, to say the least. How do these time zone differences impact overall efficiency? As more projects rely on globally distributed teams with members from every corner of the world, this question is becoming increasingly urgent. This is underscored by a study conducted by Harvard Business School professor Prithwiraj Choudhury. It found th…

Multiple earthquakes are rattling Santorini, a volcanic island in Greece, prompting authorities to dispatch rescuers with tents, a sniffer dog and drones, and to shut schools on four islands. Residents have been warned to avoid indoor gatherings, check escape routes, stay away from cliffs and to drain swimming pools to reduce potential structural damage to buildings in the event of a large earthquake. Greece lies in a highly seismically active part of the world, and earthquakes are frequent. The vast majority cause no injuries and little or no damage, but the country has also seen deadly quakes. Earthquakes can’t be predicted, but authorities are taking measures a…

Capital One has launched an AI agent designed to help consumers with one of the most frustrating, time-consuming processes in life: buying a car. The banking giant’s Chat Concierge provides information, makes decisions, and takes action using multiple AI agents. Mimicking human reasoning, the product aims to assist consumers in all aspects of the research process involved in making a car purchase, from comparing vehicles to scheduling test drives. “Buying a car is a stressful experience,” says Prem Natarajan, EVP, chief scientist, and head of enterprise AI at Capital One. “The possibility that we can make this really important purchase for people a frictionless …

Nine months ahead of this year’s annual U.N. climate summit, known as COP30, lodging prices in the Brazilian host city of Belem are turning heads—and may soon turn off would-be attendees from the first such meeting in the Amazon rainforest. With a shortage of housing and high interest, property owners and rental companies are feeling emboldened to charge five-digit rates, even for cramped rooms with shared bathrooms. On Booking.com, one of the last available hotel rooms listed, a flat apartment, is going $15,266 for one person, up from $158 for the same category currently—a 9,562% increase. A 15-day stay during the conference in November would total $228,992, enou…

Global leaders recently gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, under the theme of “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.” What exactly is the “Intelligent Age” and, more importantly, how can we ensure that everyone can participate in this new age? WEF defines the Intelligent Age as a transition away from the Industrial Age to a new phase of human civilization. It’s a clear and compelling definition. But what is much less clear is the conversation about the importance of equity and how to approach it. There are many ways leaders can consider equity as they build and adopt AI and other frontier technologies: clear global policies, reaching new markets, …

By now, most people know not to trust everything they see on TikTok. But scams on the platform are becoming increasingly sophisticated, thanks to deepfake technology. A new report from Media Matters for America, published this week, identified multiple TikTok accounts using deepfake influencers and fake storytimes to promote wellness products to unsuspecting users. These accounts appear to be part of an affiliated network, using the same content format and often promoting exactly the same products with little to no scientific backing. One now-deleted TikTok account, which had over 245,000 followers, amassed more than 4.1 million likes promoting its “secret to perf…

YouTube isn’t just a website anymore. And computers and smartphones aren’t even the primary ways that people watch YouTube content, either. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, in his annual letter to the YouTube community yesterday, wrote, “TV has surpassed mobile and is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S.” At the same time, he said, creators “have moved from filming grainy videos of themselves on desktop computers to building studios and producing popular talk shows and feature-length films.” Ahead of posting his letter, Mohan spoke with Fast Company about how YouTube—which is celebrating its 20th year—is responding to changing viewer habits and givin…

I can tell you the exact moment when a new browser called Deta Surf clicked for me. I was getting a demo from Deta cofounder Max Eusterbrock, and he showed me how Surf can take screenshots of web pages and add them to a digital pinboard. But unlike a standard screenshot, this one contained a link to jump back to the web page it came from, and its content was searchable from Surf’s menu system. Aha, I thought. Too often, I’ll open dozens of tabs on a certain topic, only to forget which page had the quote or chart I was looking for. Surf solves that problem by making it easier to revisit what you’ve researched. It’s as if a browser was built around the idea of bookmarking, …

For all the industries that are facing existential crises from the emergence of artificial intelligence, one is seeing a happily profitable outcome. Architects are increasingly being commissioned to design the brick-and-mortar infrastructure supporting the AI boom. These data centers—big warehouse-like buildings stuffed with whirring servers sucking up hundreds of megawatts of power—are becoming a major, and majorly lucrative, part of the architecture industry’s bottom line. “We’ve got about 200 people working strictly on data center projects,” says Joy Hughes, a design manager at the architecture and design firm Gensler. It’s a subset of the architecture business tha…

For the first time in over two decades, Capri Sun is expanding its single serving offerings with a colorful new bottle—but don’t worry, the iconic pouch is here to stay. Capri Sun’s new bottles are hitting shelves nationwide today at Kroger, Circle K, some Walmart locations, and regional convenience stores like Meijer and Hy-vee. They come in the brand’s three most popular flavors: Fruit Punch, Pacific Cooler, and Strawberry Kiwi. According to the company, each bottle contains about double the liquid contents of a traditional pouch, at 12 fluid ounces. However, for those interested in a smaller serving size and that classic form factor, Capri Sun pouches aren’t actual…

This story was originally published by ProPublica. The icebreaker Aiviq is a gas guzzler with a troubled history. The ship was built to operate in the Arctic, but it has a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. Its waste and discharge systems weren’t designed to meet polar code, its helicopter pad is in the wrong place to launch rescue operations and its rear deck is easily swamped by big waves. On its maiden voyage to Alaska in 2012, the 360-foot vessel lost control of the Shell Oil drill rig it was towing, and Coast Guard helicopter crews braved a storm to pluck 18 men off the wildly lurching deck of the rig before it crashed into a rocky beach…

Dried paint was becoming a problem for Billie Asmus. An entrepreneur who was running a small furniture refinishing company from her basement studio, she kept having to toss out paint trays that were caked with dried paint. “I looked over at my garbage can and it was just filled with plastic paint dry liners. And I was like, oh my gosh, there seriously has to be a better way. Something that’s more sustainable, something with a lid, something that’s reusable,” she says. It was 2021. She searched in all the typical places online for a product that could cut down her modest business’s immodest waste stream. “Nothing showed up,” she says. “That sent me down this huge rabbi…