What's on Your Mind?

As the holidays approach, and I walk through our historic mill in Faribault, Minnesota, I’m reminded of how much work matters—not just for what it produces, but for what it represents. At Faribault Mill, we make artisanal wool and cotton blankets the old-fashioned way: spinning, weaving, and finishing under one roof, much as we have since the company’s founding in 1865. We also design, market, sell, and ship those same products directly to consumers across the country. In a world where most companies outsource one step or another, we do it all. That makes us one of the few fully vertically integrated manufacturers left in America, and it gives us a unique perspective…

In 1933, construction workers building the Rockefeller Center in New York City put up a tree around Christmas to celebrate the season. This simple action unintentionally started a beloved holiday tradition the whole world would come to enjoy. Fast-forward to tonight, and a much larger tree will be illuminated, signaling that the holiday season has officially begun. The 2025 Rockefeller Tree Lighting ceremony will be televised tonight at 8 p.m. ET. Here’s everything you need to know about the jolly event, including how to tune in. The 411 about this year’s Rockefeller Christmas tree Every year, head gardener Erik Pauze tirelessly searches for the perfect tre…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Among the nation’s 100 largest metro area housing markets, no major market saw greater home price appreciation during the Pandemic Housing Boom than Austin, TX—where home prices surged a staggering 72.5% between March 2020 and June 2022. Since the boom fizzled out three years ago, Austin has also experienced the largest home price correction (-26.0%) among those same 100 major markets. Austin being among the hardest-hit markets isn’t surprising. Back in May 2022, I wrote an article for Fortune outlining Austin’s heightened downside risk this cyc…

In the race to deploy large language models and generative AI across global markets, many companies assume that “English model → translate it” is sufficient. But if you’re an American executive preparing for expansion into Asia, Europe, the Middle East, or Africa, that assumption could be your biggest blind spot. In those regions, language isn’t just a packaging detail: it’s culture, norms, values, and business logic all wrapped into one. If your AI doesn’t code-switch, it won’t just underperform; it may misinterpret, misalign, or mis-serve your new market. The multilingual and cultural gap in LLMs Most of the major models are still trained predominantly on Engli…

A baby and his family dog sit across from each other in a podcast studio. “Welcome to the talking baby podcast,” says the infant, wearing headphones and sounding like a deep-voiced radio broadcaster. “On today’s episode, we’ll be talking to the weird-looking person who lives at my house.” So begins a series of humorous interactions between two characters animated by artificial intelligence that’s attracted millions of views on social media. They’re a nod to the 1989 movie “Look Who’s Talking” but produced in a matter of hours and without a multimillion-dollar Hollywood budget. AI helped do all of that, but it didn’t craft the punch lines. It’s a relief to comedian Jon …

More than a decade ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished without a trace, sparking one of aviation’s most baffling mysteries. Despite years of multinational searches, investigators still do not know exactly what happened to the plane or its 239 passengers and crew. On Wednesday, Malaysia’s government said American marine robotics company Ocean Infinity would resume a seabed hunt for the missing plane on Dec. 30, reigniting hopes that the plane might finally be found. A massive search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the jet is believed to have gone down, turned up almost nothing. Apart from a few small fragments that washed ashore, no bodies or large wreckage…

Hit-Boy has made chart-topping beats for the likes of Beyoncé, Jay Z, Nas and Doechii but behind the scenes he was stuck in a restrictive publishing deal. In this interview, Hit-Boy talks But now he’s in full control of his art and his story. He’ll also dive into his creative process and how he’s walking the line of AI and art. View the full article

When it comes to the battle of the prediction markets, which player are you betting on? Fanatics, the global sports platform, is out to prove that sportsbooks will be the emerging industry’s biggest winners. Today, Fanatics is launching a stand-alone predictions market app designed to appeal to the fans who already buy its apparel and collectibles. It’s the first of the major sportsbooks to move into prediction markets—and almost certainly won’t be the last. “Prediction markets are one of the top things that fans want to do these days,” says Matt King, who leads betting and gaming for Fanatics. “People want to be able to express their opinions on not just s…

As the ‘fourth wave’ of coffee begins taking shape, companies that are embracing modern—and increasingly, automated—coffee making are working to balance their tech with the craft of brewing. Terra Kaffe is one of them. The company, known for its pricy, hyper-modern automatic espresso machine TK-02—revealed its first brand expansion with the August launch of Demi, a miniature version of its flagship product. Now, it’s launching a slate of accessories to complement its machines and move the brand out of startup mode and help establish itself as a serious competitor in the world of coffee gadgets. The accessories, which will be rolling out into early 2026, inclu…

One of the world’s biggest AI startups might be eyeing a massive IPO. According to a new report in the Financial Times, Anthropic has tapped the Palo Alto-based law firm Wilson Sonsini to help the company go public as soon as early next year. The law firm has a deep well of experience shepherding major tech IPOs and has worked with Google, LinkedIn, Lyft, and Square on their public offerings. In the lead-up to a potential IPO, the Financial Times reports that the company is drumming up a private round of funding that would peg its value at over $300 billion. According to the report, the company is also discussing its plans with large investment banks, but those ta…

Even before this year’s Spotify Wrapped dropped, I had a hunch what mine would reveal. Lo and behold, one of my most-listened-to songs was an obscure 2004 track titled “Rusty Chevrolet” by the Irish band Shanneyganock. I heard it first thanks to my son, whose friend had been singing it on the swings at school. My son found it utterly hilarious, and it’s been playing in our house nonstop ever since. Like parents all over the world, I rue how my son’s musical tastes have hijacked my listening history. But I’m also tickled to learn that our household is probably one of the few even listening to it. Spotify Wrapped is an annual campaign by the popular streamin…

The U.S. stock market is drifting near its record levels on Wednesday following mixed reactions to profit reports from Macy’s, Marvell Technologies, and other companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled within 0.7% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 174 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged. Marvell rose 4.1% after the supplier of semiconductor products delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Matt Murphy credited strong demand for its data center products, while also announcing a $3.25 billion purchase of Celestial AI…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has once again expanded its warning on certain brands of imported cookware, this time adding nine additional products that may leach significant levels of lead into food. That list of cookware has grown significantly since the FDA issued its original alert, which was updated twice, after tests found certain brass and aluminum cookware (known as Hindalium/Hindolium or Indalium/Indolium) could be leaching lead into food when used for cooking or food storage, making it unsafe to eat. The FDA investigation remains ongoing, and the agency said it will be adding additional products to the list as needed. Here’s what you need to…

If you feel like you spent more time sitting in traffic this year than last, you’re not alone. Across the United States, drivers lost 49 hours to traffic congestion in 2025, a six-hour increase from the year prior, according to a new report from transportation analytics company INRIX. From Chicago to Philadelphia and Boston to Tampa, congestion increased in 254 of the 290 cities INRIX analyzed. But in New York, a city practically synonymous with gridlock, congestion stayed flat. Start spreading the news INRIX says the anomaly is likely due to congestion pricing, a program that charges drivers tolls when they enter certain, often gridlocked, areas of …

New research now suggests that our brains are still in the teenage phase until we “peak” in our early thirties. Researchers from the University of Cambridge looked at scans from around 4,000 people up to the age of 90 to reveal the connections between their brain cells. Rather than progressing steadily over our lifetimes, research published in the journal Nature Communications suggests our brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points happening at ages nine, 32, 66, and 83. The first stage, from birth to nine, sees the brain rapidly increasing in size. Around age nine, the “adolescent” phase begins as the brain works on increasing its e…

The way consumers search is changing faster than the industry expected. This holiday season, many shoppers are looking for gifts inside AI platforms, rather than retailer sites or traditional search. They are asking natural questions like: “Find me a cruelty-free skincare gift for sensitive skin under $100.” “What are good gift ideas for a three-year-old that are safe and durable?” “What are the safest, nontoxic treats for my Golden Retriever?” This shift is already measurable. Adobe Digital Insights reports a 4,700% year-over-year increase in retail visits driven by AI assistants between July 2024 and July 2025. At the same time, click-through rates from SEO …

It is a relatively rare phenomenon: While the stock market continues to experience record gains (the S&P 500 is up over 16% this year), Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to struggle, making it the first time the crypto and stock markets have split since 2014, Bloomberg reported. That split, with Bitcoin down while stock markets soar, is somewhat unusual. On midday Friday, at the time of this writing, the digital cryptocurrency (BTC) was trading down over 4%, hovering around $88,945—far below its record high of over $125,000, but still above a recent low of $85,000 (down almost 30% from the high). Here’s what to know. Why is the split between cryp…

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed a $7.1 million fine on a New York-based property management firm Thursday, accusing it of violating sanctions by managing luxury real estate properties for oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Gracetown Inc. had received 24 payments between April 2018 and May 2020 totaling $31,250 on behalf of a company owned by Deripaska. OFAC says it gave Gracetown notice that dealings with Deripaska were prohibited, but the firm proceeded anyway. Justice Department filings from 2022 connect Gracetown Inc. with U.K. businessman Graham Bonham-Carter, w…

Every year, open enrollment forces Americans to confront a familiar dilemma: Pay more for coverage that delivers less, or gamble on going without it. This year, that choice has become even starker. Employers are shifting more costs to workers, marketplace premiums are poised to rise, fewer prescription drugs are covered by insurance, and 3.8 million people could lose insurance annually if Affordable Care Act subsidies aren’t extended. Together, these developments represent a structural break in the U.S. healthcare system. It’s a perfect storm that will price many Americans out of health insurance altogether—many involuntarily, but some voluntarily. Fed up with s…