Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

The oil tycoon J. Paul Getty was rumoured to have said that his three rules for how to become rich were: Rise early. Work hard. Strike oil. It’s one of those eminently quotable remarks because it captures something we all know to be true, that luck and chance have as much to do with success as anything else. Yet we don’t value people for their luck. We don’t exalt those who win the lottery or walk away from a roulette table flush with cash. Instead, we praise talent, skill, and dedication. And that creates tension, because although luck plays a big role in outcomes, it is only the effort we put into developing our abilities that we can control. That is the nature…

Nike isn’t the only household corporate name to announce significant layoffs this week. Just a day after the sporting goods giant announced layoffs, citing a further embrace of automation, social media giant Pinterest has announced it will cut jobs. The driving factor here? Artificial intelligence. Here’s what you need to know about the Pinterest layoffs. What’s happened? On Tuesday, the image-sharing social media platform Pinterest announced it plans to lay off around 15% of its workforce. The company made the announcement in a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In that filing, Pinterest said that its board of director…

French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the start of the next school year in September, as the idea of setting a minimum age for use of the platforms gains momentum across Europe. The bill, which also bans the use of mobile phones in high schools, was adopted by a 130-21 vote late Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks. “Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macr…

It’s more obvious than ever why recording encounters with federal agents matters: without bystander videos, it would be much harder to disprove the government’s Orwellian lies about how Alex Pretti was killed last Saturday. But there are also risks when you pull out your phone to take a video at a protest or if you see an ICE agent abducting, say, a 5-year-old child. Here’s what to know about how to protect your technology and yourself. The First Amendment gives you a right to record “It’s really important to start with the fact that individuals have a First Amendment right to record police officers and law enforcement,” says Maria Villegas Bravo, counsel at t…

Whether he’s climbing skyscrapers in Taiwan or working to build the Honnold Foundation, free solo climber and activist Alex Honnold remains an optimist. He sat down with Fast Company to talk about why a good outlook is essential—both for his sport and in the fight for the planet. Honnold also reflects on education, human potential, overconsumption, and what’s at stake for American national parks and public lands. View the full article

A privacy-centric cellphone carrier called Cape is now officially available across the United States, offering a unique set of features to protect users from surveillance and identity theft. Many cellphone users already use virtual private networks, encrypted messaging apps, and secure password managers to help keep their data safe. But those tools can’t always protect against security issues with the underlying cell network itself, and other phone companies don’t typically compete on privacy, says Cape CEO John Doyle. “Before we built Cape, there was not an obvious differentiated choice in the network space,” Doyle says. But Cape, founded in 2022, is d…

Yahoo may not be the most headlined company in tech anymore, but its reach can’t be denied. With nearly 250 million monthly users across the country and 700 million globally, it’s still the second most popular email client in the world, and the third most popular search engine in the U.S. (even though that search engine has technically been powered by either Bing or Google since 2009). As a privately owned company since 2021 (once worth $125 billion, but purchased for a mere $5 billion at the time), its CEO Jim Lanzone says that the last few years have been about “getting the house in order.” But now, he promises, “this is one of the biggest turnarounds people have tr…

There’s a lot of noise in the crypto space. Price swings rile up the internet, new jargony terms pop up constantly, and the hype and haters can turn people off before they begin. But if you’re curious about where crypto is actually headed, here’s what’s worth paying attention to in 2026. Three key shifts are changing how everyday people interact with digital assets. None of them require you to have tech or financial expertise. And none of them require you to act right now. Think of this as a look at the horizon, so you can make informed choices when you’re ready. 1. ADOPTION IS PICKING UP, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED At the beginning of 2025, our State of C…

Before the age of technological distraction, we lived more in tune with our bodies. We spent more time outdoors where the sun regulated our circadian rhythms, which has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety and depression. Without constant distraction, people sat in their boredom, which became drivers of artistic endeavors, creative ideas, and human connection. But how many of us can remember the last time we were truly bored?Drove without music, or sat in a coffee shop simply looking out the window? Today, our digital devices have optimized our lives to the point of exhaustion. In pursuit of a frictionless experience, technology has eradicated the natural …

In today’s experience economy, cultural capital is increasingly valuable, especially for cities seeking to differentiate themselves. Municipalities routinely invest in traditional industries, physical infrastructure, and innovation pipelines, but music is often siloed as “entertainment.” Music can function as an economic engine, a form of cultural connective tissue, and a powerful competitive differentiator. The scale of the opportunity is significant. The music industry contributes more than $212 billion to the U.S. GDP and accounts for 2.5 million jobs nationwide. Cultural exports are not just symbolic; they shape global perception, attract investment, and support w…

America’s most iconic shoe giant is starting 2026 by laying off workers. Nike has confirmed that it will lay off 775 employees in the United States. The move marks the third year in a row that Nike has cut jobs. Here’s what you need to know about the latest Nike layoffs. What’s happened? On Monday, CNBC reported that shoe giant Nike would eliminate 775 jobs. The job cuts will primarily encompass positions at the company’s distribution centers in Mississippi and Tennessee. Nike has warehouses in those states that act as major hubs in the company’s supply chain. The distribution centers store the company’s inventory before shipping the products out to customers and r…

Three of the world’s biggest tech companies face a landmark trial in Los Angeles starting this week over claims that their platforms—Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Google’s YouTube—deliberately addict and harm children. Jury selection starts this week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It’s the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms. The selection process is expected to take at least a few days, with 75 potential jurors questioned each day through at least Thursday. A fourth company named in the lawsuit, Snapchat…

For today’s young people, online content isn’t a backdrop to daily life—it is daily life. Streaming platforms, short-form video, and social media don’t just entertain; they influence how young people see themselves, their health, and what behaviors are seen as normal or aspirational. Movies, television, and streaming content still have influence, but as the digital ecosystem expands, so does its power to shape choices—for better and for worse. Take smoking, for example. The notion of cigarette nostalgia has unwittingly sparked a slew of recent news stories about the perceived increase in smoking on screens. The impact of that imagery? Tangible. While celebrities l…

Many people spend an incredible amount of time worrying about how to be more successful in life. But what if that’s the wrong question? What if the real struggle for lots of us isn’t how to be successful, but how to actually feel successful? That’s the issue lots of strivers truly face, according to ex-Googler turned neuroscientist and author Anne-Laure Le Cunff. In her book Tiny Experiments, she explores how to get off the treadmill of constantly chasing the next milestone, and instead find joy in the process of growth and uncertainty. “You’re probably doing better than you give yourself credit for,” she explained on LinkedIn recently, before offering 10 telltal…

It’s 7:45 a.m. in the office. Someone bounces in, already back from the gym, already through their emails. Cheerfully asks if everyone’s “okay” because it’s so quiet and people seem a bit tired. Around the office, people clutch coffee like a life raft, waiting for their brains to come online and cursing the 8 a.m. meeting. And the cheerful colleague. But at least they got in early enough to find parking and grab coffee before it ran out—this time. Now: which person are you? The early riser, or the one watching them, wondering why you can never feel that awake at this hour no matter how hard you try? Those clutching their strong brews are probably not just tire…

We have been taught to segment people into neat design personas: young versus old, able-bodied versus disabled, patient versus caregiver. Those categories may help on a spreadsheet, but they rarely reflect real life. Ability is not a fixed identity. It is a state that shifts across hours, seasons, and decades. Most people are not “disabled” or “able bodied.” They are navigating a continuum. A parent carrying a toddler, a traveler pulling luggage, a cook with wet hands, someone recovering from surgery, a person with arthritis on a cold morning, an older adult managing fatigue at the end of the day. These are not edge cases. They are the mainstream experience of modern …

Every month, around two billion people see AI Overviews, Google’s AI-powered search feature that generates summaries to users’ queries. Now, a new study is revealing a concerning pattern among some of these responses: When asked health-related questions, AI Overviews appears to turn to YouTube significantly more often than trusted medical sites. Since its inception, AI Overviews has faced its fair share of controversies, from early reports of the product spewing nonsensical answers to a series of lawsuits from businesses and publisher groups alleging that the feature is damaging to organic traffic patterns. The most recent concern with AI Overviews emerged via an inve…

The enterprise world is awash in AI optimism. Boardrooms buzz with talk of transformation, and budgets swell to accommodate the latest platforms and AI assistants. Today, nearly three-quarters of companies report using generative AI regularly in a core business activity, according to recent McKinsey & Company research. But if you look past the headlines, a familiar pattern has emerged that reminds me of the dot-com era, when companies rebranded overnight, and investors chased the next big thing, often with little regard for a tangible way forward. Today, talk of an AI bubble isn’t just a matter of market speculation or start-up hype. It’s unfolding inside orga…

January arrives with a familiar hangover. Too much food. Too much drink. Too much screen time. And suddenly social media is full of green juices, charcoal supplements, foot patches, and seven-day “liver resets,” all promising to purge the body of mysterious toxins and return it to a purer state. In the first episode of Strange Health, a new visualized podcast from The Conversation, hosts Katie Edwards and Dr. Dan Baumgardt put detox culture under the microscope and ask a simple question: Do we actually need to detox at all? Strange Health explores the weird, surprising, and sometimes alarming things our bodies do. Each episode takes a popular health or welln…