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Ashlee Piper is a former political strategist turned eco-lifestyle journalist. She has been a Professor of Sustainability Marketing at Loyola University Chicago and eco instructor for LinkedIn Learning. Well-known companies, such as Airbnb, LUSH, and Nissan, have sought her counsel on sustainability practices. Piper has spoken at the United Nations, SXSW, and has a popular TED Talk. What’s the big idea? A life of overconsumption can feel almost inescapable in our hyper-personalized advertising ecosystem. Billions of dollars go into getting people hooked on shopping. Fortunately, a way out of this addictive cycle is the No New Things challenge, which guides anyone f…

It’s summer again. A decade may have passed in real time since stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher had their last summertime adventure on TV, but it’s just one unremarkable school year later for the characters in the beloved animated TV series Phineas and Ferb. The longest-running show in Disney Channel history, Phineas and Ferb aired from February 2008 to June 2015, winning five Emmys and becoming the most successful animated series for kids (ages 6 to 11) and tweens (ages 9 to 14) in Disney Television Animation history. It became the No. 1 animated TV series among tweens in 2009, supplanting Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. Tina Fey, Ben Stiller, …

When Paule Tenaillon was head shoe designer at Chloé, she was responsible for designing hundreds of shoes a year. With each design, she had to consider many factors: The Chloé aesthetic, trends, heel height, materials. But there was one issue she didn’t think much about. “Comfort was never a consideration,” Tenaillon says. “Nobody ever asked me to make a comfortable pair of shoes. But it bothered me, because it’s important to me to wear shoes that are comfortable.” Now, Tenaillon is on a mission to make the most uncomfortable shoe in the world comfortable. Her shoe label, Nomasei, is releasing a stiletto model for the first time, full of small design tweaks that …

Wake up, go to class, grab a panini, then go to work. The day in the life of students James Haupt, Caroline Pirtle, and George Small seemed nothing out of the ordinary, except “going to work” meant entering restricted buildings in the Vatican, and reporting on what was happening at the papacy, just a few minutes away from the Holy See. As part of Villanova University’s 22-year-old Vatican and Rome Internship Program, which over the years has helped boost the Pope’s social media presence, the three students were on exchange for nearly five months. Small and Pirtle, both computing sciences majors, were stationed at the Vatican Museum and the Vatican Media Office respect…

Haliey Welch, better known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl,” is ready for a rebrand. After being thrust into the spotlight in 2024, thanks to her now-iconic “hawk tuah” catchphrase—featured in a video interview uploaded by the Tim & Dee TV YouTube channel—Welch experienced a crash course in the highs and lows of viral fame. In early December, she announced the launch of her own cryptocurrency meme coin, $HAWK. The coin quickly tanked, leaving fans upset and prompting an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Anyhoo, I’m gonna go bed,” Welch said as she ended a livestream on X on December 4. She wasn’t heard from again until three month…

CrowdStrike reiterated its fiscal 2026 first quarter and annual forecasts on Wednesday and announced a plan to cut about 500 roles, roughly 5% of its workforce, to streamline operations and reduce costs. The cybersecurity company will incur about $36 million to $53 million in charges related to the layoffs, of which about $7 million will be recognized in the first quarter ended April 30, it said in a regulatory filing. Austin, Texas-based CrowdStrike said the rest of the charges will be seen in the second quarter. The charges primarily consist of future cash expenditure related to severance payments, employee benefits, and related costs. The company’s shares w…

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…

Fraud remains a huge issue, with reports increasing 25% between 2023 and 2024, according to recently released data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). That amounted to consumers losing more than $12.5 billion to various frauds and scams. Those eye-popping figures are what spurred AT&T to beef up its fraud-prevention smartphone application, ActiveArmor, with a slate of new features, says Matt Bailey, AT&T’s AVP of product management and development. And interestingly enough, the app will also provide protection for your physical property—including your credit and debit cards and even your driver’s license. On Wednesday, AT&T announced the five…

Shares in coffee giant Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX) are down significantly in premarket trading this morning after the chain announced its Q2 2025 earnings results yesterday after the bell. Those results were described as “disappointing” by Starbucks’s own CEO, Brian Niccol, and demonstrate that the company’s turnaround efforts still have a long way to go. Here’s the latest on Starbucks and what has investors nervous: Starbucks Q2 2025 results below expectations In January of this year, Starbucks announced its Q1 2025 earnings, in which it beat Wall Street expectations—a small win for the company and for Niccol, who joined as CEO from Chipotle Mexican …

The rideshare market has reached a crossroads. Autonomous vehicles are on the rise, driver unrest is mounting, and customers are questioning everything from pricing to trust and safety. In the midst of it all, Lyft is mounting a comeback. CEO David Risher, who came into the role at Lyft two years ago, is taking a bird’s-eye view on the operation and pushing to reposition the company squarely against their competitor, Uber—with faster execution, bold new programs, and Lyft’s biggest international acquisition to date. 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…

Walk into any grocery store to stock up for Halloween and you will discover that, for chocolate treats, you have two basic choices: Will it be Mars or Hershey? I often buy both, but that is beside the point. The point is that the two giants compete for market share, but both enjoy robust sales. In other words, a relatively stable duopoly defines the U.S. chocolate candy market. But it wasn’t always like this. Before the 1960s, the Hershey Chocolate Corp. reigned supreme as the undisputed chocolate king. It was in that decade that Mars went for Hershey’s jugular. Hershey Chocolate’s response brought lasting change to its candy business, the local community,…

There is no bad seat at Cercle Odyssey. In fact, there are no seats. Within the rectangular structure, screens project an art film inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, made especially for the concert. In the center of the space, world-famous electronic musicians—from Moby to Black Coffee—perform for a crowd of 5,000 fans. As the world’s first 360-degree immersive concert installation, it’s a FOMO-inducing Instagram story waiting to happen. Thing is, phones aren’t allowed inside (they’re secured in pouches at check-in). Instead, there’s no choice other than to be present. Cercle Odyssey is the latest project from Cercle, a French company known for producing livestream DJ sets …

Roughly half a mile behind the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Ariel’s Grotto in Walt Disney World sits a nondescript cement warehouse with the words “the can-do people” written on the outside. Should tourists somehow get lost in that corner, located just outside the Magic Kingdom, it’s a place they would never pay attention to. What they might never imagine, however, is that generic building is the lynchpin of the Disney experience. Welcome to Central Shops, a rarely spoken part of Disney that’s off-limits to visitors and most of the company’s cast members (Disney’s term for its employees). It’s ground zero for Disney World’s ride safety and an essential part of park ope…

A smooth retail experience depends on efficient shipping and hassle-free purchases, two elements that can create significant cost implications for retailers. These honorees in the commerce category are developing infrastructure that can make more efficient use of freight trucks, streamline theft detection, and ease the checkout process in warehouse club environments. Flock Freight For reducing inefficiency in truckloads When it comes to freight trucks, wasted space is wasted money. Flock Freight estimates that the equivalent of one in three trucks runs empty because of inefficient deck-space utilization. The Certified B Corporation has built on its patented Shared Tru…