What's on Your Mind?

Within their first moments of stepping inside Universal’s newly opened Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, Florida, visitors will realize there is something different about the space. Rather than the typical onslaught of gift shops and pavement that can usually be found right inside the gates of most theme parks around the world, Epic Universe’s grounds are unusually bucolic, with a dense canopy of trees, winding pathways, and lush landscaping. This meandering entrance space is named Celestial Park, and it’s a notable counterpoint to the theme park standard of densely packed commercialism. “[It’s] where we’ve put the ‘park’ back in theme park,” says Steve Tatham, Epi…

Soccer, football, futebol, voetbal. Whichever moniker the world’s favorite game’s 3.5 billion fans use to describe this mega sport, this beautiful game is going through a cultural evolution creating more impact beyond the game than ever before. When I joined Manchester City FC in 2009, soccer clubs and the broader sport were just starting to open their eyes beyond the traditional rules of category marketing for the game and its impact was felt in soccer only. At Manchester City FC, we saw an opportunity to do something different. Very quickly we went on a journey from being a “soccer club that sold entertainment” to strategically pivoting to be an “entertainment b…

The upside of friends, roommates, or family members sharing a multiline phone plan is everyone has a lower monthly bill. The downside, however, is one person is ultimately responsible for both paying that bill—and gathering what is owed to him or her from their friends each month. AT&T is offering a new way to divvy things up, though. The carrier, on Thursday, will introduce AT&T SplitPay, which will individually bill people on select shared wireless plans. The service will be available immediately. “College kids are Venmo-ing each other to share accounts,” says Erin Scarborough, AT&T’s President of Broadband & Connectivity Initiatives. “They’re h…

Six years ago, Atari announced ambitious plans to build a gamer-themed hotel in Las Vegas, featuring an e-sports studio and a movie theater. The legacy video game company’s management at the time saw hotels as a way to revitalize the brand’s name, which was largely a nostalgia play. “I love the idea. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” said then-CEO Fred Chesnais. “I always wanted to make an amusement park, and hotels could be the first step.” But now the company tells the Las Vegas Sun that the project has been shelved after “the deal didn’t come to fruition.” It’s the latest in a series of disappointments for Atari’s lodging ambitions. Only one of what th…

Today’s labor market may be stagnating, but it’s also uncertain. Candidates aren’t behaving as many leaders would expect. The dynamic is trending towards an employer’s market. As a result, employers expect that candidates will increase their job searches, accept lower pay increases, and accept new roles more eagerly. But in reality, job searching has actually declined, pay expectations remain high, and candidates are reluctant to move. And this has resulted in a critical talent supply shortage. According to research from Gartner, 29% of candidates spent more than five hours per week on active job searches in the second quarter of 2025. That’s down from 49% in the firs…

If you’re just a few words into this story, but already feeling the urge to click or swipe or begin some other activity altogether, I won’t take it personally. Attention spans among humans have reduced dramatically in the past several years. Several school districts around the country are trying to reclaim that by instituting bans on cell phones in classrooms—and some of those programs are bearing fruit. Two years after phones were banned in an unnamed large urban Florida school district, test scores were up significantly, in part because students were better able to focus on the work in front of them. And a recent survey of Ohio public schools found 68% of princ…

House fires burn hotter and spread faster than ever before, leaving families with as little as two minutes to safely escape their homes. Despite that short window to reach safety, families are startlingly unprepared: Only 26% of American families have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan. The disconnect between the urgency of fire safety and actual household preparation points to a fundamental challenge in home safety education. Traditional approaches (pamphlets, static demonstrations, and classroom presentations) often fail to create the lasting behavioral change needed when seconds matter most. At Kidde, our ultimate goal is to help keep everyone safe…

A strong solar storm headed to Earth could produce colorful aurora displays across more U.S. states than usual Tuesday night. The sun earlier this week burped out huge bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections, leading space weather forecasters to issue a geomagnetic storm watch. Northern lights were forecast in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Parts of northern Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania may also get a view. The strength of the light show will depend on how Earth’s magnetic field interacts with the solar bursts, said …

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, may be visible in more than a dozen U.S. states Tuesday, December 9, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA). A full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to reach Earth early to midday on Tuesday, potentially causing periods of “strong” G3 geomagnetic storms (on a scale of G1 to G5). The aurora borealis is the result of a geomagnetic storm that occurs when a coronal mass ejection (CME), an eruption of solar material, reaches Earth and causes swaths of purple, blue, and green in the night sky. This year’s increased solar activity (and thus, …

The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency’s website, esafety.gov.au, explained the new laws and how to navigate them. Starting Dec. 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they don’t take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts. Messages raising awareness will also be shared starti…

Social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children in Australia since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. “We stared down everybody who said it couldn’t be done, some of the most powerful and rich companies in the world and their supporters,” communications minister Anika Wells told reporters on Friday. “Now Australian parents can be confident that their kids can have their childhoods back.” The figures, reported to Australia’s government by 10 social media platforms, were the first to show the scale of the landmark ban since it was enacted in December over fears about…

On Wednesday morning, local time, over one million Australian children discovered their social media accounts had vanished. And it may not be long before kids in other countries find themselves in a similar predicament. Under the new law, which was approved late last year, no one under the age of 16 in Australia will be allowed to set up accounts on platforms including Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X, Snapchat, Twitch, and Reddit. Any accounts for people in that age category will be deactivated or removed. The law is meant to protect the mental health of children from the addictive nature of social media. Australia’s law goes three years beyond the de fact…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. In a world with a constant information deluge and a labyrinth of disinformation to continually navigate through, people are exhausted. What is true? Who is honest? Who and what can I believe? Who can I trust to lead in a way where I know they understand what I need? Will anyone do what is best for me? It is no wonder that people are frustrated with those in charge—everywhere. Politic…

Autodesk, Inc. announced Thursday it plans to lay off about 1,000 employees, largely in sales roles. The announcement comes just a week after another tech company, Meta, announced it would eliminate up to 1,500 positions. Here’s what you need to know about the latest tech company layoffs. What’s happened? The plan will reduce the company’s workforce by approximately 7%. Autodesk indicated a significant number of the affected jobs would be in customer-facing sales roles. The plan will also reallocate resources to accelerate strategic priorities, The Wall Street Journal reported. CEO Andrew Anagnost assured employees in a letter that these layoffs were …

Marketers are setting the cultural conversation — with their successes as much as their missteps. But which campaigns are creating healthy tension? When is the right time to walk back a rebrand? Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder breaks down branding and marketing lessons from the most high-profile campaigns of 2025, giving her unvarnished opinion on everything from Sydney Sweeney to Cracker Barrel and more. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian and recorded live at the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response f…

Super Bowl LIX had a clear winner on the field, but victory for brands was more hard-won. Many aimed for impact, but did they deliver? Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder offers hot takes on this year’s hits and misses from the big game’s ads. She joins host Bob Safian to break down what makes an NBDB (“never been done before”) moment, why so many brands adopted a “safe” approach, and what trends business leaders should note going forward. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by Robert Safian, former editor-in-chief of Fast Company. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As someone deeply invested in sustainable mass transit and supply chain automation, I’m also invested in an idea that could change the world of freight transport for us all. The global supply chain is in flux. Even before new tariffs, the nearshoring trend in North America has created an urgent demand for more innovative and efficient freight solutions. However, despite automotive a…

Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines has reportedly signed a deal with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to start flying deportation flights from Arizona this May, a move the company’s CEO has acknowledged is controversial, according to the Associated Press. Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said, “we realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” but the airline’s flights would be part of a “long-term charter program” to support the DHS’ deportation plans, which would help with expansion and protect jobs. Meanwhile, some upset customers are taking to social media in protest. On Bluesky, one user posted, “Nope. They f…

The week is not off to a great start for much of the internet. In the early hours of the morning Pacific time, internet users around the world began experiencing issues with accessing various apps, websites, and platforms. Shortly after, a culprit emerged: Amazon Web Services (AWS)—or, more specifically, an outage at Amazon’s cloud computing platform. Here’s what you need to know about the AWS outage and what websites are affected. What’s happened? At around midnight Pacific time, internet users around the globe began experiencing issues accessing high-trafficked parts of the internet. Websites like Reddit, services like Lyft, and even apps from resta…

There are a few odors from adolescence that are seared into the brains of most Americans who grew up after the 1980s: the aroma of freshly baked brick pizza in the school cafeteria, the acrid stink of a locker room, and the unmistakable scent of teen boys wearing an unforgivable amount of Axe body spray. The phenomenon of teens dousing themselves in Axe has become so ubiquitous since the brand’s founding in 1983 that over the past few years it’s inspired its own subgenre of memes (see this one and this one, for example). Now Axe has its sights set on a new generation of consumers with a redesigned spray mechanism for its signature product. To mark the occas…

Some common business models can be described as B2C and B2B, which are “business-to-consumer,” and “business-to-business,” respectively. But now, get ready for “B2AI,” or “business-to-AI.” That’s one of the potential disruptions on the horizon, identified in a new report from Visa and the Institute for the Future. The report digs into the numerous ways that AI will transform commerce, and to some degree personal finance, including how consumers will likely lasso AI for their own means—and how businesses will, in turn, develop AI agents to communicate and correspond with consumers’ AIs. While many people likely haven’t adopted “personal” AI tools yet, they’re on th…