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Could the era of the super cheap phone case arriving from China in a week finally be ending? Thanks to a major change to European regulations, it just might. European Union finance ministers have agreed to impose customs duties on low-value parcels entering the bloc at some point next year, scrapping the long-standing “de minimis” exemption for goods under €150 (or $175). The move is seen as a way to slow the flood of cheap Chinese imports from platforms such as Shein and Temu. These goods now account for the bulk of the EU’s 4.6 billion small parcels a year, more than 90% of which came from China. The EU’s move follows the U.S. government’s decision to destroy i…

The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virgina (DMV) region is emerging as a national test case for the future of office space. As cities across the country grapple with persistent office vacancies, D.C. is taking a bold approach: Instead of focusing solely on residential conversions, it is pioneering a broader strategy to convert offices to…anything. While the concept of office conversions isn’t new, most efforts have been centered on residential use. D.C.’s strategy breaks that mold. In January 2025, the city launched the Central Washington Activation Projects Temporary Tax Abatement, better known as the Office to Anything program. This policy targets build…

When the lights finally dimmed at the 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last night, the first thing guests saw was a gold light emanating from backstage. Model Jasmine Tookes, nine months pregnant, opened the show in a gold macramé dress with drop pearls and a pearl and crystal wing in the shape of a clamshell. Art buffs might notice that the shell is a callback to Sandro Boticelli’s renaissance painting “Birth of Venus,” symbolizing sensuality, divine beauty, rebirth, and new beginnings. The cultural reference is a more elevated and considered nod to womanhood than the show’s previous themes, which have included “Santa’s Helpers” or “delicious sweets.” The loo…

Few objects embody the endurance of the human spirit better than a medal. This Sunday, when the projected 55,000 breathless souls cross the finishing line of the annual TCS New York City marathon, they will be receive a one-of-a-kind medal to remember this achievement. The NYC marathon medal looks different every year. While many previous versions have attempted to etch the experience onto metal, the 2025 medal takes an even more tangible approach. At first glance, the surface of the new medal appears to be brushed with an array of diagonal stripes. But flip it on its side, and you will notice that the stripes are ribbed, and they reflect the actual elevation of the f…

The biggest story in tech is AI’s increasing capacity to take on tasks once reserved for human beings. But the agents driving that change aren’t machines. They’re humans—inventive, ambitious, enterprising ones. Our third annual roundup of some of the field’s most intriguing players includes scientists and ethicists, CEOs and investors, big-tech veterans and first-time founders. These 20 innovators are tackling challenges from training tomorrow’s AI models to speeding drug discovery to reimagining everyday productivity tools. Household names they’re not. Yet, they’re already changing our world, with much more to come. Oriana Fenwick Michelle Pokrass Technical…

With more than a decade of experience working as a design and tech analyst, Andrew Hogan is all in on the efficiency and ease that tech brings to our lives. But lately at home with his daughters (ages 4 and 18 months), Hogan is grappling with something unwieldy and undefined: how parents, kids, and technology interact, from smartphones to screen time to AI. “We are so eager to remove friction—avoid it and smooth over the rough spots, especially as parents,” Hogan says. In fall 2024, Hogan began writing a newsletter called Parent.Tech, designed to help him, and other parents, better understand how to navigate the increasingly complex world of tech and consumer pro…

If you’re familiar with Gallup data about employee engagement, they have been playing one of their Top 40 hits for decades now. It’s a classic we’ve all heard. The tune? “People don’t quit companies; they quit managers.” We’ve known this for years, but here we are, still stuck in the same leadership crisis. Too many managers don’t understand the difference between managing work and leading people. Here’s the plain truth: You manage the work; you lead humans. And when leaders miss that, the culture and performance pay the price. The brutal truths So, if you’re willing to take a hard look in the mirror, here are seven brutal truths about leadership every leader n…

The Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut its key interest rate on Wednesday and could signal it expects another cut in December as the central bank seeks to bolster hiring. A cut Wednesday would be the second this year and could benefit consumers by bringing down borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans. Since Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled in late August that rate cuts were likely this year, the average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen to about 6.2% from 6.6%, providing a boost to the otherwise-sluggish housing market. Still, the Fed is navigating an unusual period for the U.S. economy and its future moves are harder to anticipate than is typically …

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut its short-term rate Wednesday for the second time this year despite an increasingly cloudy view of the economy it is trying to influence. The government shutdown has cut off the flow of data that the Fed relies on to track employment, inflation, and the broader economy. September’s jobs report, scheduled for release three weeks ago, is still postponed. This month’s hiring figures, to be released Nov. 7, will likely be delayed and may be less comprehensive when they are finally released. And the White House said last week that October’s inflation report may never be issued at all. The data drought raises risks for the Fed because it…

Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, according to minutes from last month’s meeting released Wednesday. A majority of Fed officials felt that the risk unemployment would rise had worsened since their previous meeting in July, while the risk of rising inflation “had either diminished or not increased,” the minutes said. As a result, the central bank decided at its Sept. 16-17 meeting to reduce its key rate by a quarter-point to about 4.1%, its first cut this year. Rate cuts by the Fed can gradually lower borrowing costs for things like mortgages, auto loans, and business loa…

The government shutdown is delaying another major economic report, leaving policymakers at the Federal Reserve with a cloudier picture even as the economy enters a challenging phase of stubbornly persistent inflation and a sharp slowdown in hiring. The Labor Department’s monthly inflation data was scheduled for release Wednesday, but late last week was postponed until Oct. 24. The department is recalling some employees to assemble the data, which was collected before the shutdown began. The figures are needed for the government to calculate the annual cost of living adjustment for tens of millions of recipients of benefit programs such as Social Security. The shutdown c…

Michael Graves once said regarding a men’s suit, “You can buy a lot of cheap ones, or you can buy one great Armani suit.” He was not just talking about tailoring. He was talking about time, and about the value of design that endures functionally, emotionally, and aesthetically long after the first moment of use. At Michael Graves Design, we have always believed that the best designs are not those that just capture attention for a moment, but those that quietly support you over years, as your life evolves. As we look toward the future of accessibility, this idea becomes more urgent. The truth is simple: Every body is either disabled, or not currently disabled. …

On an unremarkable vacant lot in Atlanta’s West End, a proposed rowhouse construction project could soon become a milestone of modern design. The building itself is not particularly special; its 17 units have attractive geometrical facades, large picture windows, and will be affordably priced. More notable than the design of the project itself is how it was designed. To an uncommon degree, artificial intelligence was used extensively throughout the design process, from market analysis and conceptual design to regulatory compliance and material selection. The building, which is going up for zoning approvals this week, could be one of the first projects designed largely t…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. “Every accumulation becomes the means of new accumulation.” This is what Karl Marx has to say about capital. He does not get enough credit for being one of the more accurate predictors of capitalism because people understandably do not like his solution. But the truth is, most philosophers do not even present a solution and he understood the problem as well as anyone. We saw more bankruptcie…

Hiring in 2026 won’t look much like hiring even two years ago. If you don’t pay attention, you will get left behind. I was a retained search consultant for 25-plus years. I’ve written executive and board résumés for the last 10 years. I’ve never seen so much change in candidate sourcing happen so quickly. CEO priorities and expectations have shifted. AI is reshaping how candidates get surfaced. Résumé sameness has skyrocketed. Candidate shortlist cycles have accelerated. For you to be visible, your résumé has to do more than describe your work. It has to hit leaders’ priorities, satisfy automated systems’ tests, and make sense. The following five trends show you w…

A group of U.S. officials want to know why London’s FTSE Russell, a top financial services firm, chose to include the underperforming The President Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in one of its most high-profile indexes. Their concern stems, in part, from the fact that analysts generally do not view TMTG, which owns the president’s social media platform Truth, as particularly stable. Trading under the symbol DJT, shares are down 38% year to date and currently trade at about $17.50. Last fiscal year, the company reported a net loss of $400.9 million And in the most recent quarter, it reported a loss of $20 million. The Russell 3000 tracks the performance of the…

Currently, America is experiencing its worst flu season since 2009, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a matter of fact, the CDC says there are so many cases that this season is now classified as being “high severity” for all age groups. That’s the first time a flu season has acquired that designation since the 2017–18 season. Still, some states are faring better than others. Here’s what you need to know about the current 2024–25 flu season and where outbreaks are the worst. 16,000 dead from flu so far The 2024–25 influenza season is having a significant impact on the health and well-being of Americans. According to …

In President Donald The President’s ongoing second-term White House remodel, even the typography is getting the Mar-a-Lago treatment. New signage has begun rolling out at the White House this fall. First, the words “The Presidential Walk of Fame” appeared in September in the gold Shelley Script on the West Colonnade. The signage appears above the presidential portraits The President installed to troll former President Joe Biden. Now new images show lettering that reads “The Oval Office” written in the same font, and which appears to be going up on its exterior wall. The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether…

How do you say yes when you have no idea how to deliver? My cofounders and I built Moment Factory by saying yes to projects most people thought were impossible. Long before the technology existed, we designed interactive concerts, illuminated night walks through forests, and towering LED installations in airports. Every project started with the same challenge: Finding the path to make the impossible possible. The unknown isn’t unique to our industry. Every creative team faces it—startups launch apps no one knew they needed, architects design spaces no one had imagined, chefs invent dishes no one had tasted. At the beginning of every project, you don’t know the outcome…

Only about 10 percent of venture funds ever make it to a fourth vintage. Of those, just 5 to 10 percent are led by women. I’m one of them. When I started Female Founders Fund in 2014, I believed that solid returns and conviction would speak for themselves. Strong performance would unlock capital and the industry would reward the achievement, especially from those breaking new ground—or so I thought. What I’ve come to learn is that venture capital isn’t a pure meritocracy. It’s a network-driven ecosystem where who you know often matters just as much as what you build. Cultural and political changes, and a tight market environment, are making it especially difficul…