What's on Your Mind?

Vince Gilligan spent a decade ruminating about his next TV series before he had a clear vision of what it was going to be. But through all that time, the writer/director, who is best known for creating Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, knew one thing for sure: it had to be entirely different from what he’d made before. In fact, it had to be completely unlike any other show, period. “As far as a prime directive, it is always: A) how can we make this show look different than any other show on TV? That’s the most important one,” Gilligan told me during a recent call. “And B, how can we make the show look and sound and feel different from the other shows we’ve already …

For the past three years, AI’s breakout moment has happened almost entirely through text. We type a prompt, get a response, and move to the next task. While this intuitive interaction style turned chatbots into a household tool overnight, it barely scratches the surface of what the most advanced technology of our time can actually do. This disconnect has created a significant gap in how consumers utilize AI. While the underlying models are rapidly becoming multimodal—capable of processing voice, visuals, and video in real time—most consumers are still using them as a search engine. Looking toward 2026, I believe the next wave of adoption won’t be about utility alone, …

A number of airlines are waiving change fees ahead of what is expected to be a major winter storm forecast to hit the Northeast on Friday afternoon, affecting millions of people traveling after Christmas, during one of the busiest times of the year. A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) is in effect for New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut from Friday afternoon through Saturday, for up to 9 inches of snow and freezing temperatures, creating the potential hazardous travel conditions, flight delays, and cancellations. 1-6 inches of snow is expected from northeastern Pennsylvania up into New England; while freezing rain and sleet, are expec…

As cases of a new, highly contagious “super flu’” surge across the nation this holiday season, more and more Americans are looking for ways to treat the symptoms, which include everything from fever and chills, to headaches and vomiting. A variant of influenza A H3N2, called subclade K, which is being blamed for an early and severe flu season in the United Kingdom, has hit residents in New York, Rhode Island, Colorado and Louisiana the hardest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While flu vaccines usually have an efficacy rate of 40% to 60% an early report from the U.K. estimates this “super flu” strain has an efficacy rate of 32% …

Every December, millions of people pause to take stock of their lives before the new year. Some gather for vision-board parties, others sketch out New Year’s resolutions, and many quietly vow to “finally get organized” before the clock hits midnight. But this year feels different. We’re closing out 2025 in an economic climate defined by weekly corporate layoffs, social media posts from people with excel trackers archiving hundreds of job applications, and sidelined workers hopelessly looking for jobs for over a year. Families are being pushed to the brink by rising prices, and a generational affordability crisis—fueled by a shortage of three to four million homes nati…

Shares opened mixed in Europe on Tuesday after slipping in Asia as some regional markets wrapped up trading for the year. Crude oil prices edged higher and gold and silver resumed their ascent. U.S. futures were flat. In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rang out the final session for 2025 in a traditional year-end ceremony. “By realizing a Japanese economy that earns the trust of investors around the world, we will create a virtuous cycle in which global capital flows into Japan,” Takaichi said. The benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.4% to 50,339.48, its first year-end close above 50,000. It ended 2025 up nearly 25%. With just two trading days left before the y…

Packages of grass fed ground beef are being recalled over possible E. coli contamination. The affected packages were distributed in at least six states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). What ground meat is recalled? The USDA made the announcement in a Dec. 27 recall notice, explaining that the recall includes 2,855 pounds of raw ground beef produced on Dec. 16 from Mountain West Food Group, LLC. The at-risk product is the company’s 16-oz. (1-lb.) vacuum-sealed packages of FORWARD FARMS GRASS-FED GROUND BEEF. The packages have a use or freeze by date of 01/13/26. The product also has the establishment number EST 2083 printed on the side of the…

Below, Judd Kessler shares five key insights from his new book, Lucky by Design: The Hidden Economics You Need to Get More of What You Want. Judd is an award-winning professor of economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research and writing have been featured in leading media, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, and Harvard Business Review, among others. For his work on organ allocation, Kessler was named one of the “30 under 30” in Law and Policy by Forbes. He has been researching market design for the past 15 years. What’s the big idea? Life is full of hidden markets quietly deciding who gets…

The past year saw unprecedented change and turmoil in the labor market, from pandemic-era layoffs to AI fundamentally and tangibly turning the workforce on its head. But it’s in these times of uncertainty and transition that leadership becomes of paramount importance. In 2025, the very nature of leadership itself morphed along with the times, and specific themes resonated with readers in specific ways. And they’re bound to remain very much in the game heading into 2026. Here are some of Fast Company’s most popular leadership stories from the last year. Managing underperformers We live in a world of quiet quitting and more workers rejecting hustle culture and th…

Imagine this: One day, you won’t have to waste hours of your life doing your most arduous, least favorite forms of shopping. You know what I’m talking about—buying Christmas presents for distant aunts, getting supplies for your kid’s birthday, ordering groceries for dinner. In the near future, you’ll empower your AI agent to tackle the task, then off it will go, identifying the right items, comparing prices and—most impressively—making the purchase for you. Within hours, a tin of your aunt’s favorite biscuits, the correct number of Peppa Pig plates, and a bag of groceries will arrive at your doorstep. We’re not quite there yet, but experts say that this future is …

The new year often brings sticker shock. A glance at our bank statements and credit card bills shows just how much we spent during the holidays, serving as a painful reminder that with the festivities behind us, we should work on getting our expenditures under control. A good first step toward doing that is to cancel unnecessary subscriptions—whether that’s Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, or any other service you pay for monthly but don’t use. These unnecessary subscriptions can add up—especially as prices continue to rise. A 2025 CNET report found that the average U.S. adult spends $17 a month on subscriptions they don’t use—that’s more than $200 a year. (A Self…

2026 will be a year of architectural showstoppers. Major projects, from corporate headquarters to sports stadiums and museums, will wrap construction and open to the public in 2026, bringing bold, sometimes audacious buildings to cities around the world. Here are nine buildings opening in 2026 to watch for. Arena Milano—opening in February Milan David Chipperfield Architects Built partly to host ice hockey games during the 2026 Winter Olympics, Arena Milano is a 16,000-seat multipurpose arena that’s expected to become a new center for sports and concerts in Milan. Pritzker Prize-winning David Chipperfield Architects’ design, done in conjunction with Arup, is t…

While most EVs tip the scales at several tons, a new “featherweight” electric sports car weighs half as much—or less—than others on the road. Longbow, the U.K.-based startup behind the sleek EV, plans to bring its first vehicle to market later this year with a limited run of 150 cars, starting at £84,995, or roughly $110,000. A high-performance version of the design is on display at CES this week. The company’s aim is to reverse the car industry’s weight problem—something that’s especially an issue for EVs that have large batteries inside. Heavier vehicles have bigger carbon footprints, use more energy, and are more dangerous in a crash for pedestrians. They also …

Your paycheck could be a little bigger in 2026, even if you didn’t get a New Year’s raise. That’s because, in order to adjust for inflation, the IRS made some major changes to the tax code last year. In case you missed it, the changes were announced back in October. Notably, the standard deduction for 2026 (to be filed in 2027) — which reduces the amount of your income you will be taxed on — will rise. “For tax year 2026, the standard deduction increases to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly,” the October announcement explains. “For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $16,100 for tax year 2026, and for he…

Those with Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, better known as ADHD, often experience challenges that neurotypical people do not, such as distractibility or low frustration tolerance. However, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that ADHD also has an upside. And, according to a new study, being aware of these positives may create some mental health perks. The groundbreaking research, which was published in Psychological Medicine, comes from scientists at the University of Bath, King’s College London, and Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Researchers compared 200 adults with ADHD and 200 without in the first large-scale effort…

The founder of Slack once deemed email “the cockroach of the internet.” He wasn’t the first to lament the extreme survivability of our inbox. From text messages to social media to office messaging platforms, all sorts of communication technologies have teased the promise of killing email by connecting us to others in faster, richer ways. And yet, more than 50 years after its invention, ye olde email is more popular than ever. Some 1 billion people spend three hours a day in email—adding up to more than a trillion hours collectively per year, according to the email app Superhuman. And there’s no sign of this slowing down. “More people use Gmail every single month than…

Kim Kardashian’s apparel brand Skims is outfitting American athletes at the Olympics for the fourth time in a row, and this year’s collection is its cheekiest one yet. Skims and Team USA have established something of an annual tradition. The brand has dressed Olympic and Paralympic athletes in new loungewear-slash-underwear capsules at the Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, and Paris 2024 Games—and now, it’s back for Milano Cortina 2026. This year’s collection includes everything from Americana-themed panties to cozy pajama sets, tasteful sweaters, menswear, and accessories. The collection will be available to average folk starting on January 8 at Skims.com and some Skims…

Every January, we’re bombarded with resolutions rooted in consumption—buy this, try that, subscribe to something new. For Gen Z, this consumer-first vision of the New Year feels outdated and hollow. Instead, Gen Z is turning to peers for a community-driven “soft start” to the year ahead. Popularized on TikTok, January resets offer a modern alternative to the outdated idea of resolutions. This shift from consumer-driven goals to community-supported resets is especially visible in how Gen Z is approaching health and wellness in 2026. It’s not surprising either. Earlier in 2025, millions of young people took to social media to publicly document their quit journeys us…

Leaders typically spend January prepping for the year ahead. But that’s difficult when you’re eight months pregnant, and your baby has zero concern for your deadlines. I’ve lost count of how many times people have asked how long I’ll be away, whether I’ll be checking my emails, or what support I’ll need when I return. People often expect leaders to have all the answers, but the truth is: I don’t know yet. Lucky for me, that uncertainty worked to my advantage. It forced me to change my approach from setting goals to building flexibility. This has resulted in a team that is autonomous and adaptable, whether I’m in the room or away on leave. You don’t have to hav…

Artificial intelligence capabilities have rapidly shifted from nice-to-have extras to essential requirements across industries and job levels. Employers now prioritize candidates who can harness AI tools to multiply productivity, accelerate innovation, and solve complex problems with lean resources. In this article, experts reveal how mastering AI skills can unlock career opportunities, faster promotions, and competitive advantages in today’s job market. Own One System and Share Insights For me, the secret to standing out in the age of AI was pretty simple: if your company is starting to use AI, use it. Don’t wait for someone to tell you where to start. Pick one to…

A great, fictional man once declared: “I believe virtually everything I read.” David St. Hubbins, lead singer and guitarist of Spinal Tap, mocked the earnest confidence of rock stars in the same way AI futurists are now mocking critical thinking itself. Right now, most of the tech industry has adopted St. Hubbins’ line without the irony. Google is embedding AI into Chrome. Tech leaders are declaring the end of websites. Hundreds of links will collapse into single answers, traffic will disappear, the open web gets hollowed out. The future belongs to whoever wins inclusion in the AI’s response, not whoever builds the best site. Sigh. We spent the last decade le…

Efficiency dominates conversations about AI. We celebrate its ability to automate and optimize so businesses can move faster and people can work smarter. But AI is becoming more integrated into people’s lives in ways that go far beyond productivity. In a world obsessed with speed and efficiency, the future of AI isn’t just intelligent—it’s beautiful. AI is now a force that enhances creativity, self-expression, and confidence. AI does not just optimize life—it elevates it. Consumers are embracing AI for everything from recipe creation and travel planning to interior design and fitness regimens. They are turning to AI for recommendations on shows, movies, music, restaur…