What's on Your Mind?

When we talk about travel apps, we typically talk about the types of tools that help you organize your itineraries, find worthwhile stops along your way, or maybe even just find flights (and/or fuel!) in the first place. Those types of tools are important—but there’s another travel resource I recently ran into that might be even more invaluable. It’s a free website that gives you unprecedented insight into exactly how much turbulence you can expect on any given flight, before you take off—as well as what the wind and overall weather conditions may mean for your odds of an on-time (or, if you’re lucky, maybe even early) arrival. Trust me: This is one you’ll abs…

Managers are rushing to deploy AI for efficiency gains. Employees have to figure out how to make it work—and that’s sometimes harder than it seems. Half of organizations piloted general-purpose AI tools last year, according to MIT research. But adoption and readiness aren’t the same thing. According to Rumman Chowdhury, former U.S. Science Envoy for AI and CEO and cofounder of Humane Intelligence, the burden is likely to fall on workers. “There’s a lot of FOMO among C-suites and high-level execs on pressure to build AI, and then they’re also incentivized to pretend like it works really well,” she says. “If and when it doesn’t, the responsibility is on the emp…

At first, he appeared in the top corner of a multi-slide TikTok post. Then he was spotted demurely relaxing in a lawn chair on a livestream. Finally, on March 30, Apple’s new mascot, nicknamed “Finder Guy,” made his debut—and the internet has instantly become enamored with him. Finder Guy appeared as part of the rollout for Apple’s MacBook Neo, a colorful, affordable laptop marketed to younger consumers. For the Neo campaign, Apple introduced an entirely new TikTok brand persona on March 4, clearly making a play to capture Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers by combining trending aesthetics with Apple’s high-design point of view. Popular videos have included a brain-ting…

Raising Cane’s CEO Todd Graves could go without veggies in his to-go box. More specifically, his go-to Cane’s order includes the box combo, extra toast and extra sauce—and no slaw, he said in a TikTok last month. The fast food executive admitted he’s not a fan of coleslaw, adding “that’s why you can trade it out,” in Joe Bonham’s “Financial Flex” social media series. His reasoning for including the shredded salad: “I wanted a vegetable component to the meal, and coleslaw is a Southern thing.” As the post went viral, one user asked the exec to swap the coleslaw for mac and cheese. Others pleaded to keep the coleslaw on the menu. Customers who order the Box Co…

For decades, cars dictated urban planning in the United States. Few could have predicted that they would one day also double as nodes for surveillance. In thousands of towns and cities across the U.S., automatic license plate readers have been installed at major intersections, bridges and highway off-ramps. These camera-based systems capture the license plate data of passing vehicles, along with images of the vehicle and time stamps. More recently, these systems are using artificial intelligence to create a vast, searchable database that can be integrated with other law enforcement data repositories. As a scholar of technology policy and data governance, I…

These days, tech bros keep talking about “taste”— the ability to exercise human judgment and determine unique responses while guiding a machine. It’s a rare skillset, as some AI-made media automates content in the form of generic slop. And now tech professionals are the very people worried that technology will rob society of any real taste. The New Yorker’s Kyle Chayka, who broke down tech bros’ obsession with taste last month, coined the term “taste-washing” as the act of giving “anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.” In other words: giving AI properties human-like qualities and letting them run with it. When machines do all the creating, what are …

With the world struggling to get oil supplies moving from the Middle East, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich raised eyebrows with a social media post highlighting a radical idea: Use nuclear bombs to cut a new channel along a route that would avoid Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz. Gingrich’s March 15, 2026, post linked to an article that labeled itself as satire. Gingrich has not clarified whether his endorsement was serious. But he is old enough to remember when ideas like this were not only taken seriously but actually pursued by the U.S. and Soviet governments. As I discuss in my book, Deep Cut: Science, Power, and the Unbuilt Interoceanic Canal, the U…

For billions of Christians around the world, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. While this is not an official federal holiday, federal offices are already closed because it always falls on a Sunday. Many private businesses and retail chains also choose to close their doors on this day, so even if you don’t celebrate, you may be impacted by the festivities. Here’s a look at what is open and closed on Easter Sunday, which is today, April 5, 2026: Mail, schools, and the stock market There will be no mail delivery from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), because it is not typically delivered on Sundays. The only exception is Priority Mail Express…

AI is moving fast. But are we really keeping humans at the center? AI scientist, founder of Affectiva, investor at Blue Tulip, and host of Pioneers of AI, Rana el Kaliouby makes the case that human-centric AI isn’t just a safety guardrail; it’s the key to thriving socially, economically, and emotionally. She also cuts through the noise on the buzziest AI myths, including whether we’re in an AI bubble. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response recorded live at SXSW, hosted by 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 busine…

For the record, this is not a sponsored post. I’m just frugal, and I like to travel as lightly as possible. Every piece of tech in my tightly packed bag needs to earn its keep by doing at least two jobs. As such, I’m a sucker for anything that can serve more than one purpose and does so on the cheap. Anker happens to make a lot of that type of stuff. If you’ve bought an aftermarket charger or power bank in the last decade, you’ve probably seen the name. I’ve found their gear to be equal parts reliable and budget-friendly in an age where buying off-brand tech accessories is a total crapshoot. So, if you’re ready to ditch the dead weight, here are three inexpens…

In 1990, my mother discovered a four-year-old startup called American Girl, and she liked what she saw: Books about different eras in American history, told through the eyes of a girl roughly her daughter’s age, with an 18-inch doll based on each character. It was more educational and wholesome than Barbie, so she was happy to buy them for me. My favorite character was Molly McIntire, a 9-year-old living through World War II in Illinois, whose father had been sent to the front lines and hadn’t written home in months. What I loved about the books was that they trusted children to process difficult things—slavery, mortality, war—that adults typically shielded us from. …

Travelers will soon face restrictions on how many portable chargers they can carry on a flight as airlines continue to try to reduce the risk of another lithium battery fire aboard their jets. Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that starting April 20 passengers will only be able to carry one charger on their planes, and they won’t be allowed to put it in the overhead bin or in their checked luggage. The airline already requires passengers to keep their chargers in the open while they are using them, so flight attendants can act quickly if they start to overheat. The new Southwest rule goes even further than the limit of two chargers per passenger that the Internationa…

The most famous dead person to ever wear sunglasses just might be Bernie Lomax. Until now. Because the namesake for the 1989 hit comedy Weekend at Bernie’s was a fictional character, but you dear reader, you are very real. Liquid Death just announced its newest collab, this time with sunglasses brand Pit Viper, to make what its calling “Sunglasses for Dead People.” According to Liquid Death, 87% of people who have near-death experiences report seeing a blinding bright light. That’s not an exact science, but the canned water brand isn’t letting that get in the way of a good bit. Available on Pit Viper’s site for $119, the limited-edition shades feature shatt…

I recently noticed a paradox among a team of developers. With AI, engineers started writing code faster and getting answers in seconds, yet they also reported feeling more exhausted than before. AI hasn’t actually reduced the amount of work that needs to be done. Instead, it has fundamentally changed its nature. We can now run multiple tasks in parallel and perceive this as productivity. Up to a point, it is. But eventually, managing tools and constantly switching between them becomes more draining than performing the original tasks themselves. In some cases, it even slows down the process of finding a solution. I’ve been managing developer teams for over 15 years…

It’s a tough time to own fast-food restaurants. Franchisees for popular chains such as Applebee’s, Subway, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen have filed for bankruptcy recently, and another has joined them. Multiple entities associated with Friendly Franchisees Corporation (FFC), owner of 65 Carl’s Jr. locations across California, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Restaurant Business first reported. Carl’s Jr. was founded almost 85 years ago and is known for its charbroiled burgers. FFC has yet to state whether any Carl’s Jr. locations will close as a result of the bankruptcies. Its founder, Harshad Dharod, owns the five associated entities that filed…

Samsung is saying goodbye to its namesake texting app, at least for United States customers. According to an end of service announcement published on the tech giant’s U.S. support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July. Impacted owners of Samsung smartphones and other gadgets are being asked to switch to Google Messages in the meantime, “to maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android.” All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google’s Android operating system. To switch to Google Messages, Samsung’s website gives users instructions to download the app from the Play Store, if not already on their phone, and set it as the default. Some people may a…

Lowe’s Foundation is making a major investment in future skilled tradesworkers. On Tuesday, the home improvement retailer announced it would commit an additional $200 million to training 250,000 tradespeople by 2035 through its Gable Grants program, bringing its overall commitment to $250 million. The investment comes amid a rising need for skilled tradespeople driven by a surge in AI developments. According to JLL’s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook report, the global data center sector is expanding by about 14% a year. Over the next four years, nearly 100 gigawatts of capacity will be added, which will require a $3 trillion investment. At the same time, we’re seeing …

Getting a seat at the Masters is notoriously difficult, with tickets to the golf tournament only available to the public through an online lottery that has to be entered a year in advance. But the Masters may have an even more exclusive offering than attendance: a limited edition garden gnome potentially worth thousands of dollars. In 2016, Augusta National, the Georgia golf course that hosts the Masters every year, released the first gnome of what is now a coveted set of ten. Each year, the gnome sports a different outfit. Sometimes it’s a golfer, sporting a set of clubs and a sweater vest. Sometimes it’s an attendee, flexing its badge and a signature Masters snack l…

Book lovers with aging Kindles might want to find a new e-reader soon, as Amazon is discontinuing support for its older devices next month. On May 20, the e-commerce giant is set to cut off support for devices released in 2012 or earlier, notifying active users of the affected devices via email. “These models have been supported for at least 14 years—some as long as 18 years—but technology has come a long way in that time, and these devices will no longer be supported moving forward,” an Amazon spokesperson told Fast Company. While the devices will still be able to power on, users will no longer be able to purchase or download new content for them. Additionall…

As a teenager, my Sony Walkman was my most treasured possession. It was a portal to another world that let me consume music in industrial quantities. By the early 1990s, it wasn’t new—Sony invented it in the late ’70s—yetit still held incredible power. Sony sold more than 220 million units globally. When one died, often from overuse, I’d use a birthday or Christmas present to upgrade it, usually with a trip to an electronics store with my Dad. Those places felt mythical. That feeling came flooding back when I visited a big-box electronics store with my kids. Retail is under pressure as e-commerce reshapes how we shop. But my overriding thought was: where did the e…

April officially marks the beginning of Spring. But, for Halloween fanatics, it marks the halfway point until the year’s spookiest holiday, and decorations are already available for those planning ahead. Unveiled on the morning of April 8, Home Depot debuted its annual Halfway to Halloween collection, a line of exclusive and over-the-top decorations for those planning ahead of the holiday. “Halloween lovers have started shopping for decor and planning their setups earlier and earlier,” a Home Depot spokesperson told Fast Company. “We wanted to provide another moment for them to prepare for the Halloween season. Year after year we have seen this trend grow amongst…

I started working as a remote employee back in 2006, long before it was common. I talked to my colleagues during the day, sure, but they were all in an office with cubicles. I worked alone. Later in my career, I was part of an executive team at a software company, making decisions about budget and strategy. So when I started my own business in 2022, many aspects felt like a natural extension of the way I’d always worked. Most advice about leaving corporate life focuses on the financial safety net: savings, pricing your services, and side hustles. But money isn’t the only reason people leave solopreneur life and go back to a nine-to-five. Some people are gen…

Below, Nir Eyal shares five key insights from his new book, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results. Eyal is a best-selling author, former Stanford lecturer, and one of the world’s foremost experts on behavioral design. His previous books, Hooked and Indistractable, have sold more than a million copies and been translated into 30-plus languages. Next Big Idea Club readers can get an exclusive free download of Eyal’s 5-Minute Belief Change Guide at: NirAndFar.com/beyond-belief-live/. What’s the big idea? The best beliefs are both practical and provisional. They offer just enough certainty to act, yet e…

One of the biggest barriers people face to their productivity is an inability to focus. Most people are highly distracted and distractable, which makes it hard to sustain the level of attention required to complete complex tasks and to think through difficult problems. Chances are at least part of your problem is self-inflicted. We have created environments with lots of attention-grabbing information. You have learned to seek out that information regularly. Indeed, your brain has timing mechanisms in it, and the desire to check your phone or your web browser may interrupt you at regular intervals, even when you’re trying your best to get something else done. Here …