What's on Your Mind?

Feeling burned out? It could be costing your company millions of dollars each year in lost productivity and employee turnover. A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that employee burnout in the U.S. costs somewhere between $4,000 and $21,000 per worker per year. Do the numbers, and that adds up to about $5 million per year for a company with 1,000 employees. (Another way to look at it: Employee disengagement, or burnout, can cost 0.2 to 2.9 times the average cost of health insurance, and 3.3 to 17.1 times the cost of training per employee.) The research is based on a computational simulation model developed by the Public Health Infor…

The contributions of Black Americans built the nation’s economic foundation, sustained industries, and shaped countless communities. Yet, even today, disparities in the workplace persist, limiting the opportunities available to Black professionals, which has been exacerbated by the recent White House Executive Order to terminate all Federal DEI programs and positions. Black employees comprise 12.8% of the workforce but hold just 7% of managerial positions. In senior leadership, representation drops to 4–5%. These numbers are beyond dismal and reveal more than gaps in representation—they reflect systemic barriers that prevent Black talent from reaching their full poten…

Matt Ries has lived in Florida only three years, but everyone told him last summer was unusually hot. That was followed by three hurricanes in close succession. Then temperatures dropped below freezing for days this winter, and snow blanketed part of the state. To Ries, 29, an Ohio native now in Tampa, the extreme weather—including the bitter cold—bore all the hallmarks of climate change. “To me it’s just kind of obvious,” said Ries, a project manager for an environmental company and self-described conservative-leaning independent. “Things are changing pretty drastically; just extreme weather all across the country and the world. . . . I do think humans are speeding up …

Featuring Elly Dembo, Global Head of Data and Intelligence, McCann and Daryl Lee, Global CEO, McCann. Moderated by Kc Ifeanyi, Executive Director of Editorial Programming, Fast Company. America feels more divided than ever. Seventy-two percent of Americans believe this is the most complicated time to be an American, and 76% feel like the country is eroding. But beyond the headlines, there are powerful forces still holding the nation together: shared values, cultural touchpoints, and the evolving American dream. Join McCann Truth Central for an exclusive discussion about their latest study, revealing the surprising ways the American dream is evolving and how brands can…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Back in the housing frenzy of 2021, homeowners were bombarded with inquiries from eager investors looking to see if they were open to selling. The outreach came in all forms—text messages, postcards, phone calls—and often felt relentless. Redfin data shows that in Q4 2021, investors scooped up 94,715 U.S. homes, a 51% jump from the 62,581 homes they purchased in Q4 2019. But that investor-driven surge—powered by rock-bottom interest rates, pandemic stimulus, and the remote work boom—began to fade as the Federal Reserve pivoted to fighting inflati…

McDonald’s, Wingstop, and Starbucks are among Gen Z’s most popular and appealing restaurant brands, according to Dcdx’s new Magnetic 100: Restaurants report, measured by organic, user-generated content. The report looks at what young consumers spent their hard-earned money on in the first quarter of 2025, noting which brands attracted the most organic conversations, either by generating online buzz or through word-of-mouth, including during big cultural moments such as the Super Bowl and holidays like Valentine’s Day. Some surprising names to crack Dcdx’s top-10 roster this year were Crumbl Cookies (#6) and Raising Cane’s (#7), a fast-casual chain specializing in …

The trope of the starving, broke artist has long maintained a place in the public imagination, even as it has morphed into idealized notions of “‘hustle” or “grindset.” “It’s cool to romanticize [that lifestyle] for a little bit and use it as part of your motivation,” says L.A.-based rising musician Gidi, “but at a certain point we gotta be able to see the fruits of our labor.” For many artists and songwriters, the fruits are there in the form of royalties—they’re just exceedingly difficult to harvest. In the labyrinthine world of the music industry, royalty collection is particularly complex. There are hundreds of music streaming platforms operating in hundreds of c…

For many people, pets provide unconditional love, companionship, and a sense of security. But not all human-pet relationships are beneficial, and some may contribute to stress and anxiety rather than relief. Psychologists have been studying attachment theory for decades. This framework explains how people form emotional bonds, seek closeness, and manage separation. People with secure attachment tend to feel safe in relationships, while those with attachment anxiety may crave closeness but frequently worry about rejection or loss. Just like with human relationships, people form attachment bonds with pets. Some form secure attachments, finding comfort in their pet a…

If optimizing your social media privacy settings feels important but overwhelming, a company called Block Party may be able to help. Founder and CEO Tracy Chou has long been known for advocating for diversity in the tech industry. And like many diversity advocates, and women and people of color in technology, she’s experienced plenty of harassment online, along with outright stalking. She founded Block Party after realizing that tech platforms themselves didn’t make it particularly easy to optimize settings for privacy and security. The initial Block Party product focused on the platform then called Twitter, helping users easily filter out spam, harassment, and o…

A typical RV has to plug in at a campground to run the power inside. But Airstream’s newest Basecamp 20Xe trailer is designed to power itself in remote locations: If you want to spend a week in the wilderness, you can theoretically use an induction stove, keep your laptop charged, turn on the air-conditioning, and have hot water for the shower—even if you’re nowhere near any utilities. [Photo: Airstream] “Over the past several years, we’ve seen a growing demand from our customers for what we call energy independence,” says Bob Wheeler, Airstream president and CEO. “The flexibility to not have to go to a campground with established power and energy supplies, to give…

The financial services industry is facing an era of unparalleled fragmentation. Consumers are no longer limited to a single bank or financial provider in an increasingly nomadic digital environment. Instead, consumers can move seamlessly between services and products across multiple platforms. This creates a highly competitive marketplace while still maintaining some degree of segmentation. As fintech disruptors and traditional financial institutions compete for consumers, creating brand differentiation and customer loyalty has become one of the hardest and most critical aspects of growing a business. Adding to this challenge, banks and financial service providers fac…

You’re mid-sentence in a meeting, sharing an idea or outlining a strategy you’ve been thinking through for weeks—then it happens. Someone jumps in, cuts you off, and shifts the conversation. You fade out while they take the spotlight. It’s frustrating—but even more so when it’s subtle. Maybe you weren’t shouted over, but you were redirected, ignored, or sidelined. Over time, it takes a toll on confidence, clarity, and leadership presence. So how do you know it’s happening—and how do you stop it? Here are five signs you’re being talked over in meetings, plus practical strategies to reclaim your voice and authority. 1. You’re constantly “circling back” to what y…

Super Bowl Sunday always mints a lot more winners and losers than just those who play in the game. It’s the biggest day in sports betting annually, with the American Gaming Association estimating a record $1.39 billion in the big game last month. For casual sports bettors, a Super Bowl wager might be enough gambling to last the entire year. For many others, though, it was just a warm-up for the 67 games of March Madness, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, which kicks off this week. Sports betting has been a huge growth industry in the U.S. since it was legalized nearly seven years ago. With the help of online gambling companies such as DraftKings, legal …

Some directors are known for their typographic flair—from the ultrawide tracking of Christopher Nolan’s film titles to Quentin Tarantino’s genre vernacular font and lettering selections. But last week, as we reported on Sean Baker’s extensive use of Aguafina Script across his past four movies, we wondered: How many other directors have firmly embraced a single, singular typeface—and what does that typeface say about their films? The first part is easier to answer. “It is rare,” says title designer and Art of the Title editor-in-chief Lola Landekic. “It’s a very interesting choice. As a creator, you have to sort of commit to a specific aesthetic. And I think yo…

AI image editing may be all the rage, but good old-fashioned image editors are still essential. There’s a problem, though: Windows PCs, Chromebooks, and Macs don’t include exceptional image editors that go beyond the most basic editing needs. Sure, you can pay for Photoshop or hunt down another image editor—but what if you just want to do something quick? Well, then you’re left searching the web—and maybe you come across a reasonably decent online image editor, but perhaps it forces you to sign into an account or pay for a subscription. Or maybe it just doesn’t do what it promises to do in any especially impressive way. Let’s skip all that. Today’s tool is an …

Despite a traumatic beginning of the year from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, Los Angeles is ready to celebrate one of its largest exports: movies. Hollywood’s biggest bash, the 97th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will air tonight, March 2, at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET. The action is taking place at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Let’s get up to speed so you can watch like an A-lister: How the L.A. fires impacted the 2025 Oscars The fires delayed the Oscar nominations announcement twice and extended the nominations voting period. And though the actual awards ceremony date was not affected, the annua…

Morningside Park, a beloved neighborhood park in Miami with sweeping views of Biscayne Bay, will soon pilot an innovative approach to coastal resilience. BIOCAP tiles, a 3D-printed modular system designed to support marine life and reduce wave impact along urban seawalls, will be installed on the existing seawall there in spring 2025. BIOCAP stands for Biodiversity Improvement by Optimizing Coastal Adaptation and Performance. Developed by our team of architects and marine biologists at Florida International University, the uniquely textured prototype tiles are designed to test a new approach for helping cities such as Miami adapt to rising sea levels while simulta…

Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street, and the sourdough starter craze: a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) is a puppet renowned for his deep, gloomy voice, his perpetual pessimism and his signature expression, “Mist!” (Think “crap!” in English.) Played and voiced by puppeteer Jörg Teichgraeber, Bernd is a television presenter who wants nothing to do with TV and can’t wait to go home to stare at the wallpaper. This year, his friends—…