What's on Your Mind?

At a recent fundraising event, I stood backstage with a young woman waiting to give a speech in front of 550 people to honor her alma mater. She was visibly nervous; I watched as she paced, taking deep breaths to calm the adrenaline that was flooding her body, twisting her hands, and looking toward the stage door as if she might try to make a run for it. As a charity auctioneer who has spent more than two decades on stages around the world commanding rooms filled with thousands of people, I know that feeling. There were so many nights in the beginning of my career when I felt the same way. But spending 1,000-plus nights onstage has given me plenty of practice to learn…

** NEEDS JUSTIN POT BYLINE ** Have you ever opened your favorite music-streaming app and wondered why all your playlists have the same five songs? It can be annoying, even if they happen to be five songs you’re really into right now. And, make no mistake, they will be five songs you’re really into right now, because that’s how many of these services work—and it’s not because everyone else has the same taste in music as you. For instance, any Spotify playlist that says “created for” in the header is catered to the individual user, based on their listening history. There’s nothing wrong with that, necessarily—it can be nice to know you’re going to hear songs you lik…

The elephant enclosure at your local zoo is an interesting place to be. But until 20 years ago, it was somewhere you’d encounter in person—with reverence and intimacy. A video uploaded by YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim 20 years ago today changed that. Karim wanted to test out the capabilities of a new website he and his colleagues had developed—what they called YouTube—and needed content to share with the world. It was designed to be filler: That much is evident in the halting presentation of the 19-second video. But beyond its role as a historical footnote—the video that gave birth to YouTube, the cultural phenomenon that has reshaped our consumption habits and …

At a time of skyrocketing costs in the U.S., looming tariffs, and fears of a recession, New Yorkers are finally getting some good news: Over 8 million people in the Empire state will receive a sort of stimulus check, or officially, an “inflation refund check” this year, according to Democratic governor Kathy Hochul. The refunds come as Americans continue to battle high inflation, driving up prices on everything from housing to groceries, stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. While inflation has steadily decreased from its 2022 high of 9.1%, prices have not re-adjusted to levels before the pandemic, according to Newsweek. Last week, Hochul s…

Nearly 33% of women say they feel anxious about their careers in 2025, and another 17% feel overwhelmed. Close to 60% of women say current events are increasing stress levels and disrupting focus at work. These findings come from recent data from careers platform InHerSight. They overlay already concerning data about surging anxiety across the U.S. In 2024, 43% of adults reported feeling more anxious than they did the previous year, compared to 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022, according to a poll by the American Psychiatric Association. Anxiety about career progression and stress from current events are distinct challenges. However, they share a common thread. Both af…

American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for work shedding light on how the immune system spares healthy cells, creating openings for possible new autoimmune disease and cancer treatments. This year’s prize relates to peripheral immune tolerance, or “how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute. Sakaguchi told reporters outside his university laboratory that “I feel it is a tremendous honour,” Kyodo news age…

Oxford Dictionary just revealed its official word of 2025. It’s “rage bait.” According to an official announcement post, Oxford Dictionary’s team of lexicographers choose a shortlist of potential words each year by analyzing data and trends to “identify new and emerging words and expressions, which our lexicographers think of as a ‘single unit’, and examine the shifts in how more established language is being used.” This year’s final contenders were “aura farming,” “biohack,” and “rage bait.” In the end, 30,000 members of the public voted for their top choices, and Oxford chose rage bait as the winner. Per the Oxford Dictionary’s editors, rage bait is defined …

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in history, and it’s meeting a growing American soccer fanbase on home turf for the first time since the ’90s. With companies paying millions to reach these fans, the challenge is standing out from the noise. On this episode of FC Explains, Fast Company Senior Staff Editor Jeff Beer explores what he’s learned from Men in Blazers co-founder Roger Bennett about how brands can leverage compelling storytelling and authentic fan culture, which sometimes matter more than the action on the field. Beer also shares insights from executives at major brands like Verizon and Anheuser-Busch about their World Cup marketing strategies to …

The 68th annual Grammy Awards will take place Feb. 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This year marks a return to normalcy after the 2025 award show was altered to focus on supporting relief efforts following the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. “I think we will see some history-making moments,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. “With artists being nominated in categories they haven’t been previously nominated in, and a new crop of talent coming through the system this year — I think we’re going to see some really exciting results.” Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 Grammys, including how to str…

Remember earlier this year when everyone on your feed was wearing bizarre shoes, like Maison Margiella’s ballerina flats with split toes and mesh ballet flats? Or when statement scrunchies were all the rage? Don’t feel bad if you missed it. Blink, and the trend was over. Over the past 15 years, the pace of fashion trends has sped up thanks to social media and fast fashion brands. But over the past five years, with the rise of TikTok and Shein, they’ve gotten out of control. Micro-trends pop up in a subculture of the internet, lasting for just a few days before fading into oblivion. It’s gotten to the point where many people have lost interest in fashion trends al…

The 42nd Sundance Film Festival kicks off this week in Park City, Utah. It will be the last edition in its longtime home and the first without its founder Robert Redford, who died in September at age 89. But even in this time of transition and change, the festival’s main focus — the movies — remains as vibrant and fresh as ever with 90 features premiering through Feb. 1. And three of them feature pop star Charli xcx. “It’s a broad, eclectic and bold program,” Sundance public programming director Eugene Hernandez told The Associated Press. Hernandez said the lineup for the festival’s final year in Park City has a “mixture of new, exciting voices paired with som…

In December 2024, our survey with Harris Poll asked B2B marketers to share their top areas for investment in 2025. Artificial intelligence tools were at the top of the list. It also wasn’t surprising to see the AI architects named Time magazine’s Person of the Year as the ripple effects of the technology continue across every sector. And in 2026, we will see B2B decision makers do something new: return to basics andembrace AI to reimagine what’s possible. This approach reveals a compelling duality in how marketers are planning for 2026. There’s a return to what we’ve always known while also betting big on AI as a force not only reshaping work, but rewriting today’s B2…

2025 unleashed the enormous potential of AI. According to Pew Research, 62% of adults say they interact with AI at least several times a week, and 73% of U.S. adults say they are at least a little bit willing to let AI assist with their day-to-day activities. However, while most people today use AI primarily for answering their questions or researching products to buy, the real opportunity isn’t in better search functionality alone. In the consumer tech industry, we are at the threshold of a generational opportunity to leverage AI to make people’s lives better and more meaningful, saving them time on what they need to do so they can focus on doing what they want to do…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2026-27 school year has officially opened. Despite the U.S. government shutdown, the Education Department will continue to process the FAFSA. If you plan to attend college next year, Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, recommends that you fill it out as soon as you can. If it’s your first time applying, here’s what you need to know: How does the FAFSA work? The FAFSA is a free government application that uses students’ and their families’ financial information to determine whether they can get financial aid from the federal gov…

An Idaho-based beef processing facility is recalling about 22,912 pounds of raw ground beef over concerns that the products might be contaminated with E. coli O145. The company, CS Beef Packers in Kuna, issued the recall following testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), according to a recall notice published late Wednesday. An FSIS test at a “downstream customer” showed E. coli O415. This strand of the bacteria is a variation of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The USDA has labeled the recalled products as high risk, with the potential to cause adverse health consequences or even death. Here’s wh…

DNA testing firm 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The once high-flying San Francisco company—which provides DNA analysis to offer insights into ancestry, health traits, and genetic risks—is aiming to sell itself after facing significant challenges, including rejected acquisition offers and declining market value in the wake of a 2023 data breach that impacted millions of users. In addition, CEO Anne Wojcicki has stepped down, and CFO Joe Selsavage will serve as interim CEO during the restructuring process, 23andMe said on Sunday. The company plans to continue operating as it seeks a buyer. The bankruptcy filing punctuates a stunning dow…

Some important news for million of 23andMe customers, past and present: the genetic testing company notified customers on Sunday, they now have until July 14 to file potential claims as the company navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to according to TechCrunch. The DNA testing firm, which filed for bankruptcy in March, along with 11 of its subsidiaries, must pay customers as part of its bankruptcy restructuring process. FastCompany has reached out to 23andMe for comment. 23andme, which provided DNA analysis to offer insights into ancestry, health traits, and genetic risks filed for Chapter 11 after it rejected acquisition offers and its market value pl…