What's on Your Mind?

It’s been less than a year since the world’s largest dam removal project was completed along 420 miles of the Klamath River, near the border of Oregon and California. But if you look at the river now, you might not know that four dams had ever been in place. Instead of concrete walls and artificial reservoirs, the river is now free-flowing—and parts of the former infrastructure have been replaced by wildflowers that are in bloom. Los Angeles Times “It’s been an incredible transition,” says Ann Willis, California regional director at American Rivers, a nonprofit that supported Native American tribes in a decades-long fight to take out the dams. “It’s really strange …

Amid polarization, AI disruption, and eroding trust in institutions, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal argues that what leaders need now more than ever is character. Head of the business consulting firm McChrystal Group, he has written a new book on character, drawing from his decades of experience. From AI ethics and modern warfare to hot-button issues like Signalgate and transgender service in the military, McChrystal explains why character is the foundation of lasting leadership. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale p…

Dr. Drew Ramsey is a board-certified psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He is a leading voice in nutritional psychiatry and integrative mental health. He is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the founder of the Brain Food Clinic and Spruce Mental Health. For 20 years, he was an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. His book Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety was an international bestseller, and his work has been featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Today show, NPR, and other outlets. What’s the big idea? The time to start working on positive mental health outcomes should not be when a mental heal…

Lately, I’ve felt weighed down by the constant churn of chaos and uncertainty—like I’m carrying a low-grade tension in my body that never fully lets up. The news is dizzying. The pace of change is relentless. Some days it feels like we’re lurching from one crisis to the next with no time to process, no moment to exhale. I find myself waking up already bracing for what the day might bring. It’s like the ground is constantly shifting, and we’re all being asked to find our footing in real time. And then there are the quieter, internal questions I carry with me—the ones that tug at me in the middle of the night or when I’m trying to make sense of the day: Am I doing enoug…

Navigating the nexus between design innovation and practical application reveals a stark truth: Constraints, not freedoms, often spur the most creative solutions. Our journey into accessible furniture and product design is less about overcoming limitations and more about embracing the profound potential of human-centric design. Imagine designers not just as creators but as researchers, delving deep into the daily lives of older individuals and people with disabilities through intensive ethnographic research. This approach involves hundreds of hours spent observing diverse populations in their most familiar environments—their homes. Here, every interaction and every s…

Ask almost any pediatrician or child expert, and they will tell you: Good nutrition is the foundation for healthy development, especially during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. When children are well-nourished, they are better able to grow, learn, and engage with their communities, and to be resilient in the face of illness.     Undernutrition is linked to nearly half of all deaths in children under five. Today, an estimated 148 million young children are affected by stunting—being too short for their age as a result of chronic undernutrition, often starting in the womb. Stunting isn’t just about height; it reflects lasting setbacks in brain development, immu…

The 2025 WNBA season is upon us, and it’s already making waves. From Caitlin Clark draining logo threes to Paige Bueckers debuting for the Dallas Wings, and the Golden State Valkyries hitting the court for the first time, pre-season coverage has been electric. For those of us who’ve spent years advocating for women’s sports, the buzz surrounding this season isn’t just exciting, it’s a powerful reflection of the league’s progress and promise. Rising viewership. New sponsorships. Sold-out arenas. Long-overdue increases in minimum salaries making their way into collective bargaining agreements. These are signs that the tide is turning. But let’s not mistake momentum for …

Since its last major redesign in 2022, Airbnb has been all about the destination. Staying in homes so unique or glamorous—from McMansions with amazing pools to surrealist homes in a shoe—that they might be worth a trip unto itself. But starting today, Airbnb is expanding its purview beyond homes…again. It’s launching a new product called Airbnb Services, and redoubling on Airbnb Experiences (first launched in 2016). What are Airbnb Services? Services considers everything you might want to accompany that home you’re renting. Photography. A manicure. A massage or spa treatment. A personal trainer. A private chef or fully catered experience. It’s basically eve…

Everyone has their individual bad memories of the pandemic, but one collective nightmare of the early days of that miserable period is the struggle to find toilet paper at the local store. Now, tariffs are bringing concerns about a toilet paper shortage back to the forefront. Suzano SA is the world’s largest exporter of pulp, the raw material for products like toilet paper. And the company tells Bloomberg it has seen shipments decline from Brazil to the U.S. due to tariffs and worries the shipping disruptions could get worse. It is, to be clear, much too early to know what the impact of pulp shipping disruptions will be. The company said shipments were down 20% in…

On Tuesday, Microsoft said it is cutting less than 3% of its global workforce, including LinkedIn. The company which an estimated 228,000 employees as of last June, meaning the layoffs will affect approximately 6,000 employees. The tech giant, which makes popular software products Windows and Word, will make cuts across various locations, teams, and roles. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Fast Company. The news comes less than two weeks after the Redmond, Washington-based company beat first quarter earnings expectations, driven by its Azure c…

Eleven years after Google first announced its grand unifying theory of design—Material Design—it’s introducing its third major revision to the system. Called Material 3 Expressive, the company will tell you that it’s their most “researched update” ever, promising to help people find what they’re looking for on the screen faster than before. But it’s also the company’s most maximalist design system to date. Still enabling quieter minimalist designs, sure, but embracing bolder colors, more playful animations, and all around more overt approaches to interface. There’s a new roundness to almost every component, right down to the tips of Google’s new default typeface, Google S…

Destination weddings are out, and virtual weddings are in. Rather than traveling to the Amalfi Coast or Provence, Wired recently interviewed a couple who chose to host their nuptials in the place they first met and fell in love: Minecraft. Sarah Nguyen, 24, from Portland, Oregon, and Jamie Patel, 25, from Leicester, England, met at 13 years old on a Minecraft role-play server. “It’s the closest thing we have to a shared home,” Nguyen told Wired. Most of their relationship was long-distance, lived out in the virtual world (the couple now resides together in Portland). Even Patel’s proposal took place atop a scenic mountain in Minecraft, delivered via in-game di…

Apple is partnering with brain-computer interface company Synchron to develop technology that lets users control devices using neural signals. Still in the early stages, the technology could significantly expand accessibility for users who are unable to operate devices with their hands, Synchron said in a press release. The partnership was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. “This marks a defining moment for human-device interaction,” Synchron CEO Tom Oxley said in a statement. “Apple is helping to pioneer a new interface paradigm, where brain signals are formally recognized alongside touch, voice and typing.” Historically, users have interacted with te…

As you sift among the various options for your short-term investments, keep these key items on your dashboard: yield, guarantees, liquidity and your individual situation. The short-term investments that promise the highest yields often come with at least some risk and/or constraints on your daily access to funds. It may be that you’re just looking for the highest safe yield and don’t care that much about liquidity. Or maybe having ready access to your funds is the name of the game. Also think through whether you value an ironclad guarantee or are willing to go without in exchange for a potentially higher yield. Some cash instruments are fully FDIC-insured, while o…

Square, the popular business technology platform known for its Point of Sale (POS) systems, has launched a new device designed to allow sellers to ring up various kinds of purchases and perform other tasks without carrying around the extra weight of bulkier hardware. The Square Handheld, with a screen that is slightly bigger than a cellphone, is less than an inch thick, thin enough to fit in your back pocket. Handheld card readers currently on the market are bulkier, requiring sellers to use lanyards or handstraps to carry them around. The Square Handheld frees up hands for a more seamless integration into the user’s workflows. The device supports a full range of…

In recent years, Khan Academy founder Sal Khan has been most visible promoting the organization’s AI learning assistant, Khanmigo. But a second nonprofit he founded, called Schoolhouse, focuses on connecting students with their peers for human-centered educational interactions. Since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schoolhouse has connected students with trained and certified volunteer tutors, often around their own age, who help them understand a variety of academic subjects. Now, through a pilot with the College Board, these tutors also help students prepare for the SATs. “It was a very utopian idea that frankly a lot of people were very skeptical of—that you c…

A new paid internship program, set to begin this summer, will allow select college students to work on the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed last year. The program, which was announced Monday, is the result of a partnership between The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC). Interns will be hired as temporary state employees and get hands-on experience in areas like project management, environmental and construction management, as well as community outreach activities for the historic project. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. “The goal of the internship …

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…

As the Class of 2025 graduates into an uncertain and fast-changing working world, they face a crucial question: What does it mean to be successful? Is it better to take a job that pays more, or one that’s more prestigious? Should you prioritize advancement, relationship building, community impact or even the opportunity to live somewhere new? Sorting through these questions can feel overwhelming. I am a business school professor who spends a lot of time mentoring students and alumni in Generation Z — those born between 1997 and 2012. As part of this effort, I’ve surveyed about 300 former undergraduate students and spoken at length with about 50 of them. Throug…

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for personal reasons and the nation’s largest health insurer suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs. Chairman Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, effective immediately, the Minnesota company said. Hemsley was UnitedHealth Group CEO from 2006 to 2017. He will remain chairman of the company’s board. Witty will serve as a senior adviser to Hemsley. “Leading the people of UnitedHealth Group has been a tremendous honor as they work every day to improve the health system, and they will continue to inspire me,” Witty said. Witty joined the company in 2018 after serving about nine years a…