What's on Your Mind?

Endings are tricky: You want closure and to go out with a bang—which is a hard balance. It’s natural to want the end of the year to be meaningful. Even the moon appears to agree with this sentiment, and it’s about to prove it. The final full moon of 2025, which is also called the cold moon, will be a bright supermoon occurring on December 4. Before we get into how best to moon-gaze, let’s break down what that all means, and do a year-end moon review. Why is December’s full moon called the ‘cold moon’? Human beings assign names even to celestial happenings. The Old Farmer’s Almanac compiled the most commonly used monikers, based on Old English and Native Ame…

Headlines about a shredded cheese recall affecting more than a quarter of a million cases of various products have been making the rounds for the last few days, understandably alarming consumers. Yet the recall itself is not new, despite only being widely publicized at this time. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? Back in early October, a company called Great Lakes Cheese Co of Hiram, Ohio, reportedly issued a large-scale recall that impacted a range of shredded cheese products. The recall was initiated after Great Lakes Cheese was informed by one of its suppliers that some of its “Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella” may have been contaminated …

If you combine the NYSE and TBPN, do you get a BFD? Apparently. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is announcing that it has inked a partnership with the live video podcast TBPN, becoming the show’s exclusive exchange partner. The deal marks another feather in the cap for TBPN, which has become one of the most-talked-about financial and tech-focused media startups in only 11 months, and also marks a further cross-generational shift into new media by the NYSE, which itself is 233 years old. TBPN (“Technology Business Programming Network”) will continue to record and broadcast from its home base in Los Angeles. The show will now have access to the NYSE—similar …

From reality TV to fashion and beauty and everywhere in between, you’ve unmistakably heard of Kim Kardashian. Critics may talk, but there’s no denying she’s one of the most influential and accomplished women of our time—with a net worth of $1.7 billion. And she’s still expanding. Now, after building a multibillion-dollar empire, Kardashian is taking on a new role: instructor. Her new MasterClass, “The New Rules of Business: The Ten Kimmandments with Kim Kardashian,” launches today. “Master them and you’ll create marketing that commands attention and build businesses that will scale,” Kardashian says. The tenets cover a range of 10 lessons, but Kimmandment #8—“Know…

The numbers are in for Spotify Wrapped: After the streaming music app dropped its popular year-in-review recap for 2025, the company said it has already seen a huge increase in user engagement, hitting 200 million users just 24 hours after the recap’s release, a 19% increase year-over-year (YOY). Compare that with last year, when it took 62 hours to hit that same number. Why the uptick in user engagement? One reason could be because the platform is growing. A look at the numbers shows Spotify’s monthly active users grew 11% YOY to 713 million in Q3 of 2025, according to the company’s third quarter earnings report. Spotify Wrapped is for sharing Sharing …

It’s been a tumultuous year for the legacy retailer, shaped by new tariffs, shifting consumer habits, and the constant flip between “wartime” and “peacetime” leadership. Tony Spring, Macy’s Inc. chairman and CEO, shares why his team is now on “version 27 of the plan,” and what it really means to court the next generation of shoppers. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you ge…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people to stop using certain types of glucose monitor sensors after the company that makes them, Abbott Diabetes Care, said the devices were linked to seven deaths and more than 700 injuries. Certain FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors may provide incorrect low glucose readings, FDA officials said this week. Such readings over an extended period may lead people with diabetes to make bad treatment decisions, such as consuming too many carbohydrates or skipping or delaying doses of insulin. “These decisions may pose serious health risks, including potential injury or death,” the FDA said in the alert. The …

On November 19, Block Inc. held its first Investor Day in three years. Jack Dorsey, the company’s cofounder, chief executive, and “Block Head,” took to the stage and summarily posed what many investors and others in the industry were likely thinking. “Our business is complicated,” he said. “We want to make it much easier to understand going forward.” Dorsey—notably clean-shaven—proceeded to summarize the past few years at Block. The company is indeed much more complex now than when it was founded in 2009 as Square, named for the point-of-sale system that was the company’s first product. Four years ago, it changed its name to Block, a much more fitting monike…

It is a relatively rare phenomenon: While the stock market continues to experience record gains (the S&P 500 is up over 16% this year), Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to struggle, making it the first time the crypto and stock markets have split since 2014, Bloomberg reported. That split, with Bitcoin down while stock markets soar, is somewhat unusual. On midday Friday, at the time of this writing, the digital cryptocurrency (BTC) was trading down over 4%, hovering around $88,945—far below its record high of over $125,000, but still above a recent low of $85,000 (down almost 30% from the high). Here’s what to know. Why is the split between cryp…

When people use hand gestures that visually represent what they’re saying, listeners see them as more clear, competent, and persuasive. That’s the key finding from my new research published in the Journal of Marketing Research, where I analyzed thousands of TED Talks and ran controlled experiments to examine how gestures shape communication. Talking with your hands Whether you’re giving a presentation, pitching an idea or leading a meeting, you probably spend most of your prep time thinking about what you’ll say. But what about the ways you’ll move your hands? I grew up in Italy, where gesturing is practically a second language. Now that I live in the United St…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Zillow economists use an economic model known as the Zillow Market Heat Index to gauge the competitiveness of housing markets across the country. This model looks at key indicators—including home price changes, inventory levels, and days on market—to generate a score showing whether a market favors sellers or buyers. Higher scores point to hotter, seller-friendly metro housing markets. Lower scores signal cooler markets where buyers hold more negotiating power. According to Zillow: Score of 70 or above = strong sellers market Score…

When Vlad Drǎgușin founded his midcentury inspired toy car company, Candylab, in 2013, he had a Kickstarter page and a dream. His goal was to create wooden model cars inspired by hot rods and classic American car designs; toys that would be both durable enough for play and sleek enough for display. As it turns out, there’s a major growing market for that kind of thing—and Candylab just rebranded to capture it. Since its founding, Candylab has secured retail placement in stores like London’s Design Museum, MoMa, The Guggenheim, Barnes & Noble, and the cult favorite apparel brand Kith. It’s also notched major brand collabs including with Saint Laurent, Zara Kids, Cr…

Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues—everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor. Here’s a roundup of answers to three questions from readers. 1. I’ve fired my new employee before I recently took a new job in my same industry and city. In my new role, I’ll have a team of eight reporting to me in various capacities and functions. During the interview process, I got a brief read-out on the team and a high-level talent assessment. Nothing stood out as an issue. On my first day, I met the team reporting to me. One of the people on the team is someone w…

Netflix’s decision to quietly remove the ability to cast content from its mobile apps to smart TVs and streaming devices has caused a bit of an uproar on social media. The complaints are the usual ones you see when a company removes a feature. Some blame greed. Some are upset their method of end-running subscription sharing has been shut down. Some just jump on the opportunity to complain about Netflix. But frequent travelers could have a legitimate grievance about the company’s decision to largely end casting. The change was enacted without warning and without fanfare in November, with some of the earliest complaints from users coming on November 10. Netflix has …

A Cinnabon worker in Wisconsin has been fired after a racist outburst directed at two customers went viral, the Georgia-based cinnamon roll chain said. Cinnabon posted a statement on social media that the worker, who it did not identify, was “immediately terminated” by the franchise owner over a “disturbing video” of the incident. “Their actions and statements are completely unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of Cinnabon, our franchisees, or the welcoming environment we expect for every guest and team member,” the company added in a follow-up statement to The Associated Press on Sunday. The video was posted on TikTok and showed a white, female emplo…

Like many American cities, the streetscape in downtown Brooklyn was for a long time very heavy on the street: a great place to park a car or drive through. But over the past 20 years, the area itself has gone from being a 9-to-5 shopping and business district to one where a growing number of people live 24-7. Since 2004, more than 22,000 housing units have been added to the neighborhood, changing its character so much that its old streetscape just wasn’t cutting it. “There was a real evolution of the neighborhood,” says Regina Myer, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP), a business improvement district representing the area’s business owners, shopkee…

Rejoice, New Year’s dieters: Oreos are getting a sugar-free option. Mondelez said Tuesday that Oreo Zero Sugar and Oreo Double Stuf Zero Sugar will go on sale in the U.S. in January. They’re a permanent addition to the company’s Oreo lineup. It’s the first time Mondelez has sold sugar-free Oreos in the U.S. They’re already sold in Europe and China, the company said. Mondelez said consumers are increasingly seeking what it calls “mindful indulgence,” and the new Oreos will fill an existing gap in the market for sugar-free sandwich cookies. Others have also noted the trend toward healthier snacks. In a report earlier this year, the market research company Circana…

Gen Z’s latest online fixation is the so-called ‘millennial optimism’ era. The TikTok trend sees users posting early-2000s throwback snaps set to The Middle East’s 2009 song “Blood”. Think moustache tattoos, Apple Photo Booth selfies, and owl-print tops paired with galaxy leggings. For those too young to experience it firsthand: the 2010s were a simpler, happier time. As one TikTok creator posted: “Millennial optimism era really had me thinking I could make a living as a part-time barista and live in a six-bedroom house with all my friends.” As one commenter confirmed: “Tbh this was actually possible in 2012.” In another clip, one Gen Zer wrote: “Every day I’m fa…

AI promises a smarter, faster, more efficient future, but beneath that optimism lies a quiet problem that’s getting worse: the data itself. We talk a lot about algorithms, but not enough about the infrastructure that feeds them. The truth is, innovation can’t outpace the quality of its inputs, and right now those inputs are showing signs of strain. When the foundation starts to crack, even the most advanced systems will falter. A decade ago, scale and accuracy could go hand-in-hand. But today, those goals often pull in opposite directions. Privacy regulations, device opt-ins, and new platform restrictions have made high-quality, first-party data harder than ever to ca…

Augustus Doricko, founder and CEO of cloud-seeding startup Rainmaker, surveys the sky from a sunbaked hillside 5 miles from Utah’s Great Salt Lake. On this balmy Sunday afternoon in late September, the lake is calm, but its serenity belies a potentially catastrophic problem: The Great Salt Lake is shrinking—and is at risk of disappearing altogether. At its peak 40 years ago, the lake covered 2,300 square miles; today, more than 800 square miles of lake bed are exposed. As more of the lake dries, scientists warn that dust storms made up of toxic heavy metals could plague the Salt Lake Valley, home to 1.2 million people, and beyond. Rainmaker’s futuristic technology…

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” quite like a 7.5-foot-tall Chewbacca holding a candy cane. At least, according to the team at Home Depot. Home Depot has long been known as a purveyor of holiday decor, from pumpkins at Halloween to a wide selection of real and artificial trees at Christmas. In recent years, though, it’s been upping the creative ante on its decor game to capture new audiences—and, in some cases, to score a viral hit on TikTok. This year, it’s doing just that with two new additions to its holiday lineup: life-size, animated versions of Star Wars’ Chewbacca and R2-D2 ($349 and $299, respectively), complete with movie-accurate, motion-activated sound e…

Lululemon might just be entering a new—and improved—era. On Thursday, December 11, the athleisure apparel company shared a mostly positive third-quarter earnings report and announced the departure of its CEO, Calvin McDonald. McDonald will leave Lululemon Athletica on January 31, after seven years in the post. He previously served as CEO of Sephora Americas. The last year has been one of underperformance for Lululemon. In October, the company’s controversial founder and largest independent shareholder, Chip Wilson, took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Lululemon’s direction. While he didn’t go as far as to name McDonald, Wilson wrote, “…