What's on Your Mind?

In a parking lot in Detroit next to the Henry Ford Museum, three streetlights now double as EV chargers. The site is one of the first installations of the Voltpost Air, a device that taps into existing infrastructure to quickly add charging capability at the side of the road or in parking lots. The approach is simpler than adding stand-alone EV chargers: Installation takes just a few hours. “We don’t have to do costly utility upgrades to the grid in order to this,” says Jeff Prosserman, cofounder and CEO of Voltpost. “We’re just finding pockets where power already exists and then making it work.” That’s possible partly because the chargers are Level 2, mea…

A number of airlines are waiving change fees ahead of what is expected to be a major winter storm forecast to hit the Northeast on Friday afternoon, affecting millions of people traveling after Christmas, during one of the busiest times of the year. A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) is in effect for New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut from Friday afternoon through Saturday, for up to 9 inches of snow and freezing temperatures, creating the potential hazardous travel conditions, flight delays, and cancellations. 1-6 inches of snow is expected from northeastern Pennsylvania up into New England; while freezing rain and sleet, are expec…

With more than 100,000 artifacts dating back thousands of years, nearly 900,000 square feet of floor space, a site that spans more than 120 acres, and a total price tag estimated to be more than $1 billion, it’s not hyperbole to call the Grand Egyptian Museum outside Cairo, Egypt, the most significant museum project in recent decades. It’s the kind of blockbuster building that would have even the starriest of starchitects salivating at the chance to lay claim to what’s likely become one of Egypt’s most visited tourist attractions. So, in hindsight, it’s a bit unexpected that the architecture firm that won the museum’s international design competition way back in 2002 …

On Tuesday, SoftBank, the Japanese financial giant, announced plans to dump all 32 million of its shares in Nvidia, the AI chip maker. The news won’t be the needle that pops the AI bubble, but it did cause enough of a stir to make Nvidia’s shares drop 2% Tuesday morning. The bad vibes were muted somewhat by news of what SoftBank says it will do with the proceeds of the sell off, along with those from the sale of some of its $9.17 billion T-Mobile stake: The firm will double down on another big bet in the AI space–OpenAI. SoftBank expects to directly invest $30 billion in OpenAI this year, according to its second-quarter financial statement in September. And it had …

As I uploaded a 1940s photo of my grandpa Max and hit a few buttons in Google’s Veo 3 video generator, I saw a familiar family photo transform from black and white to color. Then, my grandpa stepped out of the photo and walked confidently toward the camera, his army uniform perfectly pressed as his arms swung at the sides of his lanky frame. This is the kind of thing AI lets you do now—virtually bring back the dead. As a hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch this weekend highlighted, though, just because we can reanimate our departed loved ones, that doesn’t necessarily mean we should. Grilling the dog The sketch, which The Atlantic has alrea…

At the Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA), we bring together accomplished women who mentor, support, and challenge one another to grow as leaders, women, and as human beings. Each month we highlight one of these extraordinary voices and the insights that define her approach to leadership and life. This month I spoke with Mindy Mackenzie, former interim CEO of Beautycounter, longtime advisor to portfolio companies at The Carlyle Group, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Courage Solution: The Power of Truth Telling with Your Boss, Peers, and Team. Mindy’s leadership philosophy challenges the belief that progress requires constant motion. She believes th…

Syracuse University is rolling out a new “Center for the Creator Economy,” looking to train the new class of influencers, streamers, podcasters and YouTubers. The center, the first of its kind in the U.S., is a joint project between the university’s communications and business schools, and aims to attract students planning to participate in the $250 billion creator economy. With rising unemployment rates, and a college degree no longer unlocking the career opportunities it once did, the creator economy could be a beacon of hope for young graduates in a dismal job market. The number of creators globally is expected to grow at a compound annual rate between 10 and 2…

Like many people, I use AI for quick, practical tasks. But two recent interactions made me pay closer attention to how easily these systems slip into emotional validation. In both cases, the model praised, affirmed, and echoed back feelings that weren’t actually there. I uploaded photos of my living room for holiday decorating tips, including a close-up of the ceramic stockings my late mother hand painted. The model praised the stockings and thanked me for sharing something “so meaningful,” as if it understood the weight of them. A few days later, something similar happened at work. I finished a long run, came home with an idea, and dropped it into ChatGPT to pres…

The average U.S. employee clocks nearly 21 full business days working from their phone each year. That’s according to new research from Adobe Acrobat, who surveyed over 1,000 full-time employees on their habits and opinions around work phone etiquette. As worklife boundaries continue to blur, the work doesn’t stop when you step out of the office’s four walls. For many employees, they now carry it with them in their pocket, checking emails first thing from bed, or making calls on the go between meetings. In the early days of the iPhone, the “sent from my . . .” signature conveyed status. Back in 2013, The Atlantic referred to it as a “humble brag.” More than a de…

As 2025 comes to a close, business leaders are inevitably already planning how 2026 will shape up, particularly as the last year proved to be a tumultuous one. The so-called AI boom is still booming, corporate DEI initiatives have shrunk or disappeared altogether, and return-to-office mandates have tightened. No one has a crystal ball to predict emerging technologies, financial headwinds, political hurdles, and market trends for the next year. But that doesn’t mean that companies can sit back—there are steps to take now to help insulate your company against potential turbulence in the coming year, while simultaneously fostering success by focusing on the human aspects…

In recent years, organizations have launched neurodiversity and mental health initiatives with the best of intentions: to raise awareness, launch employee resource groups, and create a culture where team members embrace diverse neurotypes and learn to coexist in an ecosystem. Yet, neurodivergent employees still tell me the same thing: they feel misunderstood as they navigate masking, burnout, and eventually leave organizations that genuinely believe they’ve done their best. So, what’s missing? The gap isn’t in policy or process—it’s in our understanding of the emotional landscape inside the neurodivergent experience. Leaders may recognize ADHD or autism as concept…

Enterprises across the globe are pouring an estimated $1.5 trillion into artificial intelligence, and the results are already significant: AI has added more than $400 billion to the U.S. economy alone. Yet beneath these headline numbers lies a less celebrated truth. Most GenAI projects (95%) are failing to deliver a return on investment. This disconnect isn’t a technology problem. It’s a transformation problem. And the fix is not coming from the boardroom or the IT department. It’s coming from the cubicles, the customer service desks, and the HR teams—the employees who know firsthand where bottlenecks and opportunities exist. THE BOTTOM-UP AI MOVEMENT New data,…

Your pennies are now collector’s items. The last penny was minted Wednesday at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, spelling the end of America’s longest-running coin design. More than Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe or Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, it’s sculptor and medalist Victor David Brenner’s profile of Abraham Lincoln on the humble penny that’s actually believed to be the most-reproduced piece of art in the history of the world: the U.S. Mint estimates some 300 billion pennies remain in circulation. And even though no new pennies will be minted, the coin will remain legal tender—good news for those inclined to give a penny, take a penny at their local gas station. …

The 2025 Brands That Matter United States honorees aren’t just united by their shared geography—they are all identifying their target audience and meeting them exactly where they need to. Whether solving a uniquely American problem, as GoodRx does in addressing the cost of prescription drugs, or pioneering innovation that can help people globally like Owlet, these companies are showing how American brands can step up in authentic and impactful ways. GoodRx GoodRx has built its brand equity by being present where its customers need it—the pharmacy counter. Over the past year, the prescription savings platform introduced a feature that gets users to engage with …

I’ve always been somewhat ritualistic, shaped by my Midwestern upbringing in a modest immigrant family. I remember my parents calculating the mileage of our ‘82 Honda Civic in a notepad after every fill-up, the same car I eventually inherited in high school. Or saving every receipt on vacation to audit our daily spending down to the dollar. In every sense, they were amazing parents, and their rituals instilled in me a desire to be intentional about how I lived my life. As human beings in a world of constant distraction, time is the most precious resource we have. As a CEO, managing that resource is one of the most important skills you can master. And it’s no picnic. I…

One of the most pervasive rules of business is compete-to-win or perish. But as more organizations struggle to navigate an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous landscape, some innovative leaders are choosing to collaborate over compete. This is particularly necessary within the organization, where collaboration may be considered beneficial in theory, but in practice, the rules of engagement still revolve around competition: colleagues become rivals over promotion opportunities, recognition, and advancement. The competition within the organization makes it harder to navigate the disruption and certainty on the outside. How do leaders banish in-h…

Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, Apple has rolled out a new iOS 26 feature that lets users store their U.S. passport on their iPhone. The digitization of the passport is something tech-savvy travelers have longed for, especially as other once physical-only items that have crowded our pockets, like credit cards, driver’s licenses, and even car keys, have made their way onto the iPhone. But so far there are limitations to what you can do with your digitized passport, which Apple dubs your “Digital ID.” Here’s what you need to know about uploading your passport to your iPhone and what you can—and can’t—use it for once it’s there. How to add your passp…

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…

When Apple launched the App Store in 2008, it was impossibly influential to the future of the internet. The all-powerful world wide web was sliced and diced into bite-sized apps oft-dubbed Web 2.0. What followed was not just software that fit in your pocket. From TikTok to Uber, these camera-wielding, GPS-integrated, cloud-connected platforms changed the way we lived. Now, in the wake of AI, the app store is arising anew. But instead of being built as tappable icons inside a mobile OS, they are plugging directly into the conversations of LLMs like Microsoft CoPilot and Anthropic’s Claude. Today, OpenAI—the largest AI platform with 800 million weekly users—is openi…

In the months following 2023’s Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, film-industry workers adopted a refrain: “Survive ‘til ‘25” — a meager goal reflecting industry reality. The strikes came shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic ground production to a halt. The dream factory had become a nightmare. The pandemic-inflicted production pause bled workers’ savings, forcing many to seek income outside the industry. Once work restarted, those who wanted to return to work — grips, camera operators, writers, directors, administrative staff, the Teamsters who ferry cast and crew to film set…

Motivation comes and go, but consistency is what will get you the results. That’s a principle I’ve tried to live by for as long as I can remember. For the most part, it has served me pretty well. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that being consistent while being unmotivated can be energy draining. And when mental and physical energy is lacking, it can be difficult to be consistent. Earlier this year, I found myself in a bit of a motivation rut. I’d had a very busy six months of work. As a freelancer, this is something that I’m definitely grateful for and don’t take for granted. When things started to slow down for a little bit, I figured that I would finally ha…

The early stages of building a brand are critical. Beyond identifying their audience, brands also have to connect with them while demonstrating their utility. For the five companies recognized as 2025 Brands That Matter honorees in the on the rise category, in four years or less they have managed to do both those things with aplomb. Whether it’s Unrivaled’s unique NIL and athletic proposition for WNBA athletes, Scarlett Gasque’s ability to tap into underserved shoppers, or Alan-1’s efforts to give the arcade game an upgrade for avid players, these brands have proven their strengths. Alan-1 Alan-1 creates arcade and video game products inspired by the 1980s. In …

The Farmers’ Almanac isn’t going out of business after all, but it is leaving Maine for the bright lights of New York City and a new owner. Beloved by farmers and gardeners, the almanac was first printed in 1818 and — like the arguably more famous Old Farmer’s Almanac — relies on a secret formula of sunspots, planetary positions, and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts. It’s been acquired by Unofficial Networks, a digital publisher focused on skiing and outdoor recreation. That means the almanac will keep operating despite announcing in November that its 208-year run was coming to an end. A new Farmers’ Almanac website will be “a living, brea…

If you want to recycle an old electric toothbrush or pair of headphones with a lithium battery embedded inside, it can be hard to find a place to do it—and many existing battery collection boxes are fire risks. That’s why Redwood Materials, the battery recycling and energy storage company founded by ex-Tesla engineer JB Straubel, just redesigned the collection bin. The new bins, rolling out first in San Francisco stores in partnership with the city’s environmental department, can accept any type of rechargeable device, from phones to electric razors, earbuds, and loose lithium batteries. When someone drops a battery or device into a slot, the bin automatically lowers …

The debate around AI ROI has gotten loud—and, frankly, a little cyclical. One moment, we’re hearing that AI is the key to exponential growth; the next, that 95% of AI pilots fail. At Addi, we’ve been able to leverage AI to grow 4x faster while operating at ~2x the profitability of BNPL peers. This year alone, we’ve saved more than $500,000 from our AI initiatives. But how have we accomplished such strong AI ROI? The difference between performative AI and AI with returns isn’t in which model or tool you’re using; it’s how your team is using them. Here’s how we’ve driven genuine AI-native team adoption and built a workflow/data pipeline that actually makes sens…