What's on Your Mind?

There’s a growing trend in Silicon Valley where engineers are therapizing themselves with ChatGPT . Well, not exactly therapy, but using self-reflective prompts to unlock profound insights into their lives. It’s like getting advice from a friend who’s exceptionally skilled at active listening—except she’s 300,000 years old and has lived over 100 billion lives (it doesn’t quite make sense, but neither does the time we’re living in). I visited the Commons, one of the founding hubs of “Cerebral Valley” in San Francisco, where a community of Claude and ChatGPT superusers gathered to discuss “AI for inner work.” This mostly Gen Z group shared their unconventional tactics f…

Paola Antonelli has a litmus test for worthy design. People often ask the Museum of Modern Art’s senior curator of architecture and design how she decides what to add to the museum’s collection, and she gives them simple instructions: “Close your eyes and think, If this object did not exist, would the world miss out?” she says. Of course, filling one of the world’s preeminent art museums is not quite that easy. Antontelli says you also have to consider an object’s form, function, and problem-solving utility—but her litmus test is something she returns to again and again. “It doesn’t mean that something has to be necessary,” Antonelli clarifies. Take, for example, the …

On Jan. 29, Asian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Year of the Snake with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities. In many Asian countries, it is a festival that is celebrated for several days. In diaspora communities, particularly in cultural enclaves, Lunar New Year is visibly and joyfully celebrated. In the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the Year of the Snake. Different countries across Asia celebrate the new year in many ways and may follow a different zodiac. What is the Lunar New Year? The Lunar New Year — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — i…

Imagine, just for a second, that Post Malone and Shane Gillis are your neighbors—not in a now-you’re-rich-and-live-among-pop-stars-and-comedy-elite way, just your average suburban cul-de-sac situation. This is what Bud Light has been asking of us in its recent Super Bowl ad teasers. In one, we see Post and Gillis through a doorbell cam. In another, Gillis is outlining the rules of actually drinking in a beer ad (no bueno). These were mere sips of what was to come. Today, Bud Light decided to jam a proverbial screwdriver into the side of the can and let the world shotgun its full big game ad ahead of time. Now we know what the tucked golf shirts and jorts hyp…

Winning over Gen Z employees isn’t about flashy perks or trendy office spaces—it’s about leadership that actually walks the talk. This younger generation of employees has different values than their predecessors. It expects transparency, meaningful work, and a culture that values their contributions. If leaders want to earn their trust and loyalty, they need to rethink traditional management styles and embrace a more authentic, collaborative approach. From recognition and flexibility to open communication, here’s what nine leaders say it takes to lead Gen Z employees in a way that actually resonates. Provide regular recognition I’ve seen how regular recognition…

About 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) over the Mojave Desert, northwest of Los Angeles, Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 became the first privately funded airplane to break the sound barrier during a test flight on Tuesday. “She was real happy supersonic,” Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg said after landing, in a video posted by Boom Supersonic. “That’s the best she’s ever flown, was supersonic.” After getting to altitude, Brandenburg opened up the test plane’s throttles, accelerating to Mach 1.1, or about 845 mph (1,360 kph) — faster than the speed at which sound travels. In 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier when he pu…

In the midst of an artificial intelligence boom that’s reshaping almost every facet of the business world, companies are competing in an arms race to build the best and brightest models and fully embrace the nascent technology, whether that’s as a product or service for customers or as an integral component of their organizations’ processes. This has raised the profile and pursuit of data science: After all, as Airbyte CEO and co-founder Michel Tricot succinctly put it, “no data, no AI.” But this arms race could have many winners at its finish line. Indeed, this year’s honorees all have something in common beyond their creative use of data in a world increasingly depende…

It’s hard for a designer to get the world’s attention at fashion week. But a year ago, the Maison Margiela show went viral thanks, in large part, to Pat McGrath’s makeup, which made models’ skin look like it was made of glass. The show was theatrical. Creative director John Galliano conjured a dark, ethereal universe apparently inspired by the Belle Époque of the late 1800s, when women had tightly cinched corsets, and voluminous dresses with padding that accentuated their busts and hips. Models, including Gwendoline Christie (second from right), walk the runway during the Maison Margiela Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week, January…

How often do our workplace communications open with “I hope you are well” or “I trust you are doing fine”? These “wellness checks” reflect the fact that everybody has become more conscious of the need to be kind to others. That’s a good thing. Our workplace has become a setting where the best bosses and colleagues take pride in showing sensitivity to the emotional and physical well-being of others. And for these reasons, beginning a letter or a conversation with “I hope you are well” has some merit. But even if it reflects the best of intentions, this opening should be abandoned. Here’s why—and some suggested replacements. Why to stop saying “I hope you are w…

With its powerful camera, the French Navy surveillance plane scouring the Baltic Sea zoomed in on a cargo ship plowing the waters below—closer, closer, and closer still until the camera operator could make out details on the vessel’s front deck and smoke pouring from its chimney. The long-range Atlantique 2 aircraft on a new mission for NATO then shifted its high-tech gaze onto another target, and another after that until, after more than five hours on patrol, the plane’s array of sensors had scoped out the bulk of the Baltic—from Germany in the west to Estonia in the northeast, bordering Russia. The flight’s mere presence in the skies above the strategic sea last week,…

The Grammy Awards will look a little bit different this week. Each year, the Recording Academy hosts a multitude of events to welcome the music industry during Grammy week and record labels do the same. However, many institutions have canceled their plans—Universal Music Group, Sony, Spotify, BMG, and Warner Music Group among them—and instead are allocating resources to help those affected by the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. The Grammys will still take place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles but now will focus its attention on helping wildfire victims. How will Grammy week differ in 2025? Within days of fires ravaging the Pacific Palisad…

Maybe you’re managing a team while being a caregiver, or breaking sales records while working remotely as a single parent. Each challenge carves a mark on your journey to growth, purpose, and legacy, and earns a spot on your résumé. A résumé of challenges is not a list of defeats, but a record of victories: the battles you’ve fought, the lessons you’ve learned, and the resilience that will carry you forward. Having an awareness and understanding of your résumé of challenges helps you understand your own strengths and ability to rise. Being able to speak to your honest (nonfabricated or misrepresented) résumé of challenges before and/or during a job interview can…

Recently, Chinese startup DeepSeek created state-of-the art AI models using far less computing power and capital than anyone thought possible. It then showed its work in published research papers and by allowing its models to explain the reasoning process that led to this answer or that. It also scored at or near the top in a range of benchmark tests, besting OpenAI models in several skill areas. The surprising work seems to have let some of the air out of the AI industry’s main assumption—that the best way to make models smarter is by giving them more computing power, so that the AI lab with the most Nvidia chips will have the best models and shortest route to artificial…

Adapted from Nonlinear: Navigating Design With Curiosity and Conviction (MIT Press, February 4, 2025). When I open my smartphone in the morning, every social media app is full of advertisements marketing something to me. I feel like I’m trapped in a circuitous loop from ads and information coming through my devices: “Buy this, buy that!” We’re all stuck in this loop. Can we fix it? John Maeda (vice president of engineering, computational design, and AI at Microsoft) once created a computational artwork of an infinity loop that he often uses in his keynotes. We talked about my interpretation of his visual during a video livestream together back in 2020. I like…

Immigration Judge Ana Partida sat before a mostly empty courtroom on an afternoon in October, her body angled toward a television on one of the side walls. None of the people scheduled to appear before Partida, who hears cases inside San Diego’s Otay Mesa Detention Center, were present in person. That’s because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had transferred all of them to other locations around the country, even though their cases were already underway in San Diego. One by one, an ICE attorney asked Partida to move the detainees’ cases to courts closer to their new locations. All of the people who were transferred had attorneys in San Diego, including …

There was a time when artists representing two of America’s biggest homegrown musical genres wouldn’t get a look in at the Grammys. Hip-hop and house both have their origins in the 1970s and early 1980s—in fact, they recently celebrated a 50th and 40th birthday, respectively. But it was only in 1989 that an award category for “best rap performance” started recognizing hip-hop’s contribution to U.S. music, and house had to wait another decade, with the introduction of “best dance/electronic recording” in 1998. At this year’s awards, taking place on February 2, hip-hop and house artists will be among the most talked about. House duo Justice and Kendrick Lamar, a hip…

What if the Playboy Mansion was filled with OnlyFans content creators? That’s the pitch for the Bop House, a TikTok page that has gained nearly three million followers since its launch in December. Founded by Sophie Rain, 20, and Aishah Sofey, 22, the house is home to eight creators aged 19 to 24, who collectively boast over 33 million followers. Their TikTok presence leans into viral, algorithm-friendly content like flying private to the Super Bowl and reviewing popular cookie brand Crumbl. But their real revenue stream comes from OnlyFans. The Bop House claims to have generated $10 million in revenue in its first month. “It’s just like a little girl group that …

After years of pressure from the pandemic, the challenges of managing remote, hybrid, and RTO workplaces, and inconsistent organizational support, managers are on the brink of a crash. The coming manager collapse is kicking off a vicious cycle for organizations. As managers struggle, Gen Z sees the toll of the job and backs away, leaving fewer employees to rise into management roles. This puts more pressure on remaining managers. At the same time, several years of manager layoffs have left fewer people taking on these responsibilities. In 2023 alone, middle managers made up over a third of all layoffs. The remaining managers are under more pressure, with growing s…

When a city burns, people often zoom in on houses, the individual cells that make up the fabric of a community. After the tragic fires in Los Angeles earlier this month, many publications, this one included, published essays, case studies, and guides shedding light on how to fire-proof a house. These guides are crucial tools for people who’ve lost their homes and for those who will be responsible for rebuilding them. But many experts are arguing that fire-proofing individual houses is not enough. They say we need to fire-proof entire communities. “You can almost think of it as a domino effect,” says Michael Gollner, an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s Fire Re…

Wilson’s Airless Gen1 basketball is back. The hollow, $2,500 3D-printed basketball that doesn’t need to be inflated was first showcased at the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend. Now, Wilson is selling the ball via a new production run for the remaining few people who can afford to spend thousands of dollars on a basketball. The Airless Gen1 ball features a latticed pattern of hexagonal holes and doesn’t require an inflated bladder inside. By all accounts of professional and amateur players who have tried the airless wonder, its honeycomb architecture and plastic material makes it perform like a traditional basketball, matching its size, weight, and rebound characteristics. …

Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start. “That’s the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life,” said the Smithsonian Institution’s Tim McCoy, one of the lead study authors. NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams (4 ounces) of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, deliveri…

Picture this: A teenager stares at their phone, paralyzed by headline after headline about the climate crisis, political dysfunction, and societal division. They want to act but feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problem. This scene plays out millions of times daily, and it represents a critical challenge for brands: 80% of Gen Z globally report being personally affected by climate change, yet their engagement with sustainable solutions is declining. Looking to the future, many young people are asking, “What’s the point?” Instead of feeling empowered to act, young people are becoming paralyzed by anxiety, overwhelmed by complexity, disillusioned by a lack of l…

For a decade, Dr. Bronner’s has been a certified B Corp, a designation issued by the nonprofit B Lab that confirms a company has met certain environmental, social, and governance standards. But now the soap company is dropping its B Corp certification without plans to renew. Dr. Bronner’s says B Lab’s standards are weak, and that some multinational corporations are now using its seal—an encircled B, which became a symbol that businesses can be “a force for good”—as a form of greenwashing. Dr. Bronner’s mainly takes issue with B Lab’s increasing certifications of multinational corporations like Unilever Australia, Nespresso, and Nestle Health Science—and the fact that …

Launched 16 years ago with only 500 apps, Apple’s App Store revolutionized how we interact with our devices. As of 2023, the App Store had nearly 1.8 million apps, spanning categories like gaming, fitness, productivity, social media, and much more. The phrase “There’s an app for that” has never been more true. But with so many apps available, users face a new challenge: app fatigue. With millions of choices, users can easily become overwhelmed. Even when someone chooses to download an app, they can be bombarded with notifications urging them to engage, upgrade, or subscribe. With many apps competing for users’ attention and wallets, this can push them to ignore or eve…

As remote work becomes the norm rather than the exception, more U.S. professionals are redefining what it means to live and work well. With soaring living costs, healthcare hurdles, and burnout increasingly baked into American life, many are choosing to build their careers abroad. This shift isn’t just about finding cheaper rent or a temporary escape. It’s about discovering countries that actively welcome remote workers through smart visa policies, strong infrastructure, and communities that foster sustainable, fulfilling lifestyles. From Asia’s tech hubs to Europe’s historic towns, these 10 destinations are leading the remote work revolution and offering a chance to…