What's on Your Mind?

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model doesn’t begin in 2003, when America’s Next Top Model premiered and took television by storm. It doesn’t begin in the 1990s, when eventual host Tyra Banks rose to superstardom in the modeling industry. Instead, it begins in 2020, when the pandemic led a new generation to binge early-aughts reality TV, this time watching with a modern lens—and, naturally, tearing it to shreds on TikTok. From there, Netflix’s newest docuseries rewinds to tell the full story of America’s Next Top Model, from its pre-production through its 24 scandalous cycles and into its modern-day legacy, featuring interviews with contestants, producers, an…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. CEOs deal with many challenges, but apparently their overall health and fitness isn’t among them. Some 93% of CEOs surveyed by corporate wellness platform Wellhub rate their overall well-being as excellent or good. In contrast, the same study, released earlier this year, finds that only…

Ever had a song you couldn’t get out of your head? That happened to me the other day. Pink Pony Club. It’s everywhere right now; I can’t escape it. And even though I really don’t like that song, it’s catchy. And as you’ve probably experienced, once you get a song like that stuck in your head, it can feel impossible to get out. What you might not know is there’s a scientific reason for this: It’s called ironic process theory. Or, you may have heard it by its more common name: The white bear problem. But there’s a tried and tested brain hack that helps you to get a song out of your head. What’s more, you can use it to replace negative or harmful thoughts with po…

The cost of a multistep skincare routine can quickly add up. But have you ever wondered what would happen if you simply stopped? This weekend, a TikTok creator went viral for discussing her controversial “Caveman Method,” which she claims is helping restore her skin barrier after years of picking at her skin. In a video that has since racked up nearly 10 million views, Tia Zakher announced she had cut out everything from her beauty routine—even water. “What you are seeing is dead skin that’s going to flake off eventually while healthy skin forms underneath,” she posted in response to questions about the texture on her face. In a separate video, she explain…

If you’re planning to see the new Minecraft movie and haven’t heard of the viral “chicken jockey” trend wreaking havoc in theaters across the country, read on. The trend gets its name from the block-shaped zombies in the video game Minecraft that occasionally ride chickens—thereby becoming chicken jockeys. In a scene from the new film A Minecraft Movie, based on the popular game, Jack Black’s character Steve at one point screams out, “Chicken jockey!” The phrase has since become a battle cry for teen-filled audiences to yell at the top of their lungs, flash phone lights, and launch popcorn and drinks at the screen. In one video, a moviegoer perched on another’s sh…

In the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, a spacecraft and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into the body of an injured astronaut to remove a life-threatening blood clot from his brain. The Academy Award-winning movie—later developed into a novel by Isaac Asimov—seemed like pure fantasy at the time. However, it anticipated what could be the next revolution in medicine: the idea that ever-smaller and more sophisticated sensors are about to enter our bodies, connecting human beings to the internet. This “internet of beings” could be the third and ultimate phase of the internet’s evolution. After linking computers in the first phase and everyday objects in t…

The most important leadership strategies are often the ones you don’t see. The quiet, behind-the-scenes work that truly drives success might not make the headlines, but it makes all the difference. We spoke to 10 experienced leaders who opened up about the practical, everyday practices they use to transform team dynamics and boost business outcomes. From creating space for honest conversations to fine-tuning how work gets done, these insights show that small, thoughtful changes can have a big impact. Create space for vulnerability and open dialog One of the most impactful but often invisible aspects of leadership is creating space for vulnerability and open dialog …

It’s been an unprecedented and brutal week for the advertising industry. The finalization of Omnicom Group’s $13 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) (the biggest takeover in advertising history) is affecting tens of thousands of workers—most immediately the 4,000 expected to be laid off by the end of the year. Both Omnicom and IPG own many different ad agency brands, all of which will be profoundly impacted by the merger. Omnicom is retaining only McCann from the IPG roster of agency networks, while folding FCB into BBDO, and both DDB and MullenLowe into TBWA, in order to achieve Omnicom Chairman and CEO John Wren’s goal of $750 million in synergies. Th…

After 50, too many women reduce their working hours, become trapped in lower-quality jobs, or exit the labor market altogether. Part-time employment becomes more prevalent as women age. The gender gap widens. For women, this means lower lifetime earnings and significantly smaller pensions. Many are calling this phenomenon the “menopause penalty”—a midlife equivalent of the motherhood penalty. And indeed, research suggests that women’s earnings drop in the years following a menopause diagnosis. But while menopause clearly plays a role, there is a risk in attributing these economic setbacks too narrowly to biology. Doing so not only oversimplifies women’s lived realitie…

A federal judge has ruled that The New York Times and other newspapers can proceed with a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft seeking to end the practice of using their stories to train artificial intelligence chatbots. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein of New York on Wednesday dismissed some of the claims made by media organizations but allowed the bulk of the case to continue, possibly to a jury trial. “We appreciate Judge Stein’s careful consideration of these issues,” New York Times attorney Ian Crosby said in a statement. “As the order indicates, all of our copyright claims will continue against Microsoft and Open AI for their widespread theft of millions…

In this hectic modern world, it’s natural to feel like your ducks aren’t in a row, but every so often the planets seem to align. This week, Mercury is joining Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune for a seven-planet parade (although not all of them will be visible to the naked eye). Here’s what that all means and how best to see it. How exactly do planets align? According to NASA, the term planetary parade isn’t really a technical term in astronomy, but it’s cute and paints a fun picture. Additionally, planetary alignment has a few different meanings; it can refer to when the planets line up with each other or when they line up with the moon or stars. F…

If you’re looking for a good reason to stop staring at screens this weekend, we’ve got you. This weekend, there’s an exciting astronomical event taking to the skies. The 2026 Planet Parade, an extraordinary event where six planets will be visible all at once, just for a moment, is coming. If you’re a seasoned skywatcher, you might remember that in 2025, there was a Planet Parade, too. Last February, seven planets, including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, all lined up just after sunset. This year, only six planets—because Mars is taking a raincheck—will make an appearance. And, according to astronomers, the show will be just as quick as…

The L.A.-based fashion brand Lisa Says Gah just teamed up with Polly Pocket for a new limited-edition collection, and it appears to be a sign that Mattel is already gunning to recapture the marketing magic of the Barbie movie. Polly Pocket Says Gah! is an assortment of cardigans, baby tees, accessories, and PVC slingback kitten heels, all rendered in a pastel palette and topped with playful details like ruffled edges and quilted stitching. Prices range from $50 to $198. It debuts today exclusively on the Lisa Says Gah website. [Photo: Lisa Says Gah] A Polly Pocket film has been in the works with MGM since 2021, but it faced a bump in the road last July when Len…

Productivity, and alleged lost productivity, has driven most of the conversation around traffic congestion and sprawl in the United States. While “time is money” is true in some contexts, it’s a terrible starting point for planning transportation systems. Traffic congestion is a pervasive issue, whether it’s the destination (a downtown, a stadium, a new development) or the streets connecting to the destinations. In economic terms, congestion occurs when demand exceeds supply: not enough lanes for everyone trying to get somewhere at once. Your time is valuable and there are sometimes real consequences you experience when roads are clogged with cars. But it’s a serious …

In late January, like Dr. Frankenstein pulling the knife switch to jolt his monster alive, entrepreneur Matt Schlicht flipped the digital switch on his vibe-coded social network, Moltbook, unleashing his own monster into the world. The platform made headlines for being the first social media site expressly for AI agents, not humans. But for me, its significance goes way beyond that. Moltbook is a harbinger—the first real sign that a new type of internet is upon us. No, not a dead internet. Something much more epochal: a zombie internet that could have devastating consequences for advertising, social media, and the human web in the years ahead. Or, perhaps it could…

Earlier this year, while the U.S. government was cutting billions in foreign aid, a refugee education program called Yeti Confetti did something remarkable: It took a single grant and scaled from serving 35 to 1,400+ students in Lebanon and NYC. They anticipate doubling that within the next few months. While hundreds of humanitarian organizations suspended programs because of the U.S. foreign assistance freeze, Rocket Learning, an education tech platform in India, is reaching 3 million children across 10 states and territories at $1.50 per child per year, a fraction of comparable traditional early childhood programs. This dichotomy was reflected in two types of co…

Leadership isn’t just about making decisions, driving results, or inspiring teams. It’s about the willingness to confront uncomfortable truths: about your business, your team, and yourself. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who avoid hard questions; they’re the ones who seek them out and act on the answers. “The pace at which we’re all working today doesn’t naturally lend itself to being reflective,“ notes Peter Winick, founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. “As a leader, you don’t get enough quiet time. The thought leaders and business leaders I work with figure out how to make it part of their routine. For some, it’s during a commute, a workout, a show…

Innovative organizations are finding ways to make augmented and virtual reality a more efficient, and even more practical, way to interact with technologies and tools, including letting people learn complex skills through virtual training. The businesses in Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies in AR/VR reflect that trend. Texas A&M University has brought AR/VR production into its celebrated Visualization program, letting students learn to build state-of-the-art virtual productions before they leave college. And other organizations are using AR/VR itself for educational purposes. Excurio has built immersive, historically accurate versions of iconic eras from 19th c…