What's on Your Mind?

Most people think of urban open spaces in terms of grand parks—Chicago’s Millennium Park or New York’s Central Park or San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. These are our iconic parks—our sublime spaces. They serve as the “lungs” of our cities, and they certainly steal our hearts. These spaces are not locked behind gates but are stages where our own lives play out and memories are created, full of movement and reflection and joy. There are more modest spaces in our cities, though, that are just as important to our lives—the thresholds and courtyards and pocket parks. They’re the places where we bump into our neighbors to walk our dogs or read on a bench in an environment…

2025 has not been a good year for retail store closures so far. High-profile chains, including Joann fabrics, Walgreens, and Big Lots, have shuttered locations across the country. And now Dollar General is joining them. Here’s what you need to know. Dollar General Corporation to close 141 stores Dollar General Corporation is the owner of the popular chain of Dollar General discount stores and the PopShelf retail chain. The company has now announced it will shutter 141 stores across both brands. Dollar General Corporation made the store closure announcement yesterday in its fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2024 earnings report. As part of that report, the comp…

eOlipop’s surging popularity has taken the $60 billion soda industry by storm. As Gen Z and millennials ditch sugary sodas, Olipop is leading the pre-biotic beverage trend, sparking the likes of Coca Cola and PepsiCo to enter the fray. Olipop co-founder, CEO and formulator, Ben Goodwin, shares how the brand is navigating the turbulence of rapid growth amid rising competition, and whether healthy soda is actually healthy or just a TikTok-fueled fad. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversatio…

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…

Job interviews are the fortune cookies of hiring—vague and often misleading. But companies keep using them, despite research suggesting that typical job interviews are mostly unreliable predictors of future job performance, because they give hiring managers the illusion of insight, and a convenient way to validate gut instinct with zero data. It’s not that all interviews are useless; some formats, like structured behavioral interviews with scoring rubrics, including AI-based scoring algorithms that match responses to actual outcomes and future performance, can be moderately predictive. But the typical unstructured interview? Oftentimes, it conveys the illusion of pred…

America’s butterflies are disappearing because of insecticides, climate change and habitat loss, with the number of the winged beauties down 22% since 2000, a new study finds. The first countrywide systematic analysis of butterfly abundance found that the number of butterflies in the Lower 48 states has been falling on average 1.3% a year since the turn of the century, with 114 species showing significant declines and only nine increasing, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science. “Butterflies have been declining the last 20 years,” said study co-author Nick Haddad, an entomologist at Michigan State University. “And we don’t see any sign that that’s going to e…

Getting an idea of how much a dental visit is going to cost can be difficult, even if it’s staring you straight in the mouth. One company hopes to change that, using artificial intelligence to give patients and dentists real-time cost estimates—all while the drills are still buzzing and fluoride is flowing. Overjet, a dental AI platform, just launched the Dental Clarity Network, a collaboration of dentists and health insurance providers that aims to give more clarity into dental billing. The first initiative of the Network is the deployment of ReviewPass, a program that helps deliver real-time cost estimates and insurance coverage information related to tons of dental…

For filmmakers with a fondness for certain fonts, using them frequently enough in their work can turn typography into a sort of signature. See the typeface in a film, and you know exactly who the director is. Wes Anderson has an obsession with Futura, while John Carpenter set his film credits in Albertus, a formal serif. Papyrus is now synonymous with James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, and more than 40 of Woody Allen’s films use Windsor. For director Sean Baker, whose comedy-drama Anora won the 2025 Oscar for Best Picture and netted him the Academy Award for Best Director, his font of choice is the tall, narrow, decorative Aguafina Script. Created by type desig…

In 2021, Eugene Kashuk was looking for a new venture. The Ukrainian entrepreneur realized in the wake of the pandemic that there was a large gap in education. Students were lagging behind, particularly in math. Kashuk started Brighterly, a platform that connects math teachers from all across the globe with students in the United States for private tutoring. Brighterly offers private lessons for $20 per 45-minute lesson—much cheaper than the average rate of about $40 per hour in the United States. In part, Brighterly is able to keep costs down because it uses AI to generate lessons so teachers are able to use their time to focus on their student instead of coming…

Too often, we get stuck waiting—waiting for a boss, a higher-up, or even a partner to hand us the reins and tell us it’s our time to shine. But here’s the truth: empowerment isn’t something you’re given. It’s something you take. If things aren’t going your way, there’s no one else to blame—it’s up to you to make a move. If you’re tired of waiting for someone else to recognize your potential or tell you what to do next, here are three actionable steps to take control and empower yourself today: Stop Asking for Permission—Start Taking Initiative Empowerment begins when you stop waiting for someone to tell you what to do and start taking proactive steps toward wha…

A one-day strike by workers at 13 German airports, including the Frankfurt and Munich hubs and all the country’s other main destinations, caused the cancelation of most flights on Monday. The 24-hour walkout, which started at midnight on Sunday, involves public-sector employees at the airports as well as ground and security staff. At Frankfurt Airport, 1,054 of the day’s 1,116 scheduled takeoffs and landings had been canceled, German news agency dpa reported, citing airport traffic management. All of Berlin Airport’s regular departures and arrivals were canceled, while Hamburg Airport said no departures would be possible. Cologne/Bonn Airport said there was no regular …

As the geographic center of Indianapolis, Monument Circle is in many ways the heart of the city. The 284-foot Soldiers and Sailors Monument towering in the middle is a beloved local landmark, and the plaza and fountain around its base has been a gathering place since it opened in 1902. But the way most people experience it is through the window of a car. Monument Circle is technically a traffic circle, which means the center of the city is little more than a place for cars to drive. The past couple of years, however, have shown another possibility. Since 2023, from June through November, part of the traffic circle has been closed to cars and converted into Spark on th…

Forever 21 is facing another bankruptcy. The company that operates the fast-fashion retail brand, called F21 OpCo, LLC, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court. And while it plans to close its U.S. stores and hold going-out-of-business sales, there is still a chance for a sale that could keep some operations running. For now, Forever 21 stores and its website will stay open as the company sells off inventory and looks for buyers. The move mirrors a similar one made recently by Joann, the beloved arts and fabric chain, which had initially hoped to keep its stores operating before ultimately deciding to liquidate and shut its doors for …

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. The AI search landscape is transforming at breakneck speed. New “Deep Research” tools from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity autonomously search and gather information from dozens—even hundreds—of sites, then analyze and synthesize it to produce comprehensive reports. While a human might take days or weeks to produce these 30-page citation-backed reports, AI Deep Research reports are ready in minutes. Traditional AI queries deliver isolated answers to specific questions, while Deep Research tools conduct sophisticated inv…

Architecture is, at its core, about problem-solving: balancing aesthetics, functional needs, and technical constraints to create effective buildings and environments. The most innovative firms in the industry expand this notion, solving pressing issues in new ways that build on or scale up existing techniques and technologies. Los Angeles-based Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, for instance, has advanced the concept of shipping container architecture, ushering it into the realm of sustainable neighborhood development. The firm’s Isla Intersections project in South Los Angeles closed a nearby street (a rarity in car-focused L.A.) to create an active “paseo,” which hosts local f…

From the Three Graces in ancient Greek and Roman mythology to the Three Wise Men in the Bible, the number three has been revered throughout history as a symbol of balance and harmony. Jackie and Shadow, the internet-famous bald eagles of Big Bear, California, would probably agree—their last egg has officially hatched, bringing their final chick count this season to three. These little fluffs might not have names yet but that hasn’t stopped 1.73 million people and counting from following their journey. Let’s break down the numbers and timeline of Chick 3’s arrival in the nest. The webcam that captured the attention of the world The bald eagle live streams a…

After 16 years of experiments to bring Photoshop apps to the phone, Adobe is launching its most convincing attempt yet. Called Photoshop Mobile and available in the App Store today, it’s Adobe’s first earnest attempt to build a Photoshop on mobile with the same unique powers that have made it so popular on desktop. This new Photoshop has been built from the ground up specifically for the phone, where it can sync seamlessly with Photoshop versions on the web and desktop. (An Android version is due this summer.) Pros will appreciate a few big technical headlines: You can have an unlimited number of layers, and there is no restriction on file sizes. (Vector drawing tools are…

There’s a cat-and-mouse game between those using generative AI chatbots to produce text undetected and those trying to catch them. Many believe they know the telltale signs—though as a journalist fond of the word “delve” and prone to em-dashes, I’m not so sure. Researchers at four U.S. universities, however, have taken a more rigorous approach, identifying linguistic fingerprints that reveal which large language model (LLM) produced a given text. “All these chatbots are coming out every day, and we interact with them, but we don’t really understand the differences between them,” says Mingjie Sun, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and lead author of the st…

Paris has spoken, and fashion’s final authority has laid down the law: This coming fall, it’s all about power shoulders, enveloping outerwear and a color palette that runs from somber to surreal. If Milan softened up with romance and New York leaned into Y2K grunge, Paris countered with sartorial surety — a wardrobe built for the sharp, the serious, and the spectacular. Coats are enormous, tailoring is back and drama is dialed up on every front. While trends may start in luxury, they quickly trickle down, as fast fashion companies like Zara, H&M, and Shein race to transform runway spectacle into mass-market hits. Here’s what ruled the runways: Coats so…

While Valentine’s Day and football get the majority of publicity during February, there’s more to this month than love and sports. You may want to consider changing up your typical happy-hour order this weekend to celebrate an unconventional holiday. Saturday, February 22, is National Margarita Day. This refreshing beverage has a long history of making those who imbibe forget their troubles for a while. Let’s take a look at the invention of the drink and some fun deals to take advantage of. What’s in a classic margarita anyway? While many variations of the beloved drink have popped up over the years, in its purest form, a margarita is comprised of tequila, li…

David Brickley is something of a social marketing pioneer. In 2011, he founded STN Digital, a leading social-first digital marketing company in sports and entertainment. STN now has more than 50 employees and creates hundreds of pieces of content daily for partners like ESPN, Warner Bros., NBC Sports, Under Armour, the Philadelphia Phillies, and NBA star Jayson Tatum, among dozens of others. The company helped Elton John launch his TikTok. In 2023, digital sports viewership surpassed traditional television viewers for the first time. Forty-three percent of young adult sports fans follow their favorite league on social media, 54% follow their favorite athlete, and 32% …

Twelve people were taken to hospitals after an American Airlines plane landed at Denver International Airport on Thursday and caught fire, prompting slides to be deployed so passengers could evacuate quickly. All of the people transported to hospitals had minor injuries, according to a post on the social platform X by Denver International Airport. Flight 1006, which was headed from the Colorado Springs Airport to Dallas Fort Worth, diverted to Denver and landed safely around 5:15 p.m. after the crew reported engine vibrations, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. While taxiing to the gate, an engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught fire, the FAA added. …

In Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Martha Beck, PhD, writes that “anxiety always lies.” When I asked her why, she highlighted one of the book’s central teachings: When you seek the truth beneath your anxious thoughts, you discover that many of them aren’t real. This newfound awareness is transformative. It dismantles anxiety’s prevailing narrative that in order to be safe, you must live in fear. “So many people tell me: But, the world is in bad shape right now,” Beck shares. “I say: Yes, and doesn’t that require us to show up as our calmest, most committed, and competent selves?” “Anxiety does not do that, it just tells li…

Cultural relevance has never been more important or desired by brands and marketers than it is right now. As fragmented as our media landscape has become, a brand with cultural relevance is better at attracting our attention and, importantly, keeping it. Why? Because we care. We talk to our friends and family about it. We engage in online and IRL communities about it. So if a brand can genuinely embed itself in that experience, or make that experience better, more interesting, helpful, or entertaining, then it’s really earning our attention. A new report from global ad agency network TBWA takes a deep dive into 39 cultural shifts happening around the world, and …