What's on Your Mind?

Why are some jobs better than others? Well, it largely depends on people’s preferences. In other words, one person’s dream job may be another person’s nightmare. And yet, there are also clearly some universal or at least generalizable parameters that make most people accept the idea that some jobs are objectively better than others — or at least seen by most as generally preferable. Pay and purpose For example, jobs that pay well, offer stability, and provide opportunities for growth are almost universally considered better. A tenured professorship, a senior engineering role at a reputable company, or a stable medical position all combine financial security…

Although there is no shortage of AI enthusiasts, the general public remains uneasy about artificial intelligence. Two concerns dominate the conversation, both amplified by popular and business media. The first is AI’s capacity to automate work, fueling widespread FOBO, or fear of becoming obsolete. The second is AI’s tendency to reproduce or even exacerbate human bias. On the first, the evidence remains mixed. The clearest signal so far is not the wholesale replacement of jobs, but the automation of tasks and skills within jobs. Most workers are less likely to lose their roles outright than to be forced to rethink what they do at work and where they add value. In that…

When White Lotus first season debuted in 2021 and shot to near-instant acclaim, it was a sleeper hit for HBO. But now, four years later, HBO is well aware of just how enthusiastic White Lotus’s fanbase has become—and, to tap into the show’s highly online viewership, its marketing team has decided to officially don their tin foil hats and fangirl right alongside the rest of us. White Lotus recently debuted its own TikTok page dedicated to stirring up conversation around the show’s third season, which just debuted. It’s the first time that the show itself will have a separate TikTok presence from HBO’s broader account. White Lotus’s marketing team is in a unique positio…

Right now, America is facing a traffic safety crisis unlike anything we’ve seen in decades. And it’s only accelerating: 2023 was the deadliest year for pedestrians and cyclists in 45 years. Crashes are rising in nearly every state. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just warned that traffic deaths are staying at “persistently high levels,” despite fewer people commuting post-pandemic. Meanwhile, distracted driving deaths jumped nearly 12% last year alone, according to the latest federal data. Everywhere you look, it’s getting more dangerous to move through your own neighborhood, whether you’re walking your dog, riding your bike, or just driving home fr…

Microsoft employees stream down a hallway by the dozen, smartphones and paper coffee cups in hand, many clad in heavy coats on this frigid February morning. The setting is idyllic—Lake Washington is in full view through floor-to-ceiling windows—but they stride purposefully. As they do, they pass a digital sign with a tersely worded call to action: All squads ship Competing/differentiating Growing work every sprint to double Successful Sessions ABS (Always Be Shipping) Despite the profusion of Microsofties on the premises, this isn’t Microsoft’s sprawling Redmond campus. Instead, these staffers have taken over a Hyatt hotel in Renton, another Seattle su…

The quality of our decisions defines our legacy as leaders. We make around 35,000 decisions a day and close to 800,000,000 in a lifetime. Not all decisions are equal. Many are default, some are reversible, but the consequential ones leave us with no U-turn. Decision-making is inescapable. So, let’s delve deeper into the anatomy of good decisions. What drives good vs. bad? Our decisions are deeply rooted in our values, competence, courage, and compassion. The psychological context from which decisions flow includes our emotional intelligence, comfort zone, values, moods, needs, decision-making style, and crucially, our self-awareness. Good decisions matter, but what…

In addition to voting in the highly anticipated mayoral race this November, New Yorkers will make another consequential decision this election day. They’ll also decide whether the city will begin holding elections only on even-numbered calendar years. While it may sound irrelevant, it’s an important yay or nay. The measure, as written in Ballot Proposal 6, would mean that off-year primary and general elections would begin taking place in the same year as the presidential elections. If New Yorkers voted for the proposal, it would be in line with what New York state has already been moving toward. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals unanimously voted to uphold …

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As someone who gets to see “the future” unfold in research and development labs around the world, I’ve grown comfortable with our global food landscape constantly evolving. Part of the fun! Anticipating the trends that shape this evolution isn’t just important—it’s essential. First, there are macro trends that continue each year and can’t be ignored. By 2030, our global popu…

Michelle had barely knotted her apron strings before the day turned ugly. “When I told her I could only serve regular coffee—not the waffle-flavored one she wanted—she threw the boiling-hot pot at me,” she tells Fast Company, recounting one violent encounter with a customer. Working at a popular all-day breakfast chain, Michelle has learned that customer “service” often means surviving other people’s rage: “I’ve been cussed out, had hot food thrown on me…even dodged a plate thrown at my head,” she says. Lately, the sexual comments from male customers have gotten worse. (Workers in this story have been given pseudonyms to protect them from retaliation.) Still,…

In many ways, architecture is the star of the 2024 film The Brutalist. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the film follows decades of the life and work of László Tóth, an ingenious Bauhaus-trained Hungarian architect who survives the Holocaust and immigrates to the United States to pursue a new life. Cowritten and directed by Brady Corbet, it’s a fictional story with underpinnings of world and architectural history. The narrative centers around Tóth, played by Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, designing and building a monumental, brutalist-style community center and church-like space for a wealthy and mercurial client. That building, known i…

The Super Bowl is a lot of things. NFL title game. Pop concert. Cultural institution. It’s also The Only Day People Care About Ads. That last one is worth a lot of money to the brands who decide to advertise during the big game. Back in 2000, E-Trade used its Super Bowl ad to joke about how much money it spent. A chimp hits play on a tape deck, climbs up on a lawn chair, and proceeds to clap and dance for 30 seconds. The tagline? “Well, we just wasted $2,000,000.” But how much does a Super Bowl commercial really cost? We’ve all probably seen headlines about the outrageous costs of a single 30-second spot, which, this year, is nearing about $8 million. And i…

When the Department of the Interior announced on Monday that it was suspending the leases of five offshore wind farms that are currently under construction, it blamed national security concerns. Military experts say that’s an excuse. “I think it is all made up,” says Dave Belote, a retired Air Force colonel who previously led the Department of Defense’s energy siting clearinghouse at the Pentagon and who currently consults with onshore wind companies about military issues. “I’ve got 15 years of experience that I will stack against the Secretary of Interior to say that is all made up to please a president that just irrationally hates ‘windmills.’” Each of the five …

President Donald The President’s administration has introduced a new, inverted food pyramid with fewer food groups. The new three-section food pyramid is part of the administration’s new nutrition policy announced Wednesday, which encourages Americans to eat whole or minimally processed foods, which it calls “real food,” and has been a long time interest of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. His policy interests also shine through on the initiative’s new website, realfood.gov, which features copy that reads like a MAHA manifesto. The National Design Studio gave the website a minimalist design that takes cues from consumer companies like Choban…

The The President administration is planning to buy a direct stake in yet another chip technology company. Earlier this week, the Commerce Department announced that it had signed a letter of intent to buy up to $150 million of xLight, a startup that focuses on lithography, a critical part of the semiconductor-manufacturing process. The move shows that the government’s nearly $9 billion dollar investment in Intel — for 10 percent stake in the company structured as a silent partnership — wasn’t a one-off, and that officials are moving forward with plans to buy equity in technology companies it deems critical. As part of the latest deal, the startup will receive …

President The President just signed an executive order attempting to block states from regulating AI an unprecedented step that would strip states of the ability to protect their residents at a moment of extraordinary technological volatility. This move is overwhelmingly unpopular (polling has found that Americans oppose AI moratoriums by a 3-1 margin), and certain to be litigated in the courts. But it is also likely to achieve the exact opposite of its stated goals—deepening mistrust and slowing AI adoption at a time when America wants to win the global AI race. We know because we’ve been here before. America has seeded many technological revolutions over the years, …