Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Did everyone get the Microsoft 365 rate-hike notice? The personal plan is going from $70 a year to $100 a year. According to the email, my financial commitment is getting me “secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices, and cutting-edge AI-powered features,” among other goodies. But the real reason I subscribe? Microsoft Word. We’ve all used it and many of us rely on it. But many people even aren’t using all the bells and whistles that come with Word and the larger Microsoft 365 package. So as Microsoft hits us with a price hike to go along with all the other price hikes consumers have been facing in the past year, now might be the perfec…

What if extreme heat not only leaves you feeling exhausted but actually makes you age faster? Scientists already know that extreme heat increases the risk of heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction and even death. I see these effects often in my work as a researcher studying how environmental stressors influence the aging process. But until now, little research has explored how heat affects biological aging: the gradual deterioration of cells and tissues that increases the risk of age-related diseases. New research my team and I published in the journal Science Advances suggests that long-term exposure to extreme heat may speed up biological aging …

Google released its new Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental AI model late last month, and it’s quickly stacked up top marks on a number of coding, math, and reasoning benchmark tests—making it a contender for the world’s best model right now. becoming apparent that the new reasoning model may be the best model in the world, at least for now. Gemini 2.5 Pro is a “reasoning” model, meaning its answers derive from a mix of training data and real-time reasoning performed in response to the user prompt or question. Like other newer models, Gemini 2.5 Pro can consult the web, but it also contains a fairly recent snapshot of the world’s knowledge: Its training data cuts off at the e…

What if everything you believe about leadership is holding you back? A 2024 study by Gartner found that 69% of HR leaders don’t think their leaders are fully equipped to lead. And according to Gallup, only 21% of employees strongly agree that their leaders actually inspire them to do their best. That’s a big gap between what leaders intend and what employees experience. The problem? A lot of leaders are following outdated advice. In the pursuit of excellence, they unknowingly buy into myths that hold them back, limit their teams, and stifle real innovation. Whether it’s the belief that speed always wins or that innovation is all about technology, these myths quiet…

Trying to get from point A to point B? If only it were that simple! With any manner of travel these days, you’ve got options: planes, trains, buses, ferries, and beyond. And finding the best path to embark on isn’t always easy. Even finding all the available options can sometimes be a pain. But it doesn’t have to be. For over a decade, I’ve been using a tool that demystifies how to get from one location to another. It’s a great way to see all the available travel options in a single spot—complete with estimated prices and travel times. Notably, there’s absolutely no AI at play here. AI travel tools may be interesting for brainstorming ideas, but this tool will…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Data is everywhere, but insights are rare. I know this firsthand from years working agency-side in digital marketing and analytics for global brands—optimizing billions in media spend, tracking behaviors across platforms, and measuring every available data point across the customer journey. We operated inside complex martech platforms, developed and owned by big tech companies, designed …

Few self-help ideas are as prevalent and widely celebrated as the advice to “just be yourself.” Whether in job interviews, workplace interactions, or career choices, we are frequently encouraged to act “authentically”—without compromise or concern for external pressures. While this sounds comforting and empowering, authenticity as an interpersonal strategy is fundamentally flawed and at odds with hundreds of scientific studies on emotional intelligence, social skills, and career success. As I illustrate in my forthcoming book, Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated and What To Do Instead, authenticity is not a helpful life hack, but rather a misguide…

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s radiation levels have significantly dropped since the cataclysmic meltdown in Japan 14 years ago. Workers walk around in many areas wearing only surgical masks and regular clothes. It’s a different story for those who enter the reactor buildings, including the three damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They must use maximum protection—full facemasks with filters, multi-layered gloves and socks, shoe covers, hooded hazmat coveralls and a waterproof jacket, and a helmet. As workers remove melted fuel debris from the reactors in a monumental nuclear cleanup effort that could take more than a century, they are facing both h…

Walton Goggins has had an incredible run recently. Last year, he anchored Amazon’s Fallout TV show and this year is starring in Season 3 of The White Lotus and the 4th and final season of The Righteous Gemstones. These roles are feathers in the cap of the character actor who’s had star turns in The Shield, Justified, and Vice Principals. But he’s not just an actor—he’s also a small business owner. As part of his partnership with GoDaddy, he’s teamed up with the company to use its suite of AI tools to design the website for and manage his new venture—Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses. He worked with GoDaddy to create the line of glasses that resemble ski goggles and retail…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Digital wallets have fast become part of daily life. By 2027, they’re expected to account for half of all retail sales—around $25 trillion worldwide. It’s easy to see why. Paying with a digital wallet is easy, secure, and requires nothing more than a phone. But there’s potential for wallets to do so much more, beyond payments. Digital wallets started as payment tools. Now, they’re becoming…

It is hard to believe that in 2025, we are still dialing to schedule doctor appointments, get referrals, refill prescriptions, confirm office hours and addresses, and handle many other healthcare tasks. In fact, I created Zocdoc nearly 20 years ago to help patients avoid the dysfunctional phone experience and schedule appointments online. But I must confess that I have to pick up the phone sometimes, too—and I dread it. I am not alone. According to a recent survey my company conducted, most Americans say they dread calling their doctor about as much as they dread getting a shot. At best, it is an inconvenience. At worst, the phone is a barrier to care and a wildly ine…

How brands reach consumers is always evolving. And at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW this past weekend, executives from Duolingo, NBCUniversal, and Creators Corp. discussed how they’re not only holding their consumers’s attention, but finding ways to embed their brands into their daily lives, primarily through branded entertainment. NBCUniversal: Find Ways to Engage Fans within an Experience When John Jelley, SVP of product and user experience at Peacock and global streaming for NBCUniversal, thinks about branded entertainment, he thinks about fandoms. From Love Island to The Traitors to Saturday Night Live, NBCUniversal has a wide array of IP with deep fando…

In the forests of eastern Australia, satin bowerbirds create structures known as “bowers.” The males gather twigs and place them upright, in two bundles, with a gap in the middle, resulting in what looks like a miniature archway. All around the bower the bird scatters small objects—shells, pieces of plastic, flower petals—which all possess the same property: the color blue. Studies suggest that the purpose of the bowers is to impress and attract females. But their beauty and intricacy has left some researchers wondering whether they shouldn’t be considered art. A male bower bird, left, stands by as two females inspect his work. [Photo: doug/Flickr] Of cours…

Over the past few years, experts have been sounding the alarm over how much time Americans spend alone. Statistics show that we’re choosing to be solitary for more of our waking hours than ever before, tucked away at home rather than mingling in public. Increasing numbers of us are dining alone and traveling solo, and rates of living alone have nearly doubled in the past 50 years. These trends coincided with the surgeon general’s 2023 declaration of a loneliness epidemic, leading to recent claims that the U.S. is living in an “anti-social century.” Loneliness and isolation are indeed social problems that warrant serious attention, especially since chronic stat…

Tesla’s market share in Europe continued to shrink in February as sales of the all-electric car maker dropped for a second month even as EV registrations overall on the continent grew. As competition grows and a slowdown in European economies hampers total car sales, Elon Musk’s battery-electric (BEV) brand has sold 42.6% fewer cars in Europe so far this year, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed on Tuesday. Tesla commanded 1.8% of the total market and 10.3% of the BEV market in February, down from 2.8% and 21.6% respectively last year. It sold fewer than 17,000 cars in the European Union, Britain, and European Free Trade A…

When meeting clients, I make one promise—to see the world as it could be. That’s not a bad message right now. It’s a pretty weird world out there. The volatile political and socio-economic landscape can make us all feel like things are going to hell. And in the slightly less real world of marketing and advertising, that’s even more the case. The challenges of any agency or client team continue to escalate. Instability abounds. Then there’s the issue of client loyalty, reduced scopes, tighter timelines, and the not-so-secret plan of AI to take everyone’s jobs. And then the cynicism comes. As we know, misery loves company, so soon—if you want to find it—it can turn…

Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees and eliminate hundreds of open and unfilled positions, CEO Brian Niccol said on Monday. In a memo, Niccol said the cuts will remove duplication “to create smaller, more nimble teams,” and the company will inform employees who are being laid off by midday Tuesday. Starbucks, which has 16,000 corporate employees, said the cuts will not affect staff at cafés. “We believe it’s a necessary change to position Starbucks for future success,” Niccol said in the statement. “Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity, and drive better integration.” Shares of the coffee giant (…

In early March, New York City subway riders noticed a new development at the West 4th Street station, near Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. Construction workers for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority were photographed removing a bench on the station’s platform and replacing it with a curving metal structure. Looking a bit like an oversized shaving razor with two handles, the metal object is known as a leaning rail or a leaning rail. Its horizontal face, slightly tilted and about three feet off the ground, is intended as a place for subway riders to lean their backsides while they wait for a train. Comment byu/thrilsika from discussion innycrail G…

More than a year after her viral project was shut down, TikTok’s “Tunnel Girl” has officially been given the green light to resume digging a massive tunnel beneath her home. On her TikTok account @engineer.everything, the woman—who identifies herself only as Kala—has built a following of over 657,000 by documenting her ambitious, off-the-books tunnel project in Herndon, Virginia. Despite the handle, Kala has no formal engineering background; she began digging in 2022 as a hobby. While many viewers were fascinated by her underground progress, others questioned the legality of the endeavor. “Are we… are we allowed to build tunnels?” one commenter asked under Kala’s …

If your company is losing Gen Z talent, chances are, the problem isn’t them—it’s you. The phrase “quiet quitting” has become a catch-all for blaming Gen Z workers for workplace disengagement. Older generations stereotype them as unmotivated, unwilling to go the extra mile, and too demanding. But here’s the reality: Gen Z isn’t disengaged—they’re just done tolerating bad leadership. My research, including surveys, interviews, and case studies across industries, shows that what many have labelled “quitting” is actually a rational response to workplaces that lack fairness, structure, and alignment with employee values. Instead of writing off an entire generation, le…

U.S. TikTok Shop employees received a memo on Tuesday, recommending staff to work from home Wednesday ahead of “difficult decisions.” The memo, which was earlier reported by Bloomberg, told staff they would be updated on “organizational and personnel changes” via email, followed by HR outreach, suggesting possible layoffs. TikTok Shop, the Chinese-owned company’s marketplace feature launched in 2023 in the U.S., allowing users to shop for products in the app. The marketplace—which hosts everything from popular US brands like Crocs, to third-party merchandise in the likes of Temu and Shein— hit $100 million in single day sales on Black Friday alone. “TikTok Sh…

Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of worshippers lined the streets of Rome and Vatican City as Pope Francis was laid to rest. As a pope, he will be remembered for modernizing Catholicism with a viewpoint of empathy, from his calls to include trans people in sacraments of the church to his final address that called for a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s a legacy that deserves a more considered resting place, as many on the internet have pointed out an unfortunate reality: The kerning on Pope Francis’s tomb in the Basilica of St. Mary Major is objectively awful. Pope Francis’s tomb is simple by design. Francis—a modest man who opted to live in humble quarters alongside hi…