Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Getting your tax refund is the only fun part of filing your taxes every year—which can make it especially galling when Uncle Sam takes his sweet time sending your money. Waiting for a refund in 2025 has some added stress, considering the recent IRS layoffs, the department’s plans for a 25% reduction in force, and the heartburn-inducing game of acting director musical chairs that played out during this year’s tax season. With all of that turmoil in the IRS, any taxpayer still waiting on a refund may worry their tax return got lost in the shuffle. The good news is that the IRS is still processing tax returns and refunds at a steady clip, even with a reduced workforc…

From AI resources to upskilling growth programs, LinkedIn’s annual Top Companies list reveals top employers are investing in making the workplace a place to grow and succeed. “These are companies that make a commitment to their employees and their employees know that they’re not alone in their career,” said Andrew Seaman, editor at large for Jobs & Career Development at LinkedIn News. “I think you can use the methodology in your own job search too.” Published on Tuesday, the list uses LinkedIn data on upskilling, attrition and retention, gender diversity, ability to advance, and more to rank the top 50 U.S. companies for career growth. The list not only honors…

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. Every generation has its tinkerers. People who get their hands dirty not because they know exactly what they’re doing, but because they’re following a feeling. No formal training. No permission. Just curiosity, instinct, and a slightly obsessive need to mess with things until they do something interesting. Welcome to the age of vibe coding. The term itself surfaced just weeks ago—coine…

Ever feel like your solo business is running you into the ground? Solopreneurs don’t have the luxury of handing off tasks to a team. Everything lands on your plate, and there’s never enough time. AI won’t run your business for you (despite what some of the big AI companies would have you believe). But it can give you back hours every week. Some tools are AI-first, meaning their primary job is to perform an AI-driven task. You can also look at adding AI features inside tools you’re already using. I rely heavily on AI in my solo business. I can get more done in less time, without sacrificing quality in any of my work. Here are a few AI tools that can make a hu…

Superman was born Kryptonian, raised Methodist, and sketched into existence by two Jewish teens in 1930s Cleveland. Faith and morality are his DNA. There are no overt religious references in Superman comics. But over eight decades, he’s been viewed as a divine entity, a savior figure—his sacrifice Christlike, his will to lead as strong as Moses parting the Red Sea, and his compassion akin to a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who guides Buddhists on the spiritual path. While scholars, comic book writers, and fans alike are struck by the religious undertones in Superman comics, they say what separates Superman from the ever-growing pack of superheroes is his singu…

Lego’s new building kit will turn your wall into an ode to ’80s graffiti art. The latest in Lego’s art-inspired sets is a customizable brick-built version of Keith Haring’s dancing figures, an instantly recognizable motif of five breakdancing stick figures articulated in Haring’s iconic pop art style. The kit comes with 1,773 pieces, can be mounted on stands or affixed to a wall, and stands at just over a foot tall. It retails for $119.99 and is set to hit Lego’s website and land in stores on May 15. In recent months, Lego has been working to build out a more extensive catalog of eye candy kits aimed at adults, ranging from a Lego-based version of Leonadro da Vinc…

Epic Games‘s Fortnite video game was not available on Apple’s iPhone devices in the European Union and the United States on Friday. Access to Fortnite via Apple’s iPhone Operating System and through its App Store will be unavailable worldwide until Apple unblocks it, Epic Games said. Epic Games did not give a reason why Fortnite was blocked, but Apple said it had asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the app update without including the U.S. storefront so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies. “We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces,” an Apple spokesperson said. Epic, a U.S.-based studi…

Rice, the world’s most consumed grain, will become increasingly toxic as the atmosphere heats and as carbon dioxide emissions rise, potentially putting billions of people at risk of cancers and other diseases, according to new research published Wednesday in The Lancet. Eaten every day by billions of people and grown across the globe, rice is arguably the planet’s most important staple crop, with half the world’s population relying on it for the majority of its food needs, especially in developing countries. But the way rice is grown—mostly submerged in paddies—and its highly porous texture means it can absorb unusually high levels of arsenic, a potent carcinogen…

U.S. health officials said they plan to phase out eight petroleum-based artificial colors from the nation’s food supply, triggering an overhaul of scores of brightly hued products on American store shelves. Details of the plan are expected to be announced Tuesday afternoon by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, who have advocated the change as part of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The officials are expected to spell out a regulatory path for removing the color additives, a process that typically requires public notice and agency review. It would be a sweeping change for U.S. food produ…

With around one billion searches on ChatGPT each week, Gen Z are increasingly turning to AI to solve a daily dilemma: what to wear. Last month, OpenAI announced updates to ChatGPT’s Search, enhancing the shopping experience with personalized product recommendations and direct purchase links. Users have already begun using these features to plan their outfits. “I’m going out to dinner tonight, what should I wear?” one user asked ChatGPT in a TikTok video. The AI suggested a fitted black cami, black trousers, strappy heels, and silver hoops. “Why did ChatGPT kind of slay though?” the creator said. Another fashion and lifestyle creator prompted ChatGPT wi…

The wildfires that blazed through Los Angeles earlier this year, some of the fastest-spreading fires on record, underscored the risk of living in homes known to be at high risk for future fires. One national homebuilder, KB Home, believes that risk can be reduced by building a wildfire-resilient neighborhood. Dixon Trail, a community of 64 homes under construction in Escondido, California, near San Diego, will be the first neighborhood to earn the new Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). [Image: KB Home]Each individual home will meet the Wildfire Prepared Home Plus certification, an IBHS desi…

The chief-executive-to-be at money-losing Japanese automaker Nissan is determined to speed up decision-making to come up with models that say Nissan—and really sell. Ivan Espinosa, 46, chief planning officer and a Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan Motor Corp., told reporters in embargoed comments for Wednesday that the company’s corporate culture is “lacking empathy” and has to change. “We need to work together as one single team,” he said at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi city on the outskirts of Tokyo. “We need to work together hand in hand.” Nissan recently appointed Espinosa to take its helm, effective April 1, replacing Makoto Uchida. Espino…

When Johnson & Johnson launched the first disposable diaper in 1948, it revolutionized modern parenting. But it also, unwittingly, created an environmental disaster. Diapers are largely made of plastic, which does not biodegrade, but breaks into microplastics that pollute our waterways and end up in our food chain. And yet, more than 300,000 diapers are thrown out every minute, bound for landfills or incinerators, and accelerating climate change. There’s now a movement to design a more eco-friendly diaper, from creating easier-to-use cloth diapering systems to diapers that use less plastic. But Hiro, a newly launched startup, may have the most creative solution yet. …

When the House of Cinema in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, was demolished in 2017, it was an architectural awakening for the city. A large circular concrete building completed in 1982, the House of Cinema was an instant cultural and architectural landmark in the city, then part of the Soviet Union. Its demolition, to make way for a controversial commercial development project, spurred many in the city to worry about which landmark would fall next. That led the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation to launch a citywide research project to document endangered buildings. Most were built between the late 1960s and early 1980s when the Soviet Union sought to frame its a…

Back in January, Kohl’s announced that it would be closing 27 of its stores across America in order to help the company control costs and increase operational efficiency. At the time, Kohl’s described the closing locations as “underperforming” and said “the closures will occur by April 2025.” And now it looks like Kohl’s remains on track for that “by April” deadline. As first noticed by USA Today, the 27 stores that Kohl’s had previously announced would be closing now list their last day of operation as this Saturday, March 29, on Kohl’s store locator tool. For example, the store locator listing for the Kohl’s located at 1116 1st Street in Napa, California, now l…

Beth Kaplan is a belonging researcher and advocate. She has spent her career studying how people construct their sense of belonging. With more than two decades of experience as an executive and having conducted research into workplace trauma, she is a sought-after consultant for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, government, and educational institutions that seek to improve their retention and culture. What’s the big idea? Braving the workplace means showing up as yourself—every single day—in a world that constantly tells you to be someone different. Too many of us feel unseen, undervalued, and unhappy at work. It’s time to stop shrinking and molding to keep your s…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Before there was Apple, Medtronic, or Tesla, there was General Electric (GE). Created in 1892 from the combination of Thomas Edison’s Edison General Electric and two other competitors, the American conglomerate was once the most powerful, valuable, and inventive company in the world. …

It’s one thing to invent something cool within controlled laboratory environments. It’s entirely another to scale that new baby for sale. The tension between innovation and commercialization is something we regularly wrestle with at Abstrax. Every morning, we don lab coats and ask the same question: “How do you make money from research done in a lab?” Balance innovation with commercial reality Discovery for its own sake isn’t enough. Many R&D-heavy companies discover that brilliant ideas can languish for years if they don’t have a system for bringing them to market. We decided early on to build that bridge proactively. This meant investing heavily no…

I was taught that hard work would get me ahead, would ultimately pay off, and would get me promoted. But several years ago, when I was passed up for yet another promotion, I was angry and devastated because I was convinced that I had deserved that promotion. How could I not have been promoted after all the hard work I had been doing? A mentor I reached out to finally confided this to me, “Yes, you are working hard. But you are working on the wrong things. You need to be working on things that get you visibility.” I was doing lots of work, but with little visibility. I didn’t realize that only focusing on working hard was the quickest way to not get promoted. Even…

No Mow May encourages homeowners to stash the lawn mower each spring and let flowers and grass grow for pollinators and water retention. And if your neighbor’s lawn already looks like a wildflower field most of the time, it could be more intentional than passersby might assume. The movement has expanded to “Let It Bloom June” and the fall version: “Leave the leaves.” Conservation and horticulture groups say year-round low-mowing while selectively leaving native plants to grow can save huge amounts of drinking water and lead to lasting and impactful ecological changes. When Amanda Beltramini Healan moved into her Nashville ranch house in 2016, the yard had been manicured…