What's on Your Mind?

Nuclear detonation could mark the start of World War III, plunging the planet into the deadliest conflict in human history. But on the bright side, it could have turned a profit for a few lucky gamblers. Prediction platform Polymarket lets users bet on everything from pop culture to global politics to the amount of times Elon Musk will post on X in a week. But one of its latest markets seems to have crossed an ethical line: an event titled “Nuclear weapon detonation by…?” where users could bet on when a nuclear bomb would go off. After major backlash online, the event has been archived, but not before Polymarket users bet more than $838,000 total, predicting that …

Over the last 50 years, the chasm between average worker pay and CEO compensation has cracked wide open. Between 1978 and 2024, chief executive pay spiked by 1,094%, according to the Economic Policy Institute—which means the average CEO earns 281 times the average worker. A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive research organization, captures how this disparity persists across some of the largest companies in the country and how the low-wage workers they employ are forced to rely on public benefits. The report drew on the S&P 500 and tallied a list of 20 companies that have been dubbed the “Low-Wage 20,” which includes some of the u…

Utah-based outdoor retailer Sportsman’s Warehouse may be closing some of its stores in the near future. “As part of the Company’s review of its stores, we have identified about five stores for potential closure due to underperformance and lack of profitability,” Sportsman’s Warehouse wrote in its Fiscal Year 2025 financial results press release. Sportsman’s Warehouse did not respond to Fast Company’s request for comment on which stores it identified at the time of publication. Sportsman’s Warehouse has 148 locations spread across 32 different states. The brand is mostly centered around western states, with 17 stores in California, 14 in Washington, and 13 in U…

When fintech company Block laid off 40% off its workforce last week, CEO Jack Dorsey explained the decision in a memo to employees that he also shared on social media. He was eliminating more than 4,000 jobs in the name of AI efficiency, he said, even though the company’s profitability was increasing. Though much of his letter was addressed to those who were losing their jobs, he ended with a note to those who’d be staying on. “What I’m asking of you is to build with me,” Dorsey wrote. “We’re going to build this company with intelligence at the core of everything we do. How we work, how we create, how we serve our customers.” But one Block employee who survived th…

Seventy-three-year-old Delroy Lindo just received his first Oscar nomination of his career—and he has advice for anyone who’s been in their fields for decades like he has. “The first thing that you have to come to terms with as an actor is being rejected,” the actor told The Wall Street Journal this week. That’s key for anyone trying to make it in Hollywood. But Lindo, who plays blues musician Delta Slim in Best Picture nominee Sinners, has been working in the industry since moving to New York in his 20s, and finally got his first Academy Award nomination this year (for Best Supporting Actor). He told the Journal that he wouldn’t be where he is today without trus…

Elon Musk is expected to take the stand in a shareholder trial on Wednesday in San Francisco, where he’s accused of making false and misleading statements that drove down Twitter’s stock price before he bought the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022. The lawsuit was filed in October 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Twitter shareholders who sold the stock between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022, a few weeks before Musk’s purchase of Twitter was finalized. It claims Musk violated federal securities laws by making false, public statements that “were carefully calculated to drive down the price of Twitter stock.” T…

Apple’s new 13-inch laptop, the MacBook Neo, is a cheap MacBook in the era of expensive PCs, when AI’s endless appetite for memory has caused the price of computers to skyrocket. Its $599 starting price isn’t much more than what a couple of sticks of DDR5 will cost these days. The secret to the low price? The Neo isn’t driven by your typical laptop chipset, but the same architecture inside your iPhone. It’s an iPhone with a 12.9-inch screen and keyboard. But the Neo design is largely based on nostalgia. Its colorful anodized aluminum computer body—a callback to the classic iPod minis and nanos so coveted by gen Z and Alpha—is more a retro-release than something n…

While social media platforms have a habit of copying each other, there’s one area where TikTok is forging its own path. TikTok doesn’t use end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for direct messages, the BBC reports. In contrast, the security measure is used by Meta Platforms for services like Facebook and WhatsApp. It’s also integrated into Signal, Apple, and Google’s in-device messages, and Snapchat. End-to-end encryption means only those involved in a conversation can read those messages. These other platforms argue this is critical for users’ privacy as it means the companies and law enforcement are unable to see any of the content that users send. However, in its…

Bombs are falling across the Middle East as the United States and Israel try to bring Iran to heel. But while physical infrastructure is toppling in Iran, the country’s digital armies are still fighting with force. Groups linked to the Iranian regime have hit Jordanian gas firms, as well as businesses in the UAE and Qatar, as part of its Great Epic cyber offensive. Countries including the UK, whose military base in Cyprus has been hit by Iran-linked missiles, have begun warning businesses to prepare for possible Iranian cyberattacks. That raises a bigger question: How did Iran become such a formidable force in cyberwarfare, and to what end? A cyber shock to th…

Things are moving quickly in the Middle East following the February 28 attack by Israel and the United States on Iran. Repeated waves of US-Israeli strikes have hit military and government sites across Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and prompting a temporary leadership council to take charge in Tehran. Iran has responded with threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and launched retaliatory attacks around the Gulf, raising fears that the conflict could spill over into a broader regional war and disrupt global energy supplies. One way the average Joe is trying to keep track is by “monitoring the situation” using dashboards—many of which, their creators admit, were spun …

The J. Paul Getty Trust has a flexible new logo that ties its extensive art collections and various programs into a single yet versatile identity. The trust, founded in 1953, today runs the Getty Center and Getty Villa art museums in Los Angeles, as well as a foundation, conservation institute, and research institute. The new logo brings all the entities together as a unified brand. “We needed a visual identity that was uniquely Getty and distinct enough to unify how we show up globally,” Yasmine Vatere, assistant director of brand management and marketing, said in a statement. Famed designer Saul Bass created the outgoing logo for the opening of the G…

Bootstrapping a company from a startup in Croatia to a global platform is not an easy task. When my cofounder Izabel Jelenić and I created Infobip, my parents gave us a modest loan of about $28,000, and we had to find ways to use that investment strategically until we could raise external funding. Over the past 20+ years, we have learned valuable lessons along the way as our company evolved. We have developed newer versions to keep pace with the fast-moving digital world where businesses need to connect with customers quickly and in ways that feel personal. And what we’ve found is that these four strategies worked during the startup phase of our company and are still …

Since its invention in 1903, the classic Monopoly board game has spawned such a plethora of spin-offs that they nearly span the breadth of all possible human interests. From gardening and beer drinking to the FIFA World Cup, Star Wars, and the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, if you can think of it, there’s a fair chance it’s been turned into a Monopoly game. Now there’s yet another version out there. This one celebrates the life and legacy of artist Keith Haring in a design by WS Game Co., a licensee of Hasbro (Monopoly’s parent company) that specializes in deluxe versions of classic tabletop games. For the 40th anniversary of Haring’s iconic New York City store, Po…

Airport lounges are getting bigger, flashier, and increasingly crowded. American Express (Amex) believes the next evolution might actually be smaller. On Wednesday, the company opened the doors to Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge, a new 33-seat speakeasy-style lounge concept at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The space is designed specifically for travelers who have 90 minutes or less before boarding, offering a quick stop for food, drinks, and a moment of calm before heading to the gate. The opening represents the first new format for the Centurion Lounge brand since the network debuted more than a decade ago. According to Audrey Hendley, p…

Americans are feeling financially stretched: 92% cut back on spending last year, including curbing essentials like healthcare and groceries. Is this really the time for Target to be focused on trendy throw pillows, luxury beauty products, and premium sodas? At Target’s investor day on Tuesday, CEO Michael Fiddelke tried to convince Wall Street that the retailer is about to undergo a massive turnaround, after years of declining comparable sales, most recently in this last quarter. His reinvention plan is anchored in stylish design, differentiation from other retailers, and delighting the customer in-store. But none of these strategies seemed built for the economic mome…

Nike’s recently relaunched sub-brand, ACG, just created a soccer field that can host a game anywhere—from a snowy slope to an island vista or a desert landscape. It’s made of more than 1,500 portable components. The creative agency Amsterdam Berlin designed the pitch kit, called the “All Conditions Cup System.” It includes everything one might need to host a game—from goals and field lines to chairs, lights, and whistles—all made out of lightweight, portable materials. The All Conditions Cup System was designed for the announcement of a new apparel collection between ACG and the Italian soccer club Inter Milan. (ACG, which stands for “All Conditions Gear,” re…

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an optimistic, joy-seeking, recovering workaholic committed to leading a joyful rebellion against stress and burnout. So when friends started tagging me in posts about U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu’s joyful gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Milan, I paid attention. Because this isn’t just a sports story. It’s a leadership story. When Liu stepped away from competitive figure skating at the height of her career, it wasn’t because she lacked grit. It was because pushing harder was costing her joy. That choice runs against everything we tend to praise in high performers: Push through. Power through. Never quit. In an interview with …

Leadership isn’t just about making decisions, driving results, or inspiring teams. It’s about the willingness to confront uncomfortable truths: about your business, your team, and yourself. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who avoid hard questions; they’re the ones who seek them out and act on the answers. “The pace at which we’re all working today doesn’t naturally lend itself to being reflective,“ notes Peter Winick, founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. “As a leader, you don’t get enough quiet time. The thought leaders and business leaders I work with figure out how to make it part of their routine. For some, it’s during a commute, a workout, a show…

Authenticity is a critical leadership trait. Research shows that it facilitates more trusting relationships and a more positive working environment. Often, though, in my executive coaching practice, I hear senior leaders use ‘authenticity’ as a covert excuse to resist development. When clients say, “That doesn’t feel authentic,” it’s often a signal they’re avoiding growth. They’re fearfully or righteously attached to a static version of their leadership. This is a major liability. As leaders elevate in seniority, they must adapt their approach. They need to experiment with different ways of thinking, communicating, and engaging to navigate increased scope and complexi…